Abbey's Protectors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Read online

  Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4

  Abbey's Protectors

  Abbey Tyler is a successful business woman who has made one huge mistake. She married a man who only wants control of her business and her money. He is willing to do anything to get them—including killing her. To make sure that doesn’t happen, she does the only thing she can think of. She runs.

  Hunter Stewart and Clayton Forest are the gorgeous heartthrobs of Beckett’s Wolf Pack. They’re perceived as players who want nothing but a succession of dates and a good time. But they’re dedicated police officers who protect Beckett’s pack and the members of the human community. They long for the time when they will find their triad mate.

  The Fates have destined Abbey to be the woman who will ease their loneliness and heal their souls. Her dream of finding love and having a family will finally come true as long as Hunter and Clay can protect her and their unborn child from her husband.

  Note: While Abbey's Protectors is a stand-alone title, it is suggested that this series be read in numerical order for continuity.

  Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 135,649 words

  ABBEY’S PROTECTORS

  Beckett’s Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4

  Lynnette Bernard

  MENAGE AND MORE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage and More

  ABBEY’S PROTECTORS

  Copyright © 2013 by Lynnette Bernard

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-104-3

  First E-book Publication: June 2013

  Cover design by Christine Kirchoff

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Abbey’s Protectors by Lynnette Bernard from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Lynnette Bernard’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Bernard’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to all the wonderful readers who have contacted me over the past few months, as well as those who silently enjoy my stories. Your support and kindness have given me such a boost of love and creativity. I am so happy to place each of my babies in your loving hands.

  A very special thank you to Kim for helping me name Abbey Tyler.

  ABBEY’S PROTECTORS

  Beckett’s Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4

  LYNNETTE BERNARD

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter 1

  Don’t stop, Abbey! Don’t think! Just run!

  The mantra repeated in her head over and over again. It was all that was keeping her from giving up. She couldn’t allow him to win. She was running harder than she had ever run before in her life. She could feel her heart pumping from the strain and the fear. She should be exhausted, but terror kept her going at a breakneck speed that surprised even her.

  She knew he was close behind her. She couldn’t let him get her. If he caught her she would die. She knew it. He knew it. The months of threat and control would come to an end. If she was going to die she would die defying him, showing strength. She would not allow him to kill her slowly. She could not stand another day of disgust with him. She was going to get away from him one way or another. If death was the way—so be it.

  The branches of the trees that bordered her property ripped at her clothing. She was running so fast she wasn’t even sure if she was on track. Her plans to leave had been shot to hell. He had done that, and now she had to figure out a new way to get away. If she could just get to the cliff’s edge, she would be able to make it to the neighboring town and figure out how she could carry through with her plan. All she needed was one chance.

  “Abbey!” his angry voice called out from behind her.

  He was too close. She wasn’t going to make it. She forced herself to swallow the bile that rose in her throat. There was no turning back. She had to get away. She veered off toward the left, nearly crying with relief when she saw the familiar path she had walked on her daily exploration of the lush land that belonged to her father that she loved so dearly.

  She ignored the pain in her side as her breath came in short gasps. She reached down and held her ribs tenderly, smiling with satisfaction despite her pain. The bastard had caused her pain for the last time. There was no way he was ever going to touch her again—especially not sexually. She could not stomach his touch. It made her feel dirty and used.

  Today’s lesson at his hands was one she would never have to experience again. She had been the recipient of his anger for each of the last five months when she had gotten her period. Each time she told him she wasn’t pregnant, his anger had escalated. But today’s threat was one she could not ignore. And that was the end of her tolerance for him. The Board of Directors be damned. No stock value was worth an unhappy life just to keep up the value of her company.

  He knew he wasn’t able to access any of her money as her husband, so he had insisted on having a child with her. He didn’t know that she was privy to the reason for his sudden interest in having children. Her lawyer had kept her informed of every inquiry her husband had made. The prenuptial agreement had stipulated that he would gain access to her mo
ney through their child only if she ceased to exist. A deplorable plan, but typical of the sociopath that was her husband.

  She had been fooled by his charm and his good looks. He had been a player from the beginning, but she hadn’t been aware of it. She hadn’t been involved with many men. She was shy as a woman, although she was competent and sure of herself as the CEO of her father’s computer software company since his death three years before. She had been cautious with men, not really trusting them since they tended to come on to her with clear intentions of bagging the rich daughter of Brandon Tyler.

  It wasn’t that Abbey wasn’t an attractive woman. She was actually pretty confident in her looks. She may have an extra few pounds on her, but her five foot eight inch frame carried it well. She was curvy and feminine, with blue eyes she was told were pretty, and dark brown hair that fell in curls to just below her shoulders. At thirty-three years old, she had finally come to accept the fact that she was destined to be alone in her life. She had been pretty depressed about that realization when Synthia and Shelly had taken her to one of the local bars. That was the night she had met Peter, and he had asked her to dance.

  Synthia had been her best friend since they had met their first semester in college more years ago than Abbey cared to remember. Both women had become immediate friends despite Abbey’s shyness and Synthia’s lack of confidence and deep anger from a less than happy childhood.

  They had been together since, each helping the other become the successful, strong women that they were now. They had become roommates, eventually sharing an apartment with each other and acting as surrogate mothers to Synthia’s younger sister Shelly when her sibling had left home and had joined them at the age of eighteen. Abbey knew both women had escaped a life of abuse at the hand of their mother even though Synthia was extremely tight-lipped about her life before meeting Abbey.

  Synthia had explained that Abbey was now her family—as close to her as she was to her own sister. Synthia looked out for Abbey with a fierceness that was like a mother bear looking after her cub. Shelly had laughed when Abbey had voiced that comparison, but Synthia had just smiled and told Abbey she would just have to deal with it. Abbey accepted the honorary members of her family and valued them with her whole heart. She didn’t have any siblings and loved both Synthia and Shelly, just as her father had. Each of them knew real acceptance and love from Abbey’s father, who loved and respected all three of them. He had brought them into his company as employees—trusting their work, their judgment, and their loyalty to him and to his company without hesitation.

  When Synthia and Shelly had insisted on taking Abbey out for her birthday, Abbey had finally caved and had given them full control over her birthday night. Dinner with them at a local steakhouse had started the night. It was a delicious meal that all three of them enjoyed thoroughly then they had dragged Abbey to a local dance club. The sisters had been insistent that Abbey put aside her shyness and get up and dance, which she did with reluctance at first.

  The more they danced, the more relaxed Abbey had become. It was easy to enjoy herself when she was around Synthia and Shelly. They had made her birthday night such a fun one. As a result, she had let her guard down and had talked to Peter Jordan when he had approached them as they sat at their table at the edge of the dance floor.

  Abbey had been surprised that such a good looking guy as Peter Jordan would be interested in her. He was just under six feet tall with green eyes and blond hair that was stylishly cut. His designer clothes fit him perfectly. He was obviously a man who cared about how he presented himself to others. She had fallen for his sweet smile and his sugary words when she normally would have been wary to trust anyone who was too perfect. Just thinking about how she had believed every line of crap he had thrown her way made her cringe with embarrassment. Both Synthia and Shelly had tried to caution her, but Abbey had been oblivious to her friends’ concern. They had eventually backed off, leaving her to make her own choices. Abbey knew that they only wanted her to be happy. Despite their warnings, Abbey had insisted that Peter was the man she would share her future with.

  The change in Peter had taken place as soon as they were on their honeymoon. The way he made love to her was cold and mechanical. She felt empty and used after each joining. She had married him with no history with any man—something she wished now that she had experienced. Her sex life with Peter made her feel dirty, and she blamed herself when Peter attacked her worth as a woman. Her lack of confidence in that innocent aspect of her life had sealed her fate.

  When he had told her that he wanted a child right away, a red flag was raised in her mind. Without his knowledge, she had remained on the birth control pills she had been taking and took some needed time to do her own investigating of her new husband.

  What she had found out had opened her eyes and had broken her heart. It was bad enough that he only wanted to be married to her because of her money, but the fact that he wanted a child just to solidify his access to her father’s fortune made her sick to her stomach. She had always had dreams about having children someday. This was definitely not the way she would ever bring a child into the world. Instead, she secretly took her birth control pills and pretended disappointment each month when she got her period.

  His anger and verbal abuse increased with each passing month. Abbey was a proud woman and was embarrassed by the words he hurled at her. She wasn’t feminine enough. She wasn’t smart enough. She didn’t know how to please a man. If she was more attractive and sexy, he wouldn’t be so frustrated with her. Despite the fact that she knew his words were said just to hurt her and keep her subservient, she couldn’t prevent the insecurity that filled her each time he questioned her value as a woman.

  She kept it to herself until just two weeks before, when she had overheard Peter on the phone with someone he had called “honey.” He had been outlining his plan for taking over Abbey’s life and fortune through the child he was determined to have with her.

  That’s when she had pulled herself together, confided in Synthia and Shelly, and made plans with them to protect her father’s company. Within two weeks, the three of them had successfully put barriers in place to protect every aspect of Tyler Industries. Abbey had pulled every piece of documentation that would protect the company and herself from her husband’s hands and had placed all of them inside a safety deposit box in Synthia’s name.

  Synthia had pleaded with Abbey to hire bodyguards and start divorce proceedings immediately, but Abbey thought it better to leave the area before setting those wheels in motion. Once she was away from him, she would have her attorney serve the divorce papers and make sure that Peter was evicted from her house. Her attorney told her it might take some time to get things straightened out, but the ironclad prenuptial agreement that Peter had signed would guarantee that Peter would leave the marriage with only an executive position in a sister company that would pay him a six figure income as long as the ruling board of directors found his work competent. He would have absolutely no claim to Tyler Industries.

  If Abbey and Peter had children, the stipulation changed. Both of them would share in their children’s guardianship and be executors of the money that was set aside in a trust fund until they turned eighteen years old. If Abbey died, Peter would have complete control over their children’s money. He would represent their children on the board and become the majority stock holder in the company that her father had created.

  But Abbey was her father’s daughter. She had done her homework. She had set up a plan of protection for herself, Synthia and Shelly, and the company. Executing that plan today was her ultimate win. She would be in control as her father had taught her, and she sure as hell would never allow Peter to get her pregnant.

  She wanted a man who would value her and any child they would create together. She wanted her man to be with her because he loved her and wanted a child with her without caring that she was the heiress of Tyler Industries. If she could just push through her pain, exhaustion,
and fear, she would be successful in her plan of escape.

  “Please help me, Daddy,” she whispered, gasping for breath as she fought to stay on her feet. “Help me.” She couldn’t help but repeat the plea. She needed her father. She needed his love. She missed him so much it still hurt to think about him.

  No person could have continued on. But she had to. The other choice was to have Peter find her. That was not an option she was going to take.

  A low branch pulled at the backpack she wore, but she pulled free and continued her flight to freedom. She could hear his footsteps as he ran toward her. Terror was screaming through her brain, and she squeezed her temples to force herself to remain in control. Just a few more feet and she would be able to slip down the hidden rock face she knew was just past the edging of trees on her property. It would only be a matter of seconds before she was safely hidden in the cave behind the steep ledge that led out over the ravine. It would be her haven where she could disappear and remain safe until she could begin her journey to a new city and a new life—away from him.

  As she carefully climbed down the side of the cliff, she made her way along the ledge and squeezed through the narrow passage that led to the rock face. His voice broke the silence once again. She couldn’t even make out what he was saying. She only knew that he was screaming. She could hear him losing control as his anger consumed him. She knew that if he were to catch her now, he would lose that cool semblance of control that he was so proud of that he presented publicly to so many people.