"Judging by your current anger, I take it your dinner date went better than expected."
"I would hardly call this better. I brought Kira home, expecting an evening of … Let's just say fun stuff, only to have her ditch me, terrified out of her mind because of some jerk."
"And you didn't kill someone?" Leo arched a brow. "I'm so proud of you."
"Keep your sarcasm. I called you here to keep me from doing something drastic. Your remarks aren't helping."
"If you feel a need to hit something, I'm here for you. And if it will make you feel better, I'll hit you back."
"I don't think that will be necessary." Arik didn't need to get personally acquainted with the pavement. Being alpha of his pride might make Arik strong, but when it came to brute strength, Leo outweighed them all.
The lion-tiger mix was a big bastard, but lucky for them, he had no interest in power or leading the pride. Leo loved his role as Omega, a guy who, with a single glance and crack of his knuckles, could calm any hotheaded situation. Or crack them together if required.
"I haven't told you the best part yet."
"The guy's a wolf. The blood scent kind of gave it away. Does she know?"
"Doubtful. But then again, I didn't really have a chance to ask her. If she's in the dark about our kind, then blurting, ‘hey is your ex by any chance a werewolf?' is a sure-fire way to never have her see me again." As if he'd allow that.
"Again? The girl must have really struck your fancy."
She'd struck a lot of things. However, he wasn't in the mood to discuss them at the moment. "Did you bring the cleaning supplies?" Arik asked.
"Yeah, but shouldn't we leave the message here for the cops? They'll want pictures for their report."
"She's not calling them." He could tell by the resigned way she'd even suggested it that she already knew it would do no good. The only thing she might achieve was having some disinterested officer take a report. In their eyes, this wasn't a true crime. Not until actual violence was dished would they get involved.
Violence. His lion heartily approved of it, but he'd have to do it in such a way that Kira wouldn't find out. He got the feeling she'd already faced enough.
Despite their short acquaintance, Arik knew Kira wasn't the type to get scared by petty threats, nor would she ditch her life to start over unless something truly bad had gone down. Nothing short of life-threatening would have Kira reacting the way she had.
He was proven right less than an hour later.
Hayder's voice didn't hold even a smidgen of humor when he called and relayed his findings. "I got what you asked for, dude. And it wasn't easy. This Kira broad might be Dominic's granddaughter, but they have different last names. Even once I figured that out, she wasn't easy to track. Your girlfriend isn't online with social media or anything. Lucky for us, I've got a second cousin on my mom's side who works for the cops out west. He was able to use his access to enforcement databases and he got a hit on her name."
"And?"
"And is Leo there?" Hayder stalled, which didn't bode well.
"That bad?"
"Depends on how you look at it. Seems her ex-boyfriend was quite busy. At least according to her. Nothing concrete was ever proven, despite the many police reports and investigations. Seems Gregory has a history of leaving not-so-polite messages for Kira to find. She called the cops a few times for assault, but with no bruises to show for it, they never laid charges. I suspect Gregory had friends on the force. But even they couldn't cover his ass when he accosted her at work. According to witnesses, he showed up and went on a rant. She told him to leave, but he wouldn't listen. Numerous people claimed he shook her before shoving her against a wall. It was after that a judge granted her a restraining order, which prevents him from coming within fifty yards of her and, in addition, lists her residence, her parents' home as well as her place of business."
"In other words, the asshole is having a hard time letting go."
"More than hard. The restraining order just pissed him off. Things escalated after that. He attacked her outside her home, gave her a black eye, and might have done more if a passerby hadn't intervened. That got him tossed in the slammer for a few days, and more charges were filed, but they let him out on bail. It was while he was out that the salon she owned and worked out of burned down. Despite Kira insisting it was him, the investigator didn't find any concrete evidence linking Gregory to the incident. No accelerant was found, and the cause was attributed to rats chewing the wiring. Without hard evidence, though, the cops wouldn't book him."
And so she fled.
"Do you have a picture for me?" So Arik could see the face of the man he'd kill. Terrorize his woman? Not happening. Not to Kira. Scum like that did not deserve to breathe the same air as everyone else.
"I've got a few images. I'll text them over in a second."
"Good. After that, I want you to hire some security."
"The human kind or are you coughing up the extra dough for the Pack?"
Pack, as in Lycans who charged a hefty price for their services. Problem was while the Pack was the better choice, he didn't want any of those randy mutts sniffing around his woman. However, given they needed to protect her against one of their own, his jealousy would have to take a back seat. "Hire the Pack. But warn them they are not to have contact with her. I don't want her to even suspect they're watching. I want them for round-the-clock surveillance on her apartment and where she works. We don't want this asshole repeating his arson."
"Do you want a security detail on her?"
"No. I've got that covered." That was one protective detail he intended to handle himself.
With Kira, only the personal touch would do.
And as for Gregory … Arik left a message of his own should the wolf come skulking around again. An old-school message that had Leo wrinkling his nose and saying, "Did you really have to pee on her building?"
Well, yeah. How else was he to leave his calling card and take care of a pressing bladder all at once?
Chapter Twelve
Gritty-eyed and her body aching from a night spent on the floor, it was all Kira could do to drag herself down the steep stairs. She dreaded going out. Out meant too many places Gregory could hide and accost her from. Out meant seeing that vile message again, a message her uncle would spot when he came in to work. A visible threat that would require explanation.
If only she could stay hidden and pretend none of this was happening. Except ignoring it wouldn't make it go away. But she could hide away. This time, she wouldn't flee to a place with family. She'd go somewhere new, somewhere no one even knew her name.
This time I'll truly start over. Like she should have done in the first place.
She should have known better. In her stupidity to escape quickly, she'd put her family in danger. It wouldn't happen again.
She'd leave as soon as she got her paycheck from the barbershop. Once she cashed it, she'd come back for the bag she'd packed and call a cab for the airport. She'd hop on a plane to the first cheap location she could find. And once she got there, she'd board another plane to further muddle her trail.
The cowardice of running stung, but the fear of seeing her family hurt proved stronger than her shame.
Since the fish shop would be open, her uncle an early riser, she took the inner set of stairs to go down, putting off the sight of the bloody message waiting on her exterior door. At the bottom of the steps, she paused and took several deep breaths. What would she say to her uncle? How to explain the vile note left on the door?
Or could she duck out while he wasn't looking?
From the safety of the storage room, she peeked around the doorjamb that led into the store. Her uncle argued with the radio as the announcer relayed sports scores and news. When he crouched down to wipe out the inside of the glass display case, she darted by.
"Morning, Kira," he said, his voice muffled by the glass. "What happened to your door?"
She didn't reply, just flashed him a wan smile and didn't stop. Her uncle deserved an answer, but she wasn't sure she could tell him without bursting into tears. Being a nice guy, he would insist on helping, and that would make things worse because then he might get drawn into the drama that was her life.
Best to run. She pushed open the portal to the sidewalk, only hyperventilating a little as trepidation suddenly filled her.