“Come here,” I say softly. I don’t mean to command it, but I have enough alpha in me that most everything comes out that way.
She slips past me to stand in the hallway. I leave the bedroom and shut the door.
“I can ask Cody to pack up your things in Colorado Springs,” I offer in a low voice, so I don’t wake the sleeping child. Cody is the alpha of the small pack there. Colleen had been living there and sought out his help yesterday after Jayden was hit by a car.
For a shifter, a car accident isn’t the problem, it’s having humans witness a spontaneous healing that would cause ripples. Cody had pulled them out of the hospital before Jayden was checked out and then took her to his place in case the hospital report triggered information being sent to her ex. I was in the Springs for the drug bust and met them there. Because Cody’s pack would not be strong enough to fend off Colleen’s former pack’s larger numbers if they came for her, he requested help from the Denver pack, and I immediately volunteered my personal protection.
Colleen shakes her head. “We didn’t have much there. Just a mattress and a few items of clothing.”
I grind my teeth, horrified at the way my mate has been living. “I’ll take you shopping tomorrow, then, for new clothes and toiletries. Whatever you need.”
“Thank you.” Her cinnamon scent fills my nostrils, agitating my wolf.
“Cody told me you require protection from your…” I can’t make myself say the word mate because she belongs to me. But some other male has obviously claimed her. Multiple times and in brutal ways, judging by the unhealed scars on her shoulder. Something has affected her ability to heal—no doubt the stress of what she was living with.
“Our alpha,” she supplies.
I try not to show my rage that any male deemed worthy of leading a pack would harm rather than protect those weaker than him.
“And you think he’ll bring the whole pack when he comes?”
She shakes her head. “Maybe not. I didn’t reach out to Cody until yesterday, when Jayden got hit by a car, and we had to go to a human hospital. I was afraid it would trigger some kind of notification if he’d filed a missing persons report.”
“Right. I will check on that Monday when I go to work. I can access those kinds of records. But I don’t want you to have to hide anymore, sweetheart. It would be better to put him on notice that you’re here and under the Denver pack’s protection.”
“No,” she says immediately.
A growl gets loose in my throat, making her flinch.
I reach out and touch her arm. “I’m sorry, babygirl. I’m not growling at you. I didn’t mean to snarl.”
She ducks her head to show submission in wolf fashion, and I want to punch my own face in.
“Can you tell me why you don’t want to free yourself of him?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want a war between packs over me. I don’t even know your pack, it’s not fair to ask you to protect me.”
I force down my primal need to tear her enemies apart limb by limb and lay them at her feet. I exhale slowly to get my violence under control. “It is fair to ask it,” I say simply. I know she didn’t want to hear me declare that she’s my mate, so I don’t say it now, but I’m certain she knows what I mean.
I can’t decide if she doesn’t believe me, doesn’t agree, or just isn’t ready to contemplate a new mate, but for the moment, I need to be patient and take things slowly.
“There’s something you should know about me,” I say, hoping what I tell her doesn’t spook her more.
She stiffens.
“I’m not just in human law enforcement. I’m an enforcer for the shifter council.” Essentially, it means I have a gun with silver bullets and a license to kill. When shifters get on the wrong side of human law or if they become a danger to our species, the council may rule that a shifter must be put down. I’m the guy who carries out that justice. It’s a secret role, for the protection of our families, much like the hooded executioner of medieval times. “It’s a job I would quit the moment I have a mate.” I slide a sideways glance at her to see how this landed. I need her to know that I wouldn’t put our family at risk. But I also want her to understand I’m well-equipped to take care of trouble. “I just want you to know that if things get difficult, I can handle them.”
She draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. “Good to know.”
I allow myself a moment of relief that I didn’t scare her more with my admission.