Protecting What's Hers (To Love And Defend Book 2)

by Daniella Starre

“Nope. Don’t worry about me,” Mandy said. “I’ll figure this out.”

  “You shouldn’t have to,” Olivia said. “You aren’t alone in this.”

  “I know, but I also don’t want you all to be in danger.”

  “And you should be?” her friend protested.

  “Of course not. I…” Mandy’s mind churned. “I want him stopped, right?”

  “Yes.” Olivia’s jaw dropped in horror. “Look, as disgusting as this guy is, I do not think you should try to lure him out just so the cops can nab him.”

  “If that’s what it takes,” Mandy said stubbornly.

  “Girl, I will not let you leave my side.”

  “You have to work,” Mandy said, her voice growing quiet.

  “Yes, but I can take a few days off.”

  “It’s Jack. We both know it is. He’s escalating things, which means he’s going to keep trying, so why not use myself as bait?”

  “Involve the police if you do,” Olivia begged. “Better yet, just let them do their job. Let them gather leads and evidence. They’ll lock him away for a long ass time.”

  “Fine. I’ll give the police a few days. Two.”

  “Three.”

  “Two,” Mandy said firmly. “Two days. I’ll stay with you or help Claire with her daughters.”

  Olivia gaped at her, horrified.

  “Yeah, I’ll stay with you,” Mandy said sheepishly. What had she been thinking? “Is the guest room set up?”

  The two stayed up late eating junk food and watching movies, talking late into the night. Olivia tried to bring up the hunk again, but Mandy changed the subject. Honestly, she would much rather talk about Clint than worry about the threat that was Jack, but why bother? Clint was gone. If she had really wanted to try things with him, she should’ve said yes to eating together. She’d been too unnerved after Jack pulled that stunt earlier to even consider another guy. Now that things had settled somewhat, and she wasn’t feeling as worried, she realized the mistake she’d made. One meal doesn’t constitute dating. I think Clint and I might have been friends. It didn’t necessarily have to go further than that.

  But Clint wasn’t her future. Jack was going to make himself, though, against her will. After the two days, Mandy would hunt down Jack Roberson if she had to. She wasn’t about to cower and put her life on hold because a creep had her in his sights. Nope. Not gonna happen.

  Although she was worried and afraid, Mandy managed to fall asleep much faster than she would’ve thought possible. Instead of dreaming about a guy with slicked back, oily hair, she dreamed of a certain werewolf with sorrow in his eyes. To her shock and dismay, she woke with a smile on her face despite everything.

  4

  The sound of shouting, a door slamming, and tires peeling had Clint rushing to his front window. Not much generally happened here but something was clearly going on. He didn’t see anything at first, but then a wolf appeared.

  A wolf. It was night, yes, but out and about where humans could see? Something terrible must have happened.

  Clint burst out of his house.

  “David, come back here,” Melissa yelled.

  The wolf turned to his wife and then eyed Clint. After a long hesitate, the wolf shifted until Clint’s neighbor stood in front of him. Melissa threw David some clothes, and the werewolf quickly dressed.

  “What’s going on?” Clint asked Melissa, crossing his arms. “Anything I can help with?”

  She walked over to Clint and patted his shoulder. Her graying hair shone in the moonlight. “Thank you, but no. We can handle this.”

  “Handle what?” Clint liked David and Melissa Griffith. He’d moved into the house next to them a few months ago. They were roughly his parents’ age and good people. He’d never seen them so distressed before, and it ate at them that they were so anxious. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

  David cleared his throat. “It’s not a conversation for outdoors.”

  But the older man made no move to enter his house. He was watching the road, looking around, clearly searching for something.

  Or someone.

  The hairs on the back of Clint’s neck rose. “Melissa, do you happen to have any tea?” he asked.

  “You know I do, but you don’t drink any.”

  “You should.” He directed her inside.

  Melissa complied and also started a pot of coffee. Considering she didn’t drink the stuff, that was saying something. She didn’t think her husband would be sleeping tonight. David remained outside. Clint assumed he was keeping watch.

  Clint sat at their kitchen island, watching her work. She buzzed around like a happy bee, but her lips were pursed. Normally, she didn’t quite look her age, but the lines around her lips and eyes were tighter, deeper today.

  “We received a surprise guest this evening,” Melissa finally said, breaking the silence.

  David burst into the house and stomped into the kitchen. “We need surveillance cameras set up.”

  “I can do that,” Clint offered.

  “Would you?” Melissa stared at him. Although she wasn’t smiling, her eyes revealed her appreciation.

  Whoever had stopped by really had them rattled. Anger coursed through Clint. It was bad enough that his cousin had died needlessly. Now, good people were frightened, living in fear. Why was the world so shitty at times?

  “Of course. Free of charge.”

  David slapped Clint’s back hard. “Good man but we’ll pay you.”

  Clint wouldn’t press the subject now. Maybe he would later. His immediate concern was learning what the hell had happened.

  “You mentioned a surprise guest,” he said casually to Melissa.

  David grimaced at his wife. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair. “I guess we can tell him.”

  Clint waited even though patience wasn’t his strongest suit.

  “A werewolf dropped by this evening,” Melissa said. “He didn’t give his name, and he wasn’t one that we had ever seen before. He’s not in our pack, that’s for sure.”

  “What did he want?” Clint asked, glancing between the two.

  David poured two mugs of coffee. Melissa bustled over and gave one to Clint.

  He drank it and suppressed a shudder. He preferred his coffee black, the darker the roast, the better. This was flavored, hazelnut or something like that. Not his cup of tea at all, but he wasn’t going to complain. Warmth leaked through the ceramic cup, but inside, Clint was all ice and fear and worry.

  “He said he was going to keep an eye on us, that he knew who we were,” Melissa said. Her hands shook. She grabbed her mug of tea, managed to take a sip, and placed her cup back down, her hands still trembling.

  “He threatened us,” David said flatly. “That little shit—”

  “David!”

  “—threatened us and threatened our daughter.”

  Clint had never seen David angry before. This was one werewolf who would lay down his life for his family. That werewolf was stupid for going up against David. His neighbor was a brute of a werewolf, strong and powerful. Why would a werewolf want to go up against him? Although he was older, David would be able to easily put down most werewolves.

  “He claimed he would be marrying her before the week was over,” David added through gritted teeth. “Then he tossed something at us. It wasn’t exactly a smoke bomb, but it did produce enough smoke that he was able to get away.”

  Clint sniffed. He didn’t smell anything besides the tea and the coffee. He couldn’t even smell the couple.

  Melissa nodded. “The smoke is preventing us from smelling most things. We couldn’t trail him then, and we still can’t now.”

  Clint hadn’t realized such a device was even possible. It was frightening.

  “You never saw him before?” Clint asked.

  “Never.” Melissa shook her head so violently that her permed hair moved. Normally, she sprayed it down so much that a strand was never out of place. He hated to see her fraz
zled.

  “I didn’t realize you have a daughter,” Clint said, trying to wrap his head around all of this.

  “She belongs to another pack,” Melissa explained.

  “Still.” Clint shook his head. “Any other surprises for me?”

  David shook his head. “I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for us,” he said.

  “Oh, I’ll do much more than that,” Clint said. “I’ll be your bodyguard.”

  “We don’t need a bodyguard,” David protested.

  “Yes, you do. I’ll set up cameras and an alarm system, but you two need to be kept safe.”

  “We’re more worried about our daughter,” Melissa said.

  “So call her. Have her return here for now. It’ll be easier for me to protect you all if you’re here.”

  “But—” David started.

  “Pay me if you have to but let me do this,” Clint offered even though he didn’t want their money. He only wished to help, but he knew they, especially David, had their pride.

  “Your business,” Melissa protested. “You can’t stop your work for us.”

  “Right now, I’m between jobs.”

  “Kismet.” Melissa glanced at her husband. The two clearly communicated without words. The love between the two of them was strong, unbreakable.

  Clint wanted to smile, but he grimaced instead. He wanted a love like that. He’d thought he’d found it back in college when he had been on and off with a certain werewolf for over three years. It hadn’t been love it all. She’d used him, and he had been stupid to take her back every time she decided he was good enough for her again. Ever since he put his foot down and told Roxanne Chapman never again, he hadn’t been in many serious relationships. With his business, he hadn’t made the time. Maybe love would happen for him one day. Maybe not. If it was meant to be, it would happen. He wasn’t going to settle as he had with Roxanne.

  David squeezed his wife’s hand. “Thank you, Clint, but this is a familial matter. If you could do the cameras and the alarm system, that would be great. We’ll pay you for that, of course, but we don’t need you to be our bodyguard.”

  The brute of a werewolf nodded to Clint and then headed back toward the living room, bringing his coffee with him. The front door opened and shut. It seemed to Clint that he planned on keeping vigil all night long.

  Melissa reached over and patted Clint’s wrist since he still held his mug. “Thank you for your offer. We may just take you up on it.”

  Clint nodded. A sour pit formed in his stomach. The two loved each other dearly, and he hated the idea of causing tension between them. However, he would not stand by and do nothing when two had been threatened. For a while now, things had been rocky in the pack. The old alpha had died, and it still wasn’t settled who would be their new leader. The Griffiths had no one else to turn to for aid.

  So he would be there for them. He would ensure they were safe, the daughter too if she came here. No one else would be joining Henry underground. Clint refused to visit another gravestone.

  This punk is going down.

  5

  The morning was crawling by, and Mandy was ready to jump out of her skin. She hated staying at Olivia’s place. She loved her friend to death, but just being in her house alone while Olivia worked served as a constant reminder that Mandy’s life was in danger. The house felt more like a cage collapsing in on her than a place of relative safety.

  She’d promised to wait two days for the police before using herself as bait to draw out Jack Roberson. She’d keep that promise, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try to do some research on the guy now.

  His name immediately came up. Shortly after their disaster of a blind date the first time around, he’d been arrested for sexual battery. He had been given bail, but he kept a low profile. A neighbor who had testified mentioned that he hadn’t left his house and had food delivered. Jack had been found innocent once the trial had rolled around.

  Odd. She hadn’t heard about it. She dug deeper. The judge’s name wasn’t familiar. A human? Werewolves kept hidden of course, but there were werewolf judges and lawyers. Yet, Jack Roberson’s lawyer arranged for him to be tried in human court. That was both interesting and potentially foolish, given that werewolves tended to make humans nervous. The verdict could have easily gone the other way based on humans’ subconscious bias against werewolves.

  The thought that he was innocent didn’t cross her mind for more than a second. It took some heavy duty digging, but she finally unearthed the name of the woman who had accused him of the assault. She’d moved away after the trial and now lived in a Toledo suburb.

  As much as Mandy didn’t want to make her relieve the event, Mandy had to talk to her. She grabbed her purse, shoved her cell inside, plugged the address into her GPS, and took off. Thankfully, the roads were clear, and a half hour later, Mandy parked in front of the house.

  Before she could exit her car, the front door opened. A thin woman with light brown hair and matching eyes left the house. She locked up, glanced around nervously, and rushed to her car.

  Mandy sat back, stunned. She allowed the woman to drive away without stopping her because Mandy had seen enough.

  The woman looked like a human version of Mandy.

  Without a doubt, she believed Jack Roberson had assaulted the woman.

  Because of me.

  The trial had ended a week ago. That was why Jack was hanging around now. If he hadn’t attacked that woman, he would’ve gone after Mandy long before now. He would’ve been pulling these stunts then instead of now.

  Now that she knew that she was the target of a guy who had obsessed over her for years, Mandy knew she couldn’t stick around. Using herself as bait would be stupid. If she had backup, then maybe, maybe, it wouldn’t be quite as foolish.

  But who would she be willing to risk getting hurt for her sake? The alpha of her pack here in Toledo was a good man but a terrible alpha, to be honest. He wasn’t much of a leader, and she wasn’t sure he would be able to help her. Alexis and Jasper, her husband, weren’t an option. They lived in Detroit. He was their alpha, their pack just their small family, and Mandy wasn’t a part of it. The alpha of Detroit’s main pack whom she’d met once or twice, Grayson Earle, was in mourning himself and not in the best of places. Claire’s husband had died, leaving her a widow with two young girls. With Brent dead and her parents an hour away, there wasn’t anyone else she could ask for help.

  Clint Ramsey.

  Why had her mind jumped to him? She didn’t even know where he lived. Besides, he was in mourning too. For whatever reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about the handsome werewolf.

  But he was also a tall, muscular werewolf. He was as intimidating as her father was. Clint would definitely be able to take on Jack.

  She hardly knew him, so why was she thinking about him all of the time? He had grinned at her at one point, and she wished she could’ve seen a full smile. Clint needed a friend now more than ever. Mandy needed one too, not that she wanted to involve someone else in this mess. What if Jack was so far off his rocker, howling at the moon crazy, that he would start to target people she cared about? The last thing she would want would be for one of her friends or Clint to get entangled in this.

  Blind dates are terrible.

  Mandy shuddered. The girls had signed her up for a paranormal dating agency. That was how the blind dates had started two years ago. That was how she made it onto Jack’s radar.

  I can’t imagine finding someone online. At this point, I’d rather be single for the rest of my life.

  But Mandy never felt more alone and vulnerable than she did at this moment. Unable to bear it any longer, Mandy grabbed the steering wheel, hightailed it away from the woman’s house, and headed straight for the highway. Once she arrived, she’d give the police a call to check in and to give the details about Jack’s history. Yes, he’d been found innocent. That didn’t matter. The victim bore a striking resemblance to her, and he’d star
ted to go after her as soon as he’d been freed. Both suggested that he truly had her as the intended victim. Mandy had been able to look up the trial transcript. Because he hadn’t raped the woman, the case had been reduced to he said, she said. There had been an eyewitness who originally said that he saw Jack touch the woman’s breasts. On cross-examination, he got tongue-tied and twisted his words. That slight most likely unintentional change in testimony was most likely why Jack got off.

  The bastard.

  Sometimes, the persons you needed the most were your parents. It didn’t matter what your age was.

  Traffic was terrible, and the hour-long trip took nearly double before Mandy arrived. A man was drilling into her parents’ porch, setting up… security cameras?

  Perplexed and alarmed, she slammed her door shut. “Hello. Excuse me. What are you doing?”

  The man, werewolf actually, finished what he was doing before turning around. His jaw dropped, and then she saw his full smile for the first time. Damn. It was a great smile.

  “Mandy. Mandy Davis. I wondered if I would see you again.”

  “Clint.” She gaped at him, shocked and confused. “What are you doing here?”

  “Mandy!” Her mother burst out of the door and embraced her daughter as if she feared she would disappear. “I kept trying to call you, but you never picked up.”

  Mandy hugged her back hard before checking her phone. No missed calls. “Strange,” she murmured.

  “Mandy, this is Clint. He moved in next door after the Wilsons moved away a few months ago. He’s helping us out a little right now.”

  “Why do you need security cameras?” Mandy asked. She felt so overwhelmed right now, frightened and worried. It wasn’t possible that Jack had come here, was it?

  “Honey, come inside. We should let Clint get back to work.” Her mother yanked on her arm, practically dragging Mandy inside.

  She shot Clint a sympathetic look and mouthed, “Sorry.”

  Sorry? Why was she sorry? Seeing him made her feel confused but also happy. For whatever reason, his presence made her feel a measure of peace, which baffled her. Maybe because he was grieving himself. They were on the same level. Dealing with everything with Jack, though, broke that peace, shattering it, devastating her in the process.