The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) by R.E. Butler Read Free Book Online

wolf
in sheep’s clothing. Jack counted on her to make good choices. He
might have a lousy biological father, but Nila could give him a
worthy step-dad, and that man would not be a wolf. She just
couldn’t risk Jack’s safety and happiness because Malachi happened
to make her heart thud irregularly in her chest.
    She put the yogurt that Malachi had bought
for her on the shelf in the fridge and stared at the white
container with the strawberry and banana images on the front. He’d
even gotten her favorite brand, which showed just how much he’d
been paying attention to her.
    She hated that her stomach flipped at the
idea of him watching her.
    Gritting her teeth, she closed the fridge
door hard enough to make it rock back and forth. Then she smoothed
her hands down the front of her scrub top, which was covered with
pink and purple bunnies, and strode out to the front to get the
first patient. If she ignored Malachi long enough, he’d get the
hint and move on.
    She hoped.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Malachi didn’t know what had happened between
yesterday and today, but Nila was acting like an ice queen toward
him. When she came to get the first patient, she ignored him so
expertly that he felt like he’d suddenly become invisible.
    “Whoa,” Brynn said softly as Nila took the
young girl and her father to an exam room. “What the heck did you
do to her?”
    He frowned. “Shoveled her driveway.”
    “Oh, you bastard,” Brynn said, grinning.
    He snorted, looking down the hallway, his
wolf whining. He didn’t like her ignoring him like that. Before
he’d spent time at her house, she’d kept her distance, but now he
was sure she was just trying hard not to look at him. Something had
happened to change her mind about him.
    Brynn spun in the chair and folded her arms
across her chest, giving him a long look. “Acksel said you don’t
want to sit here all day anymore.”
    “I talked to him about it yesterday. I’ll
still drive you to and from work, and pick you up for lunch anytime
you go out to eat, but I won’t be stuck here when I need to deal
with my company.”
    “I’ll miss you hanging out here.”
    “You’ll survive. If I don’t start paying more
attention to my company, though, it might not make it.” He rubbed
his temple, worry about Nila’s change in attitude clouding his
mind.
    “What’s up with Lucian? Mia said he hasn’t
been around in months.”
    Malachi made a face. “Mia shouldn’t worry
about him.”
    Brynn snorted loudly. “Oh, okay, then why
don’t you stop worrying about Nila?” He gave her a confused look
and she shrugged. “You can’t stop thinking about Nila, so why would
Mia stop thinking about Lucian?”
    He growled. “They are not mates. She
has a childhood crush on him and needs to get over it.”
    “Man, you’re a dick sometimes. You don’t know
what she and Lucian are, because you’ve done your damnedest to keep
them apart, what with your never touch my sister rules. You
can’t stop nature, Mal, no matter how hard you try. You should just
let them get together and see what happens. If they’re mates
they’re going to be together no matter what, and then you’ll be the
jackass who kept them apart for all those years.”
    “His life is too dangerous; she could become
a target.”
    Her brow arched. “Isn’t he like a scary-ass
body guard or something like that? Luke is human and he kept Eveny
safe from those wolves who tried to hurt her.”
    “Don’t remind me.” Acksel’s only sister Eveny
had been intent on going through the heat cycle alone in a family
cabin in the mountains, and Acksel had attempted to intervene,
telling one of the wolves where she was so he could ‘help her out,’
in her time of need. Instead, the wolf had gathered some friends
and gone up there with the intention of brutally raping her, and it
was only Luke’s intervention that kept Eveny safe. Luke’s
protection of Eveny had begun the slow transformation of the pack
from wolf-only to