But when Nate opened the email from Ken, his panther sat up and took notice. He’s pack, came the pleased rumble.
He was pack, Nate corrected. Back when they’d been in the Service together, that had been the closest thing to pack that Nate had ever experienced.
He missed it sometimes. Although he didn’t miss active duty. He’d been proud to serve his country, but he was definitely too old to be crouched behind a Humvee taking fire.
The content of Ken’s email drove thoughts of the past clean out of his mind, though.
Ken’s new mate, the one he’d moved to Glacier Park for, had a sister. And the sister’s ex-boyfriend was stalking her.
We could use your expertise, Ken wrote. We scared off his pack a couple months ago, and they haven’t been back, but this guy just won’t leave off. He hasn’t done anything illegal, so we can’t call the police, and if we shift and give him a scare, he just runs away and then finds Stella sometime when we aren’t around. It’s frustrating as hell, thinking that I can’t protect my family, but neither Lynn nor I can be around Stella twenty-four-seven—she wouldn’t allow it even if we offered to take time off work.
Plus, Stella has a seventeen-year-old daughter, and we’re all a little worried for her safety in this, too. Could you come give your professional assessment of the situation, maybe assign Stella some protection until it dies down? I’ll pay you for your time, no problem.
Nate frowned at the screen, and immediately opened up a reply.
I’ll be there ASAP. You better have the nicest guest suite available for me. I’ll be kind and forget that you offered me payment. If I remembered that a fellow platoon member had done that, I’d have to be mortally insulted.
He sent the email, rose from his desk, and went out to see Connie with a new energy and determination in his step.
“Guess what.”
Connie regarded him. “From the expression on your face, I’m guessing there’s some kind of security crisis out there that’s requiring you to leap into the field immediately.”
“Got it in one. An old friend needs my help.” His incipient grin faded as he thought about what the problem actually was. “His sister-in-law’s being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. It sounds like she’s having a hard time going about her life. And she has a daughter who might be in danger, too.”
All humor faded from Connie’s expression. “Then get out there,” she said.
Nate nodded firmly. “You’ll hold down the fort for me?”
“I always do.”
Of course she would. He’d rely on Connie to carry the agency through any crisis at all, in his absence. “Can’t say when I’ll be back.”
“Take as long as you need to get rid of that asshole,” she said.
“I surely will.” Nate turned for the door, his mind already racing ahead to Glacier Park.
No innocent woman was going to be harassed and frightened on his watch.
***
Stella
The Park was just as beautiful in the evening as it was in the early morning. Stella surveyed the gorgeous peaks and smiled to herself. Sometimes it was hard to remember why she'd ever wanted to leave this place.
Of course, when she was in town, surrounded by the same people she'd known all her life, going to the same stores and driving the same roads, the reasons came back to her.
“Mom, let's go!” Eva was twenty yards ahead, looking around, bouncing a little in place.
Stella smiled to herself. Eva had gone through a phase, when she was fifteen or so, where she didn't want to shift at all, just stay inside with the TV and the computer. Stella had been utterly bewildered—why wouldn't a person want to take advantage of the ability to run through the forest as a lynx? It just didn't make sense.
Of course, she'd done a lot of things that didn't make sense when she was a teenager.
But now that Eva was almost eighteen, she seemed to be coming out of her little Internet hole and remembering that the outdoors existed. Lynn had suggested that Stella show Eva around the Park, because the last time they'd lived this close to Glacier, Eva had been little.
“Okay, race you to the tree line!” Stella told her daughter, and shifted and took off.
“Hey!” Eva's laughing protest caught up with her as she ran. But it didn't take long for Eva's smaller lynx form to catch up with her, and pretty soon they were running together, caught up in the joy of pushing their shifter bodes to their very impressive limit.