“Well, Cole, you better get to bed,” Ivan said with a smile as he stepped over to the coffee maker. “You have work soon, don’t you, Miranda? And it’s my turn to keep watch.”
I hadn’t had any sleep, and that would catch up with me whether I liked it or not. At least now I didn’t have to feel jealous about leaving Ivan alone with Miranda. Everything was good.
“I think I’ll go home for that. Unless you would rather me stay here?”
Miranda’s eyes shone with delight as she let me go, knowing it was all okay. “No, no, you go. I need to wake Timothy up and get him ready for school before I’m off to work. You don’t need to worry about a thing. We’ve got everything covered here.”
I caught Ivan’s eye and was pleased to note a sense of joy there as well. He was going to have a really good day with Miranda.
I would be back once I’d slept and checked in at work just to make sure all was good there. I would be back in Miranda’s arms, and hopefully between her thighs once more, setting her on fire, soon enough.
That was an image that was going to stick with me the whole day, getting me through it. Her with her head tossed back, moaning in bliss. Moaning my name in pleasure, desperately reaching for me, clawing at me, needing me. I could not wait to have her in that state again. I meant what I said, it was the best night of my life and it wasn’t even about me. Only her.
Now that was a revelation for me. Something I had never experienced before. But all of this was new to me. New and very exciting. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
* * *
I feltgood as I walked away from the national park, knowing everything was fine at work. I’d been worried that my personal life might affect my job, but not at all.
I yanked my ringing cell phone out of my pocket and hit the answer button, barely even registering the name on the screen as I did. After a gruff hello I realized it was my brother.
“Cole, you need to get here quick. The store has been broken in to…”
Shit, I knew what he meant by the store. Miranda’s work place. I didn’t even hear whatever Ivan had to say next, because I was running. This wasn’t how I wanted to see Miranda again.
If that asshole was back and about to cause even more issues for Miranda, he could be certain that I wasn’t letting him get away with it. Not a chance. I didn’t run fast enough to catch him because I was so worried about leaving Miranda alone. I had this horrible sense that he was going to go back for her. But this time it would be different. This time, I would not give up until I could wrap my hands around his scrawny little neck and make sure he never bothered Miranda and Timothy again. I would save this Tim.
I was out of breath when I crashed through the front door of the store to find Miranda in Ivan’s arms, weeping softly. What a fucking bastard. How could he keep doing these things to her? Did he not care enough about Miranda to just leave her alone? I already cared about her so much that if that was what she asked of me, I would back off right away, no questions asked. I wouldn’t want to see this sad look in her eyes for even one second.
“What happened?” I demanded as I crossed the store, closing the gap between us. “What did he do now?”
“A man…” Miranda said between sobs. “I thought he was just a customer, so I barely paid any attention to him. I don’t think I even looked his way. Not really. Not until he came to the register and I noticed he had his whole face covered…”
“Was it him?” My heart was thundering like crazy in my chest in anticipation of her answer. “Was it Brady?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted sadly. “I thought it was at first because his voice…it sounded like his voice, but now I don’t know because the body shape wasn’t right. There was something off about him. It could have been just a burglar and I attached the voice to him because I’ve been so scared about him finding me. It was all a blur…”
I looked to Ivan, who shrugged helplessly. “I was watching, but I didn’t see anything. I didn’t get a chance to get to him because it just looked like a normal transaction from out here. By the time I realized he had taken the earnings, it was too late. The smell though… I caught the scent of the guy, and it reminds me of the scent I found in Mr. Thompson’s vacation homes. I think we can assume there is a serial thief around.”
I had to hold anger. I suppose it wasn’t Ivan’s fault that he didn’t see what was going on, but I knew that wasn’t a mistake I would have made. Not a chance. No one would fool me. But I couldn’t get caught up in that now. We had to take action and keep Miranda safe. That was more important.
“So, what now?” I demanded, still trying to control my rage. “What’s the next move?”
“Now I have to wait for my boss to get here,” Miranda sniffed. “The police too. And I need to work out who it is. I don’t know why Brady would come here just to steal, unless it was to torment me… but he has been accused of it in the past.” That realization seemed to hit her as hard as it did me. “He was kicked out of his wolf pack for stealing…”
This bastard. What the hell was he playing at?
“Okay. You stay here, Ivan,” I insisted, “and I’ll go out to see if I can find this asshole. I don’t want him to get away again. He isn’t going to get away with this again.”
“But what if it wasn’t him?” Miranda said, but I shook my head.
“I’m going to get whoever it was. Stealing isn’t right either, so I’m going to get that money back so you don’t end up losing your job over some greedy bastard.”
Miranda might not have been one hundred percent convinced it was Brady, but I was. I just got a bad vibe from that piece of shit. I was also pretty sure it was his nasty scent clinging to the air. I needed to follow that trail before it went cold.
I took off before anyone else could say anything, shifting into my bear. It wasn’t the easiest to follow Brady’s scent, and I wasn’t quite sure why, but even if I needed to go all over town to hunt Brady down, I would make sure I found him. No matter what.