When An Alpha Purrs(12)

"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.