Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (25 page)

Chapter 4

Gordon waited until the doctor left her room before he went to the door again. The past three times he’d tried to see her someone, usually her Aunt Glad, was blocking his path. He could have moved her out of his way, but Alexis was upset enough without him physically moving her aunt so that he could explain. And this time wasn’t any different.

“You could have handled that a little better.”

Gordon leaned back against the wall near Alexis’s door before he answered his mom. “I know. I should have guessed she’d been hurt more than just today by him.” Gordon glanced over at the kids. “If she’s that terrified of him, I wonder what he’s done to those guys.”

Tim kept giving him that look, the one that said, “I’m watching you.” The little girl, Sis, would talk your arm off, but even with the little time he’d spent with her, he could tell she was afraid. She also kept reaching for someone’s hand to hold as if she was terrified of being left behind. Jake wasn’t a typical kid…quiet and reserved, but friendly when he spoke. It was Darcy who he was worried about the most. She’d been hurt, and hurt badly.

She didn’t speak, at least not since they’d come in with the aunts. She simply sat next to Glad and stared at the floor. When someone spoke to her she would look toward them, but she never made eye contact, nor did she acknowledge anyone in any way. He would bet his last dollar that the father had done something to her, or she’d seen him do something that had terrified her.

“What are you going to do?” his mom asked, bringing his mind away from whatever Darcy’s father may have done. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that she’s your mate, Gordon. You need her.”

He nodded. “But I don’t know what happened, so I can’t show her I won’t hurt her.” He looked over at the kids. “Or the kids. And I think that alone will keep her from trusting me.”

The door opened beside them and Alexis came out in a wheel chair. He knew she’d been released AMA, or against medical advice, and he wondered if she’d be all right. He didn’t say anything to her, but followed behind her, the nurse, and Jessie. He waited until they were outside before he knelt down in front of her. Speaking softly, he looked at her.

“I won’t hurt you. Not ever. It’s in my DNA to never be able to harm you or your family.” Not unless they harmed her, he thought, but didn’t share that with her. “Friday was going to be my last day on the job, but under the circumstances, the boss is letting me—”

“He knows what you are? What you’re capable of?”

He’d expected this from her, but it still hurt him that she would have so low an opinion of him. “Yes, he knows I’m a werewolf. He also knows I can be trusted.” She snorted, but he continued. “I won’t hurt you, Alexis. I know this is a lot to take in, but after a little bit of time, you’ll be—”

“No, I won’t. You’ll need to stay away from me and the children, Officer Force. I want nothing to do with you. I have enough going on right now and I don’t want you coming around messing things up for me and the children.” He heard the car pull up behind him as she continued. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to get home.”

When she stood, so did he. He was hurt and pissed off or he might have been a little gentler with her. But he wanted her, right now. He wanted her with all his being. Pulling her to him, he took her mouth. When she whimpered a little, he pulled back, but didn’t let her go. Cupping her ass in his hand, he rocked her into him, letting her feel just what she did to him.

His cock ached to be free and buried deep inside of her. Moving down her jaw with his lips, he tasted her blood again, this time from her cut lip. The sweetness of it from when he’d bitten her earlier came rushing back to him. Need coiled in his belly and groin and had his wolf snarling at him to claim her.

She tangled her fingers into his hair and he pulled her tighter. With his mouth he worked his way down her throat to his mark. The need to bite her again almost as overwhelming as the need to mate with her, he felt her shift and then there was pain. It was slowly making him aware of his balls and that she’d kicked him. It blossomed in his lower belly and then out to every part of him. He could almost feel it in his hair follicles.

As he dropped to his knees he heard someone behind him say, “fuck.” It might have been any one of his brothers…he just didn’t care. He curled into a ball just as the car was pulling away. He watched it from the level of the sidewalk, wondering if he could get it to come back and run over him at least once to take away the pain.

He decided he was going to have to make her pay for this. He could think of one or two ways right off the top of his head he was going to enjoy. Spanking her tight little ass sounded very good right now.

“Hurts, huh?” Gordon glanced at his brother Connor who had just spoken. “Women just don’t play fair when they knee you like that. I wonder who the first man was they did that to and how he reacted.” Connor looked out across the lot before he spoke again. “Mom and CJ went to get the car for you. Austin and Dallas are over there still laughing at you.”

Gordon could hear them now. The pain was receding enough that he could think around it. He decided they were going to pay as well. It just wouldn’t be as pleasurable as the plans he had for Alexis and him.

He groaned as he sat up. “I did this, not her. I should have been a lot better about this. I didn’t explain things well enough and now she’s scared.” He hoped that he’d have the opportunity to make things right.

Connor was nodding before he finished speaking. He looked off to where their brothers were talking to CJ when Connor spoke again. This time his voice was hard.

“I think I might have met the one that hurt her. Well, not met him per se, but I have seen his dirty work. I could smell him on her.” Connor leaned back and took something out of his pocket. “This is the notice that I got from one of the guys I work with. He doesn’t know what we are, but he gave this to me to invite me to it.”

Gordon took the sheet of paper and started to read it. He was about halfway through it when Dallas and Austin came up beside him. Without saying a word, he handed it up to them then stood. He waited for them to finish.

“Where did you get this?” Austin asked as he flipped the sheet over. “This has to be a joke. Why on earth would you put something out like this for real?”

It was an open invitation to come see a wolf fight. And not just any normal wolves either. It said that a werewolf was going to take on anyone that cared to step into the ring with him. There was a picture of a wolf standing over the body of a man who’d had his throat ripped out. The wolf was covered in blood and his fangs still dripped with it.

“This guy I work with gave it to me. He’d been handing them out for about an hour at the beginning of the shift, and I didn’t get to see what it was until later.” Gordon looked at Austin before he shuddered. “The guy in the picture, he was there too, only he was in the parking lot. I could smell him, smell his wolf. His scent was on the woman just now.”

Connor was a detective now, homicide. He’d worked his way up the ranks and had taken on extra classes and jobs to be one, and in less than three years he’d finally made detective first grade. He was the best of the best in detective work. Gordon was very proud of his twin and wished him the best of luck. Gordon, however, was very content to be the second in the pack just under his brother Dallas.

“This is against our pack law. I wonder who he thinks he is just….” Austin looked at both of them. “Have either of you been to one of these? Maybe not this one, but ones like this?”

They both shook their heads, but Gordon spoke up. “I’ve been clean up on them though. There was a ring of these fights about six months ago and there were several men killed. They simply left the bodies behind when they moved on.”

Connor nodded. “Yeah, I remember that. Seven dead with two of them wolves. They were cubs, not much older than seventeen. I couldn’t say much because of the other department in charge, but the wolves had more than likely been in over their heads and had shifted back after they’d been killed.”

Austin handed the paper back to Connor. “Find out what you can and be quiet about it. I don’t need to tell you if the humans get wind of this they’ll hunt us down. Gordon, take care of your mate. And find out if she knows anything about this and if not, then she’ll need more protection.”

The ride back to the pack house was noisy. They had a plan in the works before they pulled into the driveway. And when they saw Phil there sitting on the porch, they got his help as well.

~~~

Alexis looked at her face in the mirror. She looked like she’d gone a few rounds with a champ and had come out a loser. In addition to her split lip and black eye, she had several cracked ribs and the color of her torso was vivid. She pulled her shirt back down over the worst of them when she went to answer the door to her bedroom. She was surprised to see Phil there. She wasn’t, though, to see Gordon with him.

“You’ve been busy, I see. I don’t suppose I could persuade you to take me to your office to talk? I love the view from that room.” She let Phil kiss her cheek and ignored the growl from the idiot behind him.

“Sure, but just so you know, if whatever you want involves him, it’s a no.” She led the way to her office. She, too, loved the view. “The windows were put in last week and the floors are all finished too. You should see my bedroom. Oh Phil, it’s perfect.”

“He will not be going to your bedroom. I don’t care how nice the view is. Do you hear me, Phil? I’m serious.” Alexis huffed at Gordon, but didn’t comment. “I’m not kidding, Alexis. Wolves are a very jealous bunch and he’ll stay out—”

“If I want to take him down there and fuck his brains out, it’ll be none of your fucking business.” She heard Phil tell her to stop, but she’d had enough. “What business is it of yours—?”

She was suddenly against the wall with Gordon pressing against her. He was different, and it took her several seconds to realize what it was. His eyes had changed. They were a light brown, but now there were dark, almost black, and he smelled different. He smelled…. She leaned her face into his neck and sniffed. Every nerve in her body woke up at the scent. His low growl only made her want more, more of something only he could give her, she was sure.

“Christ,” she heard Phil say from behind them. “You’re making me crazy over here. Mate with her later. Right now, we need to speak to her. Your scent is driving me over the edge.”

Breathing hard, she looked up at Gordon again. His eyes were now the normal shade of brown, but his smell made her dizzy. She swallowed hard when he looked down at her mouth.

“He’s right. We need to talk to you. But you should know that I can smell you too.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I can smell your arousal. Are you wet, baby?”

She wanted to tell him that the sound of his voice had made her that way since yesterday. The climaxes that he’d given her a few days ago seemed to have made her a walking nymphomaniac, and he was her only cure. She stood against the wall when he stepped back. She was afraid to look at him, so she looked at Phil.

“You need to talk to me about what? And as a lawyer, why are…? Please tell me that you’re not here to tell me he’s won custody of the children. Oh Phil, you assured me that he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell for—”

“No, no that’s not it. We’re here to…to explain. You need to be aware of what I am and what…. Perhaps you should have a seat.” Phil glared at Gordon before he continued. “You know, this is the second time I’ve had to do this for your family to take the heat off one of you. I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“But you’ll help. CJ said you really helped her when she needed it, and she did tell you she really likes her. Come on, Phil, please?”

Alexis was about to remind them that she was in the room with them when Phil suddenly turned to her.

“You need to have a seat. And what I’m going to tell you is very…dangerous. Not only to me, but to you as well. Understand?”

She started to nod, then shook her head as she sat down. “No, I don’t. You come in here wanting to see the view in my office and…shit, you were getting me alone. Oh no, something’s happened. What is it? Is it your mom?”

“Okay.” Phil sat on the floor in front of her. “You know he’s a were, correct? And what that means to you?”

“I know that he did something to me that made Pa…made someone pissed off at me. What did he do, Phil? Please tell me the truth and I’ll believe you.”

“Oh, honey, I hope you’re right. I’ve really come to enjoy you and your family.” Phil turned and glared at Gordon, then looked back at her. “He’s your mate. And as I’m aware he didn’t tell you this before he marked you. I’ll explain.”

“Marked me? I don’t…he bit me.” She stood and nearly knocked Phil over. “You son of a bitch. What the fuck gave you the right to—?”

“Sit the fuck down,” Phil thundered, and she sat. She was really glad she was near a couch or she might have ended up on the floor. “Now, we are going to do this like adults without name calling and certainly not with anger.”

When Gordon came and sat next to her she tried to scoot away from him, but he kept moving over. With a low growl from Phil, which surprised her to no end, she sat still. Something was going on here and she wasn’t all that thrilled about finding out what.

“Now, as I was saying. He marked you. Yes, I agree that he should have spoken to you before he bit you, but that is over with. He’s your mate for better or worse.” He glared when Gordon started to speak. “I’m doing this my way, wolf, or I walk. Your family is not on my best buddy list right now, so I suggest you shut up as well.”