The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) (19 page)

She opened the envelope and pulled out the
stack of papers, quickly checking the sticky tags that marked where
Damien was supposed to sign. She found his scrawled signature
everywhere, even on the papers that waived his parental rights to
Jack.

Tears pooled in her eyes as the realization
that Jack was really hers and she was free for good from Damien
dawned on her.

“He did it,” she said thickly, rubbing at her
cheeks to wipe away the tears. “I’m done, I’m really done with
him.”

Malachi sent the delivery man away and then
hugged her. “How does it feel to be free?”

“Like I just won the lottery.”

Brynn squealed in happiness and hugged Nila,
and she embraced her friend. “Thank you for helping me,” she said,
sniffling.

“Oh, babe, of course! You can bring Jack to
the house tonight and I’ll watch him while you two go
celebrate.”

Malachi chuckled. “I think you’re just trying
to get Acksel used to having a kid around the house.”

“Jack is very handy, and he’s so
adorable.”

Nila pressed the signed papers to her chest
and sighed in relief. “We can drop these off at my lawyer’s office
on the way home tonight.”

“I’ll have one of the omegas take them over,”
Malachi said, reaching for his phone. As he pulled it from his
pocket it buzzed, and he glanced at the screen with a frown,
stepping away from the desk and few paces down the hallway.

“Wonder what that was about?” Brynn asked as
she sat behind the desk.

Nila shrugged, but something about the way
that Malachi suddenly tensed made worry streak through her.

Malachi cursed and disappeared into the
breakroom so fast he was just a blur. When he raced back to the
reception desk, he had her purse and coat. “Someone set a fire at
the daycare.”

“What?” she shrieked, the papers falling to
the ground as panic clawed at her.

Malachi held her coat for her, and it took
her a second to realize he wanted her to put it on. “The guards
went in to help get the kids out, and they realized that Jack was
gone. Someone took him while the teachers and kids were
panicking.”

Her legs turned to jelly and it was only
Malachi’s strong grip that kept her from hitting the tile floor. He
gave her a little shake. “Sweetheart, stay with me. We need to go
to Acksel’s house and figure out how to get Jack back.”

She swallowed back the fear that lodged in
her throat and put her coat on, following Malachi out of the clinic
and into the bitter cold.

She tried not to think about how scared Jack
must be. Had Damien grabbed him, or sent some of his buddies? Had
they gotten his jacket and hat? Was he hungry or hurt or scared?
Questions wheeled through her mind as Malachi tore out of the
parking lot, the engine of his SUV roaring like a lion.

“We’ll get him back safely, Nila, I swear on
my life.”

She wanted to trust him, but she was too
terrified to do anything but stare out the windshield and pray that
her son was okay.

* * * * *

Acksel’s house was bustling with activity.
Nila sat on the couch while Malachi, Acksel, and a large group of
men talked about Jack and her crazy ex. She was trying to be strong
for her son, but she was scared senseless. She had no idea what
Damien would do to Jack. She glanced at the clock. An hour had
passed already.

She reached for a cup of hot tea that
Jeremiah had made for her. He and a few other men were standing at
the back of the room, not participating in the discussion on how to
get her son back, and she glanced over her shoulder and looked at
them.

Jeremiah stepped forward quickly and knelt
behind her. “Did you need anything else, Nila?” he whispered.

“No, I just… I’m trying to distract myself by
not thinking about what’s going on with my son.”

He smiled sadly. “I’m sorry for what you’re
going through. Malachi will get him back.”

He patted her shoulder and moved to the back
of the room again. She realized she was wondering about him and the
other men back there because she didn’t want to think too hard
about what was going on with Jack right now. She was about one dark
thought away from losing it. Damien didn’t have a paternal bone in
his body. She’d only left Jack with him once when he was a baby.
She’d needed to go to the doctor and Damien had said he’d watch
him, but when she’d come back a few hours later, Damien was gone
and Jack was screaming in his crib. Damien said later that his dad
had called a meeting and he wasn’t about to take a half-breed with
him, so he’d left him, and then he blamed her for being a bad
mother and not being there when her son needed her. She’d never
made that mistake again, never trusted Damien alone with him.

Her phone danced on the coffee table as it
vibrated, and she reached for it automatically. Everyone went quiet
in the room as she checked out the screen and saw that it read
‘unknown.’ Swallowing hard, she answered.

The first thing she heard was Jack crying.
Her heart clenched and her stomach dropped into her feet. Damien
said, “I don’t have to tell you how disappointed I am in you,
bitch. I told you that you would never be free from me. I
own
you, no matter what marks are on your neck.”

“Please don’t hurt Jack.”

He chuckled mirthlessly. “Half-breeds are of
little value to the pack, and I’m too busy to keep an eye on
him.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words
came out as fear choked her. She managed to whisper, “Damien,
please.”

“You’ll come crawling back to me by sunset,
or your little half-breed takes a long walk in the dark woods. Do
we understand each other?”

“Yes,” she squeaked.

“I’ll meet you at the place where you first
spread your legs. Come alone, or you’ll never see him alive
again.”

The call ended and she sat frozen, the phone
pressed to her ear, her eyes filling with tears.

Malachi pulled the phone away, set it on the
coffee table and sat down next to her, pulling her close.

“Where does he want to meet?”

“The movie theater in Dorlan. It’s abandoned
now, it closed two years ago.” She didn’t want to think about how
humiliating it was that Damien wanted to meet there.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against
Malachi’s strong shoulder. If this was the last time that she was
going to be with him, she wanted to remember every detail. Inhaling
slowly, she let the natural spicy scent of him fill her. The way he
smelled to her — at the same time comforting and exciting — was
something she never wanted to forget.

She opened her eyes and looked at him,
drinking in his features. He was so gorgeous. Blue eyes like a
summer sky, a straight nose, strong jaw, and the stubble that
resided there now made her want to rub against him like a cat.

Malachi turned his head and narrowed his
eyes. “Why are you staring at me like you’re never going to see me
again?”

Leaning back slightly, she said, “I know you
heard the conversation I had with Damien with your super-sharp
hearing. You know what he asked for, what I have to do to keep Jack
safe.”

His eyes flashed to the amber of his wolf and
his lip curled as a growl rumbled in his chest. “I heard it.”

“Then you know I have to go alone.”

The low growl turned to a full on snarl.
“No.”

“Malachi,” she started, but he cut her
off.

“We’ll be there, Nila. There’s no way in hell
I’m going to allow you to go there like a lamb to the slaughter. He
could still hurt Jack, just to spite you. I’ll be there, and so
will the pack.”

Acksel, arms folded across his chest and a
defiant look in his eyes, said, “You’re Malachi’s mate and that
makes you, and Jack, members of my pack. No one threatens my pack
and gets away with it.”

She looked at the males behind him. Dade,
Acksel’s father; Ren, the beta; Sam the leader of the protectors;
and several of the protectors who had been watching over her and
Jack. They all wore identical looks of fury and resolve. Acksel was
speaking for them, but it was clear they felt the same way that he
did. She was part of their world now, and no one messed with a
mate, even if she was human.

The support was overwhelming, and she didn’t
think she’d ever be able to thank them enough, even if all they
were doing right now was standing with her.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank us, Nila. Jack got taken because
the protectors were deceived. It’s not going to happen again,” Sam
said.

“Take a couple minutes to calm down, but we
need to get on the road,” Acksel said, making a gesture that seemed
to snap the wolves into action. Within a few seconds, the room was
empty except for her and Malachi.

“What’s going to happen?”

“The only thing I know for sure is that your
son is going to be in your arms at the end of the night. Nothing
else matters except for getting him home.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and
when he pulled her into his lap, she snuggled as close as she
could. His strong arms surrounded her, and she tucked her head
under his chin and let the tears she’d been holding back fall. She
could afford to be weak right now, but only for a minute. Jack
needed her to be strong, and with Malachi by her side, she could do
that. Her son’s life depended on it.

Chapter 14

Malachi didn’t like anything about the
situation they were walking into. Or, rather, the situation that
Nila was walking into. They’d been very careful to conceal
themselves before they entered Dorlan, so that it would appear as
if Nila was truly alone, even though she was anything but.
Malachi’s pack members were spread inconspicuously throughout the
area around the abandoned movie theater.

At one time, Malachi imagined it was a decent
place to go, but now it showed signs of neglect. The marquee was
empty, the windows and doors boarded up, and trash littered the
brick entrance. Nila stood underneath the marquee, the wind
whipping her hair around her face and blowing snow in every
direction. From where he, Acksel, and Ren watched her from behind a
dumpster in an alley across the street, he could see that she was
shivering. It was cold as hell, but she was probably scared out of
her mind, too.

Acksel looked up and then rolled his neck.
“It’s almost sunset.”

“She’s where he said to meet her,” Ren said.
“They couldn’t have seen any of us, we were very careful.”

Malachi knew that Nila would never forgive
herself if something happened to Jack. She had wanted to come alone
and trade herself for Jack’s safety, but Malachi knew that nothing
good would come from her running off to Dorlan by herself.

Her head whipped to the side and her body
tensed up. Malachi crept forward, worry streaking through him. His
wolf wanted to be right there with her, not using her as bait.

A male strode toward her, stopping a few feet
away. He knew it wasn’t Damien, and alarm raced through him. He
straightened from his crouch and sprinted toward her as a large,
dark SUV squealed its tires down the street and paused only long
enough for the male to grab Nila and toss her into the vehicle.
Malachi just missed grabbing hold of the bumper as it sped
away.

He snarled in rage. Ren grabbed Malachi’s arm
and jerked him back to the alley where their SUV was waiting.
“Let’s go!”

Acksel was behind the wheel; Malachi climbed
into the backseat. The engine roared as Acksel raced from the
alley, turning sharply and following the SUV. Malachi’s phone
buzzed, and he looked at the screen. Nila’s name came across
it.

“Sweetheart?”

A male snorted. “Sorry,
lover boy
, but
I ain’t your sweetheart. Back off or we’ll throw the human out of
the SUV.”

“Don’t hurt her.” He ground the words out
between clenched teeth.

“If I have to tell you to back off again,
she’s going to pay with her life.”

The call ended and Malachi quickly pressed a
button on his phone to trace the call. His heart pounded in his
ears as he told Acksel to stop driving and watched the program as
it loaded her location.

The dot burned steady on a map for a few
seconds and then blinked out, and he knew that they’d destroyed her
phone.

“She’s headed toward the park,” Malachi
said.

“Let’s go get your mate,” Acksel said, his
voice a dark growl.

* * * * *

After Tanner, one of Damien’s cronies, had
approached Nila, she knew something was up and she wasn’t going to
see Jack or Damien in front of the old movie theater. Maybe Damien
sent her there to humiliate her, forcing her to re-live one of her
least favorite moments, when they’d had sex for the first time in
the back row of one of the deserted screening rooms, and the
manager had caught them. Damien had been furious at the manager for
the interruption, and while Nila had tried hurriedly to right her
clothes, Damien had given the human manager a few good punches and
sent him scurrying away. She’d been impressed that Damien had
defended her like that, but now she saw it for what it was — he’d
just been pissed that he’d been interrupted by a human.

Tanner had thrown her into the back seat of
the SUV and pushed her face into the seat as his bulky body pressed
against hers. Panic had clawed at her as she fought to breathe, and
then he’d added to the fear that rode hard through her by tugging
on her clothes. She’d kicked and struggled, her lungs burning and
lights sparking before her eyes as he dug her cell phone from her
pocket and then eased up from her. While she caught her breath, he
tied her hands behind her back, then lifted her up and shoved her
over the second row of seats into the storage area. Without use of
her hands, she’d been unable to stop herself from landing hard, her
head cracking against the floor.