Page 20 of The Protector’s Heart

“But where will I go?”

“Do you even have to ask? Come to my home. Everything that’s mine is yours.”

She shook her head and pushed away from him. “That’s just insane. He broke all my windows because you installed a security system. What do you think he’ll do when he finds me and Jack at your house? I’ll go stay with Diane. She lives here in town and I know she’ll take us in.”

Malachi’s eyes flashed from blue to amber. “My home is safe.”

She took a step back, instinctively tensing to flee if he raised his fist. He seemed to sense her fear immediately. The amber faded from his eyes, and he jammed his hands into his pockets. “If you’re not willing to stay at my house, then I’m going to be there, guarding you.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “Go pack. The police are waiting for your statement, and your lunch hour is almost up.”

He seemed angry. Well, angry was an understatement. He looked like he could punch a hole through the wall, but he had purposely made himself calm down and appear non-threatening. Once more she was reminded that Malachi was not Damien. She almost told him that she’d go to his house, but she knew if she stayed there not only would she never want to leave, but she’d be drawing Damien directly to him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Nodding, she walked into the bedroom and opened the closet, grabbing an older diaper bag from the shelf. She ignored the destruction and the crunch of glass under her shoes and busied herself packing, trying to decide whether going to Diane’s was really the best idea or not.

* * *

Malachi rubbed his snout on the porch railing of Diane’s home. She was like an aunt to Nila, and the woman had opened her door without hesitation to Nila and Jack. Malachi sat on the front porch in his shifted form, using his enhanced senses to keep track of what was going on around him. Three other protectors were posted around the house. He’d asked Sam to get some volunteers for the job; and Sam had immediately volunteered himself, and so had Malachi’s cousins Devin and Hayden. Malachi would figure out a way to thank them.

Nila was stubborn. He didn’t know why she wouldn’t come to his house. The house was very safe, more so than Diane’s for sure, since she didn’t even have a basic security system. He lifted his muzzle and inhaled, sifting through the scents around him and finding nothing but nature and the wolves with him.

The front door opened and shut quickly, and Nila sat down on the top step, a blanket wrapped around her. She leaned against him and sighed loudly.

“I know you think I should be at your place, Mal. It’s just that my life is so fucked up right now.”

He whined audibly and she ducked her head and rubbed her cheek against the top of his head.

“You’re a good guy. I do feel strangely connected to you. I’ve had to try really hard not to look at you at work, but I can’t seem to help myself. I know I’ve been hiding behind the fact that you’re a wolf to keep us apart, but you’re more than this furry creature you shift into, I know that.” She exhaled slowly and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “I just need some time, Mal. Give me time to get to know you when things aren’t so messy, okay? I can’t think about a future with you when I’m afraid that Damien’s going to take everything from me. It would be a lot better if he would find someone else to be with, but he always comes back for me. He said he’d never let me go, and that he’d make my life hell if I didn’t go back to him, and look at how well he’s done that. I can’t even marry anyone else because he won’t let me divorce him. And you know what’s really fucked up? He never treated me like a real mate. He never claimed me as his mate to the pack or marked me, he never treated me like anything but a fuck toy and a maid. I was such a fool, and now I’m ruined, I’m so hopelessly fucked.”

Malachi wanted to tell her that she wasn’t hopelessly fucked at all, that he would figure out a way to get her free of Damien’s hold on her, but since he was in his shift he couldn’t do anything but growl softly and nuzzle her throat. She sat with him for a long time, until it grew late and she shivered from the cold. She kissed the top of his head and said goodnight, and he watched her go into the house and lock the door. Settling in for the night, he decided to talk to Acksel in the morning.

* * *

Damien watched from the upstairs window of a house across the street from where Nila was staying. The occupants of the house were gone, and he and his men had broken in through the back door to stake out the house Nila was staying in. He watched with narrowed eyes as Nila sat next to a wolf on the front porch.

She was his! What the fuck was she doing touching another male?

He growled. He should have brought a gun. Then he could have just picked off the males one by one and taken the bitch and his son back. He’d teach her a thing or two about obedience, and make sure she never had an opportunity to leave him again. His mind flipped through ideas on how to permanently ensure that she stayed with him. He’d been toying with her since she left. He enjoyed making her fearful, screwing with her just for his sheer amusement. He hadn’t been without female company. As the son of the alpha, he was a hot commodity and no one refused him. But he was expending his time making Nila suffer, letting her believe she was free of him and then tightening the noose. It was time to get her once and for all.

He left his men to watch the house and wake him in the morning, and flopped down on the bed in the master bedroom. Unzipping his jeans, he reached for his cock, which had gone hard as granite when he’d started thinking of all the ways to make Nila pay for walking out on him. He fisted himself and closed his eyes, imagining the scent of her tears and her pain-filled cries as he meted out his punishment for walking away from him. He’d start by taking his son away, and then he’d break her until she had no will of her own. He chuckled darkly. Enjoy your last night of freedom, bitch.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Nila felt unsettled all day. She’d almost called off work and kept Jack home, but Malachi promised she’d be safe, and she believed him. He’d sent a protector to the daycare to keep a discreet eye on things, which helped her feel better about leaving him there, and she’d seen a strange car in the parking lot of the clinic and recognized one of the males from those who had patrolled around Diane’s home last night.

Malachi had been a reassuring presence with her during the day. Even when she was with patients, she was aware of him at the reception desk, keeping an eye on things. No longer only guarding Brynn, but also guarding her. The day crawled by, but by the time she was ready to leave, she felt like she could breathe a little easier. She’d expected Damien to retaliate further, maybe smash the windows again or slash her tires like he’d done two months earlier.

She and Jack had ridden with Malachi that morning. He’d taken Jack to the daycare first and then picked up Brynn. He’d seemed lost in thought for the drive to the clinic, but she’d had a lot on her mind, too. After her revealing one-sided conversation with him the night before, she’d decided that she wasn’t going to give Damien the satisfaction of scaring her into walking away from Malachi. It had been tempting to just push him out of her life and go back to the way things were with just her and Jack, but the truth was she didn’t want that life anymore. She didn’t want to look over her shoulder forever or sleep on the couch anymore, and she wanted to really share her life with a man who respected and cared for her. That man was Malachi. He’d shown himself to be more of a man than Damien ever had, and she’d be a fool to walk away from him.

As she pulled her purse from her locker, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She lifted it and glanced at the screen. It read ‘Mem Hosp’. Her mouth went dry and panic seized her. Why would the hospital be calling?

“Hello?”

“Am I speaking with Nila Caruthers?” A brusque female voice asked.

“Y-yes.”

“Miss Caruthers, I’m calling from Woodland Memorial Hospital. You are listed as the emergency contact for Diane Gordon. She was brought into the ER earlier.”

“What happened?”

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