The Alpha's Choice: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Roadside Angels Motorcycle Club Book 3) (8 page)

Their kiss was long, sweet, tender, and full of the promise of a future where they would explore and deepen their love.  Neither wanted to be the first to stop but finally the sound of voices reached Lex’s ears, and he pulled away to listen.  Maricia had arrived.  Time to go.  He helped Tammie off his lap and went to get a washrag to clean her up. 

“Need a shirt to go back to sleep in?” he asked.  When she nodded drowsily, he tossed her one of his clean t-shirts, reached down to kiss her quickly, and pulled her arms from around his neck.  “Sleep, baby.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Another push, and she was dozing before he walked out of the room.  Maybe that last round of sex had been enough to relax her again. 
Smart mate I have
, he thought, a smile creasing his cheeks as he walked back into his office where Bear and Maricia were waiting for him.  She was a tall, willowy woman, his age, and only recently ascended to the seat of power in her own kingdom.  She had had to live in hiding for all her life till the time came, and then, because she only came into her full powers when she became queen, she took vengeance upon all her enemies, and in the process taught the vampire nation a lesson it would not soon forget.  She was ruthless, as she needed to be.  To show a softer side this early in her rule would be unwise in the kind of world in which she lived.  He wondered what she would do when she mated, and who had been chosen for her.  And when he thought of how she would be forced to live her life, he was glad his dominant side was wolf.

“Hey, cuz. Good to see you.  Thanks for coming at such short notice.”  Lex hugged his cousin warmly, and she hugged him back, holding on a second longer than was usual for her.

“Are you all right?” he asked, pulling away to look at her.

“I’m fine, Lex,” she answered, smoothing her hands down the sides of her legs.  “Peachy.  How is your mate?”

Deciding he had to let the mystery go for now, he told her what she wanted to know, and they reviewed their plans.  Lex would drive to the airport, using his vampiric powers on the way to cloak him from the shifters whom Maricia told him were waiting for him just beyond the border of his lands. 

“You should really just rematerialize on Council lands, you know, Lex.  Much less of a hassle, and safest for you,” she advised him, sitting primly on the edge of the straight-backed chair across from his desk.

“I will, as soon as I let them see me leaving.  I must pull them away from here.”

“Are you doubting my ability to protect your mate, Lex?” she asked, her nose in the air, her voice haughty.

“I wouldn’t dare!” he answered with a bark of laughter, and she suddenly relaxed and giggled like a schoolgirl.

“Good.  Wouldn’t want to have to remind you of just how lethal I can be,” she said, smiling teasingly at him.

Whatever had made her tense when he first walked into the room must have resolved itself, for which he was grateful.  He needed them all focused at this crucial time.

“Once I’m ‘airborne,’” he said, chuckling at his double entendre, “I’ll let you know.  As we said, Bear, you’re on Tamara when she leaves here.  I know you can become invisible when you chose to be.  Never saw a man hide in plain sight better than you, my friend.  Let me know when she’s home safe.  And of course, keep your eyes peeled for anyone following her.  If you have to, deal with them.  At this point, I’ll leave the
how
up to you.  I trust you not to get your ass in trouble with the law, or anyone else.”

Bear grinned at him almost wolfishly, making Lex think Bear had been around him too long.  He turned back to his cousin.

“Does anyone in your court know where you are right now?”

Maricia rolled her eyes, something Lex had never seen her do.  “Third strike, you’re out, Lex,” she snapped, but the smirk on her face told him she wasn’t really angry.  "I am the queen.  I don’t need permission.”

“But you need protection,” he answered, “and I wouldn’t want to be the reason the vampire nation finds itself without a monarch or with one impaired by serious injury.”

She left the chair and walked over to where he stood, patting his chest with her palm.  “You know, you’re a pretty sensitive guy for a wolf.”  They both laughed at the jibe, and then she said, more seriously, “I’m touched by your concern, Lex, but I promise you I will be okay.  I mean, I’m only here till tomorrow, and you’re leaving this great big Kodiak to watch over us all, aren’t you?  After Bear flies off, so will I.  But no one will know we’re not together.”

Something tickled the back of his mind, but Lex couldn’t figure out what it was, and a moment later, the feeling dissipated.  He cast a glance at Bear, but saw no response on his face.  He shrugged and nodded.

“Once I’ve set up the Council meeting, I’ll ‘arrive’ and let things play out as they must.  My guard detail will be in place, and Lancaster and his goons should be an easy round up,” he said.

“And if they’re not?” Bear asked, ever the pragmatist.

“Then, I’ll switch to Plan B, which is to dispose of him through the means available to me.”

“Is that Lex speak for killing him?” Bear pressed the matter, and Lex wondered why.

“If I must, yes.”

Bear laughed.  “In other words, yes.”  When Lex looked at him sharply, “Sometimes, my friend, a kill is better than a cure.”

“Sometimes, a kill is a cure,” Maricia added.  And she should know. 

Lex sighed.  He knew they were right; he would have to kill the rogue.  He wasn’t looking forward to it.  He walked out to the front foyer, where his suitcase was already waiting, and turned for one last time toward the room where his mate slept.  She was dreaming, and it made him smile.

“Okay, I’m off.  Talk to you in a couple of hours.”

He walked out to the truck, immediately aware of the shifter in the shadows to the right.  It was Jeff, and he turned to look at him and said, “You take care of Ginny, and yourself, till I get back.  If you need anything, let me know.”

Jeff sketched a quick salute, and Lex got into his truck and sat for a few seconds before turning the key in the ignition.  The very last thing he wanted to do was leave his mate behind for others to protect, but common sense told him it was the best thing he could do to protect her.  He sent up a silent prayer for her safety, started truck, and drove slowly away from his home.

As soon as he drove through the big iron gates, he felt them.  Closing the gates behind him, he drove as though he were alone on the road—though he could hear the soft thrums of their motorcycles as they followed him.  Once he had passed through Rojo Arroyo, which at this time of night was a ghost town, he let his powers free, cloaking himself from them, letting them think he was still on the road to the airport, while he took the shortcut across the fields, using some of the very back tracks they had used in their illegal operations.  He sensed that one of them, probably Lancaster, was antsier than the rest, and he didn’t doubt the rogue would cotton on to the fact that they were being bamboozled sooner rather than later. 

He put on a burst of speed, ignoring the way his truck was getting tossed around. The airport was just ahead, and he rejoined the road at last, making the last few miles in relative safety.  The hangar where he had a plane was just ahead, but he waited till he saw the first cycles before tapping his brakes as though he had only then arrived himself.  One of them broke off and followed his lights, and he took him on a long ride till he got to the long term parking spot he had.  He cloaked his vehicle and himself till he was out and away from it, and then he let Lancaster see where he was.  He watched as the lone biker roamed between the parked cars, looking for his. 

It would be so easy to finish him here, but he wanted to send a message when he did, just like his cousin had done before him.  So he waited till Lancaster was off in the opposite direction, sought the most secluded spot, and dematerialized.  When he was back to himself, he was in the terminal, and he made his appearance casually, walking toward the check-in counter.  There were a lot of people milling about, too many for even a rogue to attempt to do anything foolish.  He checked in, and since all he had was a carry-on, he kept that with him as he walked toward the departure lounge.  The shifters, he saw, were following him faithfully, and one would speak into a mouthpiece every now and again, no doubt informing his leader of Lex’s whereabouts.

When the flight was called half an hour later, Lex walked with the stream of passengers into the corridor that led to the loading area of the plane.  He knew they couldn’t come through, unless they had also bought tickets, and his sixth sense told him they wouldn’t want to make a scene here, either.  He breathed deeply and waited till he was seated to check out his surroundings.  First class was almost deserted, which was fine by him.  It was easier to deal with the stewardesses whose minds he had to befuddle before he dematerialized—since they wouldn’t be too busy in here with just him and a couple of older business types. 

Once he had made them think he was late and hadn’t boarded the plane at all, he let his powers loose again.  He knew this time, where he would rematerialize was nowhere near where anyone was expecting him to be, and once he was on the ground again, he walked up the shallow ravine till he saw the SUV waiting for him.  No one but the most trusted members of his detail, and Bear, knew about this location or his connection to it.  He reached the vehicle, parked outside a rustic, rundown cabin, and checked to see if everything was where it was supposed to be. The motorcycle in the bed of the truck made him smile for a second.  Knowing he was alone at last, he dropped his luggage on the passenger seat and started the engine.  The powerful sound of the engine soothed him, and as he drove off, he wondered how long it would be before he and his mate would be safe. 

CHAPTER SEVEN

“But there’s a beginning in an end…”
~ Alexandra Bracken

Tammie sat in the cab that Bear had called for her wishing she could stop the jitters that seemed to have taken over her limbs.  She had woken up at the crack of dawn, missing Lex, and wishing she were with him wherever he was.  He had not called her as yet, and she realized that she didn’t know where his Prime lands were, or even if they were in this country.  She sighed and touched the warm spot between her neck and shoulder, and thought of how he made her feel when he made love to her.  Those memories were all she would have if he never…  Shaking her head, she resolved to think only positive thoughts.

She looked back and wished she could see Bear’s truck following behind.  She wondered who the woman was who was clinging to his arm like ivy to a college wall.  She was a beautiful woman, tall enough to be a match for him, and sexy beyond reason.  She was almost regal, and Tammie could imagine her holding court in some fairy story.  Maybe the grandmother of the Princess Bride, except she was much too young.  Tammie was glad this woman wasn’t looking in Lex’s direction.  Bear was welcome to her.  She knew the plan was to pretend she was nothing to Lex, who had left the night before, and that she was on her own.  Bear was monitoring her progress through the GPS tracker he had put in her pocketbook.

The air in the cab was canned cool, but she was grateful for it, because the day had started out warmer than she had expected.  She knew she wasn’t a country girl, but she would miss it here, the weather notwithstanding.  Maybe she could come back and visit.  She wondered if she would ever see Jeff or Ginny or Bear again.  Without Lex, she would have no reason to come here or see them again.  The thought made her chest ache.

“We’ll be at the airport in twenty minutes or so, miss,” the cabbie said, looking over his shoulder at her. 

She smiled her thanks and decided to get her mind off her misery by checking her e-mails.  Em was looking forward to having her home again—the apartment was a cemetery without her, it seemed.  Her grandparents were happy she was safe and on the way home, and her boss was in ecstasy over the stories she had sent.  By the time she got home, they would be on the wires.  She smiled at the excitement she could almost hear in Ray’s message and felt a glow of pride that she had come through for him.  At any rate, she knew she still had a job, in case…

Halting that train of thought, she checked her text messages again.  Nothing.  Lex hadn’t called or texted her.  And she knew it was foolish to worry, but she couldn’t avoid the niggling tendrils of fear that kept sneaking in when she wasn’t watching.  She did see the motorcycle that went past the cab and cut back in front so close that the cabbie had to brake hard to avoid hitting him.  The stream of words that spewed from the man’s lips as he berated the rider were echoed in Tammie’s mind as she watched him.  He seemed to be baiting the cabbie, who was growing angrier by the minute.  She was worried now that they were going to have an accident because the cabbie was speeding to catch up.  To think she would be the one to die, and from road rage, of all things.  The irony of it wasn’t lost on her.  Lex was probably asleep on some plane high overhead, safe as houses, while she was praying she could stop the cabbie from killing them both.

“Slow down!  Stop speeding!  Please!” Tammie screamed as the cabbie wrenched the cab around to cut off the bike, which had inexplicably slowed down.  Tammie looked out the window at the rider, whose face looked vaguely familiar, and felt a prickle of awareness as the biker stared directly at her, and then reached for something on the other side of his bike and brought up a gun which he aimed directly at her.  She screamed in fright again, which brought the cabbie’s eyes to hers and then to the biker. 

What happened next would stay with her for a long time.  The cabbie sped up even more, trying to outrun the bike, and Tammie found herself flat on the seat at the driver’s instructions, “in case this asshole shoots through the back window.”  She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear the roar of the bike, the scream of tires...and another sound that made her sit up, forgetting the threat to her life.  Suddenly, she saw Bear’s truck rolling past the bike, clipping the rear wheel so it careened out of control, throwing off the rider, who slammed into a tree.  The sight made her cheer.  The cab slowing to a stop made her cheer even louder.  She wouldn’t die today.

“Are you okay, miss?”  The cab driver looked at her with eyes full of worry. 

“I’m fine, thank you,” she said, smiling to reassure him.  And then her door was opened and Bear was there.

“Are you okay?”  A muscle ticked in his cheek, and his jaw clenched and unclenched itself.  His deep voice shuddered through her, and something about it made her look him in the eyes.  The rage she saw there made her flinch instinctively, and she pulled away from him, partly in fear and partly in confusion. 

“Yes...yes, I’m fine.”  She stumbled over her words, and something in the way she answered him must have penetrated the haze of fury that enveloped him because he stood up abruptly and turned away as though to calm himself.  When he turned back, he was Bear again...calm, composed, and cool.

“Sorry.  I didn’t mean to scare you.”  His voice was gruff, as though he was struggling to control the sounds that came out of him.  “And I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier, Tammie.”

She got out of the cab and stood in front of him for a second, before wrapping her arms as far around him as they could go, hugging him for a moment before releasing him to say, “I’m okay, Patrick, honestly.  And I trust you to watch my back.  You came through, and I’m still safe.”  She touched his arm and added, “Thank you.”

Bear smiled at her.  “You’re welcome.  Now let’s get you home.”

“Are we still going with the original plan?” she asked.

“No point now.  I doubt there are any others waiting to waylay you, but if there are, now they’re going to have to deal with me.”  He sounded almost smug, which made her smile.

“And what about your lady friend?”  She turned to look at the willowy beauty still in the truck, and Bear laughed.  “She’s not my...well, it’s complicated. She’s Lex’s cousin.  Look, it doesn’t matter. I’ll get her back home after we get you home safely.”

She watched him pay the full cab fare, and what she suspected was a hefty tip, say a few words to the driver, and then he took her luggage and settled her in the back seat of his truck.

“What about him?” she asked, pointing to the still unmoving body of the biker.  “Are we leaving him there like that?  Shouldn’t we call someone?”

“Already done,” the beauty said, a smile on her face.  She almost looked like the cat that got the cream.  “He’ll be taken care of, don’t you worry.  The cab will stay until help gets here.  But we need to get you on a plane, don’t we?”

Bear started the truck and before long, it felt like, they were at the airport.  It was as hot as the day she arrived, and she remembered how exhausted she had felt that day from the long hours in airports and in planes.  Now, she’d have to do it again.  She wasn’t looking forward to it, but at least this time, she was riding first class all the way.  And even though she knew she should probably be mad at Lex for upgrading her without her knowledge, she was touched by the act and grateful for the relief it would provide her.  She hated flying, and the crowded quarters in the economy section always made her feel like a sardine in a can, which did nothing to relieve her stress. 

While she waited, Bear made a call and then held a brief but obviously very important conversation with his companion, before returning to her side to wait with her.  He sat quietly, and she marveled that he didn’t seem to need to make idle conversation.  He was so self-possessed that it was almost unnerving.  But he was a restful presence, helping to calm her down so she wasn’t thinking about the flight or about how much she was going to miss Lex.  She wouldn’t be home before very late that night, but she refused to think about the long hours in the air and the long layover.  She still had that romance novel to read—although she suspected it would be a pale imitation of her real life affair.

When they called her flight, she rose to follow the crowd and felt herself gently hugged.  Bear’s arms were wide and strong, and she let herself enjoy the comfort he exuded for a moment before letting go and smiling at him.  “It was a pleasure to meet you, Patrick.  I hope we will meet again.”  She turned and said goodbye to his companion, and then she walked away. 

Bear watched her disappear, and then he walked with Maricia back in the direction of the parking lot.  He smiled at her, as she prepared to whisk herself away.

“Quite an eventful morning, wasn’t it?” she commented, returning his smile cautiously.  “I’m glad I was able to help deal with that troublesome biker.”

“When will we see you again, then?” he asked as they walked toward his truck.

“Are you asking for you and Lex, or just for you?” 

“Does it matter?”  His question was an evasion, and they both knew it.

“Yes, it does.”  She was clearly not going to permit it. 

Bear smiled again.  “Then, I’m asking for myself.”  He could do this if she could. 

“I’ll come as soon as I’m called,” she said.  Now there was an evasion if he ever heard one.  He let it go.  She was a queen, used to double speak and vagueness.  When the time was right, he would challenge her.

“I’d better get back so I don’t miss my flight,” he said.  “Take care, Maricia.  Till next time.”

He watched her dematerialize before his eyes and walked quickly back, just making it in time.  Business class was a great place to hide from Tammie and to stretch his long legs.  He had heard from Lex, who was in route to the final stop before the Prime lands.  He had told him about the attack and had promised to let him know as soon as she was safely in her own place.  And he had promised to watch over her till Lancaster was eliminated as a threat to anyone else.  He refused the offer of a drink, closing his eyes instead.  He needed to catch some sleep.  He had a feeling he’d be up a lot in the next few days.

The truck sped along, almost on its own through the early morning.  Lex had some country station spilling out sad love songs, but he wasn’t hearing the words.  He was hearing Bear tell him how someone had threatened his mate.  His hands gripped the wheels as though they were the throat of the unknown attacker.  The sooner he got home, the sooner he could be back where he belonged, beside his mate.  The next stop off point would take him within striking distance of Prime lands, and then he would only need to dematerialize once more before he could shift and prowl his lands.  He couldn’t wait.

At the next point, he ditched the truck and rode off on his bike, letting the feel of the bike beneath him, the deep roar of its engine, and the wind in his face take him away from the anger that sat in his gut like a rock.  He would find a way to bring his club members up for a visit.  As soon as he neutralized all threats to himself and those he loved.  He accelerated along the country roads till he had to stop to refuel both his bike and himself.  He needed a break, and lunch was a good way to kill two birds with one stone.  Bear had said the layover was two hours long.  He could talk to Tammie then before she boarded for the last leg of her flight home.

Her phone rang twice before she picked up. 

“Hi Lex,” she said, her voice winding through him like a slow ride on a hot day.

“Hey baby,” he answered.  “How are you feeling?”

“Wired.”  The word described how she felt so well. She had been waiting for Lex’s call all day, and now he was on the phone, she was tongue-tied.

“You’ll be home soon, baby.” 

“Yes, I will, but you won’t be there.” 

Lex inhaled deeply, the impact of her words making him reel with emotion.  There was nothing he could do at the moment to make her feel better, which made him feel worse.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can; I promise you.”  He heard a flight being called in the background.

“That’s me, Lex.  I have to go.  Please be careful.  And please call me again soon.” 

Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears.  His heart squeezed tight.  “I love you, Tamara.”

“I love you, too, Lex.”