Page 1 of Guarding the Billionaire

Prologue - Teresa

Six months ago…

“How did it go with your mate?” I asked my friend and coworker. Martha had recently found her soulmate, a human named Emily. It was every supernatural creature’s dream to find a fated mate, but this situation was complicated by the fact that there was a mob hit out on Emily and until the threat was eliminated, Martha and I were her bodyguards. My friend didn’t have the luxury of focusing on romance right now.

“I wish I’d had a chance to ask Wanda or Angie for some pointers on how to explain fated mates to humans,” Martha said. “I kind of blurted it out. Emily seemed kind of skeptical at first, but after we talked for a bit she seemed almost okay with it.”

“Of course she’s okay with it,” I reassured her. “She feels the mate pull too, even if it’s not as strong as what you feel. And you’re not exactly a troll. A lot of women would be glad to be your mate.”

Even I could hear the wistfulness in my tone. It wasn’t like me to let my emotions out, especially on the job, but then again, Martha was one of my closest friends, so I felt comfortable enough with her to be myself.

“You’ll find your mate someday too Teresa, don’t worry.”

I sighed deeply.

“For years I’ve dreamed about her, you know? She’s strong and tall, a badass vampire who likes to do all the things I do. I imagine us traveling the globe climbing mountains and bungee jumping off cliffs. But now I wonder if it’s all just a fantasy and I’ll never find her.”

Martha stopped walking long enough to meet my gaze.

“It’s going to happen for you Teresa, I promise.”

Teresa

“It was beautiful wedding, no?”

I looked up as my friend Boris sat next to me, his Belarusian accent still strong even after several years living in the United States. Boris was a huge, hulking man, probably because he was also a bear. He and his two bear shifter brothers ran a restaurant here in Seattle, but they also freelanced in private security. We’d worked together on several cases now and had also become good friends.

Today was Martha and Emily’s wedding and everyone from Sapphic Security was here, as well as Boris and his brothers. In front of us the newlyweds were dancing to a slow song, surrounded by other couples. They stared into each other’s eyes, looking deliriously happy.

“Yeah, it was a nice wedding.”

I sounded glum, and Boris picked up on it right away. When you spent countless hours on a stakeout with someone, you got to know them pretty well.

“What is this sadness?”

I sighed. “Nothing, I guess I’m just feeling like…”

“Like all of our friends have found our mates but we have not?” Boris filled in the blank.

“Exactly. And none of them even started off wanting mates.”

“I understand, my brothers and I feel the same. We thought when we move to U.S. of A. we find perfect women for us, but so far no luck.” He wrapped one beefy arm around my shoulder, nearly knocking me off my chair. “Is too bad you areliesbijanka.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “Believe me Boris, if I liked dick I’d snatch you up so fast, fated mate or not.”

We watched the dancers in silence for a few moments until a waiter wandered by. I waved him down and grabbed two glasses of the signature cocktail. I wasn’t sure what was in it, but it was going down easily enough that I had a little bit of a buzz going despite my supernatural metabolism.

I held up my glass and tapped it against Boris’s. “To finding our mates.”

“To finding our mates,” he repeated.

“Taylor!”

I jumped as I heard my boss Lois practically yell out my name behind me. She clomped around to face me, clearly uncomfortable in the silky suit her mate had likely forced her to wear. Lois’s typical uniform was camouflage cargo pants, a tank top, and combat boots, no matter what the season. When Martha announced in our staff meeting that she and Emily were getting married, the first thing Lois had said was, “I suppose I need to dress up for this thing?”

“Hey Lois, are you enjoying the wedding?”

It was hard to tell. My boss wore a scowl as her default expression, except when she was talking to her mate Monique. Then her face softened and sometimes she almost looked like she was trying to smile, although her facial muscles didn’t seem to move in that direction.

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