“Laurel, are you going to introduce me?” he asked, folding his arms and letting his muscles flex in a way he hoped the newcomer found intimidating.
“Oh, right. This is Dane Chesterton. We grew up near one another. Childhood friends, I guess you could say.”
“Right, and this girl hasn’t changed at all,” he said, circling her. “Well, except for becoming more beautiful than anyone could have even hoped.”
She giggled and swatted his arm, and Asher stared aghast. Was this the same girl who verbally (and sometimes physically) sparred with him? She’d never giggled like that for him. Usually, she was telling him off.
Asher walked up and stepped between her and the man, realizing what was putting him off, probably. “Are you sure you weren’t sent by her father? If you grew up with her, you had to know him.”
“A monster,” Dane said coldly. “I’d knock him out if I saw him.” He turned to Laurel. “I’m sorry. If I’d known, I’d have taken you away myself.”
“Like hell,” Asher muttered. It had taken him and his two brothers (all professional-level fighters) to get through the complex guard system Laurel’s father had installed. He doubted anyone else could have done it, fancy pants alpha or not.
He’d been working all his life to be a good alpha, to take his responsibilities seriously and lead his family and take care of the dojo. And men like this, who just seemed born into their respect, bugged him.
“I’m glad he didn’t send you,” Laurel said. But Asher wasn’t sure he believed him.
“Why now?” he asked suspiciously. “Laurel’s been gone for years. If you two were such good friends, what are you doing here now?”
Dane hadn’t been the one protecting her. Dane hadn’t been the one teaching her, watching out for her. Trying to resist her.
Dane shrugged. “It took a long time to find you. I found out through the grapevine, though, and here I am. I just wanted to see you were okay, and now I see you are. So I’m glad.” He looked at his watch. “You want to get lunch today? Catch up?”
Asher let out a growl, still not trusting the man, but Laurel gave him a glare and stepped forward.
“Of course,” she said, putting her hand in Dane’s. “It’s good to see you. I want to hear about your family as well.”
“How do we know you don’t have bad intentions?” Asher asked.
Dane’s eyes widened slightly, and he appraised Asher again, this time more intently. His smooth features hid any emotion that might be festering under the surface.
Asher couldn’t tell if he wanted this man to be as good as he appeared or if he wanted him to be a complete sham.
Once again, he was at odds with his feelings.
“You could come with,” Dane said. “You’re a little grumpy, but I don’t mind. I don’t blame you for being protective. If I had a treasure like Laurel, I’d be the same.” He eyed her with genuine affection shining in his eyes, and Asher took a small step back.
Laurel looked happy, Dane looked happy, and maybe this was the answer to everything.
He shook his head. “No, you two go ahead.” He looked at his watch. “Come back at twelve. We have a break from classes then.”
Laurel eyed him, surprised. “You sure? I’m supposed to clean up.”
Asher nodded. After he’d led her on and confused her last night, it was the least he could do. “I’m sure.”
She said good-bye to Dane and they hugged. Dane made Laurel look small, and that didn’t sit well with Asher either. But he had to admit they looked good together. They were both classy, unlike him.
He should be happy. Finally, someone from her own circle to sweep her off her feet and out of his life.
Still, when Dane showed up a few hours later to take Laurel out, Asher wasn’t satisfied.
It was one thing to behave when Asher was there. It was another to behave when he wasn’t. Maybe it was time for a little friendly stalking. Just one more time.
5
Laurel looked across the table at Dane. She was surprised at how handsome he’d become over the years. When she’d last seen him, he was just an awkward teenager trying to live up to his parents’ expectations, much like she was. But here in front of her was a tall, handsome man.
She still couldn’t believe it was really Dane. Aside from her sister Lily, he was one of the only good memories from Laurel’s past.
The restaurant he’d taken her to was expensive. Really expensive. It was the kind of luxury she hadn’t had since she’d be rescued from her father’s world, and she didn’t miss it.
“What are you thinking for lunch? Filet? Salmon?” Dane asked, handing her a menu and perusing his own.
“Something light. The halibut sounds good,” Laurel said after a quick look at the menu. She handed it to the waiter, who disappeared after Dane gave his order.
“So. Laurel, Laurel, Laurel,” he said, shaking his head and appraising her again. “How have you been? What have you been up to in the years you’ve been gone from my life?” he asked with a charming smile.
“Not much, I guess. Hanging around my sister and her kids. Learning and teaching at the dojo. Taking some online classes,” she said, feeling self-conscious that all of this sounded terribly uninteresting.
None of it had been uninteresting when Asher was around.
“Intriguing,” Dane replied in a tone that Laurel couldn’t quite read.
Laurel couldn’t help but suspect there could still be some connection between Dane and her father. But it was probably just fear of anything that reminded her of that time period in her life. Dane had been trustworthy in the past, and he’d said himself that he had found her on his own.
“And what about yourself? Still trying to live up to your dad’s expectations?” Laurel asked, taking a sip of water and hoping to redirect.
Dane laughed. “Ah, yes, good ol’ pops. Still half the man he wishes I was. What else can a kid hope for?”
Laurel knew the feeling. “And your father’s company?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation from wandering back to her.
“Ah, doing well. I’m now officially a VP, though everyone knows I’m basically poised to run the show there,” he replied coolly. Though something in what he said sounded off, Laurel wasn’t going to point it out.
While Dane continued a short description of what he did day-to-day and how successful things were, Laurel couldn’t help but note a small blur of motion out the window behind Dane. They were seated in a corner of the restaurant, and Laurel had a perfect view of the street from where she sat.
Probably just her eyes messing with her.
But a few seconds later, she saw a bush across the street rattle a little and then the same dark blur pass from one bush to the one next to it.
It couldn’t be, could it?
“Is everything all right, Laurel?”
Laurel’s attention snapped back to Dane, and she realized she hadn’t been listening to a single word.
“Oh, all right? Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she said quickly, collecting her thoughts.
“You sure?” he asked, confused.
“Yes, just ready for lunch,” she replied.
But as the waiter brought their food and they started to eat, Laurel’s gaze narrowed in on the motionless bushes. As she focused, she thought she could see dark eyes peering at her and Dane through the thick leaves.
It was Asher. It had to be.
Damn him.
Laurel knew something wasn’t right when Asher had said she could go out to lunch with Dane, no questions asked. Even when he’d played it off and acted cool, something still told her he wasn’t as chill with things as he pretended to be.
The thought that Asher was jealous excited her a bit. Not because she was intentionally playing hard to get. But because the frustrating alpha couldn’t seem to make up his mind.
Maybe spending some time with Dane would help clear her head and give Asher the chance to figure out what he really wanted.
“I
s there something behind me? You keep looking outside,” Dane said, turning over each shoulder and looking back at the empty street.
“Oh, just a car that was parked on the curb until a second ago. It kind of looked like yours, but it left,” she lied.
Dane chuckled, then ate a piece of steak. “I highly doubt it. Mine’s a limited edition series with a custom paint job. It was probably just a cheaper model with the same base coat,” he gloated.
Laurel forgot that Dane tended to get uppity about things she didn’t really care about, like how expensive his suit or shoes were or how perfect his hair had to be. But he had come from money, so she guessed it made sense.
At least it was better than being frustratingly undecided about something…
And who knew? If she just had some time away from Asher, maybe she’d find out Dane was the one for her eventually anyway, and both her and Asher’s problem would be solved.
“How was the food?” Dane asked, noticing they were both finished now.
“It was delicious. Thank you,” Laurel said. Though, if she were honest with herself, she much preferred the kinds of places Asher had shown her over the years. Delicious local places with unique flavors.
They stood to leave, and Laurel noticed the tip was a little low, so she quickly pulled a twenty out of her purse and laid it on the table while Dane wasn’t watching. Probably just a miscalculation on his part. She looked back at the bushes one more time, which were still motionless but oddly alive at the same time.
They went outside, and the spring air was cool and nice. The street was quiet, clearly a part of town that catered to a more upper-class sort of element. And it being barely one o’clock on a weekday, she imagined people had somewhere more important to be.
“So would you like to go somewhere next?” Laurel asked.
“I’m not sure. I should probably get back to work,” Dane said tentatively, as if he were waiting for something.
“Yeah, I should probably get back to the dojo too.” So I can give Asher a piece of my mind.
Only a few seconds later, a black van came roaring down the street—windowless, old, and creepy looking.
And it stopped on the sidewalk right next to them.
The sliding door swung open, and a large man wearing a black mask jumped out, brandishing a large knife and pointing it directly at them.
“Both of you, stop right there!” the man yelled. “I’ll need your phone, your wallet, and you,” he said, pointing at Laurel. “You need to come with me.”
The van was empty, except for a driver in the front seat looking at them, also wearing a mask to avoid identification.
By the time he’d finished talking, Laurel had picked up on the scent. These men were shifters.
What was it with shifter men attacking her like this? This had never happened before, yet all of a sudden, it seemed like the entire shifter world was after her!
“Whoa, be careful there. You don’t want to do something you’ll regret,” Dane said, looking at the attacker and then to Laurel and then back.
The fact that a knife was involved upped the stakes substantially. For shifters, knives were more dangerous than guns, since rapid shifter healing was much more effective against smaller bullet wounds than the sort of things a knife could do to you.
The man hesitated, also looking at Laurel, then back to Dane. “She’s coming with us. I don’t care what you say. Don’t try to stop me. I need the money.”
His lines were bad, like something from a poorly rehearsed homemade play. But it didn’t change the fact that the man had a six-inch blade and Laurel and Dane were armed with nothing but light coats.
Dane watched the man, as if deciding something. Then with a quick motion, he came forward and pulled the thug off the ground, lifting him into the air by the coat. The man went bug-eyed in shock, and he dropped his knife, which landed on the ground with several clinks.
“You’re not welcome here, punk,” Dane growled, then threw the man backward some ten or fifteen feet through the air like a rag doll, where he hit the ground and rolled several times along the concrete.
Laurel would have thought it ludicrous if it didn’t happen right before her very eyes.
The man wobbled to his feet, shaken and probably injured, turned, and ran at top speed. At the same time, the black van drove off and pulled up next to the now-fleeing criminal, who jumped inside and closed the door. The van peeled around a corner and drove off as if participating in the Indy 500.
“How the…?” Laurel said to Dane, a little stunned at the display she’d just witnessed.
“Alpha strength. It comes in handy in situations like this,” Dane said with a wink, brushing off his hands.
So Dane had alpha strength? It was rare enough to meet shifters who were full-blooded alpha and rarer still to see their alpha power in action, if they even had one.
To Laurel’s knowledge, Asher didn’t have one, even though he was full-blooded.
“Are you all right?” Dane asked, coming up to Laurel and looking her over.
It had been scary, but only for a moment. Nothing like last night. But some of the things the man had said left lingering questions in Laurel’s mind.
“What did he mean, ‘I need the money?’” Laurel asked Dane, who was now picking up the knife with a handkerchief and tossing it into a wastebasket.
Dane coughed. “Just my money. He could obviously tell I’m loaded by the suit and car. Probably thought I had a big wad of cash in my back pocket or something.”
“Then what did he want me for if all he needed was money?” Laurel continued, trying to make sense of everything. It had all seemed too planned to be a random street mugging. Then again, Laurel knew she was probably just paranoid after what had happened the other night when Asher had to save her.
Dane paused awkwardly for a moment. “Uh, probably because he’s a coward who was going to use you for ransom or something. I don’t know how criminals like that think,” he said with a scoff, though it sounded unconvincing. “No more questions though. We should get going,” he said, directing Laurel to his car.
Laurel nodded. “Whatever the reason, I’m just glad you were here,” she said gratefully, putting a hand on Dane’s shoulder.
“Anything for you, Laurel. Just like old times, right?” he said, flashing his perfect grin. He started the car, and they started off in the direction of the dojo.
In that moment, Laurel remembered that Asher had been following her and Dane. Had he seen everything that had just happened? She turned over her shoulder just in time to see a tall, dark-haired man slowly walking away from them, hands in his pockets. Before she could get a good look, Dane made a turn at the light, and the man was gone from her view.
Maybe it hadn’t been Asher after all.
* * *
As Asher walked back to his car, his head was spinning.
Just a moment ago, a black van had driven up and a man had threatened Laurel’s life. But just as Asher was moving to run across the street and disarm the son of a bitch, Dane had to go make a move, practically throwing the guy sky high.
Alpha strength. One of the marks of a pureblooded alpha male.
The last person Asher had known with that kind of strength had been a high-class, pureblood alpha as well. Like Dane, he was the kind of guy girls wanted to take home to Papa. The kind of guy who could sweep a woman off her feet. The kind of guy that could offer the whole world to a woman on a silver platter.
The kind of guy who gets the girl, Asher thought to himself as he rounded the block.
Asher knew he could probably still tear the grinning, clean-cut Dane a new one if he wanted to. But what was the point? Laurel clearly liked him. Especially at the end, when she’d put her hand on Dane, there was obviously much more there than even Asher could have guessed.
Not only was she attracted to Dane, but they had history as well. Much more than Asher and Laurel ever could have, with only a few years together. And the guy came from a great fa
mily apparently. Nice enough to go to fancy-schmancy places like this for lunch.
But above all else, Dane had shown he could protect Laurel. If someone else could do that, then what else was Asher needed for? She could go run off with Dane, mate him, have kids, have a family. All like something out of a storybook. And Asher’s promise would be fulfilled. He would be done.
The thought didn’t put him at ease though. It put him on edge.
He was angry about a lot of things. Angry that he felt trapped by his pack promise not to take her for himself and to only protect her until she found a suitable mate. Angry that Dane had come along. Angry that no matter how hard he worked and built and did everything in his power to raise his pack status, they would never be the high-class kind of clan that Dane and Laurel came from.
In that sense, they were perfect for each other. But that fact did little to quell Asher’s wolf howling in disapproval at his resignation.
Sometimes you can’t realize just how much you want something until it’s ripped out of your hands.
* * *
Asher got back to dojo before Laurel.
He went back to his desk and scanned through the work ahead of him. Laurel had asked him once why he was always busy. The fact was, only a small portion of the paperwork was directly related to running the dojo. The rest had to do with financial matters relating to the pack’s properties and holdings, and a lot of financial reports tracking the many investments Asher had made with the dojo’s success.
Asher may not have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he sure as hell could afford to put one there now if he wanted to.
Just in that moment, Laurel walked in, looking beautiful as ever. Now she was in workout gear, mouth-wateringly tight yoga pants and a tank that showed off her curves. She came to his desk and looked down at him, quietly and accusingly.
Alpha Protector Page 5
