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

him the house key and he unlocked it and ushered her inside,
cautioning her to be careful of the glass. She gasped as she looked
around. Bricks had been tossed through the windows, and littered
the floor and furniture. Everything looked broken, as if the bricks
had been thrown with more purpose than simply breaking the glass.
Looking through the open door of Jack’s bedroom, she saw that the
crib was destroyed.
    She didn’t even realize she was crying until
Malachi embraced her, bringing her into his warmth and holding her
close.
    “Shh,” he crooned softly. “It’s going to be
okay.”
    She ducked her head against his chest and
fisted his shirt in her hands. “How can you be sure?”
    “Because I know I’m not going to let anything
happen to you or Jack.”
    “Malachi?” She said his name, and a fine
tremble wove through her body.
    “Yes, sweetheart?”
    She lifted her head and stared into his eyes.
“Why are you here with me?”
    Brynn had told her that Malachi believed Nila
was his mate, that his wolf and his human side were in agreement
that she was the woman meant for them. Diane had been right in
saying that Damien had never treated her like anything but
property. When he said that Nila belonged to him, he didn’t mean he
wanted to take care of her forever, he just meant he was keeping
her, whether she liked it or not.
    Malachi lifted his hand and stroked the curve
of her cheek. “You’re my mate, Nila. I want you to be my mate, not
because I’m making some kind of Neanderthal claim to you, but
because you’re constantly in my thoughts and I can’t live without
you. I want you to be my mate because you want me to be yours,
because you can’t live without me, either.”
    She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Closing it again, she leaned her head against his chest and sighed.
She was buoyed by his words. He’d been in her thoughts since the
day they met. She’d been fighting the connection between them, but
here, in his arms, the last thing she wanted to do was fight.
    A throat cleared and she lifted her head from
his chest and looked at a handsome man with short, dark hair.
    Malachi said, “Nila, this is Jeremiah, part
of my pack. He’s going to stay here and make sure that the windows
are replaced and everything gets cleaned up.”
    “What?” She blinked in surprise and turned
her attention to Malachi.
    He smiled. “Jeremiah is going to take care of
things. All you need to do is pack a bag for you and Jack and I’ll
take you back to work.”
    “A bag?”
    “You can’t stay here tonight,
sweetheart.”
    “But where will I go?”
    “Do you even have to ask? Come to my home.
Everything that’s mine is yours.”
    She shook her head and pushed away from him.
“That’s just insane. He broke all my windows because you installed
a security system. What do you think he’ll do when he finds me and
Jack at your house? I’ll go stay with Diane. She lives here in town
and I know she’ll take us in.”
    Malachi’s eyes flashed from blue to amber.
“My home is safe.”
    She took a step back, instinctively tensing
to flee if he raised his fist. He seemed to sense her fear
immediately. The amber faded from his eyes, and he jammed his hands
into his pockets. “If you’re not willing to stay at my house, then
I’m going to be there, guarding you.” She opened her mouth to
protest, but he shook his head. “Go pack. The police are waiting
for your statement, and your lunch hour is almost up.”
    He seemed angry. Well, angry was an
understatement. He looked like he could punch a hole through the
wall, but he had purposely made himself calm down and appear
non-threatening. Once more she was reminded that Malachi was not Damien. She almost told him that she’d go to his house,
but she knew if she stayed there not only would she never want to
leave, but she’d be drawing Damien directly to him, and that was
the last thing she wanted to do.
    Nodding, she walked into the bedroom and
opened the