Theirs (8 page)

I swore I saw steam escape her.

Jerry jerked Ellie behind him before she could do something we’d all regret.

Her eyes were glowing as she turned to face me.

I worked my bottom lip, cringing inside. I was already witnessing the divide. “Sorry,” I whispered, squeezing her hand briefly.

She calmed almost instantly.

“
We’d probably get further if we worked together. I’m the sheriff of this town.” Jerry stood several inches over Billy. His arms crossed over his chest, showing off his impressive mass.

Billy looked Jerry up and down before dismissing him. “I’m not working with a cop on this.”

Jerry dropped his arms. His gaze narrowed on Billy. “I won’t have illegal shit passing through my town.”

“
It’s not.” Billy snapped, turning his focus back to me. “Let’s go, Kate. We have bigger problems than these two.”

“
I…” I stared helplessly at the three of them, utterly torn. Ellie and Jerry gave nothing away. This was entirely my decision. This was not going as planned. I had expected, in my naïve way, to meet Jared, deflect what I needed and send him back to Billy with a neutral report. I didn’t expect to have to choose so quickly between Ellie, Jerry, and Billy. What was worse was that after only a day with them, I was struggling to decide who I was better off with.

I studied Jerry. He was the epitome of a pillar of strength. He’d always, thus far, placed himself between me and danger, whether perceived or not. Ellie was like an overly ambitious guard dog. When she wasn’t instigating, or protecting in her mind, she was soft and endearing; I couldn’t help but adore her.

I frowned. Why was I debating this? My gut told me Donovan was bad news, and my gut now said we could trust the newest members of my circle.

I met Billy’s intense glare. His lips were mashed together, his hands flexing impatiently at his side, making me hesitate for just a moment. “I think we can trust them, Billy. They’re not like the MDPD.”

Billy’s nostrils flared as he gave them a cursory glance. One of the guards leaned in and whispered something in his ear. A little of the fire blazing in his depths died down. He didn’t seem quite so hell bent on ditching Ellie and Jerry.

With a sigh, Billy’s shoulders relaxed. “They betray us and that’s on you, Kate. I can only do so much to protect you.”

I closed the distance between us and enveloped him in a hug. His arms didn’t squeeze me nearly as tight as mine did him. I pulled back and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Something tells me that’s the last thing they would do.” I moved to stand beside him, keeping an arm around his waist as I looked at Ellie and Jerry. I gave them a small smile.

They knew I finally understood the bond to some degree. Their eyes glittered with flecks of gold shining through brilliantly, like the glimmer of a gold ornament illuminated by twinkle lights.

Billy exhaled loudly, scrubbing his forehead. “Alright, well, I need you to document the tracking device on the underside of Kate’s bumper then, Sheriff.” Billy drew circles on my back; he knew that would set me off, but he wouldn’t hide things from me.

Guilt squeezed my heart. He was exercising openness while I was hiding something big from him.

The guilt was swiftly buried beneath fear. If there was a tracking device on my car, then he knew; Donovan knew where I was. “He…he knows.” He’d known this whole time where I was.

A lump formed in my throat as fresh anxiety swallowed me.

—

Chapter Fourteen

ELLIE

The color drained from Kate’s face. Jerry stiffened beside me. His nostrils blew angry puffs of air that seemed to end with a snarl. His wolf had to be at his surface because mine was.

My wolf growled; her nails bit into me, cutting deep before shredding my insides. Her fury was palpable. Like the warriors her kind were in the wild, she wished to fight for her territory, the one she loved.

I swallowed hard, that revelation punching me in the gut. It was too soon for me. But my wolf already loved her, was ready to give up her life for her. She was ready to be the best predator she could be to protect her mate.

“
Why the fuck are we standing around? Let’s go,” I barked, moving past the bunch towards the repair shop.

Who the hell would put a damn tracker on my mate’s car? I pitied whoever the fool was. I was going to destroy him.

I met Andy in the shop. “Why didn’t you check the car over, front to back?” I slapped his arm. It wasn’t his fault it happened, but I would blame him that we didn’t know before now. Whoever the asshole was had a full day on us.

“
I do under the hood, not body work. Plus, the sucker was a tiny, fancy sticker that made no noise.”

“
Where is it?” I demanded, staring down my pack member behind his service counter.

“
We left it in tact,” Billy offered as they entered the shop.

Jerry ambled forward, turning so he could see all of us. “We leave it.”

“
What?” Billy and I exclaimed at once.

Jerry held up his hands, palms out. “Hear me out.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring darts at him. “This better be good.”

Billy glimpsed my way, copying my stance. “What she said.”

Kate snuggled in closer to Billy; her focus was on Jerry though.

“
Whoever planted it must be tracking it.”

I rolled my eyes.
That was a no-brainer, Jer.

“
If they’re tracking, then eventually they will track it here, in person.”

I saw the wheels turning. Billy wiggled away from Kate. He was attempting to close more of the distance between him and Jer. “You’re thinking an ambush?”

“
Like a pack of wolves.” Jerry winked at Kate.

She wrapped her arms around herself. Her breathing was steady and her heartbeat was only slightly above normal, so I knew it was an emotional comfort that she needed.

I outstretched my arms towards her. I gave her an encouraging smile, jerking my head in a come hither motion.

Her gaze darted to Billy. His brows furrowed as he looked among the three of us.

She gave him a sheepish grin, but thankfully, she actually came to me. I pulled her in.

A slight tremble ran through her. “He’s dangerous, Ellie. He’s a computer whiz that could drain the bank account of everyone in town. I…” She bit her lips repeatedly in distress. She shook her head, her brows pressing together, as if she was trying to process it all. “I could never live with that kind of guilt.” I sensed her fear.

My heart broke for her. My wolf sat back for a moment, caught by the burden of our mate. Kate didn’t come out with a big mouth and guns blazing like me, but in her own timid way, she was trying to protect us all. I finally understood why she wouldn’t talk about it.

“
Before we do this, we need to decide whether we’re going to capture him or kill him. I don’t want shit biting us in the ass.” I hugged Kate stronger.

Her eyes widened as she peered up at me. She began to adamantly shake her head negatively, pushing on my midsection until I let go.

“
I’m not letting him hurt you. Over my dead body will he get to you,” I declared.

“
You’re not fighting him alone. We’ll all see that Kate is protected,” Jerry assured. There was an edge to his voice that I knew only I picked up on. I’d only heard it once before: on the day his mom died.

Kate and Billy both took turns studying Jerry and me; their expressions were opposite though. Billy was confused, but determined. He was sharp; I knew he’d pick up on the truth soon. Kate was sad; there were shadows in the depths of her eyes. She wasn’t happy that it had come to this. I was certain she was probably trying to figure a way out, but I knew she wouldn’t come up with one. Call it cop’s intuition.

I laced our fingers together. “We’ll get through this together.”

Billy scowled, his eyes honed in on Kate and mine’s conjoined hands. “Yeah, together,” he absently stated.

Kate swallowed hard; her heart thumping louder. She fidgeted as she looked around.

Jerry locked gazes with her. Ever confident, he guaranteed, “We can handle this.”

He waited until Kate nodded her head; whether it was in agreement or simply to say she had heard him but didn’t necessarily believe him, I didn’t know.

“
What exactly are we up against?” Jerry kept his gaze firmly on Kate, but it was obviously the question wasn’t for her to answer. We knew she wouldn’t offer much in the way of information. We sensed it was her delusional way of keeping us safe and wouldn’t push her out of that comfort zone just yet.

But Billy had to know something to come barreling into town with a security team and knowledge of the tracking device.

“
Where’s my briefcase, Jackson?” Billy turned to one of the guards.

I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She didn’t respond though. She stood stoically beside me.

Several hand passes later, Billy had a black leather briefcase in hand. “I’ll give you the preliminary workup my PI sent over this morning. From what we can tell, he’s only nasty with a computer, and the occasional note in a basket of food to Kate.” Billy ground his teeth. He really did care about Kate.

I would still fight him for her though.

And right now, my wolf was ready to fight. What the hell had my mate gone through this past year?

“
What did the notes say?” Jerry pressed.

Kate released my hand, shifting in place. Her cheeks colored. “I would, uh, rather you just read them.” She worked her lips with her teeth.

For her not to say, they must be bad.

My wolf came snarling towards the surface at the sight of tears gathering in her eyes. She was trying to hold back; she was trying so hard to be strong, and all I wanted was for her to let it all out before I set my wolf free to hunt down the bastard.

Her breathing pattern changed; a whimper escaped her, much to her dismay. “I don’t like this. I...” She kept shaking her head negatively, fighting still to keep her emotions at bay. “Dang it, Billy. You weren’t supposed to be here.” She folded her arms over her chest. “And I wasn’t supposed to meet you two.” Her features twisted. “He’s dangerous. Donovan knows how to build anything with a charge or a signal. I’m sure he built the tracking device himself. He…He can do real damage, far greater than a sticker on a car.”

“
Don’t you think I know that, Kate?” Billy approached her, but she took a step back. “Dammit, Kate! I promised to protect you. I promised I would always be there for you. If it means I lose all my money to a computer punk, then so be it. If my house gets blown to smithereens, then so be it. I won’t be mad so long as I have you.”

“
But that’s just it. You’ve already given up so much for me. You busted your butt for years burning the candle at both ends so I could finish school. It’s not fair to ask for more.”

Billy’s jaw clenched. His patience was thinning based on the vein plumping on the side of his neck, but my wolf and I didn’t sense any danger for our mate with him. “So you asked for that date with Donovan?”

“
No.” Kate’s voice was small.

He pursed his lips, his eyes assessing her before pressing onwards. “And you asked for him to stalk and harass you for over a year?”

My wolf came charging for my surface again, her head knocking my balance momentarily, catching me off guard. “What the fuck?” For once, I didn’t blame her. My rage matched hers. I couldn’t keep the bite out of my tone. “A whole fucking year?”