Chapter Twelve
Eneko wasn’t sure what he was angriest about.
Fury burned through him and his bear growled and huffed, slapping its paws into his ribs. It wanted to be free, it wanted to express its own anger. But he couldn’t allow it to take any sort of latitude. Not only did he have to remain in complete control, the ankle monitor was designed to stay on even if a shifter changed forms. In this case, since his bear was so much bigger than he was, he would injure himself trying to shift.
That didn’t mean he didn’t long to allow himself to change forms, to be covered with cream-colored fur as an insolation between him and the thought he didn’t want to be thinking.
He dabbed an alcohol wipe on the cut in Jasmine’s forehead. She winced, but it was already healing. It was only because of the glass in it that it had bled so much, covering her with blood. She was lucky that her skin didn’t just grow around the glass. That would have been far harder to get rid of. She bit her lip as she looked up at him, her big green eyes worried.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re safe.” Eneko sighed as he tossed the bloody wipe into the garbage. “You shouldn’t have done that, though.”
“You’re angry.”
He nodded, not bothering to deny it. He was angry that she would put herself in danger like this. He was angry that she didn’t tell him. He was angry that Jerimiah had hurt her. But mostly he was angry that he hadn’t been there to protect her.
He wiped the blood from her chin now. They had taken pictures to show the cops before Lori went off to make all the calls. Eneko was grateful for her presence. He had thought she was a rather flighty girl at first, but it seemed as though she had some of Jasmine’s good sense after all.
Although at the moment he was doubting if Jasmine had any good sense.
“I’m sorry,” Jasmine said again. “I know I should have—"
He cut her off with a gentle kiss. “You’re safe now. That’s enough. I’ll deal.”
Jasmine chewed her lower lip. “I didn’t realize that it would be like that. I didn’t realize that there were people like that, people with all that hatred inside of them. It was… it was terrifying. If I had given him the chance, I think he would have killed me.”
Eneko’s shoulders tensed, but he forced himself to relax. Right now, he had to be here for Jasmine, to reassure her and make sure that she was okay. It was his duty as a doctor and as the man that loved her. He finished wiping the blood from her face.
“Just don’t do that again, okay? I don’t want you to put yourself in danger for me.”
She swallowed. “I’m afraid that he’s going to come back. Maybe he was drunk, but I’ve never seen that much hatred before.”
He wished he could reassure her, but what could he say to that, that wasn’t a lie? He shook his head. “I don’t really know much about him. Jana was afraid of him, I know that.”
But if Jasmine really thought that Jerimiah was going to kill her, that was something they had to keep in mind, too. They couldn’t assume that this was going to be it. He had already gone after her once. Twice, actually. Crashing her car, and with a gun.
“I’ll protect you,” Eneko whispered. “I swear, I’ll protect you. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Jasmine nodded, tension easing out of her body.
“Well, that’s everyone.” Lori came back into the room. “I called the cops first so that they can’t demand to know why we called the lawyer first. Clifford says we should avoid handling the gun. I figure we leave it on the floor and then there’s no chance we get our prints on it.”
Eneko glanced at the weapon and nodded. None of them had touched it, and he had no plans to do so now. Instead, he helped Jasmine out of the room. They all went to the sitting room, where she sat on the couch with the blanket wrapped tight around her.
“I’ll get you some clothes.” He frowned as he realized he hadn’t even thought about offering her clothing before now. Well, with everything else happening, it wasn’t as though modesty was at the top of their minds.
He quickly found her something to wear and made her tea to make sure she stayed warm. Then he sat beside her and held her hand, keeping an eye on her scrapes. They were all healed by the time the cops arrived. Lori answered the door.
The two detectives that had arrested Eneko had been sent and he had to repress a sigh. Well, there went the possibility of them taking this seriously. Not much of one, but a bear had to hope.
“Evening,” one of them growled out. “We picked up Jerimiah Wilder earlier and he claims that he was attacked by Miss… Rowlands is it?”
Jasmine’s hand clenched in his as she nodded. “That’s not what happened. He attacked me.”
“That’s not what he’s saying.”
“Are you serious right now?” Lori put her hands on her hips and stood between the cops and shifters. “Are you freaking serious?”
The detective stared down at her. “Ma’am, I—"
“My sister was attacked and traumatized. That madman threatened her with a gun and you’re playing ‘oh, he said that she attacked him’? Who called you first? As a matter of fact, who is the one with a police record? Who is the one that’s been arrested for harassing and stalking women, and who doesn’t have even a freaking parking ticket on her records? Just who the hell do you think you are, to accuse my sister of lying about this?”
Eneko’s jaw dropped. Jasmine was so soft-spoken that to see her sister launch into this sort of tirade was shocking, to say the least. Lori put her hands on her hips and whipped her hair back.
One of the detectives narrowed his eyes at her. “Listen. We have a duty to protect all citizens and we have to take all claims of aggression seriously—”
“Apparently not when they’re shifters making the claims. You came here having already decided that Jasmine is guilty. Didn’t you? You know what? Don’t even try to defend yourselves. What are your names?”
The detective frowned. “What? Why would you need—"
“Give me your names, I am going to freaking sue both of you and your precinct. This is nothing more than discrimination and I’m going to sue your asses off!”
“Lori, stop.” Jasmine got to her feet. “It’s okay. They’re doing their job, right?”
Lori snorted and glared at the men. Another car pulled up behind the cop cars outside and Clifford got out. He hurried up to the house and Eneko sighed in relief. The lawyer wore a smart business suit and walked with firm footsteps.
“Where’s the gun?” he asked at once.
“The kitchen.” Jasmine pointed. “None of us touched it, although I carried it in my mouth while I was running away from Jerimiah.”
Clifford nodded. He gave the detectives a scornful look. “Well? Are you going to go get that or not?”
The detectives glanced at one another. They seemed put off by everything that had happened and didn’t speak as they left the room. Once they were gone, Clifford lowered his voice as he put a hand on Jasmine’s shoulder.
“You did everything you were supposed to,” he told them quietly. “I’ve already spoken with the police chief, he’s going to make sure this is handled properly.”
Eneko nodded, keeping an arm around Jasmine. “I’m going to call Marcus for some of the clan’s bears to patrol the house. We’re not certain that Jerimiah Wilder is going to just let it go. We’re afraid that he’s going to come back. And I’m not going to let him hurt Jasmine again.”
“I’ll let the police know that you’ll have visitors. I do think that we should have a patrol of cops, though. To ensure that if something happens it’s not a matter of his word against yours.”
Eneko reluctantly nodded. “I just want Jasmine to be safe.”
“She will be,” Clifford assured him. “I’ll make sure of it.”
***
It took several hours for everything to settle back down. The cops grilled Jasmine on the events, although with both Clifford and Lori interjecting on occasion they were more respectful than Eneko had anticipated. Eventually a second set of detectives came and took over. They took the gun and headed away, promising to look into it. Soon after that, Marcus arrived with a couple other bears to patrol the territory.
With that settled, Eneko took Jasmine’s hand and led her back to his bedroom. Lori was going to sleep in Maite’s room. Jasmine laid her head on Eneko’s chest and curled her fingers into his shirt.
“We’ll figure this out,” he whispered to her. “I know that things seem hectic and messy right now, but I promise that we’ll figure it out.”
“I know. Maybe with Clifford putting pressure on the police chief and this attack… maybe they’ll actually start being reasonable.”
Her voice lifted slightly, hopeful. She pressed her face into his chest and breathed in. Eneko stroked her hair. He tried desperately not to think about Jerimiah and everything that had happened that night. Jasmine was safe, they were safe, and that was what was important at the moment. Tomorrow might bring more of a shitstorm, but tonight they were safe.
“I think he did it.” Jasmine’s voice was a whisper. “I think he killed her.”
Eneko nodded, his heart sinking heavier. “Me, too. But this investigation that you and Lori were doing…”
“Oh, that’s over.” Jasmine let out a shuddering breath. “There will be no more of that happening. We are going to let the cops do their job. And with this added information and everything, they’ll have to. Otherwise I’m going to take Lori’s example and sue their asses off.”
Eneko chuckled. He hugged her tightly. “I’m just glad that you’re not talking about breaking me out of here anymore. Can you imagine how much worse it would be if we’d tried?”
“Yeah…” Jasmine sighed. “I love you, Eneko.
He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, too.”
Her breathing became deep and even soon after, but Eneko laid awake. Everything that could have happened ran through his mind, leaving him breathless. What would he have done if he had lost her? His love… his mate…
He kissed her head and held her tighter. “I love you. You are my heart, Jasmine. My mate. My one true love.”
She sighed in her sleep and he kissed her again. A weight lifted from him as he realized that what he was saying was true. She was his mate. And she was in his arms, safe from anybody who might want to harm her. Nobody could hurt her while he was here. His muscles relaxed and he was finally able to sleep.