Chapter 12
Dagen stepped inside an office on the bottom floor of the house, hating that he had to leave Keva for even a moment. But his Alpha wanted to talk to him about the whole wolf situation. He was surprised to find Conall’s brother Drake there as well. “Hey,” he said. “Everything okay?”
Drake simply nodded. “Yes. I want to help with hunting down the wolves bothering Keva. I like the human jeweler. And she was very kind to me when I first arrived. I don’t like what’s happening.” Dagen only realized he was growling when Drake snorted softly. “Your reaction is illogical. I’m happily mated and expecting my first child. This is my baby shower you’re at. I am not a threat to you.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I’m not used to feeling so possessive and, well, insane. Does it lessen once you’re mated?” Not that he and Keva were remotely at that point in their relationship. God, maybe they never would be. He couldn’t even fathom that. His dragon clawed against his insides at the thought, outright rejecting it.
“Sort of. The obsession and possessiveness doesn’t exactly die down, but the snarling at other shifters does.” He paused and then added, “Sometimes.”
Well that didn’t help any.
Dragos Senior stepped inside then, looking so similar to his two sons it was clear they were family.
“Any news?” Dagen asked, wanting to get right down to it. He didn’t like having Keva out of his line of sight, even if she was in the safest place possible right now. No one but family and known entities was allowed here today.
“Camden tracked some credit card use of Richard’s to a few towns over. But I think it’s bullshit. The wolf has gone to ground and now all of a sudden gets stupid and starts using his credit card? Nah.” Conall shook his head.
“I don’t buy it either,” Dagen said.
“How’s she doing with everything?” Drake asked. The male had been trapped in Hell for almost fifteen hundred years, but he was still one of the most caring people Dagen had ever met.
“Good, I think. Or, as good as can be expected. She’s strong,” he felt compelled to add. Because Keva might not be physically as strong as him, but she had a warrior’s heart. And she was smart too—continuing to make credit card charges on her dead ex’s card to avoid suspicion? Very smart.
“Good. I’ve still got a crew watching her business and her home. No strange activity.”
“So…why am I here?”
“Just checking in with you. And I wanted to check on her. Does she know she’s your mate?”
“No. She knows…I’m attracted to her.” He didn’t want to say any more than that. He’d mentioned mating to her, but she hadn’t seemed to realize the depth of what he meant.
“She’s attracted to you as well,” Dragos said, speaking for the first time. The ancient male was gazing out one of the side windows, not looking at any of them. “But females are complicated, wonderful creatures.”
True. He didn’t want to discuss Keva with anyone, however. Until she was his, until his dragon half was satisfied that she was completely claimed and marked, he wouldn’t be comfortable with any of this conversation.
“Has Camden found anything new on Richard’s pack?” Dagen had done his own digging when Keva had been working, but Camden was a hacker and skilled at what he did.
“No. They are what they appear to be. A bunch of asshole wolves with very few alliances. I reached out to the Alpha and he hasn’t responded at all. I have a feeling that if we kill Richard, he’ll simply say that he was acting on his own accord. Unless of course he’s fucking stupid and wants to go to war with us.” Conall shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
“I plan to kill Richard,” Dagen said. That wolf had wanted to hurt Keva; it had been clear in his scent and body language. That male had gotten off on scaring her. And if he was anything like his dead brother, he needed to die.
“I know. Go be with your female. We’ll—” Conall paused, glanced at his cell phone, then his expression went dark. “Grab Keva now. Someone set her workshop on fire.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later Keva stared at the destruction of the back half of her workshop, fighting back tears.
“We managed to catch it in time. Could have been a lot worse,” the firefighter said, his tone apologetic and soothing. The man was human and had no idea that she’d arrived with dragons. “This wasn’t an accident though.”
Yeah, she already knew that. “Yeah. I’m very particular about my workshop.” And Richard had to have known that damaging this place would hurt her. He was attacking her personally, attacking her livelihood. It had to have been him, or one of his packmates. She looked over her shoulder at Dagen standing with a handful of his clanmates on her back porch.
The police were waiting to talk to her as well, though she’d already talked to one officer when she got here. Apparently they’d had to call a detective once the firefighters had deemed that it was arson.
She was insured at least, but this attack didn’t hurt any less. She hadn’t done a full inventory yet of what she’d lost, but she’d have to. That bastard had destroyed her work, pieces she’d put a lot of sweat and time into. Resulting in lost revenue.
Deep down, she knew that it was simply stuff, that she should be grateful she hadn’t been here and hadn’t been hurt, but…the personal nature of the attack made her rage inside.
“We’ve done all we can. The police are going to take over for now… Is there anything else we can do for you?” the man asked her.
“No, thank you for everything.” She rubbed a hand over her face, knowing that now she had to answer questions. Then she’d have to document everything and get it ready for her insurance company.
She felt as if her life was spiraling out of control. It wasn’t, of course, but… She simply hated that Dagen was a witness to all of this. She hadn’t brought this on herself, knew she was a victim of all this bullshit, but it still sucked. She didn’t want this shit in her life—she wanted to stand on her own two feet. And that bastard Richard had done this on her day off, when she’d been enjoying herself for the first time in a long time, with her new friends. It was like pouring salt in a wound.
Two hours later, she’d finished talking to the cops, made an official report and had taken a ton of pictures of the damage. The cops had too, and she’d use their report later when she filed a claim. She wasn’t going to catalogue everything tonight though.
Because it was evening now and she was officially exhausted.
“Here,” Dagen said, stepping up next to her like a ghost.
She was getting used to his stealth, however. Glancing at him, she took the water bottle gratefully. Even if she hated that he was seeing her at her worst, it meant so much that he was here for her, a solid presence. “Now that the cops are gone…do we know how this happened? I mean, other than the obvious. It had to be Richard, right?”
“We had sentinels patrolling your place from the sky. Someone—the wolves—snuck in and firebombed it. Wolves are fucking fast. They got in, did their damage, then got out. With all the smoke and accelerant, it was difficult to track them. My clanmates know what direction they went, but lost the scent trail. They were more concerned with calling the fire department and putting out what they could.”
“I’m so glad they were able to extinguish the fire before the fire department got here. Otherwise it would have been a lot worse.” She took another sip of water, ready to collapse. “I’m going to need to make a list of all the damage but I’m too tired to do it tonight.”
“Some of my clanmates are going to stay here tonight, keep an eye on everything. And we’ve got two more downtown watching your shop. Not that I think the wolves would be stupid enough to do anything now. But…I think you should stay at my place tonight. There’s no way anyone would be able to infiltrate our land and—”
“Okay.”
He blinked once. “Okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought I’d have to convince you.”
She gave a tired smile. “Not tonight. I want to be back here early tomorrow. And I’ll need to call some of my employees, let them know they’ll be working without me tomorrow. But…I don’t want to be here tonight. If you’re sure you don’t mind me staying at your place?”
He watched her for a long moment, those beautiful eyes of his intense. “I would give you my home if you asked. I don’t think you realize what you mean to me, Keva.”
“Oh.” She seriously had no idea how to respond to that. This man was going to break down every wall she had. And she wasn’t sure that was a bad thing.
She was just so afraid of giving in to her desires and then getting hurt. She knew that Dagen was nothing like her ex. The man was wonderful, giving and protective. So if he hurt her—emotionally—it would destroy her.