Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (27 page)

Chapter 6

Alexis paced. And when she wasn’t pacing she was trying to comfort Darcy. The girl wouldn’t let her touch her. Alexis glared at the people sitting on her couch and continued to pace.

“He’ll be fine. I swear. He knows what he’s doing.” Alexis stopped and stared at Connor, Gordon’s twin in every way. “He’s been scrapping with me since we were pups.”

“Oh, he’d better be all right. Because when he gets back here, I’m going to murder him.” She started to pace again. “What the hell was he thinking running after Paddy like that? Does he think he’s invincible? No, he is not. Stupid, moronic idiot should be…he should be caged or tied up outside so he can…what the hell are you laughing at?”

She turned on Dallas so quickly that he backed up in the seat. “Nothing. Well, except you sound just like CJ. She hated that Austin thought he was going to live forever too.”

“So it’s a wolf thing, this inability to be smart. I see.” She didn’t, but doubted she would ever tell them that. “I don’t understand how your race has made it this far if this is how you handle situations.”

“I don’t think this is the time to be—” Austin stopped talking and stood up. His body looked as tight as a strung bow. When both Dallas and CJ stood, Alexis knew that something had happened to Gordon.

“You know something. What is it?” The hair on her arms stood when the baying began. It was just beyond her house, but it sounded like it was in the room with her. The sound at the front of the house startled them all and Darcy began to whimper. Alexis went to her immediately while the others made their way to the door.

Darcy knew something, or felt it. She’d been sitting in this corner since Alexis had managed to get the small handgun away from her. Where she’d gotten it was anyone’s guess, but she was going to find out. She’d shot her father and had probably saved all their lives.

Alexis tried to calm her, but there wasn’t anything she could do. She had to leave her alone to prevent her from hurting either one of them. She was struggling against even the smallest of comforts, and Alexis was terrified that she was going to harm herself. When CJ came back into her living room Alexis stood and nearly fell over when Austin came in carrying a large wolf. All hell broke loose.

“Stop that,” Dallas snapped at Darcy. The keening stopped immediately. Alexis might have been mad, but the boys, who’d been awakened by the noise of the gunshot, needed her attention. She started to go to them when Connor said he had them and led them from the room. The wolf was laid on the floor near the fireplace.

“That’s not…that’s not Paddy. Who…?” She suddenly knew. “It’s Gordon, isn’t it?”

Alexis’s hands began to burn and she put them behind her. She knew that at least one person in the room knew what was happening to her and maybe others, but she tried her best to hide it. Darcy was in no shape to tell on her. She looked up at CJ when she made her way to Gordon and was stopped by Phil.

“Will you do it?” She looked at the vampire and shook her head. “You can, can’t you? You can save his life. I can hear his heart beating, Alexis, and it’s slowing. He’s been hurt helping you.”

“What do you mean she can help him?” Austin turned to her, as did Dallas when Austin continued to ask. “Tell me what the hell he’s talking about. What can you do to help my brother?”

“I can’t do it. Please, you have to understand that…please don’t make me do this. I’ve had to start over so many times.” She felt the tears stream down her face. “Please, Phil, you can’t want me to do this again.”

She wasn’t sure how he’d found out she could heal. She really didn’t care at this point. But helping this man, this wolf, was going to change things forever. Too many people, all of them, could get her into so much trouble knowing she could do this.

“You have to, love. And no one here will condemn you. I’m not sure what you are, but you’re not wholly human, are you?” She shook her head at Phil’s question. “I thought not. Help him, Alexis, and if something happens to you, if anyone in here betrays you, I swear to you I will set it right.”

She knew he was not only telling her he would protect her, but also warning the others. She looked down at the man on the floor. He was dying. She could hear his heart as well as anyone of them in the room. She dropped to her knees next to him and started rubbing her hands on her thighs.

“You’ll have to tell my aunts that I’ve…that I took ill. I want you all to be gone when I’m through here. And I don’t ever want to see any of you again. You’ve no idea what…it doesn’t matter. If Paddy finds out, if he even guesses that this is what I can do, then there will be no stopping him. You understand?” She looked up at the people standing there.

“You save his life and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. Whatever.” She nodded at Austin. She didn’t really believe him…she’d been made promises before and look where it had…she nodded again.

“Someone will need to make sure that he rests when you take him home. He’ll be weak and tired for a bit, but he’ll live.” She looked down at the wolf and put her hands near his bloodied fur. “You people had better be true to your word. I don’t want to run again. The children need me too much.”

The pain ripped through her as soon as she touched him. She could feel each of his bites, each tear in his skin, and each place that the fur had been ripped from his body. She knew the exact location of the teeth marks that Paddy had given him, the depth of each bite, and even when the other wolf had shaken his head to inflict more pain. Alexis knew that she’d cried out; there was no stopping it. She hurt. She hurt as badly as the wolf, and knew that it was going to get worse, much worse.

Closing her eyes, she let her curse roll over her. It rolled from her into him, sealing the open gashes and mending the smaller ones. She had learned to breathe slowly when she did this or else the power would wear her out too quickly and the person would still need her help. She moved along his body. Each and every wound was sealed before she moved on to another place. The process was slow and draining to her, but she knew that as soon as she finished he’d be fine.

Exhaustion weighed on her when she opened her eyes. She had no idea how long she’d been helping him, only that she didn’t have the strength to do much more than nod slightly at the glass of orange juice someone held out to her. She tried to speak, but before she could form words, someone picked her up and then blackness engulfed her.

~~~

Austin looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. She’d saved Gordon. He didn’t know how yet, but he planned to find out. He glanced at his mate as she pulled the blankets down off the bed in the room that one of the aunts had led them to. He was startled when Phil laid Gordon, in human form now, down on the other side of Alexis on the big bed.

“She has to mate with him now. If not, then she’ll run.” Phil covered Gordon up as he continued. “Please don’t ask me what she is. First of all, I don’t have a definite answer, and secondly…secondly, I don’t think I believe it myself.”

“You knew she could heal him. How?” Austin asked him. “What did you feel that none of us did? There had to be something that tipped you off.”

“Something, yes. Let’s take this downstairs. She’ll be out for several days, her aunt said. The more…damage, the longer it takes for her to come back from it. They can’t believe she did this again. They said she only does it for those she loves.” Phil moved out of the room and they had no choice but to follow.

CJ stopped him just beyond the door. “She saved his life because he’s her mate, didn’t she? Even now she doesn’t realize that she had no choice but to love him. Oh Austin, what happens to them all now? Do you know what she is?”

Austin looked back at the couple on the bed. “No. No, I don’t know, but Phil does, and if he is this nervous, it can’t be good. No, I don’t know what she is, but I plan to find out. She’s a member of this pack now, and we’ll all protect her.” He pulled his mate to him. “She saved his life. He was dying and she saved his life.”

“I know, love. Whatever she is, she’s very powerful. And yes, we’ll all protect her.”

The living room was nearly empty when they entered. Austin felt at home there. Not as much as he did at his own home, but he could easily see his brother living there with Alexis. Connor was sitting on the floor next to were Darcy was still hiding, and when Austin started toward him a small shake of his brother’s head had him going toward the couch instead. He had never seen anyone as terrified in his life as that little girl. He wondered what had happened to this family and how they were going to help them.

“Alexis is very private, so what I’m going to tell you is something I don’t believe she’s ever shared with anyone but family.” Glad sat on the couch as Jessie served sandwiches around. She took one off the tray as she continued. “Alexis and Judith weren’t true sisters. Not by blood at any rate. Judith was Daniel’s child and Alexis was Caroline’s. The two of them, Daniel and Caroline, met when the girls were just about three. They married a few months later…Caroline and Daniel, not the girls. Both girls, head over heels in love with having a family, settled right in.”

Jessie sat and picked up the tale. “When Daniel was away on business he had his brother, Donald, keep an eye on the house for his family. Donald had a son named Patrick Booth from an affair he’d had with a married woman. Sordid affair, it was, and the boy, Paddy he goes by now, became surly and resentful when he realized how happy the girls were. Don’t know why, but he hadn’t ever met Alexis as an adult or things might have been a bit different. She was away at school when she turned fifteen. She is as smart as they come, our Alexis, and she’d been offered all kinds of scholarships to go to all them fancy schools. But Paddy had his sights set on marrying up Judith when she turned seventeen and there was no stopping him. We both thought he was off his rocker, but then no one would listen to us.”

“Wait, how are you related to her then? Why wouldn’t you keep an eye on them if the boy was so bad?” Austin flushed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Oh, it’s all right. I was Caroline’s aunt and Gladys here was Daniel’s. We sort of became family when the two of them married.” Jessie laughed. “Our family tree doesn’t quite go in a circle, but it’s pretty close. I guess you can say we formed our own pack.”

Austin nodded. He was never sure what to do when someone outside mentioned his race. He wasn’t ashamed of what he was, but he was fearful of others. He didn’t remember a time when they had to outright hide what they were from humans, but he knew what could happen.

“Jessie, dear, do get on with it. The poor man is being polite and not telling you to get to the flipping point.” Gladys grinned at him. “She dithers at times. It’s sometimes difficult to keep her on point.”

Austin felt his lips twitch. He was having a hard time keeping a straight face. But as soon as Phil snickered he laughed as well. These two women may not be related, but they sure knew one another well enough. He had no doubt that they would eventually get to the point, but it would take a trip through the wood on the way to the mall on the other side of the state to get there.

“Oh yes. Well,” Jessie began with a snort to Gladys. “Alexis is a foundling. Do they use that term anymore? Oh well, she was a motherless child…oh, I do like that better. Motherless. Well, at the time she was found she was, but Caroline certainly never made her—” With a short nudge from Gladys, she moved on. “She was a beautiful child. And so good. We never told anyone, of course, just took her in and kept her. I was living with my Caroline at the time. We knew from the start she was different, but never really cared. Then later, Caroline met Daniel and it didn’t seem to matter anymore.”

“How?” Phil asked from his position at the fireplace. “What made you think she was different? Did she do anything…was she able to do anything that set her apart?”

“Well of course she did. What do you think I just said?” Jessie turned to Gladys and frowned. “Is there something wrong with the way I’m telling this story, Glad dear? Or is he, you know?” Jessie twirled her finger at her head to indicate that she thought Phil was crazy. The vamp growled, but was ignored.

“No, he’s not, but you certainly must be. What did Alexis tell us about him? She said to behave around him because he’s a….” Gladys lowered her voice, but they could all hear. “He’s a vampire, remember?”

“Good heavens,” Phil snapped. Austin laughed because the expression on Phil’s face was priceless. Before he could get control of himself, Gladys whipped out a string of what appeared to be garlic and held it in front of him.

“I may be old, but I can certainly whip your ass if you think of having your way with me while you suck my neck, young man.” Gladys looked so fierce that Austin pulled a pillow from the side of the couch and shoved it in his mouth. She looked like she could take on just about anything and come out on top.

Phil took the garlic from the older woman and tossed it across the room. “Let me guess, you’ve read about me in some smut book and now you think you have all the answers on how to keep me at bay. Well, ladies, I’m too old to be screwed with and I enjoy a very good garlic spaghetti sauce every now and then as much as the next person. Now, would you please tell us what made Alexis different from any other baby?”

“She was outside when we found her. Out in a basket with nothing more than a little bitty sleeper on her.” Phil looked ready to explode before Gladys hurried on. “It was in the middle of winter. It was minus fifteen degrees out and she was laying there all warm and snuggly in her little basket. She’d been there long enough that the snow had no prints in it and there weren’t nary a thing around her.”