[Rock] After the incident with Carmen and the girls getting chased by some mystery person, Queen Maeve and the other leaders advised that supernaturals in the human town should go in groups when possible and keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they’re being taken by force. I wasn’t privy to what was going on with all of this, but it had most of us on high alert. This wasn’t some stray members of the community. These were three mated and marked women. They were also very well-known in the community. We didn’t know why they were after the girls and willing to do more than just approach and try to sell their religion like they had before. It concerned me. Carmen never went anywhere without someone else, anyway, and I knew Gemma and Pyla could keep her safe now. I never really doubted Pyla, but werewolves aren’t as strong as trolls. It was good that Gemma had the skill to lose the people who were chasing them. Carmen didn’t go shopping with me anymore. Not unless Gemma and Austin could come along. Ever since that man approached her in the grocery store wouldn’t take no for an answer, I didn’t feel comfortable unless there was at least one other person to watch over her. As I walked through the grocery store, I was watching for those people. Part of me wanted to catch one and get answers, part of me just wanted to kill them for scaring my mate so badly. This was one of the regular grocery stores. Though I preferred the bulk stores, they didn’t have all the things that Carmen liked. I was happy to take care of getting the things I couldn’t at those stores. If it made her smile, it was worth it. A man stepped in front of my basket and shoved it into me while I was stopped, looking at a display of snacks Carmen was fond of. Even though he obviously used all of his strength, I barely felt it. He was human and looked familiar. “Can I help you?” I asked in a dry tone. “Take it back,” he said. “Take what back?” “I’m sorry. We’re sorry. Please, take it back,” the man begged desperately. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re talking about. Excuse me,” I replied and walked around him. He grabbed my arm and I paused. The man looked ragged. He didn’t appear to be homeless, but tired and desperate. Then I put together the features. “Mr. Thompson. You’ve changed. Looks like things got rough for you,” I chuckled. “Mr. Beaumont, Rock, please. Whatever you did, take it back. Several big clients dropped my company and when we asked them why, they said because I worked there. I was pushed out of the company by my partners. I lost my job and my wife left me. She was tired of being rejected by services that she wanted.” “That won’t help. She will never get back what she lost. Even if she moves away and changes her name, it’s attached to her now.” I smiled down at the man. “Don’t worry, she’s still going to suffer.” “She took half my savings, my house and her car. I have to live in a motel because I can’t find a property management company that will rent to me. No one will hire me except a fast food chain. A couple of the other employees there keep sabotaging me. I’m about to get fired. I’m sorry. I have the five thousand I owe you. I’ve been keeping it safe so I could pay you back as soon as I found you. Please, take it back,” he pled. Over the last several months, I had almost forgotten about the Thompsons. Once I named them enemies of the fae, they were no longer my problem. But fae were nothing if not fair. He was offering to make it right financially. “I’ll accept your money, Mr. Thompson, but that only fixes a fraction of what you and your wife did. You disparaged me. You lied about me. You said a terrible thing about my fiancée and insulted our relationship. This started off about the money and the lies. You kept making it worse every time you opened your mouth. I don’t think five thousand dollars is going to fix it.” “It doesn’t matter to you how much I’ve suffered, does it? I lost everything. It doesn’t work out the same. What we said was said in the privacy of my home. No one else heard,” Mr. Thompson insisted. “You were obviously willing to take it public. You said no one would refuse money for a stranger’s pride. Now you are learning differently. Humans don’t understand supernaturals. It’s always been us against you. We accepted you as much as we could and did everything we could to share this world with you, but humans think they deserve more than we do. “This was on you. You were arrogant and impolite when you regarded me because you thought you could manipulate me. You thought I was just some construction worker who could only take the hit or have their reputation ruined. Just the accusation would be enough to make potential customers less likely to hire me and my company. “You tried to ruin me, just like this, Mr. Thompson. If I had come to you and begged you to ‘take it back’ would you? Could you? That sort of accusation can’t really be taken back, can it? As soon as it was out, it would have branded me for the rest of my life and career. The only option I really had was to accept you screwing me, wasn’t it?” I scoffed. Mr. Thompson hung his head in shame. He knew he had done wrong, but it seemed like there was no way to make it right.“I know what I did was wrong, Rock. I understand that now. I just wish there was something I could do to make it right. I’ve lost everything, and I don’t know how to move on from this.”“Well, congratulations. You got what you wanted. And in the process, you ruined both of your lives. If you had just talked to me, we could have worked out a deal. But instead, you chose to attack me and my reputation. Now, you’re paying the price. And so is your wife,” I said coldly.“You won’t take it back….” “No. I won’t take your money and I will not take your apology. Nothing says that I have to forgive anyone I don’t want to forgive. Plus, I can’t forgive how you insulted my fiancée. She never did anything to you and never met you and you called her an animal.” “I’ll take it to the news, then. I’ll tell them about how you ruined me because of your werewolf girlfriend. I’ll tell anyone who will listen that the owner of Beaumont Construction is marrying a werewolf,” he threatened with an angry look in his eyes. If he did that, hunters would come after Carmen. They’d come to my office and they’d come after me. If they watched my crew long enough, they’d know that my whole crew was supernatural. He wasn’t just threatening me, this time. Thompson looked smug until I came around the cart quickly and grabbed his throat, pulling him close to me. I expanded my glamour to make it look like we were just talking to each other as I growled in his face and let him see what I really looked like. He turned white as a sheet. “You will do no such thing or I can guarantee you, they will never stop finding the pieces of you and you will be alive for more than half of the pieces I take off of you, human. If you threaten my mate again, I will take great pleasure in hunting you down and making the next few months of your life even more painful and traumatic than the last six,” I growled. He whimpered in my grip and I could smell the scent of urine. He pissed himself. I almost never had a chance to use my real form to scare people, but it was a great feeling. As a troll, it was relaxing to know I had this power, at least. Maybe I couldn’t protect Carmen from the whole world, but I could protect her from this asshole. This man had picked the worst possible time to decide to threaten my mate. I was already on edge because of the people who chased her and her friends down. I was already seething because I couldn’t do anything about them. This wasn’t the time to test me. “Answer, human, or I might decide that you’re not understanding me.” “I... I won’t... please... I’m sorry.... I won’t do it. D-don’t kill me,” he begged as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. I released him from my grip and stepped back, my glamour fading away to return me to my human form. Thompson stumbled backward, coughing and gasping for air. He fell to his knees, his body shaking with fear.“Good. I’m glad we understand each other,” I said, my voice calm and even. “Now, get out of my sight and never come back. And if I hear even a whisper about you or anyone else threatening my mate again, I won’t hesitate to take action.”Thompson nodded, his eyes wide with terror. He scrambled to his feet and ran away, tripping over his own feet as he rushed to get away from me. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be hearing from him again, but, if I did, I was ready to make good on my promise. I grabbed a few of the snacks that Carmen liked and left the aisle. I tracked down an employee and let them know about the puddle from Thompson. The guy didn’t look too happy, but I didn’t want to leave it for someone to slip in. At least that had distracted me a little bit. I finished our shopping and checked out without seeing Thompson again. I had almost entirely forgotten about him. That wouldn’t be a good idea in the future. He was a threat to Carmen. If I heard anything about him again, I would make sure he wasn’t a threat anymore. After packing our groceries into the back of the truck, I got in and pulled out of the parking lot. It was only two weeks to the banquet I was taking Carmen to and I would make sure to let the other supernatural owners know well before it happened. That way, they would keep an eye out, as well. When I got home, I carried the groceries in. Gemma and Austin were spending the weekend in the pack lands. He was bonding with his family and getting to know his new pack. It was nice for us to have time alone. Carmen was missing them a little, but I didn’t. It was in fae nature that people moved on. We were longer lived than most other species. That meant we couldn’t focus on keeping things the way we liked them. We had to accept change and move forward. We would see a lot of it in our lives. In my own life, I saw technology make leaps and bounds into the future. We went from typewriters to computers. From landlines to mobile phones. From leaded gas to electric cars. I couldn’t imagine all the ways things would change in the next one hundred years. I did know that Gemma and Austin would always be a part of our lives. They were our friends and trolls didn’t give up their friends easily. “You stink,” Carmen said as she came into the kitchen. “I stink?” I asked. “You smell like fear and urine,” she replied. “Really?” “Yes. What did you get up to while you were out? It smells really bad.” I sighed and walked over to her, pulling her into my arms. “I had a run-in with someone who threatened you,” I said, my voice low and protective. “But it’s taken care of now.” Carmen’s eyes widened in surprise. “What happened?” she asked. I told her about Thompson and how I scared him off. She listened intently, her expression softening as I spoke. When I finished, she pulled me down for a kiss. “Thank you,” she murmured against my lips. “I know you’ll always protect me.” I smiled, feeling a warmth spread through me. “Always, Carmen. I’ll always take care of you and protect you. I am yours and your health and safety are my primary concerns.” She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me, then pushed me back. “You need a shower and some clean clothes. I’m sorry, Rock, you really stink.”With a laugh, I took her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. If I was going to have a shower, I was going to do it with my mate. She was my whole heart and I never wanted to be without her.