by Lola Kidd
Every hair on his body was standing up and he was ready for whatever was coming his way. Flashes of a black car and blood and snow flashed before his eyes.
Where was his brother? He knew his father was at work. They had exchanged emails before he headed out this morning.
What about Jasper? He hadn't heard from Jasper in a few days. Could something have happened to the baby?
He was sure his stepmother was fine at home, but his father had mentioned that she wasn't feeling too well this week.
The thoughts raced through his mind at warp speed. He took an inventory of where everyone he loved should be at the moment. Who could it be? What was the emergency?
"Someone is out front." Potter paced back and forth in front of the door. "Lenni is out there without someone."
"Who is it?" Beckett roared. He flung open the door and saw Lenni talking to a wiry man who looked familiar.
"I have no idea, but someone Lenni knows. I think it's a shifter."
Her ex-boyfriend. Beckett charged outside and almost let his bear out. Lenni was standing too close to the man. The man stepped forward, putting Lenni behind him.
"Beckett?" He tilted his head up at the one-word question.
It was the son of the Scrabble alpha. Ned. Beckett recognized him from seeing him around town. He still had the same old lanky hair and Beckett could smell him from this far away.
He had no idea how Lenni could date a man so disgusting.
"Ned I assume." Beckett stepped forward with his hand outstretched. He had to play nice until he could get Lenni out from behind the guy.
The young Wolf looked at his hand and sneered. "You the guy keeping my girlfriend locked up here?"
Lenni's mouth twisted in rage. "I am not your girlfriend. You shouldn't be here. As I just explained to you, you're trespassing."
"You gonna call the cops on me?" Ned asked Beckett. The air was thick with tension. There was no question that Beckett could take this wolf. He was twice his size and more than twice his age. But he didn't want to hurt Lenni during a fight. She wasn't moving from her spot behind Ned even though he was imploring her with his eyes to move. Move anywhere else.
Lenni put her hand on Ned's shoulder. "I will call the police. I'll press charges too. You know I have a restraining order, right?"
"No you don't." Ned raised his chin and glared at Beckett.
He could hear the uncertainty in the younger man's voice and he jumped on it. "She's right. You aren't supposed to be anywhere near her. Didn't you get the order in the mail?"
Beckett had no idea how restraining orders worked, but he was betting Ned didn't either. And once they got the wolf out of there, he was going to march Lenni down the police station himself and help her file the order. He'd call his lawyer on the way to make sure they did it right.
"This guy can't keep you here." Ned took Lenni's hand. "If he's making you do anything you don't want to do, you can tell me, baby. I won't be mad. Let me protect you. I'll take you away from here and keep you safe."
Beckett's bear was suddenly not so tired. The animal was snarling and ready for a fight. It was difficult to keep it locked up inside. "Get off my property. After I talk to the police, I'm going to talk to your father too. Let him know that you're bringing the human police into his life again. I don't think he's going to be too happy to hear about this."
"I don't care." Ned let go of Lenni's hand. "I have to get out of here, baby. I have work. If you need anything, call me."
"She doesn't need anything from you," Beckett snarled.
Ned took two quick steps and got in his face. "If you hurt a hair on her head, I'll kill you. I swear."
Beckett opened and closed his fist. "The feeling is mutual."
Ned got in his car and drove off, scowling. He may be the leader's son, but he still wasn't the alpha of his pack. His father didn't want the humans poking around his pack grounds and he sure as hell didn't want any trouble with the Hansen family.
Lenni stood next to Beckett with her hands at her side as Ned drove back down the mountain. Once he was out of sight she relaxed.
"How did he get in here?" Beckett asked. He kept his voice even and tried not to sound accusatory.
She hung her head "I let him in. I thought I could get him to leave quicker if I talked to him. He wasn't going to hurt me."
"We're going to get a restraining order as soon as I change my clothes," Beckett told her.
"I don't think I have enough material for a restraining order," Lenni said, worrying her bottom lip. "I looked it up already and he hasn't really done anything to warrant it."
"Why were you looking it up then?" Beckett demanded. "He's been following you around and he's turned up at your place of work. There is more than enough reason to get an order against him."
"I would rather just forget about it."
Beckett shook his head. "We need to get on this now to get this restraining order."
He wondered if she wanted to get back with him. Why else would she be so reluctant to get a restraining order against the clearly unhinged shifter?
"I don't want to do that. It's going to make it more difficult for me. He's going to leave me alone."
Beckett took her by the shoulders and made her face him. "I'll call my lawyer. I'll speak with him and see what he thinks. If he says you have a case, will you go and file?"
She lowered her eyes. "Sure."
He nodded. "Okay."
He wasn't going to let her leave his sight until this was sorted out. She was his employee after all. He couldn't let anything happen to her.
Chapter Twelve
"You're driving entirely too fast." Beckett had one hand on the dashboard and the other on the handle over the window.
Lenni stifled a laugh. "I'm going the speed limit."
"Are you?" Beckett craned his neck to look at her dashboard.
She tapped the glass. "Forty-five. And not a mile faster. You need to relax."
"Maybe you're just driving too recklessly," he said through gritted teeth.
She shook her head. "You're just a control freak."
He snorted. "I am not."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and laugh again. He was arguing with her like a child. If it were up to her, he wouldn't have even been in the car. But being the man he was, Beckett had to follow her into town. She'd already filed for a restraining order against Ned on the advice of his lawyer, but Beckett was still jumpy. She had let him come along to humor him.
"At least I'm getting pizza at the end of this," Beckett said. He leaned back and closed his eyes. "You're lucky I even agreed to come with you."
It was Lenni's turn to grit her teeth. She shook her head and turned up the radio. She had never asked him to come. He was being so ridiculous about this whole thing. She was going to meet her dad for pizza at their favorite spot. It was a heavily populated pizza joint. Ned wasn't going to try anything there. He hadn't even texted her since the incident in front of the house.
It had been two days since she'd talked with her father and she wanted to talk with him in person to give him peace of mind. He wasn't that scared when he heard that Ned had come to Beckett's, oddly enough. He'd only asked if the bear-shifter was home and had been okay with it all once he heard that Beckett had taken care of it. Lenni suspected that the two men had been in contact via email. It would be so like Beckett to email her father so he knew a "real man" was taking care of the scared little woman.
She had handled Ned herself, darn it! It had been more difficult than she'd hoped, but she had gotten him to leave. It was nice having Beckett out there with her, but she could have done it by herself. She was sure that Ned would be over his obsession now. He had to know that she wasn't his mate.
"Hey, do shifters know when they find their mate?" she asked Beckett suddenly.
He opened one eye. "Aren't you familiar with all things shifter? Your dad's kind of a human expert."
"I'm just wondering why Ned is so sure that I'm his mate
. Wouldn't I know it if I were?"
Beckett open both his eyes. "Not necessarily. While the shifter can be sure when they find their mate, there is no guarantee that the human will acknowledge or recognize the same truth. It can be a real pain when a shifter's mate is a human. It's better now of course. But in the past, it ended in heartbreak as often as happily ever after."
"But if I don't think I'm his mate then I'm not, right?"
Beckett looked out the window. "That's really tough for me to say. You're a human so it's impossible for you to know what it's like. But with this guy I'm pretty sure that he's very confused. You guys don't seem like you're right together at all. This is more like some kind of obsession. He wants you because he can't have you."
"How can you be sure?"
"I can't." He shrugged and looked back at her. "But I'm pretty sure I'm right. If you were his mate, his father would've pushed harder when I told him to back off. But the Scrabble alpha was very annoyed and promised to keep his son away this time. No alpha would let his son's mate get away. They'd be storming my castle by now to get you."
She nodded as she found a parking spot in front of the pizzeria. She checked the street before getting out. She wondered how long she'd be doing that.
Beckett looked around the parking lot too, and followed close at her side until they were inside. Lenni was relieved to have him with her even though she would never tell him that. She hated to admit it to herself, but she was feeling safer. She hadn't expected to feel so afraid being in public.
If anything were to happen, she had no doubt in her mind that Beckett could best Ned in a second. He may be a control freak, but he was a powerful shifter and a powerful man. Even if they fought in human form, she knew Beckett could take Ned out. It wouldn't even be a fair fight. She had to admit, sometimes it was useful to have a bit of brawn at your side.
"You brought Beckett," her father said delightedly once he spotted them.
Of course, her father was more excited to see the shifter than he was to see her. She hugged him and slid into her spot in the booth.
"You ordered yet?" Beckett asked.
"Not yet," her father said. "I'm so surprised you came out tonight."
Beckett looked at Lenni. "I wanted to be sure she was safe. And I do love the pizza. It's the best for at least fifty miles."
"Safe from what?" Her father's brow furrowed as he looked from one to the other. "This can't be about Ned still, can it?"
"It is I'm afraid," Beckett said, looking at the menu. "But don't worry. I'm going to get this settled if it's the last thing I do before I go. I'm not letting her leave my employment before I know that she's safe. And you too of course."
"Ned's never done anything unbecoming to me," her father assured him. "And I know that he would never try anything now that he knows Lenni is under your protection."
"I don't think he would ever hurt my dad," Lenni reiterated. "He's never even hurt me."
"Following you around isn't exactly nothing," Beckett growled. "Don't take this matter lightly. You have a restraining order now. If he comes within five hundred feet of you, you call the cops."
"I always knew those dating apps were going to get you in trouble." Her dad shook his head. "You don't use those, do you Beckett?"
"Actually, I don't." He determinedly looked at the menu. Redness crept up from under his shirt to the sides of his face. If she didn't know better, she would think he was blushing.
"You've never used one?" she prodded.
"My dad owns MateMe!" Beckett bit out. "I didn't like it from the minute I heard about it. It just doesn't seem natural for shifters to meet online that way. And you never know who you're really meeting either."
"That's exactly how I feel," her father nodded sagely. "I wish you could talk some sense into my daughter."
"I've never had a bad experience before this," she said, annoyed. "And again Ned hasn't hurt me—he's just a little strung out."
"Stalker. He's a bit of a stalker." Beckett looked her in the eye. "I'm not lying. I'm not going to leave your side until this is done. Or you're not going to leave mine. We're in this together now."
She was a little annoyed. She wasn't some helpless damsel in distress after all, but she couldn't help but smile inside. Beckett really was taking point on this. It was nice to be able to sit back and relax knowing that someone had her back. She knew it was weak of her, but it was all so tiring having to be on alert all the time. Now, if she slipped and relaxed, she knew she would still be okay. Beckett had her back.
She had been worrying about this for months and it was so nice of him to help her get Ned out of her life once and for all. She knew that he wouldn't go overboard because that wasn't his style, but she trusted that he would get it done the fastest way legally possible.
"You work in security?" her father asked him.
"I do. I do mostly cyber security now, but I have worked one-on-one before."
"That's so interesting," her father said. "I would assume that you're the one who needs security, not the one to watch people."
"Usually," Beckett agreed. "But I wanted to be able to protect myself and my family too. Learning how to do this side of it has given me a leg up when it comes to interpersonal problems. I'm never afraid now."
"Maybe you could teach Lenni some self-defense?" her father said, his voice rising.
"What would do you guys want to get? I was thinking maybe pepperoni," Lenni said, changing the subject.
"That's not a bad idea." Beckett rubbed his chin. "Both the pepperoni and the self-defense classes. I think we could not find out in a week. Definitely after we get back from the wedding we're going to do that."
Interesting, it sounded like he was talking about extending her contract if he wanted her around after the wedding. It sounded like he was going to be in her life longer than she had anticipated. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she wasn't mad. Beckett was a nice guy to have around. Ironically enough, even though she had been hired to assist him, he was the one making her life easier. She wasn't ready to have him move out of her life so quickly anymore.
Chapter Thirteen
A familiar dragon's roar broke Beckett's quiet. He was writing another letter to the alpha of the Scrabble Pack. He wanted to thank him for his help in putting this whole Ned/Lenni thing to rest. But the dragon's ringtone could only mean one thing: Beckett could stand to take a break from the letter writing. His next task was going to be even more unpleasant. He was going to have to convince Lenni to stay at the mansion while he was away. He didn't trust that Ned would stay chill while he was out. Maybe if he offered to let her dad come stay too until they left for the wedding she would agree to it.
But that was a problem he would tackle later this afternoon.
"What's up brother?" Beckett leaned back in his chair and smiled, spinning toward the sun. "Excited about our flight tonight?"
"Don't hate me," said the dragon shifter on the other side of the line.
Beckett groaned. "There's no way I could hate my best friend in the whole world, but don't tell me you can't go."
He'd been looking forward to this trip with Jasper for the last two months. Ever since the baby had been born, they hadn't had a chance to do a guy's weekend. Jasper was excited to be a father and Beckett could understand why he was spending all his time with Leah and the baby, but he still missed his friend.
"The baby is sick. I don't want to leave Leah alone with the baby right now."
"No worries, man. We'll reschedule for a different weekend. Maybe we can even bring the baby and Leah out too."
"No way," Jasper laughed. "I love my family, but man I could really use a weekend away for myself. Leah needs a weekend with the girls too. I'm sending her and her cousin away one weekend and then we'll take the next weekend. I have it all planned out."
Beckett nodded. "That sounds great, man."
"You don't even know. I love my little dragonling, but he is a handful already."
There was
crying in the background and Beckett chucked. "Sounds like duty calls. I'll let you go, man."
"For sure. I'll see you soon."
Beckett hung up. His heart was lower. He really had been looking forward to this trip. It was going to go to waste now.
"Something getting you down?" Patrick came in with his afternoon snack and stopped when he saw the look on Beckett's face.
"Jasper just canceled our trip," Beckett sighed. "I was ready to relax on a warm beach for a night or two with a cold drink in my hand."
"You can always go alone. Or take me." Patrick waggled his eyebrows. "I may be an old man, but I still have some fun."
Beckett laughed. "I'd love to, but you hate the sand just like Potter."
"I do love a good vacation though," Patrick sighed. "Ever since my wife died, I haven't done a good trip in years."
He cocked his head. "I could always send you to a resort. It wouldn't be any trouble. I mean, if I'm on vacation, there's no point in you sitting here and moping around the empty house with no one to serve."
Patrick's eyes lit up. "Are you kidding? Don't play with my emotions, Beckett."
"No joke," Beckett promised. "I'd love nothing more than to see you have a good time. You're so loyal and you make my life so much better."
They needed the trip and so did he. He could have them out the next day, but what to do with Lenni? He didn't want to leave her alone in the mansion. He could have his father send down a security team, but that still made him uneasy.
"I think this sounds like the perfect way to make the weekend for me, but I have one problem," Beckett said. "What to do with Miss Belle. Do you think she'd enjoy going with you and Potter to a ski resort?"
"I don't think so," Patrick said doubtfully. "She prefers the sand and sun like you. You know..."
Beckett could see the wheels turning in Patrick's head, but he wasn't sure he was going to like what his butler was thinking. But his bear was already excited at the prospect before the choice was even voiced.
"You could take her with you," Patrick said quickly. "If you two go and we go everyone is happy going on the trip they want. Jasper is not going, so you have an extra space. This is the perfect way to salvage the whole thing and Lenni could really use a vacation right now."