by Robbie Cox
He stood on his porch after hugging her goodbye, and watched as she walked down his dirt driveway, keeping his eyes on her until she turned and headed out of sight. He wasn’t thrilled with her walking home alone, not with Kyle still out there. Keeping his eyes on his driveway, he slipped out of his pajama pants, dropping them carelessly in a heap on the porch. Once he figured enough time had passed, he shifted, legs and arms popping and stretching, feet and hands transforming into paws, the striped fur of a tiger oozing out of his skin as whiskers slid from his nose. It only took a few seconds, agonizing seconds, but ones he would endure to ensure Eve’s safety. He hunched down on his back paws and then leaped off his porch, slipping into the woods between his cabin and Eve’s. She may not want him beside her, babysitting, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep an eye on her as best as he could. She just wouldn’t know he did it. After all, what Eve didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him.
At least, that was his hope.
Ten
She left Arlin’s cabin and, to be honest, the fact that he allowed her out of his sight amazed her. Considering she just met him yesterday, his over-protectiveness seemed quite obvious. And annoying. She would not allow anyone to cosset her ever again.
Then she grinned as she left his street and turned onto the dirt road leading to her own cabin. Of course, with the way he drove his cock into her, she just might permit him to try. She could still feel him between her legs, knowing her pussy lips were swollen and aching. Months had passed since a man made love to her, not that she would call having sex with Kyle making love, and she would savor the soreness for the rest of the day. She could have remained in bed all day enjoying his body. She chuckled. The look in his eyes when I bit him was priceless. Shifters and their whole mate mark thing crack me up. It was nice to turn the tables on him. She sighed contentedly, slipping her hands into her pockets. She heard all about shifters and how fast the attraction to their mates erupted, but she never understood it until that morning and seeing Arlin standing there in his pajama pants, shock covering his face at her outburst. God, it was so worth it. His assumption that she’d know why he did it and accept his actions baffled her. Men. Shifter men, especially.
Of course, she had to admit, as much as it annoyed her that he did it, she truly appreciated his cleaning up her place after the crime scene people left. The thought of returning home to a disaster, knowing Kyle had ransacked her place, was almost too much to stomach. Her mother really wasn’t to blame for giving her location away. It wasn’t like Eve told anyone why she left Kyle, feeling the shame usually associated with domestic abuse, even if it wasn’t her shame to bear, but Kyle’s. She was embarrassed at the time. The truth was, she was still embarrassed, even though she tried to overcome it. Talking to her friends helped quite a bit. And to Arlin. Revealing her secret took the burden of keeping it from her shoulders, and she actually felt herself walking taller. None of what she endured had been her fault. Kyle was a sick bastard, who needed help. Serious help. He wouldn’t get it from her, though. The only thing he would ever get from her was the point of her knife, and she would have no regrets about doing it.
Her eyes popped wide, as she jerked a hand to the sheath at her waist. The empty sheath. She closed her eyes and groaned, as she pictured her knife sitting on Arlin’s kitchen counter. How on earth could she forget her knife? This is what happens when she allows herself to become distracted.
Pausing in her tracks, she debated within as to whether or not she should go back and get it. With a shake of her head, she decided against it, realizing that she wasn’t sure when the glass repair guy would arrive. For all she knew, the man already waited at her cabin, pacing, or giving up on waiting and leaving. She needed those windows fixed so she could stay at her own place tonight, instead of Alanna’s. She liked her friend, but not as a roommate, and especially not with Josh trying to sneak into Alanna’s bedroom late in the night. She giggled as she shook her head, beginning her trek again. For two shifters who knew all about mating, Alanna and Josh did everything except the marking. They were hornier than any other…
“So, I see without me, you’ve turned into a bed-hopper.”
Eve jerked around to see Kyle standing there, staring at her with disgust on his face. Her heart raced, drumming into her ears, her breathing caught in her throat as fear shook her, making her knees, her arms, tremble. She slid a hand down her waist to the sheath, swallowing more fear as she remembered it was empty. She took a deep breath. I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid. “For the record,” she snarled at him, “I’m not a bed-hopper as you say. Even if I was, however, it’s no longer your concern or business. You gave up that right when you hit me that very first time. It just took me a while to realize it.”
“I hit you?” he sneered. “You’re blaming me for all of that? You were a sad individual when I met you. I made you into something, gave you everything, took care of you.” His voice rose as he spoke, and she watched as he took a couple of steps closer. However, even though she trembled, she refused to back down. Oh, she was very much afraid, but she would face that fear. “Yet, you just couldn’t stop pissing me off. You never appreciated everything I did for you. Selfish. You’ve always been selfish. Never satisfied.” He was so close to her, she could fear the spittle from his outburst strike her face. She flinched, but refused to move.
“Then you should be happy I left.” She straightened her back, doing her best to appear taller, stronger. “Why are you following me?”
He shook his head. “You never appreciate what I do for you.” He shrugged. “I was worried about you. I know how much trouble you have getting along with people and staying organized. I came here to make sure you were all right and all I get for my trouble is a smart mouth and a snotty attitude.” He reached out, gripping her arm and jerking her toward him, sneering into her face. “Is that anyway to treat the man who’s always taken care of you? Huh?”
“Let go of me, you ass!” Eve jerked her arm out of his grasp, trying to shove herself away from him. She spun a little, stumbling from the force of her reaction. “You don’t own me.” She turned back around, regaining her balance, only to feel him backhand her, sending her spinning around, stumbling to the ground.
Catching herself with her hands, the tiny pebbles digging into her flesh, she jerked her gaze back around to stare at him, tears stinging her eyes. He loomed over her, his eyes narrow slits as he growled at her. “I will always own you, Eve. Always.” He straightened, his arms dangling at his sides, as he gazed up the road. “I’m giving you until tonight to get your belongings and head back home.” He gazed back down at her, an artificial smile turning the corners of his mouth up. “Don’t make me come back for you.” He winked, and then turned and walked off.
She watched as he walked away, his hands in his front pockets, his lips pursed as he whistled. If she had her knife, she’d run after him and sink the blade into his back.
Rustling could be heard off to the side of the road. She turned just as a giant tiger hopped over a fallen log and padded his way toward her. His lithe body moved with grace as he padded over to where she lay sprawled on the ground. When he reached her, he butted his head against her shoulder, pushing her slightly as he purred.
She sighed as she reached up and scratched his head, leaning into him. “It’s okay, Stripes. I’ve suffered worse.”
Arlin growled as he turned his face in the direction that Kyle vanished, sniffing the air.
Eve nodded. “Yeah, you just missed him.” She moved her hand to scratch behind the tiger’s ear as he growled louder. “Yeah, I wish I had just missed him, too.” She fell back into him as Arlin sat on his haunches, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. So much for escaping.
Eleven
Someone needed to die. Correction. Kyle Wagner needed to die, and he needed to die at Arlin’s hands. What kind of a man hit a woman? Arlin twisted his hands on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. If he had just arrived a coupl
e of minutes sooner, he would have been able to sink his fangs into Kyle’s weaselly body and put an end to the threat over Eve’s head. It was time to make sure that her ex-lover knew that no meant no.
Once they arrived at Eve’s cabin, Arlin had her call Alanna to come over with her boyfriend, Josh Rayburn. Boyfriend was a very loose term, Eve told Arlin. “The two of them are more like friends with extra extra benefits who happen to have no one else with the same benefits,” Eve said. “Apparently, Alanna has an issue with titles and roles, preferring everything to remain casual.”
Arlin just laughed at that. When Eve asked him what was so funny, he only replied, “Little Warrior, those two sniff around each other like mates denied. I don’t care what she’s saying out loud; inside, her wolf is wanting to mate with Josh’s panther.”
“Can they do that?” she asked. “Have sex and deny the actual mating part?”
“They can do it, but it’s not always easy or fun. They’ll have to give in sooner or later or go crazy with the calling. It’s a powerful pull on shifters.”
Once the others arrived, Arlin left Eve in their capable care and headed for the sheriff’s office. He wanted to get some type of restraining order on Kyle. It wouldn’t work, of course, but it would at least show there was cause when Arlin just happened to over-react in defending Eve.
The sheriff’s department was a small building, typical of what he would expect in a small town—single-story, brick exterior, with a brown shingle roof. The parking lot was small and the inside had nothing in the way of security measures to keep the bad guys from going after the sheriffs. There wasn’t even bulletproof glass in front of the receptionist, who happened to be a small, gray-haired lady with the thickest reading glasses Arlin ever saw. How she kept them on her nose was a miracle at best.
Stepping up to the desk, he asked if Lainie Everest was available and then was promptly told to take a seat as the woman stared at him over the top of her glasses as opposed to through them. He just smiled, withholding the chuckle that bubbled up, and took his seat. The hall behind the woman seemed to hold tiny offices off to each side, along with another hall breaking to the right. The noise was nonexistent, as if everyone was out, and Arlin worried that he should have called first.
However, his wait wasn’t long and soon Lainie walked out of one of the offices near the back of the hall and motioned for him to join her. Arlin smiled at the woman behind the desk, who only watched him through cynical eyes as he passed her. She was probably deciding whether or not he was culprit or victim.
“Arlin, right?” Lainie extended her arm, shaking his hand as he returned her grip, nodding at her remembrance of his name. “What brings you by?”
Arlin stepped in behind her, following her to her office. “Eve was attacked a little while ago,” he said. “I want to file…”
“What?” Lainie came up short, spinning as she did, causing him to bump into her before he could stop his steps. “Why weren’t we called? How bad is she?”
Arlin took a step back. “Not bad. He only hit her once before threatening her and walking away. I just missed him.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Missed him?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I knew she didn’t want me to follow her home, so I shifted into my tiger, and worked my way through the woods between her cabin and mine. By the time I realized she hadn’t made it home and backtracked, Kyle had already caught up with her and knocked her to the ground.” He shrugged, giving a proud smile remembering Eve’s determination. “She wouldn’t back down from him and he made her pay for that insult. He also said he would come back for her in a few hours and she had better be ready to leave. I want a restraining order to keep him away from her.”
She looked at him sideways. “You really think a piece of paper is going to stop him?”
“Not at all,” he said with a shake of his head. “But it starts a trail.”
She glanced around them, making sure no one was listening. “Starting a defense?”
It was his turn to pop an eyebrow at her. “Let’s just say, he won’t hit her again. Ever.”
She turned and continued walking back toward her office, Arlin trailing behind her. “Well, a restraining order doesn’t happen that fast. It’ll take a couple of weeks after filling out the paperwork to get a hearing, but I can at least file a report and get it started. That’ll be something.”
“It’ll take that long? Really? We can’t do it faster?”
She entered the office, walking around the oak desk along the back wall. Arlin walked in behind her and stood in front of her desk as she sat down. Her words weren’t what he wanted to hear, especially knowing Kyle would return later that night to carry out his threat.
He wasn’t about to give up, however. “Seems odd that it would take so long if someone’s life is being threatened.”
Lainie sat in her desk chair, pulling herself up to her desk. “I agree with you, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. As sad as it sounds, no one’s actually seen him do anything except make an ass out of himself at Everglades. We don’t know what happened back where they came from or even what he did before you arrived today.”
“You think she made it up?” He couldn’t believe what he heard. This woman was supposed to be Eve’s friend. How could she not want to protect Eve? “I saw her on the ground right after he backhanded her.” His tiger growled and Arlin fought to keep the animal from losing his control. Save it for Kyle, boy.
Lainie shook her head as she folded her hands. “It doesn’t matter whether I believe her or not, which for the record, I do. However, in the law’s eyes, it’s her word against his. No witnesses.” She leaned forward as he took a seat. “And it’s not a rare thing, either. Hell, twenty people are physically abused by intimate partners every minute here in the United States. And it’s not just women. Men are victims as well. On a typical day over twenty-thousand calls are made to domestic violence hotlines nationwide, and there’s no stereotype for the victim; they come in all ages, races, religions, economic standings, and even sexual orientations. The problem is that most will keep it to themselves until it’s too late, because they feel embarrassed or ashamed. Eve’s a survivor. Quite a few victims suffer from a high rate of depression, which can even lead to suicide.”
“And even with all of that, there’s nothing we can do?”
She tilted her head to the side. “You said he told her he would come back to get her tonight?”
“No. Just that he expected her to pack and head back home to him. If she didn’t, he’d come back for her and make sure she regretted not obeying him.”
“Obviously, she’s not leaving, so my advice is to stay close to her and wait for him to screw up. I’ll try to keep an eye out as well, and when we see him attack her, she presses charges, and I can lock his ass away for good.”
“We have to allow her to remain in danger in order to catch the guy? Isn’t that kind of the opposite of protecting her?” Arlin was not the sit and wait type of guy. He wouldn’t risk anything happening to his mate while the police sat around on their asses. While the law might not be Lainie’s fault, her enforcing it was. “I’m not going to allow anything to happen to Eve.” He stared at Lainie through narrowed eyes. “You know I can’t.”
“Trust me, I know. Still, as far as the law is concerned, that’s the best advice I can give you.” Then she leaned forward even more, lowering her voice as she did. “However, you and I both know that some things can only be handled with a shifter type of justice. Protect your girl would be my personal advice.”
Arlin nodded, but didn’t say anything. Protecting Eve had been his plan all along, regardless of what the law said. He wouldn’t sit on his ass while Kyle made some move to hurt Eve. Arlin’s tiger growled his agreement with a slip of fur oozing out of Arlin’s arms to prove the point. The animal would take matters into his own hands—or rather paws—if he had to in order to protect his mate.
Don’t worry, boy. I’m right here with you. No
thing is going to harm our girl. Arlin thanked Lainie for her time, and then turned and walked out of her office. He had been away from Eve too long as it was and needed to get back to her. He wouldn’t feel calm again until he knew he was there at her side to protect her; it didn’t matter how many others were there already. Eve was his and he would be the one to make sure Kyle did nothing else to hurt her. Not and walk away from it anyway.
Twelve
Eve tested the sharpness of her blade with her thumb before sliding it back into the sheath at her waist. The first thing she did when she arrived back at her cabin was select a new knife to replace the one she left at Arlin’s. She would not be caught unawares again if Kyle reappeared, and there was no doubt that he would. If he followed her all the way to Bull Creek, then he wouldn’t give up that easy, which meant his threats were more than threats; they were promises.
She walked back over to the kitchen counter, needing more coffee. Alanna had left a few moments ago, along with Josh and Ezra, after making sure the repairs were finished and Eve’s cabin was safe and secure. She could tell by the look on Alanna’s face that she didn’t really want to leave, but Eve needed to be alone to figure out what she needed to do next. She didn’t doubt that Kyle would be watching. Glancing at the front door—the locked front door—she wondered if she’d be able to spot him in the woods around her cabin. It only made sense that he’d be out there after threatening her to pack up and head back to where they had lived together. He’d want to know his threat worked.
He had to know there was no way in hell that she’d listen to him. There was no going back. He’d have to kill her first, and if it came down to one of them having to die, it would be Kyle Wagner. She’d be sure of that.
The sound of tires on gravel broke the silence. Panic gripped her for a moment as she stared at the front door. No! I will not allow myself to fear him. Not anymore. With her hand on the hilt of her knife, Eve walked to the window at the front of the cabin, blowing out a breath as she did. It was one thing to tell yourself to calm down and quite another for your body to listen to the pep talk.