Protected by Wolves [Shape-Shifter Clinic 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Ellie looked at Kitten. Kitten just blinked and settled down in her hands, ready to go back to sleep.

  “Well, thank you for your help and advice here, Kitten. Likely my subconscious was keeping my options open. Letting me dream without having to pick one man. But why should I only pick one man? Ambrielle has two men, and she’s very happy about that.”

  Ellie giggled then set Kitten on the pillow beside her before lying down again.

  “Two men! I’m still dreaming. No one man would want me, thanks to my crazy family, let alone two. And as for a wolf? No way!”

  * * * *

  Mike and Rowan had spent a very long and boring Saturday at Garden Acres. They’d taken turns to walk around the property, stretching their legs and checking for potential exits along the fence line. Then they’d each had a brief nap in the backseat of Sam’s car. But overall, Mike rather thought it was one of the longest days he’d experienced recently.

  They’d even indulged in an hour-long session of “remember when” stories from their pasts, each of them trying to recall some of their more outrageous exploits. They’d been together pretty much all their lives, growing up in the pack. Mike had always looked up to Rowan, who was two years older than him.

  “You were very patient about me tagging along with you and your friends. I always appreciated that.”

  “Only because you were tall. No one could tell you were so young. Except when you were stupid. Like the day you almost fell through the window.”

  “Right. And whose idea was it to walk along the window ledge in the first place?” retorted Mike.

  “Oh dear. And that time we all climbed up on the roof and the tiler nearly had a heart attack when he turned around and four boys were sitting up there with him.”

  They looked at each other and laughed. “Still it’s all come in useful with some of the jobs the Alpha has given us. Even hanging around on the roof of a building.”

  “Or sitting in the car nearly dying of boredom, like now,” moaned Mike.

  “It’s lucky we like the same things. I can imagine being stuck in a car together like this would be grounds for murder with some people. The Alpha is pretty smart the way he pairs people up,” said Rowan.

  At midnight the Alpha had sent two men out to relieve them and they’d gotten six hours sleep on the living room floor of one of the other apartments. The owners were wolves currently in Florida on an extended vacation, and Mike was thrilled to take a shower and lie down flat and stretch his long legs for a few hours.

  Promptly at six thirty they were back at Sam’s car. “Do you really think Ellie is planning to sneak away today? Or have we wasted what might have been a free weekend?” he asked.

  “Time will tell, of course, but I still think I was right. She was planning something.”

  The morning passed as slowly as the previous day, and promptly at noon Mike walked back to the security gate and ordered lunch. Another pizza. Even he was getting a little tired of pizza, but the delivery guy was certain to deliver, and the only other take-out restaurant in this area wasn’t very reliable. At least with pizza he knew he wouldn’t starve to death on shift.

  Mike had just dropped his empty soda can into the trash bag when he saw Ellie. At least he thought it was Ellie. Instead of sensible jeans or pants and a pastel-colored shirt she was wearing a short, flirty little sundress in pure white and white sandals, exposing more skin than he’d ever seen of hers at all. And what beautiful skin. A fraction pale, likely because it was generally hidden under clothing, but her legs and arms, though thin, had clear muscle definition to them, and her rounded breasts were just hinted at under the halter top of the sundress.

  “She’s stunning. No wonder she hides herself under those boring clothes normally.”

  “And she’s tied her hair back, too. You can see the delicate line of her jaw, and her eyes look even bigger behind her glasses now her hair’s not hiding half her face,” added Rowan.

  “I wonder who the lucky man is that she’s about to have lunch with,” said Mike. A physical pain gripped him. She was his! He was supposed to protect her, and now she was all dressed up looking heartbreakingly beautiful and off to meet some lucky man. I’d give just about anything to be the one dating her right now.

  “We’re about to find out, as long as we don’t lose her. But I have to say, I almost didn’t recognize her. Normally she’s so—I don’t know, ordinary, I guess. Almost invisible. Today well, today she’s—”

  “Stunning? Breathtaking?” Mine!

  “All of that and more,” said Rowan, gently easing Sam’s car out of the parking space and facing the direction of the gate.

  “Stay well back. We don’t want to scare her away,” warned Mike. His heart was in turmoil. He wanted to snatch her into his arms and make love to her. He wanted to spank her cute little ass until she told him why she’d misled them into thinking she was staying home all weekend. He wanted to…He wanted to make love to her. Kiss her and caress her and hold her close. Explore every inch of that tempting skin. Thrust his cock deep inside her until she came screaming in an orgasm only he could give her.

  And as for the man she was about to meet, he’d better treat her right or Mike would personally break every bone in his body. Then he’d throw him off the nearest cliff. He’d—

  Whoa! Ellie Roth didn’t belong to him. She was a job. Just a job. He was supposed to protect her, not go all feral wolf about her.

  Mike shook his head. He really needed to get his act together and start behaving like a mature, experienced professional. Right now, all he was supposed to do was watch over Ellie. Keep his distance, keep his cool. Act professional. How the fuck was he going to manage to do that?

  Chapter Four

  Ellie felt happy and pretty. Despite her sexy dream, she’d slept better than she usually did. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the air was warm, and the day just begged her to wear a dress instead of her usual jeans and shirt.

  Ellie snapped a few pictures on her cell phone of her new apartment to show her grandmother, including the view out her window, then picked up Kitten. “I’m going to visit Grandma now, Kitten. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” Gently laying the tiny fur ball on the couch, Ellie grabbed her purse, checked she had her key and let herself out, carefully checking the door was locked.

  Here, in this secure building, likely that didn’t matter, but ten years of habit was engrained into her soul now, and she always checked everything.

  Ellie looked around carefully as she drove out of her assigned parking space, but saw no sign of any of the three cars she’d seen Mike and Rowan driving. Good. She’d wondered if they believed her, or if they’d try to follow her. Of course, they might be waiting outside the gate, too. But hopefully she was on her own.

  It was so very important her family not have her address. Her family hated her so much, despised her so bitterly for not being a shape-shifter, that the relationship between them had been strained even when she was a child. It’d only gotten worse since she’d left home. Whenever either of her parents found out where she was staying, or working, or her cell phone number, they insisted she should “contribute financially” to whatever their latest obsession involved.

  Between the two of them her parents had sold almost every dodgy product ever invented, as well as house blocks guaranteed to flood each winter, tree plantations in areas that wildfires raced through at regular intervals, and dozens of other shady schemes. Ellie wanted nothing to do with their anger, their hatred, their bias, or their money-making programs. She wanted to be alone, at peace, herself.

  Well, she didn’t mind spending time with her grandmother. The old lady had always loved her although she’d never been strong enough to protect her from her own son, Ellie’s father.

  Which was why Ellie didn’t go straight to her grandmother’s room, she went to the sign-in book and checked the pages of names since she’d last visited. Her father sometimes tried to disguise his handwriting, and she wouldn’t be
surprised if he used a false name to sign in either, but he had a very distinctive way of curving the last letter of each sentence he wrote, so she was somewhat confident she’d recognize anything he’d signed. That was no guarantee he wasn’t lying in wait for her, but it was a small precaution she always took.

  Despite her sandals, Ellie walked very quietly up the long hallway to her grandmother’s room. She had a nice room with a view out over the rose garden. The door was wide open, and her grandmother was sitting on a chair by the window, her back to the door.

  Heaving a sigh of relief, Ellie said, “Hi, Grandma. How’s your week been?”

  “Her week will be just awesome, Ellie, as long as you give me two thousand dollars today.”

  “Dad?”

  Ellie spun around. Her father was leaning on the doorjamb of the ensuite bathroom, his arms crossed over his still-muscular chest. His hair was a lot grayer than the last time she’d seen him, but the disgruntled, unhappy, angry look on his face hadn’t changed at all.

  Ellie looked across to her grandmother, who had now turned around. Her glasses were broken and a huge red mark disfigured one side of her face.

  “You hit your own mother? How could you do such an evil thing?”

  “She wouldn’t give me your address.”

  “She doesn’t know it, you moron! I’ve kept it secret.”

  Her father waved his arm as if to brush her objections aside, then grabbed Ellie’s wrist. “We’ll go to the bank right now and you can get the money for me.”

  His grasp was just as tight and painful as it’d always been, and she was as unable to escape from him as ever. That hadn’t changed. Now he was going to get really angry. “You can drag me to the bank, but it’s not going to help you get any money. I don’t have two thousand dollars. I’d be lucky to have two hundred, and I need that to pay bills.”

  “Of course you have money. You’ve got a job. You must have buckets of money. You’ve been working for years. Maybe it’s not in the bank, but you’ve got it and I want it. We’re going right now and you’ll get it for me. Didn’t you hear me, girl. I need two thousand bucks right now.”

  Her father pulled on her arm, the pain in her wrist and shoulder from his forceful yanking of her body as he dragged her across the room making her almost cry out. It was always like this. He never listened to anyone about anything. In a minute her mother would turn up and start screaming at her as well.

  “I. Don’t. Have. Any. Money. Let. Me. Go!”

  Almost Ellie wished she hadn’t escaped from Rowan and Mike. It’d be lovely right now to have two big strong men to protect her. But no. No one should be obliged to see her father in one of his rages. She was on her own. She had to solve this herself, as she always did. At least her father wouldn’t be able to find out where she lived. It wasn’t written down anywhere and her grandma truly didn’t know that or where she worked, only that she worked in a doctor’s clinic and there were thousands of those across the town.

  There was the clatter of feet in the doorway, a long arm came between her and her father, and her father’s head was pushed back against the wall, the hand gripping his neck.

  “Let the little lady go or I’ll squeeze your neck tighter.”

  Ellie stared up into Mike’s face. She knew Mike was tall, everyone was tall compared to her, but he was a lot taller than her father as well. Ellie could tell her dad wasn’t having any success at loosening Mike’s one-handed grip on his neck.

  “Call your gorilla off, girl, or so help me I’ll—”

  “My dear sir, I don’t believe you’re in a position to make any demands. Let Ellie go now or you’ll have a broken neck. And that is a promise.” Ellie blinked. She’d never heard Mike use such a ferocious tone of voice even when dealing with the punks and the car tires.

  Her dad let go of her arm, and Ellie ran to her grandmother. “We need to get an ice pack for your face,” she said.

  “Take a picture first, then call the nurses. This time my son has gone too far. Take pictures of my glasses as well. All the nurses know they weren’t damaged until Tim arrived. I can’t believe my own son would treat me as a punching bag. You will not get away with this, Tim,” the old lady said firmly, staring at her son, still held by Mike, just a few steps inside her room.

  Rowan arrived then with a male security guard and two male personal care attendants. So he’s here too. Did they follow me? Are they reading my mind? I’m so glad they’re here, but how did it happen?

  “Arrest my son. I will be pressing charges against him for what he’s done to me,” said the old lady.

  “You can’t. You have to give me the money. I have to have—”

  “You can go to jail. I should have let you go to jail last time, but I was too soft-hearted. Not this time. Ellie has more sense in her little finger than you have in your entire body.”

  “Ellie! That slut! That human! She—”

  “Yes, sir, let’s go, sir,” said the security guard, taking control of Tim Roth as a bevy of nursing staff poured into the room to attend to Ellie and her grandmother.

  Ellie watched the men lead her father away. Of course she and her grandmother would have to make a police report, if her grandma was serious. Ellie didn’t want her father in jail, but even she found it hard to believe he’d punched his own mother in the face. Her father had always been rough, but that was totally beyond what was appropriate.

  Rowan was the last to leave, and he mouthed to her, “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  She smiled. Mike and Rowan had miraculously turned up just when she needed them. Right now it was enough to know they were here. But later she needed to find out how they got to her right at the critical moment.

  * * * *

  Rowan was so angry he could hardly walk straight. At least Mike had been able to manhandle Ellie’s father some. He’d just run for help. How could a man hit an old lady? His own mother? It was beyond anything. And then Tim Roth had such a grip on Ellie she was going to be bruised, Rowan was sure.

  He stopped in the hallway and called Wolf Central to let them know what was happening.

  “This may all be connected to the shape-shifter clinic situation. This man may be on George Thorne’s payroll. Tell Mrs. Roth senior we’ll provide a lawyer if she takes her son to court. I’ll get Josie to call attorney Sierra Bond and put her in the picture as well,” the Alpha said.

  Rowan thanked him and raced after the group.

  The next few hours were hectic as Mr. Roth was taken away by the police and female officers interviewed Ellie and her grandmother. When Rowan saw Ellie’s shoulder and wrist all strapped up his heart almost pounded its way out of his chest, but Ellie was as quiet and collected as always, telling her story simply and without embellishment. Two nurses hovered over the old lady, and she looked so tired and sad Rowan’s heart ached for her, too. How terrible to be abused by your own adult child.

  Finally the nurses insisted on putting the old lady back to bed. Mike, who’d been leaning against the wall beside Rowan all the time, spoke. “Mrs. Roth, please order yourself some new glasses. I’d consider it a privilege to pay for them. Such a brave lady deserves something special. Choose ones you really like.”

  “Bright pink frames with rhinestones?” suggested the old lady with some sparkle back in her eyes.

  “Why not?”

  Rowan nodded. If that son of hers was as useless as he seemed, her chances of getting him to pay for what he’d broken were negligible. That was an excellent idea of Mike’s.

  Ellie smiled at Mike, too, and for a moment Rowan wished he’d thought of the idea himself, then he pushed the thoughts away. He and Mike would share Ellie. It was very obvious they both wanted her, so they’d both have her. Besides, it was beginning to look like it’d take both of them to keep her out of danger.

  Tonight she would be in too much distress, but sometime soon he’d paddle her ass for running out on them today. She could have gotten badly hurt because of that. He couldn’t bear to th
ink of what might have happened to her if he and Mike hadn’t followed her.

  Her father would have continued to insist she give him money and she said she didn’t have any. Was that because he’d taken it all in the past? Or was she lying, trying to hide it from him? Well, it didn’t really matter. It belonged to her, not her father anyway.

  Her father had said one thing that was helpful though. He’d called her human. He’d said it as a swear word, but to Rowan it was good news. He’d have continued to want her if she was a cat shape-shifter. Somehow she was under his skin and he had to have her. But knowing she was human was good news indeed. It meant there would be no problem with her living among wolves. Her loyalty would not be so obviously divided between her people and his. She obviously had some feline ancestry, and that was fine, but being human would help their romance progress much more easily than if she’d been a cat herself.

  Wait up! Our romance? Yes, romance. I want her. Mike wants her. All we need to do is see if she wants us as much as we want her. Oh, yeah, and keep her safe from a never-ending stream of people trying to harm her. That, too.

  * * * *

  When Ellie went to climb into her car, Mike placed his hand over the door, blocking her. “You can’t drive with your arm in a sling. Let me drive you home.”

  “It’s not very sore. I’ll take it out of the sling to drive home.”

  “No, you won’t. I’ll drive. Here, let me open the passenger door for you.” Mike raced around her car and opened the other door. Ellie stared at him. No, he wasn’t going to give up any time soon. It’d be easier to do as he said. Besides, her shoulder did ache, although she was reasonably certain the nurses had made a much bigger deal out of her injuries than was necessary. I guess it’s their way of showing they care for Grandma.