Page 6 of The Protector’s Heart
He scanned the restaurant again, nodded at Zander, a protector and the son of the owners, who was bussing a table, and tried not to appear as if he were eavesdropping on Brynn and Nila’s conversation.
“I don’t know,” Nila said softly as she pushed a French fry through ketchup. “If he shows up at the daycare again and makes trouble, they’re not going to let Jack come back and then I’ll be up the creek.”
“Hopefully he won’t, though. The cops told him to stay away, right?”
Nila shook her head. “When the cops showed up, one of his cronies took the blame and said he was the one who beat up the teacher, not Damien. The teacher was so frazzled that she couldn’t identify Damien from a lineup and they took his pal’s confession. When the police went to arrest him, he’d disappeared.”
“Disappeared how?”
“Who knows? Damien’s dad has a lot of friends, he probably just sent him out of state to another pack, a thank-you for taking the fall for Damien.”
“I don’t understand why he won’t leave you alone. You left him, you gave him divorce papers.”
Nila looked so sad right then that it took everything in his power not to go to her and comfort her. “I don’t know why, either. Falling for his charms was one of the worst things I ever did. I don’t regret Jack, but I regret ever meeting him or his pack.”
Malachi hated hearing how much she despised wolves, even though she clearly had good reason for her feelings.
When lunch was over, he wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to talk to Nila. By the time the work day done, and Brynn was closing down the computer, Malachi felt as tongue-tied as ever when it came to the pretty blonde. Nila, wrapped up in a dark wool coat, a white fuzzy hat covering her hair, looked out the glass door and frowned. “It’s really coming down out there.”
“Do you want to ride with us? We can pick up Jack and take you home, even come get you in the morning,” Brynn offered.
Malachi’s heart jumped into his throat and his wolf whined pitifully in his head, wanting desperately to have her in the SUV with them.
Nila swallowed audibly and looked over her shoulder. “Thanks, but no, I’ll be fine. I guess my plans to go to the grocery are out, though.”
She met his eyes for only a heartbeat, and then she pushed the door open and disappeared into the falling snow.
“Damn she’s stubborn,” Brynn said as she wrapped a scarf around her neck and tugged on gloves.
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
“Hey, we’re talking about two entirely different situations here. You didn’t knock her up and ignore her like a certain alpha male we both know.”
“I thought you forgave him for that.”
“I did, but I reserved the right to throw it in his face anytime I want. Nila’s stubborn in a different way. I wish she could see how sweet you are.”
“Oh, I’m blushing here,” Malachi said.
Brynn slugged him on the arm. “You’re sweet but you’re also kind of an ass.”
He opened the door for her, bracing himself against the cold as he took her elbow and guided her safely to the SUV. He looked at the tracks that Nila’s sedan had made in the parking lot, wishing that she’d taken Brynn up on her offer. He would’ve loved to drive to the daycare and pick up Jack with her and then take them both home. It was important to him that she was watched over. He had driven by her home more than once, even shifting and scouting the woods around her home. Her house was secure enough—dead bolts on the front and back doors, an alarm system—but she’d be safer in his house, that was just a fact.
After dropping Brynn off, he drove to the home that Mia rented in the development behind Nila’s. A small section of woods separated the two streets, and it was easy enough for Mal to shift in Mia’s backyard and trot across the woods to watch Nila’s house, which he did from time to time. He’d smelled other wolves in the woods, but the scents weren’t fresh so he knew that no one had been sniffing around Nila’s house in a couple of weeks.
Stomping off his boots on the front porch, he opened the front door and said, “Hey Mia.”
“Hi Mal, I’m in the kitchen.”
He inhaled the scent of pot roast and his mouth watered. Mia was a damn good cook, something she’d learned from their mom. Their parents had lived in Wilde Creek until Acksel had taken over as alpha a few years ago, and then they had decided to leave the pack and join his dad’s brother’s pack. Malachi had left with them, thinking he’d have a better chance of finding a mate if he were away from Wilde Creek where he’d never even had a passing thought of mating any of the she-wolves. Now Nila was here, though, and she was his mate. He was glad he’d moved back.
After eating his sister’s amazing pot roast and mashed potatoes, he moved the heavy mahogany desk from the family room to the spare bedroom. She wiped the desk off with a dust cloth and he moved the computer to the clean surface. “Planning to write the great American novel?” He teased.
“No, I just want it out of the family room. I keep banging my hip on the edge of the desk when I walk by. How’s work going?”
“It’s not exactly hard to sit at the doctor’s office and look at security footage all day.”
“I suppose not,” Mia said, smiling. “How long are you going to have to sit with her?”