11. Kodi

For the life of me, I can't figure this shit out. While Aric helps my mate in the kitchen, Oren and Kol search my property for any sign of our would-be-intruder.

I'm sitting at my desk in my home office when the two Orcs come strolling in.

"We didn't find any sign of an intruder or even someone sniffing around the area." Kol shrugs and sits in the chair across from my desk, and the wood gives a slight groan under his massive weight. Thankfully, I had special furniture built for my new home that could withstand large shifters and other mythical creatures.

"I had a friend of mine who works for Homeland Security pull the traffic cameras in New York and he just got back to me. The entire event with Jared and Brenna was captured on tape," I explain as Oren sits in the chair next to Kol.

"He watched it several times before sending me a copy, and I've been watching it. I don't believe in coincidences, but it appears that it was an unrelated road rage incident."

"You're fucking joking." Kol sits up and places his elbows on his thighs.

"I don't believe it myself." I turn on the video and scroll through until the camera first catches a black sedan roaring down the highway, swerving in and out of traffic for miles. I fast forward a little to the spot where Jared inadvertently pulls out in front of it. "That's Jared's SUV," I point out to the Orcs.

We watch the video closely as the vehicle follows him for less than a mile before accelerating to pass him then quickly swerves to hit the driver's side front panel of Jared's SUV. When Jared jerks the vehicle off on a ramp, the driver of the black sedan speeds away. A few miles later, another car pisses him off and the black sedan's driver pulls the same shit again. This time, an officer witnesses the entire incident and attempts to pull over the black sedan.

That's where the chase moves out of the traffic camera range so I explain the rest to them. "After a high-speed chase, New Jersey state troopers run the suspect off the road and arrest him. Turns out he had his license suspended and was on probation for a similar incident. It appears the forty-seven-year-old ex-con, drug addict has nothing to do with my mate."

Kol and Oren stare at each other for several seconds, and I'm wondering if the Orcs have a way to communicate silently when my second-in-command turns to me and shrugs. "That's actually good news. If Briella's stalker didn't attempt to run them off the road, then we probably don't have two perps to worry about."

"True." But I still don't understand how he managed to almost hack my fucking servers.

"I guess we're going to have to show up at the office at five o'clock and hope the perp makes a move," Kol interrupts my thoughts.

We're one step closer to making sure this fucker never gets near my mate, but I'm ready for this whole goddamn situation to be over so I can celebrate our mating. "I fucking hate to leave Briella alone out here while we handle this shit."

"Aric and Oren will stay with her." Kol sits back and rubs one of his tusks. "My brothers won't let anything happen to her."

"I know."

* * *

At four-fifty, I pull into the private parking garage under the building and park in my usual spot, running the plan through my mind one last time.

Kol never changed my home security code to the code the hacker gave him, so there's a chance the asshole knows we're onto him.

On the other hand, we couldn't find any evidence the perp tried to access my property. Therefore, he might still think he has us fooled.

With this in mind, Kol and Seth drove together and parked two blocks over. They are going to sneak into the office using the maintenance entrance to the building.

I use my keycard and step into the elevator, steeling myself for what is coming. As the elevator doors close, I pull up my home security feed to make sure my mate is okay. I breathe a sigh of relief when I find her sitting at the table playing cards with Oren and Aric.

I almost feel sorry for those Orcs. I'm sure they have no idea what hit them.

The elevator stops on the top floor and the doors slide open. I walk down the main hall, heading straight to my friend's office. "Kol." I knock on the door, keeping up the pretense I'm expecting my second-in-command.

When there's no answer, I slowly open the door and step inside the room. Everything appears to be normal. Except for the black jackal face flashing on the center computer screen. "Surprise," the fucking animated animal sings. "Since you haven't figured it out yet, your perfect security system has been hacked."

It's time to play this asshole's game. "What do you want?" I ask, figuring he's waiting for a response. My nose perks up as I smell Kol and Seth silently approaching the door.

"To join your team." I forget all about the Orc on the other side of the door and blink several times as his answer echoes through my mind.

"What?" I roar as Kol and Seth step into the room behind me.

"You obviously need me on your team." The animated animal on the screen does a little dance. "Think of it this way, if I can break into your system, then I can keep others from doing the same thing."

This little motherfucker's arrogance causes my bear to roll its eyes. "Are you sure you broke into my system?"

"You're talking to me right now in your office, aren't you?"

"True, but you aren't on my main server. You're on the back-up server we allowed you to access."

"Bullshit." That got the would-be hacker's attention.

"Why don't you try to pull up accounts and see for yourself?" I dare him, already knowing he doesn't have access to anything important. Kol already cut off all access to our real files at the first sign of a possible hack.

"I see plenty of accounts," he insists, and I turn to look at Kol as he walks over and presses a few buttons. The file the hacker is accessing pops up on a screen, and I smirk as the information for Mickey Mouse appears. "Fuck!" the hacker roars.

"I didn't know we had Mickey as a client." I look over at Seth and smirk, knowing he set up the dummy accounts.

"According to those bullshit files, we have Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Pluto as clients, too." Seth shrugs while Kol roars with laughter.

I ignore my two employees and turn back to the screen. "Since we know you failed to hack my real system, why don't you explain why you've been stalking my mate." I need to figure this shit out so I can get back to her.

"It seems like you suck at a stalker, too, since you didn't get anywhere near Briella," Kol cuts in and taunts our perp.

"I was never stalking her. I was playing the long game." The disembodied voice echoes around the room. "I knew Jared Linden is a close friend of Kodi's, so I decided to annoy his sister-in-law, hoping he'd call on Enchanted Security for help. And he fell for my ploy hook, line, and sinker."

Kol glances over at me and shakes his head as the plan becomes clearer. "So, you didn't ever intend to hurt Briella?"

"Hell no, I wouldn't hurt her. I want to work for Kodi, not hurt an innocent woman." At least our hacker has a tiny bit of morals.

"Jackals aren't known for their honesty and morals," Seth states the obvious. "You have to know we'd never hire a jackal shifter to work for us."

"God, you guys are so fucking stupid. I'm not a jackal shifter. I bought jackal scent off the web and sprayed it around, hoping to fool you."

"We shouldn't have fallen for that one." It's kind of embarrassing that no one realized the scent wasn't authentic.

"It's fucking embarrassing," Seth growls what we're all thinking. "I can't believe it even fooled Silas."

My heart settles in my chest when I realize there isn't a threat to my little Beauty. "You two handle this asshole however you want, but do not give him a fucking job," I call over my shoulder as I head for the door, knowing Seth and Kol are more than capable of handling this asshole.

"We got this. When we're through with the jackass, he'll never even think about pulling a stunt like this again," Seth calls behind me.

Before I pull out of the parking garage, I text Oren to let him know I'm on my way home. I tell him to let Briella know the threat is over.

I get a thumbs-up response from the Orc and drop my phone on the seat next to me.

As I drive through town, my inner bear taunts me for falling for the asshole's scheme. My only excuse is finding my soulmate temporarily fried my brain circuits.

This isn't the first time someone tried to get our attention, but this is definitely the most elaborate attempt. If the asshole hadn't involved Briella, I might've felt sorry for him and helped him get a job in the field. But involving my soulmate puts the hacker on my permanent shit list.

You wouldn't have met Briella if the hacker hadn't pretended to stalk her,my bear reminds me.

Yes, I would've. Don't forget I was going to visit Jared and Brenna in New York for Thanksgiving. I have no doubt my little Beauty would've stolen my heart the second I arrived for the holiday.

I guess the hacker did me a tiny favor getting my mate here a few months early, but I'm still pissed at how the asshole pulled it off.

To make the ride go by quicker, I make a mental list of all we need to get done to move Briella into my home permanently.

Tomorrow, I plan to contact movers and have them pack up her apartment and transport everything here. Then I'm going to build Briella her own personal library on my property so she can stay within the protected confines but still do the job she loves.

My plans take shape as I drive through the gate protecting my house. I draw in a deep breath, realizing I have all the time in the world to enjoy my soul mate without the threat of a stalker hanging over us.

When I walk in the front door, Briella runs over to wrap her soft arms around my waist. "Is it really over?"

"It is." I pull her curvy body close and lean over to kiss her soft lips while the two Orcs quietly slip out the back door. I make a mental note to send them a cow to slaughter as a thank you before turning back to my soulmate. "I'll explain everything to you later. Right now, I need to kiss every inch of your body to reassure myself you're okay."

"Kiss away, Bossy Bear."