Cursed Wolf

Jasmine couldn’t believe what was happening. Her stalker had followed her all the way to Alaska just to torment her. She couldn’t understand why it was why anyone would want to do that to her.

“We are going to get to the bottom of it. No one is going to do that to you and get away with it.”

“I’m so glad that you were with me when I found it.”

“I’m going to take care of you, Jasmine. It’s my duty in life to make sure that no one hurts you.”

“It makes me feel safe to know that you’re looking out for me.”

“It is the most important thing to me now.”

He pulled up in front of his house and the two of them got out and walked through the front door. Blake was nowhere to be seen, but the evidence of his slovenliness was all over the living room and kitchen. Felix squeezed the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

“I don’t know how much longer I can let that boy stay here,” he said. “But right now, I have more important things to tend to.”

They carried her things upstairs to his bedroom and she grabbed her laptop as they went back down to the kitchen. Felix opened a bottle of wine and they sat together.

“Now I want you to tell me everything about this person from the beginning.”

“Well, it started about six months ago. Someone started leaving nasty comments on my social media profiles. I blocked them, but then a new profile showed up saying exactly the same kinds of things.”

“What were they saying?”

“Things like my books were disgusting and that I didn’t know what love was. That I was a degenerate, a negative influence on society, etc.”

“What happened next?” Felix asked, taking a sip of wine.

“Every time I blocked one of the profiles, another one popped up doing and saying exactly the same thing. I didn’t feel like I could do anything. I felt like I was cornered. I took a break from social media for a while. That was when the first dead animal showed up on my doorstep.”

“And you reported it to the police?”

“Yes. I reported it right away, but they said that there was nothing they could do. He hadn’t threatened my life, and there were no fingerprints. There wasn’t anything to go on. I got three more dead animals on my doorstep before I finally decided to leave.”

“Can I look at your social media profiles?”

She opened her laptop and tabbed over to her biggest social media page. There were messages in her inbox she didn’t want to read.

“I can track the users,” he said.

“You can?” she asked.

“I can find the IP address of the person who registered the profile, and then I can find their location.”

“I had no idea you could do that.”

“But I’m going to have to unblock the users so that I can see the profiles.”

“There’s about a hundred of them.”

Jasmine showed Felix how to find the blocked profiles. She watched him as he unblocked each one and visit their profiles. She drank her wine, trying to get the image of the dead rabbit out of her mind.

She was glad that Felix was helping her. No one had been able to do anything, and she had been feeling so alone and trapped by it all.

“Okay. I’ve unblocked all the profiles, but I’m going to have to take this up to my office to track the IP addresses.”

“Do whatever you need to do,” she said. She was so glad that she’d come home with Felix. Being with him made her feel safe and cared for.

“I think that I’m going to go to sleep,” she said, having finished her wine.

“I’ll tuck you in,” he said with a grin.

Felix carried her laptop upstairs and led her into his bedroom. She pulled out some pajamas from her suitcase and changed and the bathroom. When she came back out, he was not in the bedroom. She walked into his office and found him typing away at the keyboard of his computer with her laptop wired up to his computers.

“How did you learn how to do all of this?”

He tapped the side of his head and winked.

“I came to give you a k!ss goodnight.”

He stood and walked her back into the bedroom where he helped her into bed and k!ssed her sweetly on the mouth.

“I’m going to find this bastard. And then, when we do, we’re going to confront him and make him stop. He’ll never bother you again. I swear.”

He k!ssed her forehead and squeezed her hand.

“Thank you for this, Felix. No one has been able to do anything until now. I even got up and left my home because I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“This ends now, Jasmine. I won’t let someone harass you one moment longer. You are my mate, and I will protect you.” He stood and walked to the door and turned to her. “I love you, Jasmine.”

“I love you, Felix,” she said.

He smiled at her and then close the door. She reached up and turned off the lamp and snuggled down into bed. The glass of wine had taken the edge off her anxiety. Being in Felix’s bed, surrounded by the scent of him, made her feel protected. She dozed off to sleep almost immediately, which she never would have been able to do if she were back at the cabin.

Jasmine woke the next morning to find Felix in bed beside her. It was so comforting to have him there next to her. It had been so long since she’d woken up beside another person.

She rose from the bed and pulled on her bathrobe. The smell of coffee brewing filled her nose.

Jasmine tiptoed out of the bedroom, not wanting to wake Felix. She had no idea how late he been up last night, but she did not remember him coming into the bed. She padded downstairs in her slippers and turned into the kitchen.

Blake sat at the island sipping a cup of coffee, looking glum as usual. Jasmine poured herself a cup and filled it with cream before joining Blake at the counter.

“I thought you went back to your cabin.”

“My stalker left a dead animal on my porch, so we came back here.”

“A dead animal?” he said bitterly. “What a waste.”

“More like terrifying,” she said. “Felix is going to find who it is using his computer magic.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Blake said. “He’s good with those things.”

“I’ve been able to track the IP addresses,” Felix said, walking down the stairs.

He k!ssed Jasmine on the cheek and she took a deep breath in through her nose as she closed her eyes to accept it. He was so sweet and kind. His strong arms around her made her feel like she could do anything.

“You found their location?” she asked as Felix walked around the counter to pour himself coffee.

“They were all clustered around the Bay Area, but I was able to track it down to a primary location. They tried to cover their tracks, but not well enough.”

“Do you have an address?” she asked.

“I do.” He rattled off an apartment address in Richmond, and Jasmine’s jaw dropped.

“I know that address.”

“It’s the current residence of a man named…”

“Chris Harmon,” they both said at the same time.

“You know him?” Felix asked.

“It’s my ex,” she said, covering her forehead with her hand. “I should have known.”

“Can you track where he is now?”

“That was a bit trickier,” he said. “It seems to be coming from different locations around Fate Island.”

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

Chris had been angry when she’d broken up with him. He was needy and obsessive, and his life wasn’t going anywhere. He’d spent all his time at her house mooching off her financially. When she’d told him she was done, he’d accused her of being corrupted by fantasies. She hadn’t spoken to him again. She had assumed he had gotten over her and had moved on.

All this time he’d been sending her hundreds of nasty messages, trying to destroy her career, and leaving dead animals on her doorstep.

“I’m going to find him, and I’m going to stop him.”

“But what if he’s dangerous?” Jasmine asked.

“If he’s dangerous, I’m ten times more,” Felix said.