Page 11 of Protected By Her Mate

I try to see the card, but it’s not at the right angle and the writing would be too small from this distance anyway. My eyes are good, but not that good.

She waits and waits, frustration clear on her face as the person on the other end doesn’t pick up. She huffs and drops her phone. “Dammit, Lennox, where are you?”

Oh Shit. She’s looking for me.

And my cell phone is in my jacket pocket on a roof several blocks away. I’m torn between wanting to race back to my phone to find out what she discovered and my desire to give my wolf his way and continue to spy on our mate.

Charlie’s son decides for us when his call from the washroom distracts his mother and she walks away from her phone.

I let out a breath, deciding to stay. She shouldn’t be working anyway. It’s after hours.

I ignore the persistent image of my own small apartment filled with paperwork from other cases. I’m not exactly one to talk about striking a healthy work-life balance.

I watch eagerly as Charlie leads her towel-clad son from the washroom into his bedroom. I can’t follow them as his bedroom is on the side of the building without a fire escape.

I’ll have to be content to listen to the soft cadence of their voices as they speak to each other, going through a nightly ritual of hug, book, and bedtime kiss. I search myself for jealousy, wondering why my wolf isn’t upset that our mate is paying attention to another.

Wolf shifters mate for life, though they can separate if they aren’t compatible. Even separated, the incompatible pair would need to live in proximity to each other so as not to disturb the mating instinct. A second mating is extremely rare; therefore, it would be unusual in the wolf shifter world to find a mate who already has offspring. It happens, but not often.

Now I wish I’d paid more attention to the mating habits of other species. They might inform my own actions and feelings toward a mate with a child from a previous relationship.

My feelings for the child are murky. I’m not jealous of the attention Charlie is giving him, but my wolf is dismissive of the boy, uncaring.

I catch sight of Charlie as she tiptoes silently from the child’s room. My heart hammers harder with anticipation. My paw pads dampen and my breathing grows shallower. Classic mating symptoms.

I want her. No, I need her. More than I need my next breath.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I was supposed to be the logical brother, the one who avoided the curse by avoiding a mating.

Now… well… now I don’t need my wolf to tell me I’m fucked.

And if I’m correct, so is Charlie.

Why did I think I could escape the mating call when my species is well known for it?

I should run away. Leave. Disappear.

Charlie lets out a sigh of relief as she sinks onto her sofa, pulling a crocheted blanket over her legs and picking up her tablet once more.

One more peek before I leave.

She pulls up a browser window and types in ‘Detective Lennox Wolven-North’. A grin stretches my lips as I leap from the fire escape and back into the night.

When I’ve climbed back down to street level and put on my clothes, I dig out my cell phone and check my messages. Charlie’s voice fills my ear. “Lennox, meet me at my office as early as you can tomorrow. I need you to get me in to look at the body from our fire. I think I’ve found something.”

Chapter 4

Guardians of the flame

CHARLIE

Yawning, I pull my truck up to the station and park. I gather my go-cup, my tablet and my purse before heading into the station. Blearily, I dig through my purse for office keys, but the sound of raucous laughter has me frowning.

It’s 8:30 in the morning. The fire house is never animated at this time of day. What’s going on?

I follow the laughter to the kitchen where I blink several times, certain I must be hallucinating.

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