Page 3 of My Shifty Bodyguard

“But she already knows about the assassination attempts,” I protest.

“Not really. She was told that the silver in her oatmeal was an accidental mix-up, and she was not told about the arrow attack or the silver in her perfume. She is not to know why she’s here. That’s a direct order.”

“Yes, Alpha. Of course.” I incline my head in respect, exposing my neck. I would do this for no-one other than my Alpha.

Then I stand up glumly.

The door swings open, and our pack secretary Adele ushers in a curvaceous young woman with wide violet eyes, a small heart shaped mouth, and hair that cascades halfway down her back in black ringlets. She’s wearing a denim skirt and a white and blue polka-dot blouse, and white leather boots.

Violet Carmichael tilts her head at me and stares, her eyes widening. “Is that my bodyguard?” she asks Adele. “Why does he look like a sexy murder statue? And why do I suddenly feel really funny? I wonder if I’ve been poisoned. What does being poisoned feel like?”

I freeze where I stand, and for a heartbeat the world tilts. My chest tightens, my muscles coil like springs, and heat roars through me, raw and demanding. My wolf claws at my mind, desperate to break free, to mark, to claim—but I force it down because control is everything, and I will not lose control in front of the Alpha.

Every fiber of me recognizes this woman, even though I’ve never seen her before. My pulse spikes, every nerve ending singing. Her scent is layered—earthy, warm, faintly sharp with something uniquely hers—and it pulls at my wolf in a way that’s immediate, undeniable. My limbs feel both heavy and electric at once. I taste adrenaline and something else, something intimate and private, that has nothing to do with fight or flight.

I glance at her—those wide violet eyes, the small curve of her mouth, the way her ringlets catch the light—and my wolf howls silently inside me.

There are only two possibilities for what’s going on right now.

One possibility is that I’ve been been hexed with a spell that’s about to knock me dead – and I really hope that’s what is happening right now.

Because the other possibility is that Violet Carmichael is my fated mate.

Chapter Two

Violet

Well, even though I feel woozy and my heart is hammering inside my chest like a woodpecker trying to escape, at least the setting is familiar.

I’m in a clinic, being checked over by a healer and a nurse practitioner.

My father, who loves me very much, has a clinic attached to our home. Our pack has not one, but two, healers. It costs us a fortune. Most packs don’t even have one.

After my mother died giving birth to me, I guess he doesn’t want to take any chances.

He’s not quite as bad with my three younger half-brothers. Maybe it’s because they’re boys, who knows.

“Well, she seems perfectly healthy, other than her elevated heartrate. No poison, no illness.” The healer leans back and frowns.

“That happens whenever I get nervous!” I chirp. That’s not actually true, and I have strange, bubbling, panicky feelings flooding through me that I’ve never experienced before, but I don’t want to be trapped here in the clinic forever. I want to explore.

“Well, I guess we can sign off on her.” The healer glances at Alpha Jesse and his wife Lane for approval. Lane is an adorable, busty redhead whose emerald-green maternity dress hugs her enormous rounded tummy.

Dax, the giant sexy murder statue, is watching me with no expression at all on his handsome face. I try to avoid looking at him, because it makes my heartrate accelerate and I don’t want to give the healer any excuse for keeping me here.

I want to leave, and be alone with murder-man. Why? I have no idea, but I want it more than I want a basket of kittens. And that’s saying a lot.

Jesse nods his okay on my release.

Hooray! I’m sprung! I slide off the examination table.

“We could check my mate again, since we’re here,” Jesse says.

“We checked me yesterday. I feel our son tap-dancing on my bladder; he’s fine. Step off the crazy train, love of my life.” Lane looks amused. That earns her a low, rumbling growl, which she ignores. She smiles at me. “You don’t need anything?”

“She came with eleven suitcases and two trunks. She doesn’t need anything.” Dax rolls his eyes. The first hint of expression I’ve seen on my handsome hero’s face, and it’s annoyance.

That’s okay. Nothing’s going to dent my bad mood. I’m here on an adventure. I’m going to explore this whole area, I’m going to visit Cedar Run, I’m going to buy presents for everyone in my pack. I can’t wait!