Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 51

Carter

Her agreement to train calmed me at the forefront, but she hadn’t even gotten into the real deep shit, and I already wanted to hunt him down and disembowel  him. In reality, I was just a nobody Gamma, playing my Beta’s role, since Jake died with no replacement. That got me thinking about why we had never had a second to Jake? He had been my mentor, my own father, too low in dominance, but somehow they had seen it in me? It wasn’t a lie, it was something I possessed. I felt it growing in the pit of my insides as Briar told her tale, a tale that would have never happened had she grown up within the safety of the pack. Why had Jake and her mother raised her away?” I couldn’t fathom a reason. Even if she were to turn out wolfless, she still belonged with her family; with Henry and Martha. With so many unknowns, I’d have to rely on my instincts. Briar was to be protected at all costs, even from him.

The next day, Briar woke after we both managed a long night of much needed rest. Her cheeks had more color and some of the swelling and bruising had gone down. She was cursing out her coffee pot as I let Rosie out. I knew last night was a one off. I couldn’t find enough excuses to stay all the time, but maybe, if I spent enough time with her, it would all work out. She seemed better rested and some of the puffiness in her face had gone down, along with the deep circles under her eyes. She was beautiful, but I wanted to know what she looked like when she was whole, not just on the outside, but on the inside, too.

I took her to get her things from my place, and left the animals, hopefully to stay. Later, we went to the hardware store to get new locks. She promised to call her friend this afternoon to ask about the cameras while I did my rounds and Mazzie’s, since I put her on watch duty. 

Briar was on the phone when I got back after picking up Tucker and Rosie. I figured if they got to visit enough they would stay put.  I glanced around the door as she let me in and I eyed Ole Betty uncased and by the door, safety off. Good girl, I thought, as she smiled at me and walked into the kitchen where she had something that smelt devine brewing on the stove. She was still talking to her friend as I walked into the kitchen. She set the phone on the counter, putting it on speaker. 

“Misty, meet Carter," she said, before burying her face in the fridge in search of something.

“Hey,” Misty said, awkwardly.

“Hey,” I mimicked.

“Thanks for taking care of my girl,” Misty said, and I got distracted as Briar bent to pull something out of the oven…good goddess, her ass was legendary.

“No sweat, I’ve got it covered on this end,” I let her know. 

“No more checks though. We don’t know who is looking where right now.” Briar had explained that Misty and Beck were up to something on their end, but didn’t have any details to offer yet.

“Good, maybe if the scumbag is harassed enough, it will buy us some time,” I said.

“The plan is to not just harass him but gather enough evidence of his corporate assholeness, where he can be legally taken out.” Hmm, now that was smart, take him out where it hurts the most. “The thing is he’s keeping the files extremely protected. I can’t find anything on the company servers, and digging into his personal ones could get me caught, but I’m working on a way around it.”

“I know he’s got the info stashed somewhere,” Briar said, as she stirred the pot. “I need to go through what I have and see if there is anything on the zip drives

“Give me some time with the cameras. I need to find some that can’t be compromised,” Misty’s voice came through the phone. I supposed that was smart, I didn’t want the piece of shit and his minions spying on my girl; so I grunted my agreement before peeking at the bubbling pot on the stove. It smelled divine, as my mouth watered. It was a stew of some sort, stew with beans and vegetables. She had taken several slices of her beloved bread and toasted them, and the scent of butter and garlic did me in as it wafted around with the savory stew.

My stomach growled. I had skipped lunch to get through the day faster. Briar had insisted this morning that dinner was on her today, since I covered yesterday and gave her a ride. I sure wasn’t too good to turn down a home cooked meal, or extra time with Briar. My stomach growled again, louder this time. Briar snorted. Misty was quiet on the line. The only sound was the vague clicking of keyboard keys.

“Guess you came hungry?” she said looking up at me, as she tossed a salad.

“I'm always hungry. I’m a growing boy, or haven't you noticed?” I kicked myself for my big mouth cuz the cocky double meaning was obvious in my tone. Briar shook it off as if she refused to accept the notion.

“Ahh, well, that’s my cue to go. Gotta get Cricket from school. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Let her know I’ll Facetime her when I'm better,” she called before Misty could hang up.

“Of course, she misses you, too. Get better soon, cuz she keeps asking for you.”

“I miss her, too.”

“More reason to take this asshole down. The sooner he’s dealt with, the sooner I can come see my bestie!” she said, before hanging up.

“So when you two say you are close, how close is that?” I asked. Misty seemed to talk to Briar like they were family.

“We met in college, Misty dropped out her first year cuz of Cricket, I guess if we were religious, you’d say she was my goddaughter. I slept on Misty’s couch more times than I can count. Changed Cricket’s diapers in the middle of the night, so Misty could get a break, and Cricket tells me all her ‘secrets.’ Misty was the only one there, when Jake couldn’t be, when Mama got sick.”

I nodded understanding, they probably mentally supported each other through the toughest parts of their lives, and they were still doing it. Sometimes found family was stronger than blood. “What are we having?” I asked.

“Burgoo.”

“Never heard of it.”

“We make it a lot where I come from, it’s cheap, delicious and sticks to your bones. It’s the first thing I’ve craved in a while, so I figured I’d give it a go. Food has been difficult lately,” she admitted out loud for the first time.

“Well, I bet it’s delicious. After everything you’ve been through recently, it’s understandable that even simple things can be hard. The important thing is that you strive to get through it. I think you're doing a pretty good job,” I let her know, as I squeezinged her shoulder as I walked past her to the cabinet with the plates. She didn’t say anything further on the matter. 

Burgoo was my new favorite dish, I decided after dinner. I insisted on doing the dishes while Briar sat on the back deck with the animals. My mind ran through a list of things that needed to be done, outside of gutters being cleaned, and some brush removal around the outside. Briar needed that room cleared out and to sleep on a real bed. As much as I wanted to offer her to keep staying with me, I knew she’d say no. The other thing was the truck. She needed to be able to go where she needed to, goddess forbid, there was an emergency and she was stuck here. Not that I minded helping her with errands and such, but she also needed to build the confidence that kind of independence could bring. Once she was healed up, it would be a long road to get her trained enough to handle herself; time I didn’t mind spending it with her. I just hoped we had enough of it before things inevitably went south. Not to mention, training her would be another test entirely. It would keep him at bay, while Martha’s claim gave me time to see if she was more her mother or her father’s daughter. I just couldn’t believe he had kept this secret from everyone for all these years. Why? And how, eventually, would I tell her the entire truth of everything, if things turned out how I suspected they would. I wondered if we would find any clues in that room.