Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 80

Carter

I had taken Briar’s truck back to her place, not wanting them to see the Sheriff vehicle if they were here; the less they knew the better. Still in just a pair of sweatpants, Mazzie and I stood at the foot of the porch steps, looking at the massive vase of lily of the valley. I growled and Mazzie just nodded. She understood my feelings right now. We had been here before with the roles reversed. Nex had paid the ultimate price, and I wasn’t even bothered by it. Putting this ‘Alpha’ down would be child's play if it came down to that. These chair room corporate ‘Alphas’ didn’t know how a real wolf bit.

The thing was, there wasn’t a sign of anything out of the miss, just the scent delivery girl who placed the arrangement on the front porch. She smelled of pack, a person just doing the job she was asked to do. I used Briar’s keys to open the front door, nothing had been disturbed, and Ole Betty was still perched at the door. I picked it up and rested it on my shoulder as my eyes scanned the rest of the house. Mazzie eyed the gun as we worked through the house, not a word spoken, just the silent knowing of how we entered and cleared each section. We stepped out the back sliders and transformed after we shed our clothes. After patrolling every inch of the property and coming up with nothing, we concluded Misty was right, his people weren’t even here yet. I snatched the card from the arrangement, my anger fuming.

Addy

I’m coming for you

Creedon

Mazzie glanced over my shoulder at the writing. Her growl, as menacing as mine, as we pulled our clothes back on.

We got into the truck, and before I could throw it in gear, she caught my arm.

“Remember the endgame, Carter. You wanted her to choose you first. You either tell her everything now, or you continue doing what you have been to earn her trust, either way, when you tell her, she will see your omission as a betrayal. Remember, she has never known what she is. That's a lot on a person alone, adding in all the rest.”

She was right. Briar wasn’t ready; she would retreat. Treading carefully where her delicate mind was concerned, right now, was a necessary evil. I hated it, it ate at me to the core of who I was. The secrets of everything were a burden I would have to bear for her temporary sanity. I shifted the truck into gear. My mind reliving the moments I spent with her over the phone as she made the same drive to my place. Mazzie was quiet until we pulled into my driveway. Her hand grabbed my arm.

“Don’t take it personally, she may shut you out for a while, she's still trying to figure it all out, and she doesn't know what or who she is anymore. I saw it today, her wolf wants to come out, but this may set her back. I get that it will be hard for you, but you have to endure it, or you will become just like him in her eyes. You're going to have to feel this out, one step at a time, all over again.” My heart sank. I knew she was right. Nothing in this goddess forsaken life could be easy. All that progress wilted as if it were nothing.

When we came in, Briar's hand was on the gun. Good girl. She released it the second she saw who was coming into the house. Jumpy yes, that was understandable, but she still had the clarity of mind to see who was coming through the front door before she took a shot. All wasn’t lost… Yet.

“Can you call Misty?” I asked, as I set Ole Betty against the wall at the front door. Mazzie dropped the bags with her things beside it. Briar nodded and dialed before she flipped it to speaker. Briar unplugged the phone from a charger and set it on the table.

“What do you have for me, ‘Sheriff’ Carter?” By the tone of Misty’s voice, she knew I was a fraud. Mazzie and I shared a glance. It hadn’t passed her observance either.

“Nothing on the inside is disturbed, no forced entry, and the only person who has been there was a delivery girl.”

“I’m overnighting the cameras,” Misty insisted without room for argument.

“That’s for the best,” I agreed. She huffed across the line.

“Anything for my bestie, where did the flowers come from?”

“Local shop. I’ll stop by there first thing in the morning and get more info on the buyer and ensure I’m alerted if any more ‘deliveries’ are scheduled for her address.

“What's the name of the shop, Sheriff? I can work faster than you.” It was a snub, and I’d take it like a champ.

“Poppy’s Posies,” I let her know, holding the growl back under my breath. A deep voice grumbled from Misty’s side of the line.

“Adelaide?” his gritty voice asked.

“I’m here, Beck, it’s Briar now, remember.”

“Yeah, well, I'm old, forgive me, little lady, are you safe where you are?”

“Yes, I’m at Carter’s, Mazzie, his deputy, and Lana are here too right now.”

“You still have the blade?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yeah, and she knows how to use it,” Lana piped in. The man chuckled on the other end. 

“Oh, I know she does.”

“Good, you keep it close to you, you need to get a gun though,” the man insisted.

“Covered,” I let him know. He grunted in approval. Briar cleared the chamber of the gun at her side, and the sound of the engaged bullet popping out proved a point. She had taken the safety off.

“I need to talk to Sheriff Carter in private,” Beck requested. Briar handed me the phone, a concerned look on her face. I squeezed her shoulder as I took the phone before stepping outside. By the sound of it, Beck was doing the same.

“We're alone,” I let him know, and I heard a door shut on the other side. 

“Drop the shit. We are the same kind of animals. That girl has been through the ringer; you're not a true sheriff. Divide in unincorporated, what’s your rank, wolf?” I paused, caught off guard.

“Who are you to demand that of me?”

“Consider me her guardian, for all intents and purposes.” Well, anyone willing to protect her right now, I wanted to be on their good side.

“I am Beta of the Divide pack,” I let him know.

He was quiet for a moment.

“What’s your intentions here, Sheriff, because that girl has struck a protective nerve in me, and I’ll drop my current activities if she isn’t safe with you.”

“I know what he was to her, and what he did to her; she’s special to me. I’m not going to let anyone harm her as long as I have breath.”

“Those are big words for a woman you’ve only known for a few months. Will your Alpha protect her?”

“I’m doing everything in my power to keep him off our backs to keep her here; he doesn't like outsiders.”

“So, why not let her run to a place where there are no connections?”

“A lot of reasons.”

“Enlighten me, Beta.”

“She has family here and she has secrets there to uncover.”

“She's just a human woman, what ties could she have to the Divide pack?” 

“That's where you are wrong,”

“About what?”

“She's only half human, and her wolf is rising, she needs this place, she needs answers, a pack, ” she needs me.

“You're sure?”

“It’s not just me that’s seen it with my own eyes, she dominated a future Delta today. The rest of the pack is unsure of her; they don’t suspect, but after today, I know her wolf is coming around, and the locals will talk. She's been dormant without a pack. I’ve been training her, and only a wolf could be excelling so quickly.”

“Why are you so determined to build her within a pack against your Alpha’s wishes?”

“Her uncle was my mentor.”

“That's it, some ode to a dead man?”

I swallowed hard; he wasn’t making this easy. May as well tell her next best protector exactly why I was truly devoted to her to ease his mind. “I’m her second chance. If he won’t complete the rejection, I’m her only way out if I don’t kill him first.”

“Well, shit. Does she know?

“No, not about us, or the bond, nor the wolves.”

“You best be sure you do right by her, or I will come calling,” I swallowed to digest the threat. I didn’t know this man, but he had gotten her out and I took the threat seriously.

“I have, I am, and I will,” I kept my response short.

“I’ll try to convince Misty to lay off, encouraging her to run, for now, but we need something in the meantime to irritate this bastard and keep him busy. I need to talk to Adelaide to see if there is anything we can use against him we aren’t already employing.

“I stepped back inside and switched the phone back to speaker. Briar was transfixed by something in her palm.

“What's that you got there, sweetheart?” I asked, setting the phone back on the table and sitting beside her.

“I found it in his pants pocket after I stole his clothes and ran. It’s a zip drive. I don’t know what's on it.” The sound of Beck reentering the house came through the phone and Misty’s voice could be heard in the background. Their voices were muffled and I couldn’t decipher them as Briar pulled out her laptop and plugged the zip drive in, downloading the files.