9781616503369 by Sondrae Bennett Page A

contradicted.
    Brendan swung toward her as she spoke. He opened his mouth to ask what the fuck she meant by “no,” furious she would deny her own safety, but Julie cut him off. “The letter is a real threat. This Jay guy is just kind of creepy. We need to look at this logically and not let emotions get in the way. Samantha is in real danger. We need to keep her safe.”
    “We need to keep you safe!” What the hell was wrong with everyone? Couldn’t they see the same danger he saw? “It’s not solely the note, Julie. I didn’t tell you before, because I didn’t want to worry you, but I didn’t break your front door. Someone else did. My blood runs cold imagining what might have happened had I not been there.”
    There was no disguising her shock. Her mouth hung open, and she stared back at him, stunned. He had wanted to keep this from her. To eliminate the threat before she knew the danger. As her mate, his job was to protect her and keep her happy. He didn’t want her to doubt his ability to do both.
    * * * *
    Well, that added a new level of fright to the whole situation. What if Brendan hadn’t been at her apartment? She shook her head, not wanting to imagine the possibilities. Thank God he hadn’t listened to her rejection.
    The broken door flashed through her mind and she paused, recalling the damage. Something wasn’t adding up. The more she thought about it, the less sense the whole situation made.
    “Who would have the strength to break the lock like that?” she asked. There’d been claw marks around the handle, and she’d thought Brendan’s wolf, eager to see her, had done it in his haste.  
    “Probably a shifter. Whoever did it must have been strong,” Ethan told her, clutching Gwen’s hand. With danger so close, the men felt compelled to keep close tabs on their mates. A threat to any one of them raised the collective alarm.
    She mulled over the information as she looked around the room. She’d always been good at puzzles, and this whole situation was certainly puzzling. But it wasn’t logical to assume two separate threats were out there at the same time.
    “Wait. What if the person, or shifter, trying to break into the apartment wasn’t after me,” she said, seeing a pattern.
    “What do you mean?” Jason asked.
    “I met Jay in Oakville, a full-human town. I didn’t get the impression he was a shifter. And Samantha lived in the studio up until a few weeks ago. So what if the person who broke my lock was after Samantha and stopped when he realized she wasn’t inside. It might have nothing to do with me.”
    It made sense, at least to Julie. She doubted more than one threat existed, and the letter clearly declared Samantha their target. Jay probably had nothing to do with any of this. After all, some guys were just intense. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t see him following her home and trying to break into her apartment. No one got that attached after three sentences. Poor guy didn’t know what kind of trouble he’d stumbled into by sending flowers.
    “What about the note? You’re not safe, either.” As she looked into Brendan’s eyes, she saw the worry and love there. Her breath caught. She needed Brendan. She’d already known that, just as she’d known he loved her. But for the first time, she realized the depth of his emotion. He needed her as much as she needed him.
    “I love you.” She couldn’t help but say it, even though it was random and out of place. Even knowing her family would tease her about it later. He tried to pull her into his lap, but she resisted, hearing him grunt with displeasure.
    Priorities. Right now she needed to explain. With Samantha in danger, Julie needed to make sure everyone else’s priorities were in line with hers.
    “The gifts this morning were creepy, but not in a life-threatening way. Chances are he’ll swing by the store if he wants to see me, especially since I’m living with Brendan now.” The thought of their