Page 7 of The Alpha’s Protection (Alpha Doms #4)

Mark

I may have promised not to mark my sweet mate, but that didn’t stop me from fucking her twice more by morning.

She curls into me, nuzzling my neck. “What made you enter law enforcement?” she asks. “And which came first, being enforcer, or working for the DEA?”

I burrow my fingers in her hair and massage the back of her head. “DEA came first then enforcer. The council loved the idea of having me in human law enforcement as a means of helping to hide shifter activities when they go outside human law.”

“And how did you end up with the DEA?” she asks.

“I grew up near here, in a western suburb of Denver that bordered the foothills, so we could run and hunt. Our high school was mixed—human and shifter—and my best friend was a human.”

Colleen lifts her lovely face, her blue-green eyes trained on mine. She braces, like she already knows what I’m going to say.

“We were just screwing around, partying. Of course, drugs had no effect on me, but I figured my job was to keep them safe. Be designated driver. The guy who kept a clear head. My friends didn’t know I was a shifter.

Our recreational use had sort of escalated from pot to sampling a little cocaine.

I guess it had been laced with something else.

It burned my nose, and I felt sick for a few minutes. But my buddy…”

Colleen holds her breath.

I nod my confirmation. “He died. And that’s when I vowed to take down drug traffickers.” I shrug. “I guess I blamed them for what happened.”

She lays her cheek against my bare chest. “What was his name?”

“Travis.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

I massage her scalp some more. “It was a long time ago.”

“You’re noble—working for the greater good.” She trails a fingertip through the hair on my chest.

“Your greater good is all I care about now,” I tell her.

“You take care of the people you love—even humans. Is that why you call yourself, Daddy?”

I shrug. “I guess. I’m alpha, so I like to be in charge, but in a way that’s caretaking and kind. I want to spoil you.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Her smile is sad, which sends my wolf into a panic.

“I can call into work today,” I tell her. I don’t want to leave her and the kids alone. Unprotected. And the truth is, I’m half-afraid she’ll be gone by the time I get back.

She shakes her head. “No. You were going to check on our records. To make sure Dirk hasn’t filed a missing person report.”

I nod and scrub a hand over my face. “Yes. I will. If he has, we’ll file a restraining order. Is he the type to go by human laws?”

“No,” she admits. “He probably never filed anything. My sister says he told our father we had a disagreement, and I’ll be back. He’s downplaying the whole thing. But you never know. He could change his story at any moment. He’s a psychopath.”

“I’m going to take care of him,” I say grimly.

“No,” she says quickly and prickles of cold race over my skin.

I stare at her, trying to work things out in my head, but I don’t have enough fucking information to go on. I pick up her hand and kiss the back of it. “Talk to me, Colleen.”

A world of regret swims in her eyes, and my stomach tightens like a fist.

When she doesn’t answer, I ask, “Do you love him?”

The horror on her face as she scoffs soothes some of my agitation.

“I don’t have to kill him,” I say. “There are other ways to handle this.” There probably aren’t, but if she wants to keep the father of her pups alive for their sake, I understand. I won’t fight her on it. I’ll figure something out, so she feels safe, and he lives.

I go to my gun safe and unlock it to retrieve my gun for work. Sensing Colleen behind me, I turn. She’s staring into the safe.

“Is that the pistol?” she asks. When I just stare at her, she says, “the one with silver bullets?” Silver bullets are forbidden, except to enforcers.

I scrub my face, a tingling of foreboding going through me at her interest. “Yeah, babygirl. That’s the pistol.” I study her face, but she turns away, nodding.

“Call or text me if you need anything. We’ll work on getting you your own car this week, okay?”

I can’t stand this itchy feeling I have that Colleen sees staying at my place as a temporary stop. A place to crash until she figures out her next move. I don’t know what it will take to change her mind about that—about me—but I’m trying to make the idea of staying as appealing as possible.

She nods but wears that same wary look her son often gives me. Like she’s waiting for some inevitable disaster.

Of course, she’s right. Trouble is coming. But I welcome it. Because the sooner it comes, the sooner I can quash it and show Colleen I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy.

Colleen

Mark’s house feels empty without him, but the kids are anxious to try out the new bikes, so I get outside and enjoy the autumn air as they ride around the neighborhood.

When I get back to the house, I find my sister has called. Seven times.

Fuck.

I hit the call button and pace around Mark’s kitchen.

“He knows where you are.” Meagan foregoes any greeting to deliver the news that hits me like a punch to the gut.

“From the hospital?”

“No, I don’t think so. Dirk told Dad that he had word you’d been kidnapped by the Denver pack and were being held against your will.

I guess he heard it from someone on the shifter council or something.

Colleen, he’s already on a flight over there, and he’s got everyone in his pack driving through the night to meet him there. ”

Despair rolls through me. “No.”

“He wanted Dad to get his pack to drive over as well, but Dad cussed him out and got himself on a plane, too.”

My mind races. “Okay, thanks for the information.”

“What are you going to do?” Meagan’s voice takes on a note of panic, like she’s already guessing at my plans.

“All I know is that I’m not going to let this turn into a war between packs. The Denver pack doesn’t know me at all, and it’s not fair to ask them to fight for me. I don’t even know for sure that they would.”

“For once, you need to stop worrying about wars between packs. The reason we have packs is to protect our members. I think you should accept the help that’s being offered to you. Especially if the Denver pack is big enough.”

“I’m not comfortable with that. I’ll keep you posted.” I hang up before she can argue more.

My stomach roils as a dark wave of grief crashes over me.

Leaving Mark is going to tear my she-wolf in two. But I won’t have him risk his life to protect us. Not when Dirk’s bringing his whole pack. Even with silver bullets, it’s not a war he can win alone.

I go to Mark’s bedroom. I memorized the code for the safe this morning when he opened it, so I use it now to get in, carefully taking out the pistol and silver bullets. My best bet is to take care of this situation on my own. And I now have the means to do it.

I load the gun and tuck it in my waistband, then head downstairs to write a note for Mark and talk to the kids.

“Angie, Jayden, come here, please.” After I write the note, I summon the pups from where they were watching television and sit down on a kitchen chair.

They must hear something different in my voice because all the joy of the bike ride instantly disappears. Jayden turns off the TV, and they both come to stand in front of me. I gather them close to me.

“Are we leaving?” Jayden asks quietly.

“I need to take care of something. Something really important. It’s not safe for you two to come along.”

Angie’s eyes fill with tears.

Jayden’s expression makes him look ancient. “Is Dad here?”

I swallow then nod. “I’m going to deal with him.”

“With Mark’s gun?” Jayden asks, surprising me. He must’ve heard Mark and I talking about it in the hallway Saturday night.

I nod again.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“ It has to work ,” I say fiercely. Because there’s no other option. I don’t want to keep running and hiding for the rest of our lives. I met my true mate, my fated mate, my wolf-daddy, and I need to be with him.

“I’m leaving this note for Mark. When he gets home, give it to him, okay?”

Jayden nods gravely.

Angie’s crying for real now.

I refuse to let my own tears fall. There’s no way I’m taking them with me because if I fail, they’d be in Dirk’s hands.

This way, if something goes wrong, Mark will protect them and call my sister, who will take them.

But no, nothing can go wrong. I’ll be back for them.

They need me. I hug them both tightly and kiss the tops of their heads, and then I schedule a ride on my ride sharing app for the mountains.

I need to get away from humans to make this work.