Aedan POV
I draw in a steadying breath when Liz goes upstairs. Wow, indeed. I hear the shower turn on, giving me naughty visuals that aren't helping my current problem. At least her shower should give me a few minutes to check in with the guys.
"What's going on out there?"
"Alpha, no sign of him. It's all clear," Tye sends back. "Braden went to pick up your things. When he gets back, I'm going to send Keller home for some sleep."
"Good. Keep up the good work. I want at least two of us with Liz at all times until we get this resolved." I close down our mind link and start pacing restlessly from one end of the kitchen to the other. My wolf is on the edge of violence and he wants out. He wants to hunt down the rogue threatening our mate and rip him apart.
Hope appears at the door and looks at me expectantly. I have to admit, the inquisitive tilt of her head is kinda cute. I open the door and she trots outside. I step out after her to keep an eye on her. Liz would be devastated if anything happened to her dog.
The dog does her business and comes trotting back to the house. I let her back inside just as Liz comes back down the steps. She's wearing a beat up old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Her wet hair is pulled up into a ponytail.
"I have a load of hay due to be delivered soon. I'll have to unload it and put it away," She tells me a bit apologetically.
"Ok. Tell me what I can do to help."
"She smiles at me brightly, "I'll always take help moving hay." She pulls on sneakers and leads the way outside.
I try to discreetly smell the air for any danger. Nothing. I can smell Keller and Tye hiding in the trees, but no other wolves seem to be nearby.
We are nearly to the barn when Braden's red suv pulls into her driveway, so we stop and wait for him. Liz sends him a happy smile when he gets out of his vehicle. "Hi Braden."
"Lun-err, Liz. " He quickly corrects himself. He grins at her happily and shoots a glance at me. Checking to see how much trouble his slip has gotten him into. "Aedan. " He nods respectfully.
"Braden." I send him a quick reassurance that it's ok. I have bigger things to worry about right now.
He hands me my bag. "Thanks." I tell him. I drop the bag at the corner of the barn. He and Liz are chatting about the weather. It is a glorious day. The sky is a clear blue, the sun is shining, and the fall colors are at their peak.
I walk back to them and drape an arm around her shoulders. She shoots a beautiful smile up at me.
"Well, I should get going." Braden says, smiling at the pair of us. I can feel how happy he is that I've found Liz. She might not be a wolf, but the pack likes her anyhow.
He waves and climbs back into the suv. He's just disappearing down the road when a black pick-up pulling a wagon load of hay appears. The truck pulls into the driveway and stops next to the barn.
Liz walks over and is opening the barn doors when a guy appears from behind the wall of hay and scoops her up into his arms. She lets out a shriek and I'm just about to lose it, the urge to shift screaming under my skin, when I realise that she's laughing. My wolf is snarling, ready to burst forth. Calm down, I tell the both of us. Keep it together.
Mine! He demands angrily. He's not happy that another man is touching her. Honestly, I'm not liking it much either. Time to make myself known before I lose it.
I look him over as I approach. He's probably in his early 20s, brown hair, flashing green eyes, and athletic looking. I have to resist the urge to bare my teeth at the guy.
"Matt, this is Aedan. Aedan, Matt." Liz introduces us. She pulls out of his reach and comes to my side. I snake an arm around her waist and pull her closer, silently staking my claim.
"Hey." Matt greets me. He's looking me over with a calculating expression.
"Hey." I say back, trying to keep it together. Act human, I remind myself. My wolf is calmer now, but still on edge. There is an unknown male near our mate. Something he can barely tolerate. I feel Tye trying to contact me. I know he's probably heard her shriek and is worried. "It's ok," I send to him.
I come back to present in time to see Liz climbing the wagon load of hay. "You guys stack it in the barn, I'll throw it down to you," She calls down. I watch with concern as she scales the outside of the hay, and swings onto the top of the load. She must be 15 feet in the air, too high for my comfort.
She nonchalantly starts throwing the top bales of hay down to us. Matt grabs the first two and disappears into the barn. Not wanting to be outdone, I grab the next two and follow. These bales must be 75 pounds each. How is Liz moving them? I decide right then that I should probably never really tick her off. She's gotta be stronger than she looks.
Inside the barn, I follow Matt to the stack of hay, and we add our bales to it. "So, how long have you know Liz?" He's still giving me a slightly untrusting look.
How to answer that without it sounding creepy? A human won't understand the instant bond between mates. "We've been out a couple of times. She called me last night and asked for help." There. That could be interpreted in a more acceptable way.
"How about you?" I ask him. We are each carrying our next set of bales by now.
"Oh, I've known Liz forever, it seems. She's best friends with my twin. Practically a second sister." I hear a hint of warning in his voice. He's warning me that if I hurt Liz, I will have him to answer to.
I smile to myself. I'm the last person on earth he needs to worry about. Even my wolf is slightly appeased. He feels like she's a sister, good, he huffs.
We continue to move the hay, stacking it in a growing pile in the barn. Matt and I talk occasionally and I'm surprised to find that I like him. He comes off as friendly and honest.
Sooner than I'd anticipated, Liz throws the last bales off of the wagon. Matt grabs them and takes them into the barn. I reach up and grab her by the waist, swinging her to the ground. She has a piece of hay in her hair, her cheeks are red from the cold, and her hazel eyes dance happily. I smile at her and pull the hay out of her hair.
Matt comes back out of the barn. "Ok, all stacked." He tells her.
"Thanks guys." She tells us.
"Not a problem. I'll call you about bringing another load in a couple of weeks." He tells her. "Nice to meet you, Aedan." I must have passed some sort of test. He sounds genuine.
"You, too." Liz leans against me as we watch him drive away.
The rest of the day passes pleasantly. We eat lunch, watch a movie, talk, and go out together to feed the animals in the evening. Tye checks in to tell me that Keller is back and he's sending Braden home.
I decide to cook dinner. Going to the kitchen, I'm looking through her pantry, deciding what to make. Liz comes in followed by Hope. "What are you doing?"
"I'm cooking for you." I tell her with a wicked smile. She blushes bright red. I know she's remembering our shared breakfast, and what came after. My wolf had demanded that we feed her. It had pleased him greatly when she accepted. I was surprised when she reciprocated. There's no way she could know, but feeding your mate is an expression of love between wolves.
I'm still thinking about breakfast as she opens the door and lets Hope out. She's standing in the doorway, door cracked open, watching me with a half smile on her face. I'm thinking how pretty she is like that, when a dog's scream rips through the night.
Liz is out the door, yelling for her dog at the top of her lungs, before I can stop her.
I run outside and am immediately assaulted by the sound of a vicious dog fight. Liz is ahead of me, trying to follow the sounds to her dog, still blinded by her dash from the bright kitchen into the night and unable to see in the dark.
I'm glad she can't see. I can. Her 50 pound dog is putting up a good fight, but is no match for the 200 pound black wolf attacking her.
Despite her inability to really see, she's runnng and getting closer to the fight. Too close. "Liz! Stay back!" I yell at her. I've almost caught up. But almost isn't good enough.
The wolf turns baleful eyes to her, drops the dog, and lunges at her with a snarl.
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Thank you!!! To everyone who has liked, commented, and fanned. It amazes me that so many of you have taken the time out of your day to read my story. At the time of this edit, 16k and growing. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.