The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) Read Online Free Page B

pick up
Jack and take you home, even come get you in the morning,” Brynn
offered.
    Malachi’s heart jumped into his throat and
his wolf whined pitifully in his head, wanting desperately to have
her in the SUV with them.
    Nila swallowed audibly and looked over her
shoulder. “Thanks, but no, I’ll be fine. I guess my plans to go to
the grocery are out, though.”
    She met his eyes for only a heartbeat, and
then she pushed the door open and disappeared into the falling
snow.
    “Damn she’s stubborn,” Brynn said as she
wrapped a scarf around her neck and tugged on gloves.
    “That’s the pot calling the kettle
black.”
    “Hey, we’re talking about two entirely
different situations here. You didn’t knock her up and ignore her
like a certain alpha male we both know.”
    “I thought you forgave him for that.”
    “I did, but I reserved the right to throw it
in his face anytime I want. Nila’s stubborn in a different way. I
wish she could see how sweet you are.”
    “Oh, I’m blushing here,” Malachi said.
    Brynn slugged him on the arm. “You’re sweet
but you’re also kind of an ass.”
    He opened the door for her, bracing himself
against the cold as he took her elbow and guided her safely to the
SUV. He looked at the tracks that Nila’s sedan had made in the
parking lot, wishing that she’d taken Brynn up on her offer. He
would’ve loved to drive to the daycare and pick up Jack with her
and then take them both home. It was important to him that she was
watched over. He had driven by her home more than once, even
shifting and scouting the woods around her home. Her house was
secure enough — dead bolts on the front and back doors, an alarm
system — but she’d be safer in his house, that was just a fact.
    After dropping Brynn off, he drove to the
home that Mia rented in the development behind Nila’s. A small
section of woods separated the two streets, and it was easy enough
for Mal to shift in Mia’s backyard and trot across the woods to
watch Nila’s house, which he did from time to time. He’d smelled
other wolves in the woods, but the scents weren’t fresh so he knew
that no one had been sniffing around Nila’s house in a couple of
weeks.
    Stomping off his boots on the front porch, he
opened the front door and said, “Hey Mia.”
    “Hi Mal, I’m in the kitchen.”
    He inhaled the scent of pot roast and his
mouth watered. Mia was a damn good cook, something she’d learned
from their mom. Their parents had lived in Wilde Creek until Acksel
had taken over as alpha a few years ago, and then they had decided
to leave the pack and join his dad’s brother’s pack. Malachi had
left with them, thinking he’d have a better chance of finding a
mate if he were away from Wilde Creek where he’d never even had a
passing thought of mating any of the she-wolves. Now Nila was here,
though, and she was his mate. He was glad he’d moved back.
    After eating his sister’s amazing pot roast
and mashed potatoes, he moved the heavy mahogany desk from the
family room to the spare bedroom. She wiped the desk off with a
dust cloth and he moved the computer to the clean surface.
“Planning to write the great American novel?” He teased.
    “No, I just want it out of the family room. I
keep banging my hip on the edge of the desk when I walk by. How’s
work going?”
    “It’s not exactly hard to sit at the doctor’s
office and look at security footage all day.”
    “I suppose not,” Mia said, smiling. “How long
are you going to have to sit with her?”
    “I don’t know.” He frowned, leaning against
the wall.
    “Well, don’t you think that you could just
drive her to work, look at the footage, and then leave? I don’t
know why you have to stay with her all day anymore.”
    “Because Acksel said so.”
    Mia hummed. “I’m sure it’s not a hardship
since you get to ogle the nurse, but really…it’s one thing to drive
her around, but it’s another to sit there all day. Don’t you have