The human on the doorstep stood trembling. He took his hat off and pushed his light gray hair off his forehead. "My name is Professor Belle. I'm not sure if you remember me, but I came here to ask for your help."

"I remember you," Beckett said. "Why have you been coming to my house for the last week?"

"It's kind of a long story, but I was wondering if you had any vacancies in your household?"

Beckett shook his head. "I don't need any more help."

Finished with the conversation, he tried to shut the door in the old man's face. But Professor Belle was faster than he looked. Before the door slammed, he managed to get his foot in the way. The professor winced as the heavy door struck him. Beckett felt bad seeing him wince in pain. He opened the door again.

"Why would you think I have a job?" he asked gruffly. "Because I don't. And I surely have no need for any kind of professor. I've had more than enough schooling for my life. But if you're that desperate, I can try and find you places that are hiring. I might be able to reach out to someone in the city."

This was probably a mistake, but the man seemed harmless. At least if he found him a job, he wouldn't be turning up every day bothering poor Mrs. Potter.

"When I met you at the pizza shop, had a good feeling about you." The man's eyes glistened. "I don't think I was wrong. And it isn't me that needs a job. My daughter needs help and I think you're just the man for the job."

"I can't help anyone." And least of all a human.

Professor Belle reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "She's a very nice girl. She wouldn't be any trouble. In fact, I'm sure she'll be an asset to your household. You'd really be doing yourself a favor if you hired her. This is her."

He held a picture of the beautiful brunette in front of Beckett's face. As his eyes swept over the image, his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help but take the picture to look at it more closely. She had heart-shaped face and big blue eyes. Her small upturned nose set adorably above her small smile. It was a staged picture like something you would get for school.

"How old is she?" he asked.

"Twenty-four. She's just finished college," the professor said proudly. "She was nearly at the top of class too and the best in her major, Business."

"She's very lovely." Beckett tore his eyes from the picture and shoved it back at the professor before he could look at it any longer. "I wish I could help you like I said, but I don't have any positions here."

Beckett heard Mrs. Potter tutting from behind him. He wasn't lying exactly. He didn't have any work for a human. She had been talking about bringing on an assistant for a while, but he was hesitant to start the process. He knew it would take a long time to find someone he could trust living with him. The butler had taken nearly a year to find and he was only there a few hours each day. If Mrs. Potter wanted a live-in assistant, the hiring process was going to be even more stringent.

"Her life is in danger." Professor Belle blurted out. "Please, if you would just give her a chance, I know you would like her."

"How's her life in danger?" Beckett asked, curious.

"She used this app to find a boyfriend. Some wolf shifter who lives just outside of town. At first he seemed very nice. But she broke it off with him and he began to stalk her."

It had to be someone from that Scrabble pack. The pack was bad news. They were the only wolf pack for hundreds of miles. It was one of the reasons that Beckett had picked Hope Springs. You couldn't go a dozen miles without running into two or three packs in this state. They were always fighting over land and mates. Finding a place with only a small pack and space for his estate had been a godsend. He didn't mess with them and they were never interested in him. He hoped to keep up the good relationship.

"You need to talk to the alpha of the pack if you have a problem with one of his wolves. He can get that to stop."

"I already tried that. This wolf is the alpha's son. There's no way he'll do anything. And the police tell me that this isn't really stalking. I'm at my wits' end."

Beckett gritted his teeth. Okay. He would give the man a list of places to get his daughter a job and then go talk to the alpha himself. Now that he knew, he couldn't with a clean conscience not try to intervene. He would have his brother send an email request to the alpha. A request from Shifter Security to cease and desist would be enough to cool the young wolf's jets.

"Leave me your phone number and I'll get those job resources to you. I'll be sure that the Scrabble Pack's alpha gets the message to control his son. That should take care of your problems. Please don't come back again."

Professor Belle beamed and nearly crushed his hat in his hands. "Thank you. Thank you. You won't be disappointed."

Beckett heard the car before he saw it. Two people in one day. He was going to have to put up a gate. This was just unacceptable.

An old dusty blue sedan pulled up a few hundred feet from the door.

"I must have taken too long," the professor apologized. "That's my daughter now. I can't wait to tell her the good news. Thank you again."

He quickly handed Beckett a card and set off for the car with a happy whistle. Beckett watched the car as the professor got in and began talking to his daughter. She gave him an odd look and shrugged before turning the car around. Beckett wished he had been able to get a better look at her before she disappeared.

"That was nice of you," Mrs. Potter said as he closed the door.

"I just wanted him off my doorstep."

***

"Who's that?" Lenni asked her father.

"A friend I think." Her father glanced toward the house with a wry smile on his face. "He's going to help me find you a new job."

Lenni did a three-point turn and pulled back down the winding road. She hated having to pick her father up from his walks. This is the first time she'd had a clue about what he'd been doing out here.

"I don't need a new job."

"Yes you do. You need a fresh start. Something away from here and all of your troubles."

Lenni turned on the radio. She was done talking. Her father was being overdramatic. Ned would soon tire of chasing her around and she would get more hours at her job soon enough. Okay, maybe not the second part, but Ned would leave her alone.

The bookstore had been steadily getting fewer customers since the beginning of the year. Summer was usually their busy time, but they hadn't picked up yet. They had taken to opening for a few hours each day, only the afternoon and early evening. In the three years since she'd started, her hours were now less than half from when she'd started. It was less than twenty hours a week now. She had a great wage, but without the hours it didn't matter. Truthfully, she'd been searching for something new. She hadn't found anything yet.

"And how do you know that man?" she asked, turning down the radio. She'd been dropping her father off at the base of the mountain for more than two weeks. She thought he'd been going on nature walks trying to find artifacts or something. This was the first time she'd gone far enough up the mountain to find him. She'd gotten worried when he hadn't been at their regular meeting spot. She had no idea he had been visiting the mansion.

"He's the man I met at the pizza shop the other week, remember?"

Yes, she did remember. He'd come back with their dinner talking nonstop about the nice shifter he'd met. Her father had always been interested in shifter culture. There were only one large pack of shifters near Hope Springs and he had already tracked their history and was eager to branch out to something new. It wasn't directly related to what he did with his college courses, but it was a hobby of his. Lenni had always supported her father's crazy research.

That was one of the reasons she'd swiped right on Ned on MateMe! She was familiar with the Scrabble Pack and thought it would be nice to date one of them. She'd been so surprised when her father had hated Ned upon their introduction. He'd been right to not like the whiny wolf shifter.

"What's his name?"

"Beckett Hansen. His father owns a company and he's pretty well-known."

The name rang a bell. Lenni racked her brain. She'd seen him in the tabloids! He was good friends with Jasper Collins.

How did she not remember? She'd spent her shift scouring the internet for any information about the bear shifter after seeing an article about him. She wasn't one to read gossip magazines, but things got slow at the bookstore. She was happy to have a whole shelf of gossip magazines to pass the time when she wasn't in the mood for heavy reading.

Jasper Collins was having the wedding of the century and had been on the covers of all the papers for some time. He had a child out of wedlock and now that the baby was born, he was having a lavish wedding. Lenni couldn't help but read every article about Jasper and his beautiful mate. It was such a feel-good story. There weren't many details about the wedding, but they did know about the wedding party.

Jasper was having five groomsmen and one was Beckett Hansen, his childhood friend. She'd been taken by the hulking bear shifter but hadn't been able to find out much. Beckett was very media shy and kept his private life very private. No one even knew where he was living at the moment. A thrill went down her spine. She knew something that even the National Inquirer didn't. But what was someone like Beckett doing here?

"I think I've heard of him," she said carefully. "Why do you think he would help you?"

"He didn't want to at first, but I convinced them." Her father patted his pocket where his wallet was and gave her a wink. "You say you don't need a job, but I think once you see his options, you'll change your mind. You can finally do something in your field."

"I like working with books, Dad. But I won't turn down any options."

She hadn't been able to find anything on her own, but she had a feeling that someone like Beckett Hansen could do a lot better than mere mortals like herself. She was very interested to see what he had to offer.