Sometimes something good can come out of the worst situation.
Someone is stalking Andrew. When he finds out the man has entered his home, he asks his friend Dominic for help, hoping that having the Alpha on his side will discourage the stalker.
Soren isn’t particularly happy when Dominic assigns him as Andrew’s bodyguard—that is, until he finds out the man is his mate. Andrew has a boyfriend, though, and a stalker.
The two start a relationship, but the stalker is always there, hovering in the dark and convinced Andrew is his mate. What will happen when he finally gets to Andrew? Will Soren be able to get to him in time? Or will Andrew have to save himself?
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Andrew
Copyright © 2015 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0294-5
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Andrew
Whitedell Pride Series 9
By
Catherine Lievens
Dedication
To David, just because you’re you. Thank you for supporting me, always.
Chapter One
Andrew wouldn’t let his stalker win. He refused to change the way he lived just because someone was trying to make him afraid to get out of his house, of walking along the streets of Whitedell. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t had the brightest idea, walking home alone after he had stayed at his office until late, but damn it, he wasn’t going to cower!
He was training in Krav Maga. It had been a pain to find someone who could teach him in a small town like Whitedell. So maybe he hadn’t been studying it for long and he was only good at falling down for now, but it was better than nothing. He was actually glad he had taken a liking to it, because that way he wouldn’t be completely helpless against his stalker if he or she decided to attack him, but it didn’t help the feeling of being insecure, and it was something Andrew hated. He hated feeling that his life was out of his control, and it had never felt worse than right now.
It all had started a few months ago. At first, he’d had the feeling that someone was watching him and then following him around. Then it had been the phone calls. Every time Andrew answered, both on his office phone and on his cell and home phone, the only thing he could hear was someone breathing on the other side before they hung up. He had changed his numbers, and it had been a pain in the ass with all his clients, but it had been useless in the end. The stalker had managed to find his new numbers—all three of them, and the calls had started again.
Then there were the emails that said things like I saw you today while you were buying tomatoes, with the description of what Andrew had been wearing, and that was just creepy. Now Andrew just couldn’t stay in the open without feeling that someone was watching his every move. He had no idea who his stalker was, so he couldn’t do much about it. He had thought about going to the police station, but really, what could they do?
Sure, if things got worse he might go, but for now, he had decided to keep everything under wraps. Maybe the stalker would just stop when he saw that Andrew didn’t really care, or at least he could hope so. Not that he really thought this was going to happen, but still.
Andrew could feel eyes drilling a hole into his back as he hurried back home. His office wasn’t far from his home, and he’d always walked from one to another, but right now, he wished he had a car. He had never bought one, since everything was in walking distance from his home, although he could drive.
Andrew let out a relieved sigh when his house came into view. The little white structure was his haven, the place in which he could let go of his serious lawyer persona, just be himself, the one place in which he felt safe.
Until now. He quickly opened the door and stepped in the entrance, his steps faltering when he saw what was there. Someone—his damn stalker—had left a big vase filled with red roses on the table that Andrew used to put down his keys and mail. The glass bowl that was usually on it wasn’t in its place, lying on the floor next to it instead.
The first feeling Andrew felt was fear. The man—woman, whatever—had managed to get inside his home. What if he was still there? What if he was waiting for Andrew to get in so that he could attack him?
Andrew was frozen in his entrance, unsure of what to do. He was scared, but he also felt anger rising. How dare that person violate his haven? That didn’t help him decide what to do, though, and while he could call the cops, he didn’t know what they could do about it. He did have some friends he knew could help, though, without needing it to be official, and he could use their sense of smell.
Andrew reached for the inner pocket of his light jacket and took out his cell phone, quickly finding the number he was looking for. He knew it was late, but he also knew Dominic would answer. The man was an Alpha, and it was engrained in him to help keep his people safe. Andrew might not be part of his pride since he was only a human, but they were friends, and Dominic had included him into his family. Sure, Andrew was more one of those relatives one didn’t see much—although they talked nearly every day, usually on the phone—but he was still considered family.
“‘Lo?”
“Did I wake you?”
“Who is this?” Ah, it wasn’t Dominic. It had to be his new mate, Ani. Andrew hadn’t had the opportunity to meet him yet, although he was very curious to see what type of man Dominic had mated.
“I’m sorry. I’m Andrew, one of Dominic’s friends. I know it’s late, but I have something urgent to ask him.”
“Sure. Wait a few minutes and I’ll go get him.”
Andrew heard noises telling him that Ani was moving around the mansion, and then two people talking before Dominic’s booming voice came on. “Andy! What can I do for you at this hour of the night?”
Andrew snorted. “I told you not to call me that, Simba. Besides, it’s not that late. Of course, you’re so old that you probably need your sleep, huh?” It was only eleven PM, which was basically the hour Andrew came home every work night.
Dominic growled at the nickname, but Andrew knew it was without heat. They had known each other for years, and Dominic was really a big brother. He had been a permanent presence in Andrew’s life since, well, forever. “So, what’s wrong? Ani told me you had something urgent to ask me?”
Andrew leaned against the wall and let himself slide down until his butt touched the hardwood floor. “I have a problem, something big.”
“Now you’re making me worry, Andy. Come on, spill the beans.”
“I have a stalker.”
“A stalker?”
“Yeah. Phone calls, emails, the fe
eling that someone always watches me, those kind of things.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier, Andy?” He could hear that Dominic was angry, but Andrew was used to dealing with his things on his own.
“Look, until now it was only that. No one touched me or did anything more than watch me at a distance.”
“That means something’s changed. Did he hurt you?” Andrew would have been scared of the growl if he didn’t know Dominic so well.
“No, but he got into my house. I just came in and I found flowers in the entrance.”
“Is he in your house?”
“I don’t know. I stayed in the entrance and called you right away.”
“Okay, get out of there now. Damn it, Andy, this is why you should have a car!” Dominic started talking with someone else, but he soon came back on the phone. “Do you have a safe place you can go?”
“Not really. I could go back to my office, though.”
“Shit, you would have to walk there. Okay, never mind. Stay put. I’m coming right now.”
Andrew didn’t even have the time to protest, the air moved right in front of him and Dominic just appeared out of thin air with a small guy next to him. Andrew’s eyes bugged out of his head and his jaw just about fell to his chest as he tried to scramble to his feet. “What the fuck, Simba?”
“I told you not to call me that!”
The little man looked from Andrew to Dominic with a smile playing on his face. “It’s nice to see someone tease you, you know. I thought I was the only one who could do it.”
“Okay, I’m saying this again. What the fuck? Where did you guys come from? How did you...” Andrew gestured at Dominic and his companion. He was pretty sure it was Ani, Dominic’s mate.
“Ani is a Nix, which means he can shimmer around. It was the quickest way to get to you.”
“Okay. You’re going to have to explain what exactly that shimmer thing means, but I think you should go around the house first and check if my stalker is still here.”
Dominic’s face turned dead serious. “You two stay here. Soren and Joshua should be here soon.” He pointed at Andrew. “You are coming home with me tonight, Andy, and you don’t have anything to say about this, you get me?”
“Don’t go all Alpha on my ass, pussy cat. I’ll do what I want to do.” The snarl Andrew gave Dominic was pretty good in his opinion, even if he knew he couldn’t compete with a shifter.
“We’ll see about that. Now you just stay here, both of you.”
The lion shifter walked away from them, eerily silent as he slipped into Andrew’s living room.
God, he hoped the house was empty.
* * * *
“Where are we going again?”
“A friend of Dominic’s is having problems. I don’t know much, but the Alpha asked us to be there.”
Damn, it sucked being the only unmated soldier of the pride. Not only did Soren usually have all the patrol shifts none of the mated guys wanted, but he was also the one who was being woken at night because they had to fly to the rescue of one scared man. He hoped it was something serious, at least, because it would suck big hairy balls if he had had to wake up only two hours after finishing his shift for nothing.
Soren had even taken a leave from his job as a paramedic until some of the council’s enforcers came to live with them. He had been able to do that only because one of his superiors was a shifter and understood well that the pride came first. It wasn’t like he needed the money anyway, and he had wanted to help, but now it felt as if they were using him. It wouldn’t have killed any of the mated guys to take a night shift, but only Joshua had done it, and Soren was thankful. He hadn’t thought the guy would even talk to him again, not after he had asked Adrian out.
Adrian was Joshua’s mate. However, in the beginning the leopard shifter hadn’t wanted him. Soren liked the doc, so he had asked him out, but he had never actually gotten the chance to act on it, since Joshua had come to his senses. The leopard had taken the whole thing surprisingly well—which basically meant he hadn’t beaten Soren to death—and he was glad for it. Joshua was a friend, and Soren hadn’t really meant to go out with his mate. He had just wanted to tease the man a bit and make him see what was right in front of him. It had worked, so he didn’t feel the least bit guilty.
Joshua stopped in front of a white house with wooden shutters and flowers on the sides of the path that led to the door. There was a car parked in the driveway, and soft buttery light came from one of the downstairs windows. Everything else was dark and the street was silent.
Soren followed Joshua to the door and entered behind him, following him toward the illuminated room. He could hear voices coming from there and easily recognized Dominic’s. One of the other’s was smooth and warm like a good scotch, causing a shudder to pass through him and his cock to stiffen. He scowled down at it, as if that could make it go back to a non-erect state. He really didn’t want everyone to see he was sporting a boner while he should be protecting one of his Alpha’s friends.
“Soren, Joshua. Sit down.” Soren followed Dominic’s gaze to the sofa and took his place, his eyes wandering around the room. Ani was there, sitting in Dominic’s lap. There were two other men sitting together on another couch. The blond one was cute, even if he wasn’t Soren’s type. He was short and looked young, and his chubbiness added to the angelic impression of his face. His blue eyes were wide and worried as he grabbed the other man’s hand, and he looked innocent, too innocent for Soren. “This is Andrew and his boyfriend, Xavier. It seems that Andrew has a stalker, and that’s where you come in.”
Soren turned to look at Andrew. He had already heard the name, if only because the man had helped Denver and Jeremy when Jeremy’s ex-wife had tried to get their son back, but he had never met him. His skin was the color of milk chocolate, his hair long enough to brush his ears. His dark eyes reflected the light and gleamed when he looked at Soren.
“I want you two to stay here tonight, and I’m trying to convince Andrew to come live at the mansion for a while, but he’s a stubborn little shit and he’s not listening.” Dominic scowled at Andrew, and Soren chuckled. It wasn’t often that someone made Dominic react so strongly. The only ones able to do it were Ani and Dominic’s new found son, Delevan.
“What happened?” Joshua asked.
Andrew circled his boyfriend’s shoulders with one arm and pulled him into his side. “Someone has been following me for the past month and a half, I guess, maybe more. At first, I didn’t think it was important. It wouldn’t have been the first time that a client isn’t satisfied with my work, or even someone I won against.” Andrew shrugged. “He or she is a typical stalker. I have silent phone calls, emails, someone has been following me, and tonight they got into my house and left me flowers.”
The guy didn’t look particularly scared or even angered. Huh. Weird. “Did you call the police?”
Andrew’s dark eyes focused on Soren and he had to suppress the need to reach out to him across the coffee table. “No. What can they do anyway? The stalker hasn’t hurt me. They’ll just tell me to gather all the evidence, but we don’t even know who it is, so I can’t get a restraining order, not that it would do any good against a stalker who really wants to get to the object of his obsession.”
“There’s something else,” Dominic said. “The stalker is like us.” His eyes went to Xavier, making it obvious that Dominic couldn’t speak freely. “I think you two should take a tour of the house. I already did one, and I think the stalker entered from the back door in the kitchen, walked up to the front door and left the flowers there before going upstairs to Andrew’s room.”
Joshua and Soren nodded and stood up to follow the scent. It was heavy near the back entrance, indicating the stalker had spent a little time there, probably to get the door open. He first had broken the window and tried to get to the lock, but when that hadn’t worked the stalker had just busted it. They lost the scent a little after that
because it was overpowered by the flowers’ perfume, but as soon as they got to the stairs it strengthened again, and it lead straight to the master bedroom.
Andrew had good taste. The bedroom was very masculine, all dark wood and white accents, and it opened onto a balcony that looked toward the back of the house. The walk in closet was open and revealed rows of suits and shirts. The bathroom door, too, was open, and from the scent Soren could tell that the stalker had been in both. He wondered if Andrew had noticed anything missing, and decided to ask later.
“It does smell like shifter,” Joshua said from inside the bathroom.
“Yeah. If I have to guess, I’d say it’s some kind of bear. It doesn’t smell like Oliver, so I’d rule out Kodiaks, but it doesn’t really help.”
“It does tell us that there’s a lone shifter around the town who hasn’t notified his presence to Dominic.”
“Still doesn’t help discovering who it is, though.”
The bathroom’s cupboards had all been opened and searched, but Soren couldn’t tell if something was missing. Heading back to the bedroom, he noticed that the bed was messed up. It struck him because from the rest of the house it seemed that Andrew was a neat freak, exactly the opposite of Soren. For him a house had to be lived in, not kept as if it was on sale and buyers were coming to see it.
He didn’t know what it was that pushed him to go there and straighten the sheets, but he did know that if he resisted it would bug him for hours. He was like that. He got fixated on small details and couldn’t get them out of his head until he did whatever it was he had to do, so he just moved to the bed and grabbed the sheets.
He caught the stalker’s scent on the cream-colored cotton. “Josh, the nut job rolled around in Andrew’s bed.”
Andrew [Whitedell Pride: 9] Page 1
