The Protector (24 page)

They
could not be too careful. Cole was sure Neil would understand, but Caleb and
Wade were not used to being shut out and would be offended. The only problem
with that was, if Caleb grew offended enough, he could take his building
project elsewhere.

Michael
hit send on a text conversation and put his phone down.
 
Warren finished reading the report Cole had
written up about Silas’s interrogation.

“This
isn’t good. We have a traitor among us. It is well known among every human and
shifter to never reveal us or how to hide from us.” Warren’s growly speech was
proof of how angry he was.

Lucas
walked in looking frustrated. “I think that PI is up to something. I can’t say
why, but I think he is involved in all of this.”

Warren
looked at Michael and asked, “What are the chances she is helping him?”

Cole
looked up.
“None.
I questioned her, and my gut tells
me she isn’t here to hurt us. I know she is here under false pretenses, but she
doesn’t mean us harm. ”

When
several looked skeptical Cole held his hands up. “I know what you’re thinking.
I am right though.”

“I
agree,” Michael said looking around the room. “I spoke to her. I do not think
she means us harm. In the meantime we watch and wait. Now, let’s wrap this up.
We don’t want Cole too tired for the wedding tomorrow. Last bit of business,
all those in favor of swearing Lucas Dalton into the council raise your hand.”

All
hands rose.

“Done,
congratulations, Lucas,” Cole said while trying not to laugh at Lucas’s
expression. He knew when Warren had approached him to fill an empty position he
never expected them to agree. Now he was stuck with it.

Chapter
Seventeen

Blair
could not understand why she could not stop crying. This was a happy day.
 
Still tears fell down her face while Julie
styled her hair, and continued to fall while Cassie helped her with her makeup.

“Stop
that crying this instant,” Cassie chided with a smile.

 
“I can’t help it,” Blair said, then blotted
the tears from her eyes again.

Cassie’s
grandmother, Norma, smiled from her chair, “You look lovely, dear.”

Blair
smiled. “Thank you.”
 
She was so thankful
that they did not hold a grudge against her for nearly getting her
granddaughter killed. When Blair had apologized to her, Norma had waved her off
with a smile and said, “Your heart was in the right place, dear. I can’t fault
you for that.”

Cassie’s
grandparents, Jake and Norma, had come around quite often, and were a
delightful addition to their community. Jake had such a great sense of humor
that his jokes often had others around him laughing in their drinks. Norma was
so kind and loving that everyone had taken to them and accepted them.

Blair
turned to look in the mirror. She did look beautiful. Now if she could only
stop crying. The knock at the door gave her the warning that it was time to go.

Cassie
had an excited look on her face. “Let’s do this.”
 
She picked up her flowers and checked herself
over in the mirror.

Blair
loved how pregnancy looked on Cassie. “You look lovely. The glow of pregnancy
makes you radiant.”

Cassie
laughed.
“If you say so.
I feel tired and sick to my
stomach.”

Norma
got up slowly, wincing as her joints ached at the movement. “Well dear, trust
me, one day this will be nothing but a distant memory. You will be watching
your children going off to play with their friends and then you will wonder
where the time went.”

“I
know, Grandma.” Cassie gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek.

Blair
watched them and felt fresh tears forming. “That is so precious.”

Cassie
looked at her in sympathy. “I have been so busy that I did not bother to find
out if you had anyone to walk you down the aisle.”

Norma
patted Cassie’s arm. “I took care of it, dear. Grandpa is going to walk her
down and give her away.”

Blair
dabbed her eyes again. “It was so sweet of you to offer, too.”

Cassie
gave Blair a suspicious look. “Are you sure you aren’t pregnant? You aren’t
normally this weepy.”

“No way.
Absolutely no way,” Blair said shaking
her head.

“Well
you and Cole made up, so you may want to check,” Cassie said with a grin. “It
would be so awesome if we could be pregnant together.”

Blair
shook her head again. It wasn’t possible. She shrugged and decided she would
worry about it later. For now she was going to make her mating with Cole
official. The door opened, and she saw Jake standing there in a black tuxedo,
with the white rose she had chosen for her flowers. He held his arm out for her
with a smile on his face. Blair wrapped her arm in his and started down the
hall. Cassie got ahead of her, and met with the other ladies that would be her
bridesmaids. They walked down the aisle, each holding a bouquet of flowers.

Blair
could see Cole standing up front with Michael and Warren, and teared up again.
She was going to wash all of her makeup off at this point. The country love
song changed to a more upbeat pop song. It was an older one but fit her mating
perfectly. She had been waiting her whole life for him, and they would never
let each other fall.

With
a smile on her face and her eyes focused on Cole, she walked down the aisle.
She had no idea who had come. She didn’t see them. She only saw her soul mate.
She was not sure when she’d figured out they were soul mates, but now that she
admitted it, it was obvious from the way they were both miserable without each
other, neither of them looked at anyone else, and how it felt like they had
never parted once they were together again.

She reached Cole, and they took each other’s hands. The
closest thing they had to a minister was Sean Masters. He counseled many
shifters and humans alike, and had always felt a close connection to
Ilithyia.
 
He stood in white robes and
held a book. He read to them about love, respect, and understanding one
another. He closed it and looked at Blair. “If all else fails, cook him some
food he likes. That will make him cooperative.”

Cole smiled and rubbed his stomach.
“Sounds
good to me.
I will do my best to be a pain in her ass often so she will
cook good food to shut me up.”

Blair rolled her eyes at Cole with a smile. That was her
love and life, always thinking with his stomach. They exchanged rings and
promises to take care of one another until death parted them. They turned, and
Sean raised his hands.
 

“Here
are Cole and Blair Milano. Let the partying begin.”

Blair
and Cole ran down the aisle towards the back of the community building where
they planned the party. There was both indoor and outdoor seating, but the band
played outside under a grove of trees.

Travis
walked in a side door, wearing his sheriff uniform. Blair watched him scan the
room until he spotted them then walked towards them.
No. Oh hell no. You can’t have him on our wedding night. Figure it out
for yourself
, Blair thought to herself while seething inside.

Cole
saw him and turned. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Travis
looked at Blair then back to Cole. “Silas is dead. Someone gave him some
Mercilin. At first we thought he had a stroke, but Lucas could smell the drug
in him. He was poisoned by a shifter.”

“A
shifter that does not want to risk Silas remembering who he is,” Cole said with
an angry growl.

Blair
held onto his arm. “We can’t do anything about it now, Cole.”

Cole
let out a long breath. “You’re right.” He looked at Travis. “Have Doctor Trask
give me a full report, and I want reports from the guards.”

“I
asked them, and none of them remember anyone coming in, and the surveillance
footage is gone.”

“Of
course,” Cole said in a sarcastic tone. “Blair is right though. There is
nothing I can do. I am going to party.”

Blair
smiled in relief as Cole led her out to the dance stage. She saw Myra standing
with Warren, holding hands. She grinned at her and mouthed, “I told you so.”

Blair
remembered their conversation in the kitchen of her coffee shop when she was
hiding from Cole, and laughed. “Yes, you did,” Blair mouthed back, then started
crying all over again.

The
country song started, and Blair recognized it right away. A man singing about
how he doesn’t dance, but he would do it for the woman he loves. Blair cried
even harder knowing the meaning. Cole didn’t like to dance, but he always did
for her.
 
“I should have known you’d pick
this song. It fits you well.”

“You
should have known that we are soul bonded, and there was no escaping me,” Cole
said while smiling down at her.

Blair
laughed through her tears. “You should have known years back.”

“I
do now. I think I knew back then as well, but I was an idiot pup.” He lowered
his head to kiss her.

****

 
Caleb stood off to the side watching the wedding
reception. He wanted to burn the entire place down, but it was not the right
time yet. He still had not been able to fully control a shifter. While his
experiment on Lucas had been entertaining, it had failed. Lucas felt remorse
for killing the female. He needed cold, heartless killers. Not only did he need
to be able to defeat the other territories’ cholan, he needed to be able to win
against the human police and military.

Silas
had been caught, but that was no trouble. Caleb had taken care of the problem
since Silas outlived his usefulness. Josh and Silas were both disposable, which
was why he’d picked them. Josh though he was getting rich helping him, but he
was wrong. When the time came, Caleb would make sure Josh did not leave these
mountains alive.

His
plans were too important to let a mere human mess them up, and his plans were
much broader than one territory. If he only wanted one, he would have stayed in
the Del Rio territory he captured in Mexico. He’d killed the Guardian and taken
over. He had the cholan poisoned, leaving the shifters there at his mercy. It
was an experiment to judge how long it took for the territory’s Kelach and
cholan to realize he was their enemy. It had been a success. He built them a
hospital, and they loved him, called him a hero. The few that found out, he
either erased their memories, or killed them. Here Cole suspected him, but he’d
gained his trust by saving Blair from rape and being sold to a biker gang as a
fuck toy. Cole trusted him now, and Michael was completely fooled, just like
everyone else.

The
distraction he made with the human kidnapping the girl worked perfectly. He had
moved forward, and soon his lab would be ready for human experiments, then
shifters. Just a bit more time and he could kill Michael, recapture his daughter,
and start working on manipulating the kid in her.

It
should have all gone smoothly, like
in Mexico, but they
threw out all non-council members. He didn’t live here permanently, so he was
no longer allowed. He needed to slow down and be patient. He would pull back,
go and check on his territory in Mexico, and plan. Just because they defeated
him in this round didn’t mean he was going to quit. He would come back, and
when he did, he would take down the council, Michael, fuck, even Ilithyia. He
laughed as he imagined bringing down the Goddess with the power he would attain
when he controlled shifters everywhere. He would take control and become a God
among animals.

****

Blair
lay on the bed nearly comatose as Cole rubbed her aching feet. “Cole, I love
you so much.”

Cole
chuckled and patted her foot. “Because I give good foot massages?”

“And
back, leg, head.
Oh, and your amazing sex powers.”

 
“So you mated me for my massages and sex?” he asked
in a teasing tone.

“No, your looks, too.”
 
She giggled,
then
squealed as he flipped her
over onto his lap.

“Brat,”
he said while smacking her bottom.

Blair
gasped and struggled with the spanking. It was light for Cole, but hard enough
to be fun. When he stopped and went back to rubbing Blair pushed
herself
up. “I will be right back.”

Blair
blew a kiss at Cole as she walked into the bathroom. Cassie’s words had nagged
her all day, and when Cassie handed her a pregnancy test she took it. She was
sure it was negative. Shifters did not get pregnant easily. For all she knew
she’d ovulated already and wouldn’t again for the rest of the year.

Although she could be like Myra, too.
One
cough and she was pregnant apparently. Shifters’ bodies never gave them much
warning.

 
Feeling determined she
unwrapped
the test. Cassie had assured her it would work on shifters as well because it
was the same hormones that humans used to detect pregnancy.

She
pulled the cap off and held it in place for the appropriate length of time. She
set it on the floor and cleaned herself up. She glanced down as the urine moved
over the test. The control line came up, but the other line was still empty. “I
knew it.” She glanced at the test box and stared in stunned shock. That wasn’t
the control line that came up right away. It was the pregnant line. She looked
at the test again. The control line appeared, and the pregnancy indicator line
grew darker. She blinked, let out a cry of joy, and blinked again.

“Cole!
 
Oh Goddess, Cole!”

She
heard banging footsteps as Cole ran to the bathroom. “What is it?”

 
“Oh my.
I didn’t
think Cassie was right.” She held the test up to him showing him the double
lines. “We’re pregnant.”

Cole
stared wide eyed at her, then at the test, then back at her again. His hands
touched her stomach softly, and he ran his hands up and down her stomach.
“You’re sure.”

Blair
nodded.
“As sure as I can be without an ultrasound
picture."

Cole
laughed,
then
scooped her into her arms. “We will go
and get that picture as soon as I am done showing you how much I love
you." Cole laid her on the bed gently, looking into her eyes. “I love
you.”

“I
love you, too.” She looked into his eyes as his cock slid into her slick folds.

“You
are everything to me.” He pulled out and slowly pushed back in. His hand found
her clit and gently rubbed it while he slowly made love to her.