Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (37 page)

They adjourned to the living room as CJ took the bag of clothing out to the deck. She was gone for awhile, and when Gordon started to get up to see if anything had happened to Alexis, Austin stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“They’re fine. The pack is watching them. And your pack is still on the steps. By the way, congratulations are in order, I suppose. Those two….” Austin nodded to the front door and the two males sitting there watching. “They’ve been uncomfortable here for a few months and were just about to move on. I’m glad they found you and Alexis.”

Gordon only nodded. He’d not only gotten a mate, it seemed, but a pack as well. He wondered where they’d go from there, and wondered if they could stay at least for a little while longer. He didn’t want to leave his family just yet, especially not with Austin becoming a father in a few months. He nodded again before he took a healthy bite from the sandwich and a good drink of iced tea. As much as he wanted a beer, he wasn’t sure what was going on outside and wanted to be on his best game.

He looked up when CJ and Alexis came in with a very beautiful woman. He stood up and started toward her. He’d only seen her from afar, but the scent was all hers. He was nearly to her when she snarled deep in her throat at him. This woman had claws.

“Gordon, I’d stay back if I were you. She’s a tad touchy about being in here and you’re making her hackles rise.”

He glanced at Alexis then back at the girl. “She will learn her place or leave.”

Stacy started to turn away when Alexis grabbed her arm. It happened so quickly that Gordon had very little time to get back, but Alexis caught the worst of it.

Stacy’s claws were suddenly at Alexis before he could move her. The blood splattered on his face and body as they tore into her flesh. All Gordon could do was grab onto Alexis as she started to slide to the floor. As he set her down as gently as he could and tried to stop the blood, he heard the fight behind him. It wasn’t until someone shouted that all noise stopped.

Chapter 16

“Gordon, let her go. You have to let her go so that she can heal.”

Gordon looked up at him and Phil was sure he was only half hearing him. “Let Alexis go. The healing will begin as soon as you stop touching her. She won’t die. I promise you, she won’t die.”

“She cut her. She killed her…Phil, I can’t lose her. I love her very much.” Gordon looked down at her again before Phil could get him away. “I can’t. I love her.”

“Her body needs to heal. Just don’t touch her and she’ll heal.” Phil glanced at the wound. “Look, Gordon. See, her wound is closing and she’s stopped bleeding. If you let her go, she’ll heal faster.”

Phil wasn’t sure if Gordon staggered back or simply let her go, but Alexis was suddenly healing much faster. They all stood and watched as her skin healed over and became flawless. When she suddenly took in a deep breath, at that moment he realized she’d not been breathing. Her eyes opening startled him as well.

“They’re silver,” someone breathed. “Clear silver. Oh God, her wolf must be beautiful.”

Gordon helped her to sit up and then picked her up and put her on the couch. Before anyone could say anything, Alexis put her hand out for the female wolf that had cut her open.

“Come here, Stacy. Come on, no one will harm you here or I’ll be doing some ass kicking myself.” Phil looked over at the girl. “Can someone get the first aid kit? She’s got a few cuts here.”

Phil smiled. The girl had given as good as she’d gotten, it seemed. Dallas had a swollen eye and a busted lip, Austin was holding a napkin over his nose, and one of the pack was limping away. Phil nearly laughed out loud when CJ snickered loudly.

“Oh grow up, you oversized dog. She told you to leave her be, that she didn’t want to come in here in the first place.” CJ huffed at her mate and Phil laughed. He should have known she’d be on him fast. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you were going to hit her yourself, you big mosquito. All of you go and find a place to sit or so help me, I’ll find one for you.”

Stacy refused treatment and stood near the door as the rest of them settled. She was skittish and afraid. He was sure everyone in the room could smell it. But she was also strong and very capable of taking them all on. She probably wouldn’t win, but she’d hurt a few of them for their trouble.

“Phil, you have a book you wanted to share.” He looked over at Nancy as she spoke. “The pretty book, didn’t you want to share it with us? If you tell us about it maybe by then a few more furs will be less ruffled.”

“Of course. Let me get it.” He reached to the table, pulled it toward him, and bobbled it slightly. A small picture, a drawing really, slid out and he nearly fell over when he looked at it. It took him several seconds to realize that he’d lost the conversation.

“Phil, what is it? What have you found?” CJ took the picture from him when he handed it toward her. “Oh my God, it’s her. It’s Alexis.”

And it was too, for the most part, except the hair was different. Alexis’s was short and sassy while the woman in the picture had long and curly hair. The mouths were nearly the same, full and lush. But it was the eyes that made the two women the same, the same clear silvery shade that made him think of starless nights and bright summer days at the same time. CJ handed the picture to Alexis.

“My mother gave me this book. She said it’s been in our family for generation after generation. The picture, while I’ve never seen it before, explains a lot. It tells me that you were meant to get this book.” Phil handed the leather bound tome to her as he continued. “I’ve read this over…not in its entirety, but most of it. It’s you. You’re the shifter that it speaks of.”

“I don’t…what is that exactly? You make it sound as though I’m some sort of, well hell, I don’t know, weird species.” Alexis flushed. “I know there is something odd about me. I’ve known that I could heal and that I could turn into anything I want. I’d also been aware that I could heal myself, but only in very small things. But today, today was the first time I’ve been hurt so badly that—”

“You weren’t breathing. She cut you badly and you stopped breathing. According to this book you’re going to be the one who brings back the shifter.” Phil looked over at Gordon before he spoke again. “And you, as her mate, are going to help her.”

“Okay. For now, I’ll believe you. But if you think I’m going to become some sort of breeding machine you can rethink that right fucking now. I’m not convinced about anything, but I’m willing to listen. What is a shifter and why are we…according to you, all gone?” Alexis sounded panicky and Gordon went to sit beside her.

“A shifter is just what it sounds like. They’re a group of men or women who, at one time, could shift into any race and become one with them. It is said that when a shifter joined a mate, the mate could not tell and that every babe born to them would be as the counterpart. The only way for a shifter to be born of a pair was if they both were shifters.”

“Are you saying that they bred themselves out? How ignorant is that?” Alexis handed him back the book while shaking her head. “I don’t think so. I can’t believe that anyone would be so stupid as to willingly become extinct. Were they so ashamed of what they were that they’d be willing to do that?”

Phil nodded and looked her right in the eye. “Yes.”

~~~

Alexis stared at Phil without moving. Yes? They didn’t want to be around so they’d done the unspeakable. She looked down at the book he’d given her again. The pictures there, ones of animals being slaughtered by men with pitchforks and sticks, were detailed and horrid. Some of the dead were half-human, shifting, she supposed, as they lay dying. She was horrified even more by what she saw, knowing that they had done this themselves.

There were several people standing around cages on another page. These animals were set in a large room with tables with the dead still bleeding upon them. She knew what this was. They were cutting into them, seeing what made them so different, trying to figure out what they were. She turned to the next page and saw the woman in the picture looking up at her.

She had a crown on, her body covered in silks. Her cape, long and dark, flowed down her body to the steps below. At her feet were others, people crying, their tears staining the guards’ boots, puddling on the floor. Dead as well as the living huddled around her. She looked so…sad, Alexis thought. She looked at the words beneath the picture and suddenly knew what they meant. The language was as familiar to her as her own.

I beseech thee to save us. I beg you to bring us home. Child of mine, you are our only hope
.

“She is speaking to me,” Alexis said softly. “She is asking me to save them. Why? How does she think one person can bring an entire race back from what they’ve done?”

“No, she is begging you and your mate to do so. According to our legend, there is one who can do this and only one. The note from when you were found, it said that you’d be hunted and that the one who found you, loved you, would be richly rewarded. You have been. Both of you have,” Phil said, his voice as low as hers had been. “Do you know what that reward is?”

She nodded. “Yes. I have Gordon.” She looked over at Gordon and a thought occurred to her. “But Gordon is a werewolf. How am I supposed to bring them back if I’m the last? And what of this other man, the vampire? What does he have to do with all of this?”

“I don’t know, love. You’ll need to read this to know the answers to that. But I would imagine that there is a plan.” He looked down at the drawing that she still held. “She had faith in you.”

She nodded. It wasn’t something she was going to fix overnight, but she knew with all her heart that she could do it. They could do it. She looked over at Gordon and kissed him on the mouth. He pulled her in for a much deeper one and then held her to him. She’d not realized just how much she’d needed that until then.

“I can release you from our bond. You’ve only to say that you accept. I don’t know a lot of things yet, but I do know that I can release you from this bond.” She held his face between her hands and looked him in the eyes. “Is this something you want?”

“No. I love you with all my heart and whatever we need to do, especially if it involves sex with you, I’m so there for you.” He grinned before he kissed her again. “I do love you, Alexis, and whatever you need from me, I’m your mate for now and forever.”

“He already knows. The vampire that is looking for you, he’s been watching you for months.” Alexis looked over at Stacy as she continued. “He knows where you are when you’re in the house. He can’t hear you, but he knows.”

“And you know this how?” Austin asked the girl. “You’ve been helping him? Is that why you came here today? If it is, so help me I will make—”

“That’s enough,” Alexis snapped. “She hasn’t been helping him. Don’t you think one of you guys would have, I don’t know, smelled her or something?” She turned to the girl. “Tell me why you stopped me. You ran in the road to stop me to talk. What is it? What do you know?”

Stacy looked around the room. Alexis wasn’t sure if she would bolt or not but she seemed to calm for a moment. Alexis could see that she was terrified, but of what she still wasn’t sure.

“One of the women in your house, they are with him.” There was a sharp inhalation of breath, but Alexis didn’t look away from Stacy. “I can’t tell which one, but I know that it is someone close to you and the kids. She smells like you…not entirely, but like you.” She looked over at Gordon and frowned. “I can’t tell you what you want. I don’t know. She has been meeting with the man, the old blood man, for years. His scent is strong on her. But it is on all of you. You are too close a pack for me to tell.”

“I might be able to help.” Alexis looked back at Phil as he spoke softly. “I might be able to tell who it is. I’ve been around all of you for months and I know your scents as well as anyone. But….”

When Phil didn’t finish she knew she wasn’t going to like it. And when Gordon stiffened beside her she knew he was going to be pissed about whatever he suggested. Then it occurred to her.

“Tell me, Phil. Tell me how we can tell who is selling me out to this man. And my family.” She looked over at Gordon as she continued. “Don’t you want to know who our enemy is? I certainly do.” She waited for him to explode, waited for Gordon to get all manly on her and tell her that she was stupid, but he nodded. Then he turned to Phil.

“What happens? How do you tell who is the bad guy in all this crap?” Phil glanced at Stacy then back at her before Gordon had a chance to continue. “Holy Christ, you have to bite her.”

“Yes. With her blood I’ll be able to sort through her mind and find everything she knows, all the things she has seen but never thought of as suspicious. She knows as well, but the information hasn’t jelled into anything she can—”

“No,” Jessie said quickly. “No, he wants your blood because he is a bloodsucking bastard and he’ll kill you. Just like all his kind has done. You can’t seriously think he wants anything from you but to drain you.”

“I don’t lie.” Phil growled at her. “I have never seen the need to. But you, however, what is it you have to hide? Is there something you don’t want us to know?” Phil stood up and moved toward her aunt. Alexis wanted to tell him to stop, to not think those things of her aunt, but she couldn’t do it. When Aunt Jessie suddenly turned and left the room the slamming of the front door made her realize that Jessie had left the house. Alexis looked over at Gordon and the others. They were staring at her.

“And now?” she asked Gordon.

“Now we go forward. You knew that this might happen. That Jessie might be a part of what was going on.” He looked around the room. “We all did.”

Alexis nodded and turned to Phil again. She let him take her hand and pull it to his mouth. A low growl from Stacy startled her, but she didn’t look at the girl. She was focused on the very sharp teeth that were coming to her wrist.

“I will deaden the pain with my saliva. Once that is done all you’ll feel is a small pinch. Are you ready?” She nodded. “Then look at Gordon. He’ll be happier that way.”

She didn’t just look at him, but kissed him. When she felt Phil’s tongue slide against her wrist she was vaguely aware of a small pain, but nothing more. When Gordon pulled back, she moaned. There was something extremely needy in that kiss and she wanted to find a dark corner quickly and show him.

Phil had laid his head against the back of the couch. He looked drained, which was silly as he was usually the drainer. She flushed at her stupid joke and asked if he was all right.

“You’re a shifter all right. A very powerful and full-blooded one, as a matter of fact,” he said without moving. “Your blood, it’s like a fine wine, an amazing drug, and a great night of sex all rolled into one.” He grinned at her.

“I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Now tell me what this little experience told you about me other than I’m not anything different than you thought.” She flushed when she noticed he had an erection. She knew that Gordon had one as well; he’d put her into his lap when she’d spoken to Phil. It took her several seconds to settle down, and when Gordon nipped at her shoulder, she nearly came.

“You’re a full-blooded shifter, as I thought. And, as we’ve already ascertained, Jessie is in with the vampire. I don’t suppose any of you know who he might be.” He pulled the pillow over his lap as he continued. His wink at her made her face heat. They all looked toward Darcy as she entered the room.