The Protector (3 page)

He
was still reeling from the day's events, and the urge to walk away from Blair
was strong.
What kind of mate would I be
if I want to run away? Being the
Kelach
is a
dangerous job. Add in the fact I am a coward who wants to run. I am not a good
mate for Blair. She deserves someone strong. If anything happens to me that
would be her screaming in grief, and possibly left alone with our children.

****

Blair
heard Cole walk up the stairs of her little house. She ran to the door to
unlock it, expecting Cole to be happy to see her. Instead, he was bloody and
had a haunted look in his eyes.

“Cole!
Goddess, what has happened to you?”

Cole
didn’t move from the doorway. He stared at her but seemed to see straight
through her. “There was a shooting. Hunters came into our territory.”

Blair
stood in the middle of the living room staring at Cole. She had a warm fire
going in the wood stove, but she was growing colder.

“Who?” she whispered, feeling her heart pound.
In
this size of a town, Blair was sure to know whoever it was.

Cole
did not look at her as he said, “Brian and Nathan.”

Blair’s
hands covered her face. She felt tears falling down her cheeks.
“Goddess.
Poor Myra.
Both her brother and her mate?”
Blair walked over to Cole,
but when she tried to put her hands around his waist he stopped her. She looked
up at him confused.

Cole
took her hands in his. “Blair, I think we should slow down. I need some space.
I need to think.”

Blair
looked at him as if he’d struck her in the face. “You want space?” She knew
what that meant. It was a nice way of calling off their plans to mate.

Cole
nodded. “I am sorry, Blair. I just can’t be a
Kelach
and worry about a mate and children.”

Blair
shook her head at Cole. “But you are not the
Kelach
yet.”

“Yes,
I am. Warren stepped down to look after Myra and the kids. I am the
Kelach
and territory beta under Michael. I will soon be the
sheriff after a special election.”

Blair
backed away from Cole. Her vision wavered as tears filled her eyes. He was
leaving her. She knew that shifter woman, Kathy, had her eye on him since
Michael kept brushing her off. She was beautiful and had money. Perhaps he
would choose Missy Hanson, who had a strong family, or Carol Mansfield, who had
looks, money,
and
a strong family.

Cole
had finally decided that she was not good enough for him. She heard the door
click and looked up. The last piece of her heart shattered as she realized he
had really walked out on her.

Chapter
Two

Present
day

Blair
made a fresh pot of coffee and looked at the stamped tin on the wall. So much
had happened in the last five years. Blair had left Pleasant Cove long behind when
she moved to France to be with her parents. She’d left Cole behind as well,
never expecting to return. She had taken a job as a cook in a local restaurant
and found that she had her grandmother’s gift of being able to cook and bake
nearly everything. She loved her job, and her parents were always off globe-trotting,
so she always had her own space.

She
had occasionally spoken with some friends in Pleasant Cove, but international
calling was expensive, so communication had been sparse, and in the time she
was away she had learned to ignore the constant ache in her chest, thinking she
was happy.

One
year ago her parents had come home and informed her that her Grandma Blair had
passed away, leaving her the coffee shop. She could not resist the urge to
return. The coffee shop was more than just a business to her grandmother. It
was her life and the heart of the town. Blair wanted to continue what her
grandmother had started so many years ago.

Blair
had many childhood memories of watching her grandmother prepare the dough for
the pastries. Her grandmother had not only handed down her coffee and pastry
shop, but her love of creating food as well. Blair could not allow the business
to be sold. It would be like selling her childhood.

When
she’d moved back here a year ago, everyone had been thrilled with seeing her.
She had missed Myra dearly. Their phone calls and messages did not make up for
a real hug and face to face conversation. But the biggest hurdle she had to get
over was seeing Cole again. She remembered thinking surely she was over him and
he would be mated by now. It had been four years by that time.

Then
she had learned Cole had never mated either, and she’d wondered if his chest
hurt, too. But what if it didn’t? Could she cope with the thought of Cole
taking another woman to his bed?

She
remembered how her heart had fluttered in her chest when she had seen him again
for the first time. Was that really a year ago?
 
The sun had been just coming up making the
stamped tin glow, and the door had chimed. Blair had looked up from cleaning
the counters, and time had stopped as the air was sucked from her lungs as she
saw his handsome face again. The hours preparing
herself
to see him on the flight back to Colorado had been for nothing. As soon as she
saw him standing there in his sheriff’s uniform, looking as sexy as ever, she
was a mess. He had matured in her time away, and the uniform suited him well.
He looked sexier than ever, and it made her want to run into his arms. She
waved shyly and quietly said, “Hi.”

Cole
walked towards her with a stunned expression on his face.
“Hi,
Blair.
What are you doing back here?”

Blair’s
heart had broken all over again. He’d appeared shocked, not happy, to see her.
Part of her had hoped he would take her in his arms and say he had waited for
her. The look on his face had said otherwise. “Grandma Blair gave me the coffee
shop. I couldn’t let it be sold, so I came home.”

Cole
had finally smiled. “I’m glad you’re home.”

Blair
had thought his smile looked
forced
, but that was ok.
Pleasant Cove was big enough for the two of them. She had her friends to get
reacquainted with, a business to run, and a home to clean up. That would keep
her busy for a long time, and it had.

An
entire year had flown by since then, and she was in her coffee shop again, just
like last year.

Running
her own business was a lot different from just cooking for someone else, as she
had in France. In the past year she had learned how to run a business and be a
manager. Now that she was on a good schedule, had the records straightened out,
and a few good employees, she had a lot more time.

She
found most of her free time the last couple of months involved Cole. He showed
up at her business, and stopped her on the street to talk. When he wasn’t
invading her space, he overtook her thoughts. He was all she’d thought about
since coming home. She found herself just as much in love with him as she had
been five years ago. It would be easier to keep her schedule if Cole would stop
coming into her business. Then she could think straight. He was around at least
once a day, coming in for coffee and waiting for her, and only her to take his
order, or walking her to the post office, and even home sometimes. It was
always something, and very distracting.
The coffee pot beeped telling her it was ready, drawing her out of her memories
of the past.

Blair
looked up when the door opened letting the fresh breeze in, and she saw Cole
walk into her coffee shop. His gaze scanned the large room until he found her.
Her heart sped up when their eyes met, and she felt the same emotion she had
denied for five years.

Love.

Cole
talked to a few people before finding a table. He sat down, and his eyes roamed
the coffee shop until he found her and signaled her to come over to him, and as
always Blair walked over to him.

She
enjoyed their chats, nothing important, everyday chitchat, just like old
friends.

Cole
stood up and pulled the chair out for her. Cole gave her his trademark look
that melted her heart.

“Hello,
Blair. You are looking beautiful. How are you today?”

 
“Fine, Cole.” She liked sitting down and
talking to Cole. Her chest didn’t ache as bad when he was near to her.

“Good.
 
Michael says to tell you Cassie is doing very
well and to thank you for all your help with the funeral arrangements.”

Blair
smiled and sat down in the empty chair. She liked Cassie and knew she was
dealing with a lot right now with her new life as a shifter, along with coming
to terms with the death of her friend. Cassie needed Michael, so the least Blair
could do was make sure the funeral went well without taking up a lot of
Michael’s spare time.

“I
like her. She is a good mate for him.” Blair was very happy for Michael and
Cassie. Michael was a good man and a just Guardian. The townsfolk respected
Michael, too. They were a tight knit community, so trust in their leaders was
paramount. They were a good community, not just because of the small size of
their town, far from the main road, but they were a mix of shifters and humans.
These humans had been coexisting with the shifters for years, and all lived
peacefully together. The territory council trusted the humans that lived there,
and no human living in the town had ever betrayed a shifter.

Michael
used his abilities given to him by their Goddess,
Ilithyia
,
to keep their town off of maps and tourist guides. Not many knew about their
peaceful town, which kept their population small and tight.

 
Many women were attracted to Michael’s power,
but he never had shown any interest in them. Blair had assumed Michael would be
one of those shifters that would never mate. She wasn’t at all surprised to
come home last year and find him still unmated. Then Michael had met Cassie.
They were soul bonded already when they met.
Ilithyia
liked to meddle in the lives of her beloved shifters, and bonded some herself.
Shifters called this a soul bond. They felt drawn to one another and complete
when they were together.

Some
shifters could sense a soul bond, but Blair did not receive that gift from
Ilithyia
. She was a plain shifter who turned into a fox.
Her sense of smell allowed her to scent humans, but not track anything, and her
eyesight was only a little better than a human’s. Her father was a strong
shifter, but her mother was a
halfling
that never
chose to change into a full shifter. She could never get over the fear of the
pain involved with changing to a shifter, and Blair’s father never pushed her
to change. Blair seemed to have inherited more of her mother’s genes than her
father’s.
 

Cole’s
face lit up in a smile, transforming his normally harsh looking features into
the face she remembered before Cole became
Kelach
.
“You do not know Cassie very well. How can you be so sure?"

Blair
raised her eyebrows at him and smirked. “I am a very good judge of character.
Remember I told you she was harmless when I first picked her up, and later when
the others were all worked up and scared she would bring us trouble.”

Cole
smiled his charming smile he used when he wanted to play with her. He wrapped
his large, calloused hand around hers. “You are. I am sorry for not listening
to you.”

Blair
looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity there. She felt the pull to him, and
her body leaned towards him. She knew he meant what he said. The business phone
for the coffee shop phone rang, and it brought her out of Cole’s spell. “I have
to get back to work.” She looked around the room, blinking back tears.

Cole
gripped her hand.
“ I
was scared you would never come
back and give me a chance to make things right with you. For five years I have
regretted that night and hoped I would get another chance.”

Blair
looked at his hand, then in his eyes. She had forgiven him a long time ago. She
loved him as she always had.
 
Her heart
and her soul chanted for her to give them another try. The phone rang again
drawing her attention from his intense eyes. “I have to go back to work, Cole.”

****

Once
again life got busy. Their relationship that was slowly rebuilding was put on
hold. Cole had been busy with shifter business and dealing with the fallout of
Lucas’s actions. Blair let the fear of another broken heart get to her, and she
avoided running into Cole. She was being silly and stubborn, but she couldn’t
help herself.

Myra
was always a good friend to talk to when she got this confused. She had been
through hell and had come out of it still as sweet as she had been before, and
she had an endless supply of advice for her. Blair picked up her phone and hit
the contact for her.

Myra
answered on the second ring. “Hello, Blair,” Myra said, sounding as cheerful as
ever.

“Hello.”

“Cole
came by, didn’t he?”

Blair
gave her phone a strange look. “How did you know?”

“Stop
looking at the phone. I can always tell by your tone of voice,” Myra said,
laughing.

“Oh.”
Blair took a breath and replied, “Yes, he came by. I think he still wants us to
try again.”

Myra
was silent for a moment. “What are you afraid of?”

Blair
closed her eyes. During the years she was gone their phone conversations had revolved
around everyone in town, except for Cole. Now Myra encouraged her to be brave
and take a chance.

“I
am afraid of getting my heart broken again.”

“Sweetie,
I know.
 
Cole reacted badly to a trauma.
He didn’t mean anything he said. He loves you, and I know you still love him.”

“Oh,
you do, huh?” Blair let out a harsh laugh. “What makes you so sure I still love
him?”

“You
left for four years, Blair, yet every time you see him, your eyes light up the
same way they did when you two were together. I wouldn’t suggest you try again
if I didn’t see that you two clearly still have feelings for one another. I
wonder if you aren’t still angry and wanting to punish Cole.”

Blair
wanted to tell Myra no, that that wasn’t correct, that she wasn’t punishing
Cole, but deep down she knew Myra was right. The door opened, and she heard the
chatter of new customers coming in. “Thank you so much for talking to me, Myra.
I have to go, but I will talk to you after the hunt.”

“Oh,
thank you for reminding me. I got so busy I nearly forgot, and I am bringing
the potato salad. Michael told Warren that Cassie was going to be there.”

The
hunt was a chance for tracking shifters to exercise their talent in a fun
setting, and also for the younger to try to hide.
 
Michael tried to arrange these hunts every
few months. The town made a day out of it. The children played games, the
adults who came to watch had a chance to socialize, and of course, with any
type of get-together, there was food. Blair had dozens of cookies made for her
contribution to the feast. “I will meet her there and make sure Kathy 'the
Bitch' leaves her alone,” Blair said, laughing at the thought of Kathy even
attempting to upset Cassie again. Blair would be happy to take down the bitch
Kathy.

“Kathy
showed up at Michael’s and tried to cause trouble between him and Cassie.” Myra
sounded angry.

“The nerve of her!
We will make sure Kathy pays if
she tries to start shit.” Blair was outraged for Cassie. Kathy was a horrible
person. She wanted money and power, and thought her looks made her pretty. Her
black soul ruined all of her beauty.

“Yes,
we will. Well, I will let you get to work.”