by R. E. Butler
“It sucks. I hope he just goes away and leaves me alone, but I don’t know what else to do. It’s frustrating that the police only gave him a warning.”
“I’m sorry it’s happening to you. Would you like me to follow you home?”
“Oh no, thanks, though. That’s way out of your way.”
“I would, though. Happily.”
“Thanks. It’s not a far drive.”
“Okay. Do me a favor and text me when you get home, just so I know everything’s okay.”
She smiled at her boss. “I will. Thanks.”
Tilly nodded and followed Annie to her car, then said goodnight. Annie got behind the wheel, turned on the car, then sent a text to her dad to let him know she was on her way home.
The drive between the preschool and her house normally took about fifteen minutes. Annie had been feeling out of sorts and nervous all day after talking to Violet. She couldn’t believe the woman had acted that way. Like Annie should just go along with Roy and his delusions because he believed they were mates. It was ludicrous.
She turned onto Main Street. The whole interior of her car suddenly lit up from behind with bright headlights. They were high up, like for a truck, and blinded her rear and side-view mirrors. She sped up a little, but the truck stayed with her.
Her heart started to pound and her mouth went dry. It might be Roy. She turned down a side street suddenly, and doglegged, randomly weaving her way around to see if the truck followed.
It did.
She knew without a doubt it was Roy.
“Shit.” She realized that she didn’t know where she was. She’d been turning down every street she came upon, trying to put distance between herself and the truck, but no matter where she turned, he was right behind her. She could practically feel him breathing down her neck.
She dialed 911 but the call wouldn’t go through.
She had no service.
Gunning the car as fast as she dared, she turned onto another road and punched the gas, trying to stay calm despite the fear that had grabbed hold of her. As she barreled down a stretch of road, the truck’s engine roared behind her and she screamed as the truck connected with her bumper. Her car jerked to one side and she scrambled to keep it on the road. They were on a two-lane road that was unfortunately deserted—no streetlights to illuminate the woods on either side. She still had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar, and the longer she was on the road, the thicker the woods grew.
Oh no!
The truck slammed into her on the left side and her car lurched from side to side. Another hit from behind sent her car hurtling into the trees on the other side of the road. She jerked the steering wheel and narrowly missed a head-on with a big tree, but it caught the side of her car, spun her around, and slammed the driver’s side into another tree.
Her head knocked against the window and her vision spun for a moment. The car rocked on its side and shuddered, the engine shutting off and the dashboard lighting up.
For a moment, she didn’t do anything but stare out the windshield into the woods, dazed and frightened.
And then she heard the truck.
She freed herself from the seatbelt but couldn’t get her door open, as it was wedged against a tree. Climbing over the passenger seat, she grabbed her cell from the cup holder. She opened the door and fell out, rolling to her knees. Her ears were ringing and her head ached. She tasted blood and wondered if she’d bit her tongue or cheek on impact.
A door slammed and she lifted her head and found Roy standing next to his truck on the other side of the road. “You tried to have my sister tell me what to do?” he demanded with a loud voice. “I’m the alpha. I’m the law. You’re my mate and you’ll do what you’re told.”
“You could’ve killed me!”
She pushed herself up against the car and stifled a groan at the aches that started to bloom.
“You shouldn’t have run.” He strode toward her, and she swore his eyes were glowing.
“Stay away from me!” She lifted her phone and saw she was still without service.
He made a tsking sound and lifted a black device. “Your phone won’t work so you might as well toss it. Now come to me, and I won’t punish you too much for the trouble you caused. If you make me chase you, you won’t like what happens.”
He was mere feet away, his face carved with anger.
She wasn’t about to walk over to him and give herself to him. She was going to fight, damn it, and try her best to get away.
Even though she didn’t know where she was, there had to be a home or business nearby, and then she could call the cops. This was enough to get the police into action. Maybe if she was far enough away from him, her phone would work.
She thought about tossing him a salty insult or quipping something snarky, but instead she just ran. She dodged trees, branches slapped at her and scratched her skin, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t in the best shape of her life, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. If Roy wanted her, he’d have to catch her, and she’d go down swinging.
He shouted her name and demanded she return to him. Then she heard something tear and an angry growl.
Oh shit! He’d shifted.
Could coyotes run fast?
She’d find out. Oh hell, she hoped she could get away from him. He was willing to hurt her in his human form—there was no telling what his angry beast would do to her.
Not wanting to give up, she powered through the stitch in her side and the burning in her lungs and legs, pumping her arms, determined to run as fast as she could for as long as she could.
She’d find help or she’d get away from him or she’d die trying.
But she was no coyote’s mate.
Chapter Seven
Hemi dropped the rag into the bucket and carried it into the kitchen. “I’ll toss the trash on my way out,” he said to Titus, who lifted a tray of clean glasses from the dishwasher.
“Great, thanks. See you tomorrow night.”
Hemi nodded and headed back out to the bar, where Blu was setting beer bottles on the counter. “I’m going to take the trash on my way out, so that’ll be a little less you have to do to close.”
“Thanks,” she said. “Anything fun planned for the rest of the night?”
It was still early, only eight. “Nah.”
“Have a nice night,” she said.
“You too.”
Hemi clocked out on the tablet on the counter behind the bar and said goodbye. He shouldered the back door open and carried the trash bags out into the heat. The sun had dipped behind the trees, the sky awash in golds and oranges and the deeper midnight colors that signaled the night.
He tossed the bags into the dumpster and brushed off his hands.
Something caught his lion’s attention and he paused, tilting his head. He picked up a faint sound—a female crying. He touched his lion to enhance his hearing and was certain he heard a female crying and breathing hard. Then he heard a low growl.
Immediately, his lion went on alert. There was something about the crying female that called to him.
He stalked forward, away from the dumpster and bar, stepping off the concrete into the grass. Beyond the bar was woods and the pride territory, but the growl that was growing closer didn’t belong to a lion. He wasn’t sure what it was, actually; not a wolf or another big cat.
He moved forward into the grass, and the sobs grew louder, accompanied by pounding feet and panicked whimpers. The growl grew louder too. The female was being chased.
Every instinct in Hemi’s body went haywire as he set his sights on the woods. He pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped to call Titus. “Someone’s in trouble. Get out back!”
He didn’t wait for Titus’s response, but simply ended the call and walked toward the trees. Just as he reached the tree line, a female raced out from between them and leaped into his arms.
She was sobbing and shaking, digging her hands into his skin as she held onto h
im like he was a life preserver and she was adrift in a storm.
He knew the moment she hit his arms that she was his heart-match. It was instant and powerful.
Her fear was a bitter taste on the back of his tongue.
“What’s chasing you, sweetheart?” he asked, holding her close with one arm and letting his claws out of his other hand for defense.
“R-Roy,” she whispered, her voice laden with fear and scratchy from crying.
The growls stopped for a brief moment and Hemi looked around the trees, sensing another creature just beyond them in the darkness. “Whoever you are, she’s mine and she’s safe, under the protection of the lion pride.”
The female sobbed into his neck, her arms tightening around him.
Hemi stared into the darkness and saw a flash of eyes, a dark bronze color that he’d never seen before in a shifter. He narrowed his gaze, but he couldn’t make out anything in the shadows.
Behind him, the door to the bar opened. “What’s going on?” Titus demanded.
The female gasped and shuddered, and Hemi rubbed his cheek on the top of her head. “It’s okay. He’s my friend.”
A bright flashlight lit up the woods, and Hemi’s eyes went wide as he stared at the coyote.
The beast let out a snarl and then raced away.
“Tell me I didn’t just see that,” Titus said.
“What, the coyote?” Hemi asked as the beast’s movements grew quieter.
“Yeah. They’re dangerous as hell.”
“I’ve never met a coyote, but I take it you have?” Hemi asked.
“A few years ago.”
“What the hell is a coyote doing here, and who are you holding?” Titus asked.
“Let’s get inside where it’s safe,” Hemi said. “I have a feeling she’s got a serious story to tell us.”
“I’ll call Duke and have him meet us here. He can send some males out to search and make sure that asshole leaves our territory.”
“Thanks,” Hemi said.
He followed Titus to the back door. “Of course. Let’s go up to my apartment.”
* * *
Titus let them up into his apartment on the second floor. Hemi set the female on the couch and carefully pulled her arms from around his neck. He sat on the coffee table across from her.
She was stunning. Long dark hair, brown eyes, lips made for kissing.
He pushed aside the sexy thoughts and focused on her needs.
Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates and her whole body was trembling.
“My name is Hemi Bennett. I work at this bar. What’s your name?”
She blinked slowly and took in a few breaths. “Annie Carmichael.”
He heard Titus on the phone in the kitchen.
“Roy’s the coyote?”
She nodded.
Titus walked out of the kitchen and handed her a box of tissues.
“I’m Titus. I live here at the bar so you’re safe. Can you tell us what happened?”
Annie wiped under her eyes and blew her nose, going through a handful of tissues before she let out a shuddering breath and pushed her dark hair out of her face. “Roy’s nephew is a student of mine at a private school in Greenville. I went out on one coffee date with him over a week ago, and he told me right away that we were mates.”
The more Annie revealed about Roy’s behavior, the angrier Hemi got. He’d never heard of a male behaving the way Roy had. Heart-matches weren’t one-sided—both the male and female had to feel the connection. Roy was clearly mistaking his attraction to Annie as proof she was his mate, but she’d said no, and Roy should’ve taken the hint.
Hemi rose slowly and Annie clutched at his hand. “Where are you going?”
“To get you a glass of water, sweetheart. I’ll be right in the kitchen.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded, releasing her grip on his hand. He motioned for Titus, who followed him into the kitchen. Hemi grabbed a glass and filled it with tap water.
“Duke’s called in some of our best trackers. They’re going to pick up the coyote’s scent and see if he’s still lurking. What do you want to do about her?”
Hemi looked at his boss and friend. “She’s my heart-match.”
“I figured.”
“You did?”
“Your eyes keep flashing and you’ve been quietly growling the whole time she was talking. A male with a mate in danger would act like that.”
Hemi scrubbed a hand over his face. “She’s been terrorized. I can’t talk to her about mating anytime soon. Plus, she’s human and admits to not knowing much about shifters.”
“There’s no rule that says you have to mate her immediately, anyway. Give her time, let her lead. She can stay here tonight if she doesn’t want to go home.”
Hemi’s lip curled at the thought of his mate in the apartment of an unmated male. Before he could say anything, Titus put his hands up. “I mean, she can stay in Duke’s old apartment and you can stay there too. Calm down. I don’t want to get my head bitten off tonight.”
Chuckling, Hemi said, “Okay, thanks.”
They returned to the front room and Hemi sat next to Annie on the couch and handed her the glass of water.
She took a few sips and sighed. “I need to call my parents.”
“Do you have a phone?” Titus asked.
“I did. I dropped it when I tripped over a log and I just got up and kept going.”
“I think we should call in Doc, have him take a look at her,” Hemi said as he unlocked his phone and gave it to Annie.
“I don’t need a doctor,” Annie said.
“He’s one of the pride members. Not only did you say Roy caused you to hit a tree in your car, you were racing for your life for a damn long time—you’re shook up and exhausted. You’re probably still running on adrenaline right now and have no idea of the extent of your injuries.”
“All right,” she said. She gave him a small smile and he felt like the king of the world.
Titus handled the call to Doc, who said he’d be there as soon as he could.
Duke showed up and Hemi gave him a quick overview of what Annie had told them. He kept one ear on Annie’s conversation with her parents, his lion making worried noises in his head every time she started to cry while she talked. Her parents found her boss’s number in her apartment so she could call her as well.
“We’ve got a handful of our males searching the woods. I scented the coyote at the tree line, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was long gone. We’ll locate her car and have it towed to the garage in town for repair.”
Hemi had given Duke a description of her vehicle. She hadn’t known where she was because she’d been so panicked while she was driving, but the trackers would be able to follow her scent.
“Titus told me he offered you my apartment to let her rest for the night if she’d like, and that’s fine with me. There’s not much in the way of food, but there are snacks in the cabinets,” Duke said.
“Thanks. I don’t know if she’ll want to stay but if she does, I’ll camp on the couch.”
Duke glanced past Hemi to where Annie was talking to her boss and then looked at him. “I’m happy you found your heart-match.”
“Me too.”
Annie ended the call and sniffled and Hemi moved back to sit on the couch next to her. “How are you doing?”
“Okay. Better.” She rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her, drawing her close.
There was a beeping sound on both Duke’s and Titus’s phones. Duke looked at the screen and said, “That’s the police. Why don’t we go down to the bar and Annie can make a statement?”
“Will they be able to stop him from coming after me again?” she asked.
Hemi rose to his feet and helped her up. “He caused you physical harm, so there’s no reason they can’t arrest him. He’d be a fool to come after you again, though.”
She stared up at him, her cheeks pink, and her eyes red from crying. “He
would?”
Hemi was tempted to tell her what she was to him, but he knew it wasn’t the time. Instead, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “I’ve got your back, Annie. I warned him you were under the protection of the pride, and any male with an ounce of brain would know it’s deadly to come against our people.”
“I’m not sure how smart he is,” she said. “He can’t take a hint. But maybe your threat was enough. Thank you.”
“I’m glad I can be here for you.” He cleared his throat. “After you give your statement to the police, I can take you home if you’d like.”
Her eyes searched his face. “Or?”
“Excuse me?”
“It sounded like you were going to say you could take me home or something else.”
“There’s an empty apartment next to this one that belongs to Duke and his mate. They offered it to you if you’d like to stay here instead.”
“By myself?”
“I could stay with you. On the couch, of course.”
She hummed. “Of course.” She sniffed and rolled her shoulders. “I think I’d like to stay here. With you.”
“Good.” His lion was purring like a kitten.
He led her down to the bar and pulled out a seat for her. Duke and Titus were speaking to the two police officers—one of whom was a lion from their pride. Killion was a few years older than Hemi and had been part of the police force for years.
Hemi sat next to Annie and introduced her to the two males when they walked over.
“We’re sorry you were hurt tonight,” Killion said. “If you’d tell us everything that’s happened since you first met this coyote shifter, we’ll file the report and put a warrant out for his arrest. You should consider, also, putting a restraining order on him.”
“The police in my town said they couldn’t do more than urge him away from me because he hadn’t actually done anything to hurt me.”
“I know it sucks that the way our justice system is set up can seem to favor the criminals. I don’t want to say that what happened tonight is good, because it’s sure as hell not, but he physically harmed you and caused damage to your property. He’s acted in a way that allows us to arrest him. Start at the beginning, Annie.”