“He wants to mate with me, but not only don’t I like him, he’s not my fated mate, assuming those actually exist.”
Before he’d been shot, Zach might have thought fated mates were a myth, too, but no longer. When he was staying with Alex and Liam, they’d told him that they had no control over how they felt as soon as they met his sister, Tawny. When they were in her presence, their bodies would go wild with need, and that was exactly what was happening to Zach right now.
“Did he claim he was your fated mate?”
“No.”
Something didn’t seem right. “Did you think he was going to harm you if you didn’t agree to be with him?” Zach asked. “Is that why you left?”
“Not exactly. Doug said he’d hurt those I cared about if I didn’t do what he asked. I think he realized that I didn’t care what happened to me.”
That was a disturbing thought, but she might have meant that she cared more about others.
“Have you spoken with Mindy about what happened to her?” Mike asked.
“No. I’m too worried what else Doug might do to her or to my family. Before you ask, I have no proof he was the one to harm Mindy. The article didn’t say, but he’d threatened to harm someone I cared about, and I believed him. Why? Because he had already done several little things to piss me off when I wouldn’t agree to even go out with him.”
“Like what?”
“He slashed my tires. That was a royal pain to get them replaced. Once more, I couldn’t prove it was him, though later on he bragged about it. About a week after that, I was returning home from putting out a fire, when I found every window in my house smashed.”
Zach was horrified. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No. I live by myself.”
“Did you go to the police?” Mike asked.
“It wouldn’t have done any good. Doug is best friends with the deputy.”
“That sucks,” Mike shot back.
“So that’s when you decided to run away?” Zach asked.
“Not then. I was determined to wait it out. I thought he’d give up eventually. But then clever Doug found a way to get into my house and plant cameras throughout to show me he knew everything I was doing.”
“I can’t imagine,” Zach said.
“It was the last straw.”
“I hope you aren’t planning to return any time soon,” Mike said.
“I’m not ready to make any decisions about my future just yet. I thought that if I left, he’d forget about me, but then he attacked Mindy.”
“Would you like to call your friend to see how she’s doing?” Zach asked.
Cassidy’s eyes sparkled. “Yes, I’d love that, but I don’t want him to be able to trace my call. It’s why I left my phone and computer at my house.” She lifted a hand. “Don’t worry, I replaced the windows and put in a security system. If Doug tries to break in again, the company will have evidence of his crime this time.”
The man was a criminal. How did he think Cassidy would want to be with someone like that? “Are you sure it was Doug who installed the cameras?”
“Yes, because he showed me some of the feeds. He said that if I didn’t mate with him right away that he would do something a lot worse until I gave in.”
“What a nice guy,” Mike said.
“Can you see why I had to leave?”
“I’m glad you had Mindy for a friend,” Mike said. “If she hadn’t told you about me, where would you have gone?”
Cassidy looked lost and vulnerable. Zach moved next to the fire and knelt down in front of her. He reached out and clasped her hand. “It doesn’t matter, because you are here now.”