The Protector

by Desconhecido(a)

  Michael stood up from his chair. “I will see them to the motel and make sure all goes smoothly.”

  Blair got up from her chair. “I will go, too. Don’t worry, Cole. I will stay with Jennifer and the cholan the entire time.”

  Cole nodded at Blair, since it was obvious Lucas needed to talk. He waited for the door to close before turning his attention to Lucas. “You mind telling me what the hell that is all about?”

  “All of what?” Lucas asked. Cole noticed that now that everyone was out of the room Lucas relaxed his stance.

  “The guy, he is obviously an asshole, but the girl though, she’s an innocent. You acted like she had something contagious.”

  “I can’t judge innocence anymore. You remember I killed that innocent girl thinking she was the woman that murdered my mate and child. It is best if I keep all of them at arms’ length, just in case.”

  “What did you sense about Josh?”

  “He is not to be trusted at all. I would say he is a criminal, perhaps even working with the mob. He has that air about him.” Lucas looked at him without any trace of doubt. Cole knew that lately Lucas had doubted so many of his senses. Fortunately, that was coming back now.

  “And what did your screwed up senses tell you about the girl?” Cole asked.

  “She was completely open and innocent. I watched her talking the entire time and never sensed her trying to deceive us like that fucker, Josh. But then again, my senses can’t be trusted.”

  “Lucas, I don’t know what to tell you and it is not my place to judge you, but maybe, your emotions overrode your senses because that fucker tampered with something in you. Remember he took down Michael, and that is no easy task.”

  Cole could feel frustration building, and he could tell Lucas was not listening to a word he was saying. He just got him to admit he could sense that Jennifer was innocent, yet he still refused to believe he was not a monster. Lucas was allowing guilt to eat at him and if he didn’t snap himself out of it, he would eventually drive himself feral, and if this happened, they would have no choice but to confine him, or even put him down if he was untreatable.

  Cole was not sure why sympathy welled up in him for that, since Michael was on the verge of handing down a death decree before Ilithyia stepped in, but they had learnt that Ilithyia knew and understood that Lucas had mistaken Marcy for the woman that had killed his mate and unborn child. Lucas had not been right since he lost them, and seeing the identical twin of the woman who had killed his wife had pushed him over the edge and into madness for a time.

  “Lucas, you were mad with grief and the need for revenge. Have you forgotten our laws are nothing like human laws? If that had been Dani, you would have been justified killing her like you did. You never meant to harm an innocent woman. I can’t say that I would not have done the same thing if I was in your place. I can only tell you that you need to somehow find peace in your soul, or you will lose yourself to grief.” Cole wanted to suggest to him to find another mate. Perhaps if Lucas had someone to protect again, he could snap out this, but he knew now was not the time.

  Lucas looked beyond Cole, his face pale as if he was unwell. “I killed an innocent woman. There will never be peace for me. Never.”

  “Lucas—” Cole was interrupted by Brad walking in. “Warren caught the girl's scent. There is some blood and hair matching her scent on the side of the road. Tire marks look like he slammed on the brakes, then sped off. Warren thinks she jumped out.”

  Cole grabbed Lucas. “Come on, I need you.”

  Lucas tried to hold back, but Cole pulled him along. “Come on, you can wallow in your own self pity later. Right now we have a young and very frightened girl to find.” Cole heard Lucas sighing, but he came along. That was a relief. Cole really needed every tracker he could get. Stacy was out there running from a madman, and she was running out of time.

  ****

  Cole met Michael just as he was getting out of his car. Several police cars were already on the scene. Cole stayed in uniform knowing they were going to be looking for a human girl that knew nothing of shifters. The trail was mostly clear, which would make tracking easy enough in his human form. “Has anyone tracked her yet?”

  “No, because something is interfering with our senses. Whoever this asshole is, he knows how to evade every one of our trackers. I have never seen a human capable of this before.”

  Michael gave him a glance as they jogged. “Are you sure he is a human?”

  Cole shrugged slightly, feeling confused himself. “Lucas said his scent was off, but it was not shifter, or magic.”

  Michael grew quiet like he normally did when something was not making sense. Cole had to agree. As his enhanced Kelach senses took over he had a chance to think about what was going on. The man that kidnapped the girl had the unique scent, but the man that attacked Mandy was completely human. What the fuck brought a human to this area to begin with? Michael had made any surveyors forget about this town and it was not on any maps because of it. Even Google Earth had been tampered with by Chad, the department’s computer expert. And Pleasant Cove was just a blur. Every territory had at least one computer expert. In this day and age they had to stay just as vigilant online as they did on land.

  With so many more popular tourist destinations nearby, not many cared to come back to a tiny town that did not boast of anything a tourist would be interested in. Those that did come, had family or friends close by. So who was this man? Mandy did not recognize him at all, and no way was he from the area.

  Cole suddenly felt the sense of terror. The girl they were looking for was close by. “Goddess, please let her be alive.” Not only did Cole want to reunite the girl with her family, but if she was murdered here, a media firestorm could ensue. Reporters and photographers would be camped out everywhere, pissing off the local shifters. It would just be a matter of time before someone shifted and Michael would need to step in and ensure no footage ever leaked out. Enough hunters came to their area because of vague rumors alone. News footage would have them all running for their lives.

  Anger rose in Cole at the thought of hunters coming after his mate, Blair. The anger was replaced by a wave of joy. They were mated. Nothing would ever tear them apart, as Blair was now his, forever.

  There was a scream piercing the night air, followed by shouts. Cole, Lucas, and Michael burst through to a clearing of hard packed earth to see Caleb standing over a young girl, while Josh watched. She was screaming and fighting him off. “Caleb! What the fuck are you doing?” Cole yelled.

  Lucas grabbed Caleb and shoved him off of the girl. He raised his fist to Caleb and punched him, making him stagger back. Caleb snarled, making Lucas snarl back. They both shifted, kicked free of their clothing, and ran at each other. Lucas’s black wolf landed on Caleb’s brown wolf, and they rolled in the dirt snarling and trying to get something to sink their teeth into. Lucas landed on top, sinking his teeth deep down into him, demanding Caleb submit. Caleb snarled, kicking his hind feet out. He dug his paws and nails in, making Lucas ease up just enough for him to get into a better position. He clamped his teeth down hard on Lucas’s neck. Lucas snarled and snapped at Caleb.

  Cole and Michael stood by watching. When it came to wolves fighting for dominance, others stayed out of it, even Guardians and Kelaches. This was between Caleb and Lucas. Cole made a grab for Stacy and held her close to his body. He knew she didn’t need to see this and turned her so she could not see. “Close your eyes, sweetheart,” he instructed as he placed his outstretched palm over her ear in an attempt to block out the noise. She clung with all her strength, and he could feel her heavy heaves as she sobbed uncontrollably.

  Lucas threw his weight at Caleb, and once again they rolled in the dirt. Lucas landed on top of Caleb, with his teeth on his throat. Caleb finally surrendered and lay still. Lucas snarled and jumped off of him.

  Lucas shifted back to his human form and stomped over to his jeans. It seemed their clothing was only a bit dirty, nothing worse th
an if they had a fist fight. “Fucking sick bastard.”

  Caleb also shifted. “What the fuck was that about, Lucas? You attack shifters now, as well?”

  “You were attacking that little girl,” Lucas yelled back while jerking his jeans on.

  “I was not. I was trying to help.” Caleb said while grabbing his own grey slacks. They had not fared as well as Lucas’s jeans. They were full of tears from his claws.

  “Talk fast,” Michael ordered in a firm tone. “This looks really bad, friend.”

  “Josh and I were following some leads we found.” He looked around and saw Josh hiding in the trees. “Come out here, Josh.”

  Josh slowly stood up, holding his hands up, looking pale and shaky.

  Thomas let out a patronizing laugh. “The pathetic excuse for a PI saw this shit.”

  Cole cocked his eyebrows at Josh, then shook his head. “I know, Tom. We will deal with what he saw,” he muttered, then continued. “We found the guy that took her trying to strangle her. We threw him off of her, and I was just trying to tell her she was safe when you burst in here.

  Caleb glared at Lucas. “Fucking idiot, ever hear of questioning before you start attacking?”

  Cole looked between Lucas and Caleb. It almost seemed like there was tension between the two that went much further than this one skirmish.

  Cole looked over at Caleb. “Sorry, man. You know Lucas is on edge.”

  Cole took a look at Stacy. Even in the dim light of the moon, he could clearly see bruises around her neck. She was shaking violently and looking around as if she expected to be attacked at any moment.

  David Mannis and another agent, wearing a blue jacket with the large white lettering reading “FBI” on his back, walked in to the clearing. David looked around, spotted Stacy and smiled. “You found her.”

  Lucas picked up his shoes glaring at David, then Cole. “Fucking shifters and humans alike really need to leave me the fuck alone.” He stormed off into the woods. “I’m fucking going home. Just leave me alone in future.”

  Cole felt regret as Lucas stalked away. No one was sure what to do for Lucas. Losing a mate was soul tearing painful. He hoped they were doing the right thing by leaving Lucas alone. He never did well among people or shifters for long.

  Stacy was shaking as she watched. “What was that? He was a man, then he was a wolf, now he’s a man again.”

  David turned and looked at Michael. “We need to fix this before any human police question her.”

  Michael walked up to Cole and gave him a grim look. Cole knew what that look meant “Stacy,” Michael said to her in a soothing voice. “You’re ok and perfectly safe. Your mom and dad are on their way here to go to the hospital with you.” Michael placed his hands on Stacy’s head. “I want you to look into my eyes and not look away.”

  Stacy looked into his eyes. “They are glowing a little.”

  “Yes, they are, sweetheart. I am going to help you feel a bit better with them. Do as I tell you and everything will be better.”

  “Are you going to help me forget that man?”

  “Yes.” Michael’s hands also started to glow.

  Stacy wiggled and started to cry more. “It’s hot. Your hands are hot.”

  “I know, it won’t burn you, I promise. It will get hot, but won’t hurt.”

  “Ok.” Stacy’s voice shook with fear, but she started to calm.

  Keeping his eyes locked on Stacy, Michael asked, “Did you recognize the man that took you?”

  Stacy let out another cry. “No. I have never seen him before. I would have remembered. He said he was here for the masked man. He said the masked man wanted him to kill for him.”

  “Did he try to touch you in a place you feel uncomfortable about, Stacy?”

  Stacy let out a shuddering cry. “He tried. When I kicked him for trying to touch me, then he tried to really hurt me. A wolf jumped up on the windshield making him let me go. I jumped out of the window and landed on my side.”

  “What did the wolf look like?”

  “It had light hair, tan maybe. I couldn’t see its eyes. I didn’t see it long. I just wanted to get away.”

  David walked up to them. “Thank you for your help, Stacy. You are going to feel really strange in a bit. Try not to be scared. Michael is just helping you.”

  Michael’s eyes turned more intense as he stared into Stacy’s eyes. She tried to look away, but Michael and David held her head still. “It’s ok, sweetie. Just relax. Don’t try to fight me.”

  “What are you doing?” she cried.

  “Making you feel better. Keep your eyes on me.”

  David placed his hands on Stacy’s arms and patted them soothingly. Stacy quit trying to look away from Michael and kept her eyes on him. “Do you remember a man taking you?”

  “Yes,” Stacy replied in a flat tone.

  “I want you to remember what he looked like, every detail. When asked, you will remember getting away from him and you were very brave. You got away before he could hurt you. You are going to forget what happened after you jumped out of his truck. You woke up, and we were here.”

  “Ok.” Stacy hiccupped a couple more times.

  “You are a brave girl and proud of yourself for getting away from him.”

  “I’m a brave girl.” Stacy repeated.

  Michael let go of her and broke eye contact. He staggered back and fell to his knees.

  David ran up to him. “You need some help.”

  Michael’s head sagged, and then he fell to his side. “Yeah, I need a ride home. I can’t even shift right now.”

  Cole got out his cell phone. “Travis, bring a car in. Michael had to alter the girl’s memory. He is very weak.”

  “I am almost there. We’ll get him home.” Travis’s voice broke up due to the bad cell signal.

  David looked over at Stacy still in Cole’s arms. “Are you feeling better now, sweetheart?”

  The girl took a shuddering breath and nodded slightly. “Yes.” She slurred as if she was drugged.

  Michael smiled as Travis and David pulled him up to his feet. He was still leaning on David, but he was upright. “Good, I am glad you feel better. Do you remember who took you?”

  Stacy was struggling to keep her eyes open. “Yes, it was a man with a knife.”

  Michael grimaced in pain. “Stacy, did you ever see his face?”

  Despite the essence calming the child, her eyes teared up, “Yes, when he … when he—”

  Michael looked in her eyes. “He can’t harm you. You are safe. Cole, Agent Mannis, and I will protect you.”

  Stacy’s eyes were locked with Michael’s. “He tried to get in my pants, and then he tried to hurt me. I jumped out the window and woke up, and you were there.”

  “I need you to tell me what he looked like,” Michael asked.

  “He had blond hair, and—”

  Michael’s hands lost their grip when Josh fell into him.

  Michael’s cold gaze landed on Josh. “Do you have a problem?”

  “Yeah, you have your hands all over that girl. It’s sick. You’re a freak.”

  Cole heard the sound of an ambulance siren coming up the mountain road. Michael’s eyes had lit up with Ilithyia’s power. Michael could not handle another confrontation. He was exhausted. Cole was thankful to see the ambulance coming.

  “We have company,” Cole murmured to Michael.

  Michael looked over at Caleb. “Get Josh out of here.” Then he looked at Cole. “Do not allow him any type of communication until I can take care of him.”

  “I will make sure of it,” Cole said to Michael. He had his phone out again to make a call.

  Caleb grabbed Josh’s arm. “I will make sure he stays out of trouble.”

  “You do that,” Michael said, shaking in suppressed exhaustion that was made worse from his magic being pulled to an abrupt halt, thanks to Josh's aggression.

  The ambulance from Woodland Park pulled up next to them. “Great, they are taking her out
of the territory,” Cole said in a growling tone. They would lose most access to the victim with her transported out of the area. It would also mean some Feds would probably show up to investigate. That was easy to handle, though. It wouldn’t be the first time. A few federal agents were easy to handle. He would help them out, so they were out of here all the sooner.

  “It’s good that I took care of things now then.” Michael held onto the side of the ambulance to try to support his weight.

  The paramedics walked up with the stretcher. “Thanks for finding her,” the medic said with genuine appreciation on his face.

  “No thanks needed, it’s our job,” Cole said. It was the typical line most police used. Cole looked at Michael after the medics carried Stacy off. “I have a bad feeling a shit storm is about to start.”

  “You and me both. Fuck,” Michael swore. “What the fuck is going on? A human criminal in our territory?”

  Cole could only shake his head. He was just as confused. There was something he was missing, and he just needed to find it. It felt like it was right on the edge of his memory, but he couldn’t grasp it.

  Michael watched him. “Do you think the two crimes are connected?”

  “I really don’t know. I did wonder if they were even connected to Cassie’s abduction, but these are humans and those guys weren’t after humans before. I need to pay another visit to Mandy. Maybe she remembers something now that she has had a few days to settle down.”

  Cole opened his contacts to call Aaron. He was still supposed to be guarding Mandy. As far as he knew the protection order was still in place. He hadn’t lifted it, but technically, David was in charge of this case.

  “Hey,” Aaron answered in his customary way.

  “Aaron, I need you to question Mandy thoroughly, and record it. I need her to go over every detail of her attack with you. We are missing something, and she is the only adult that we can question.”

  “Sure thing, boss. I will run her up to the office and use the equipment up there.”

  “Thank you, Aaron. I will look at it later this evening, when we have completed our investigation here.”