Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) (12 page)

“The note
,
dear, tell him about the note
,
”
Jessie chimed in quickly.
“It said that she was going to be hunted for her abilities and that she needed to be cared for and the person who loved her would be richly rewarded.”

“Hunted how?
I mean
,
it’s not really telling you much, is it
?
” CJ frowned when neither woman answered her.
“Surely it said more than that. Hell, I’m hunted now.
There’s that stupid guy who wants me to buy
the
property next to his so we can keep the unmentionables
out. He
looks for me every
time he sees my car
. W
hat a moron.”

“He wants to keep your panties from being exposed?
Whatever for?”
Jessie looked over at Glad before she continued.
“I swear
,
every
day people get more and more strange. Anyway
,
we came here.
It was a lovely trip, wasn’t it?”

Glad rolled her eyes and then she nudged Jessie again.
“You’re losing them again.
Focus. They want to know where we came from.
Isn’t that right?”

“Yes,” Austin said.
“Where did you find Alexis? I’m sure if there had been anything in the paper I would have remembered.
And what did the police say when you told them
?
”

“Oh my
,
as I said
,
we didn’t tell anyone.
That would have…they would have taken her
,
you see.
So Caroline and I simply raised her as our own.
She was such a good baby and a wonderful child. Very smart too.
Then when Judith got married and then divorced and moved here from the Yellowstone area
,
we went with her.
She was trying to hide out from that bastard of an ex-husband of hers.
He was a bully
,
but it wasn’t until he…well
,
changed that we knew how much.”
Jessie looked around the room as she continued.
“Then after he killed our Judith and the poor homeless children needed more than…we’re not exactly young chicks any more
,
so Alexis dropped everything and came to help.
She gave up so much
,
the poor dear.”

“What did she give up?”
They all turned to the doorway where Gordon stood. Austin didn’t expect to see him for a few days yet and was very happy to have him up and about.
Gordon brushed off any attempts of helping him as he made his way to the couch.
He did lean slightly more on his twin when he simply shouldered him
,
but he sat down.
He asked again.

“Oh my, she had a wonderful job.
She was a chemical engineer.
She worked at the space shindig.”
Jessie frowned. “No, that’s not quite right.
Is it?”

Glad shook her head.
“No you old fool.
It’s
s
pace
s
huttle.
Why do you take those memory pills if they don’t work? You should do crossword puzzles or that Sudoku thingy.
Keeps my mind sharp. Then there’s the sex.
I enjoy that too.”

“Poo on them.
Besides, I keep forgetting to take them.
Space
s
huttle, that’s it.
She worked at the
s
pace shuttle. And then she stayed. What sex?
With who? Never mind.
I’m betting it
’
s Wilbur Norris, that delivery guy who works down at the post office.
He’s cute.
Then she bought this house and had it fixed up.
She’d been making her scents forever at her old home and she continued them here.
Opening that nice little shop has given us a place to play and to make a little money for ourselves.”

Austin shook his head.
He was going to need a score card to keep up with this family or
,
at the very least
,
to take notes.
He wasn’t sure what was being said
,
but thought he’d get with his family after they got home and compare notes.
He looked around the room as one of the aunts began talking again.

“I doubt she’d miss us if we didn’t get under her feet in the lab.” Gladys turned to Gordon.
“You know that she’s given you a part of herself. And now that you have it what do you plan to do to protect out little girl? Because now that she’s given away her secret there will be a bigger chan
c
e of dumb ass Paddy finding out.”

“Paddy will be back, won’t he?”
Gladys nodded at Gordon’s question.
“And when he does he’ll not be so easily chased off and he’ll come more prepared.
He’ll need to be put down, Austin
,
and we both know it.”

“Oh my, yes.
He needs to be put out of all our misery.
And when you do
.
” Jessie leaned forward and Austin found himself leaning forward with everyone else in the room.
“You need to cut his balls off and feed them to him.”

Austin sat back and looked around the room. He wasn’t sure who was more shocked by her statement. They all looked stunned. When she stood up all the men did as well
,
and she grinned.

“Oh my, how lovely.
I’m going to fix us a late night snack.
Would you gentlemen please go out and round us up a deer?
You do do that
,
don’t you?”
Jessie smiled.
“Or perhaps you could go to the local market and get some steaks.
It may be much quicker for us. Those sandwiches sure didn’t last all that long.”

With that
,
she went into the kitchen.
Austin looked over at the stunned expression on Gordon’s face, thrilled beyond words to see him sitting there.
Austin grinned when he looked at him.

“Think of all the fun you’re going to have when you and Alexis mate and become a couple.
The fun will never stop.”

Gordon groaned and Austin started laughing.
Life for this couple may out do the one that he and CJ had.
Especially when they figure
d
out what the girl sleeping upstairs was.

Chapter 7

Gordon watched her sleep.
It had been two days since she’d healed him and she’d only moved in the big bed when he’d lay down with her.
At first she would move away from him, then about halfway through the first night she would lay close.
Early this morning she was spread across him like she belonged there.

He looked down at the tiny pink scar on his leg.
It should have still been an open wound.
He could heal quickly, much quicker than a human could
,
but a break in his leg and the tears he knew had been there would have taken days to heal not minutes.
Looking back at Alexis
he wondered at what Phil had told him.

“She’s told me she’s not wholly human.
I think that in order to figure her out…and please don’t get pissy until you hear me out, I’m going to need to taste her blood.
I won’t need a great deal
. A
small drop will do me.”

“What will that mean for you and her then?
Will you be privy to our conversations?” As a mated pair of wolves they would be able to speak through their minds through a telepathic link.
But a vamp could do that as well. He didn’t want anyone to know their thoughts. Not ever.

“She and I would have a link, but the one between the two of you would be just that, between you and her.
She isn’t going to have to know if you don’t want her to.
I can never let her know that I’m there, just in the back of her mind.”
Phil began pacing then he turned back to him.
“You should tell her, or I can
,
but we can keep it from her if you’d like.”

“No. If we decide to do this then she’ll know.
I don’t want her to ever mistrust me and that stinks of lying.
No.”
He watched as his brothers came into the room.
They had information and it didn’t look like good news.

“Patrick Booth paid someone to convert him about two years ago,” Dallas said as he handed him a file.
“He’s also a vampire.
Which explains a great deal.”

Phil spoke up then.
“That does explain some, but there’s more.
He’s been converted by a rogue vampire, someone that has been changing without permission.
I
thought… well,
I had thought that Booth was something more than wolf when I smelled him on Alexis the first time I met her.
You should know, Gordon
,
that he has beaten the children on occasion and once he hit Gladys.
I’ve seen firsthand what he’s done to the little boy Tim.
Alexis nearly killed him then.
I have a suspicion that he may have a clue as to what his sister-in-law can do.”

Gordon looked at her again as he took off his shirt.
He wasn’t sure when she’d wake
,
but he needed to touch her.
Needed to be with her.
Crawling into bed with her
,
he smiled when she moved closer to him then wrapped her arm around his waist.
He had a feeling that when she woke she wasn’t going to be so easy to be with. She was going to be one pissed off woman.

He lay there for some time thinking.
He’d read the note that had been with her when she’d been found. It wasn’t very helpful in figuring her out
,
but he could smell the person who’d written it.
The writer
’
s scent was as much a part of the paper as the woman lying in his arms was to him.
And they were related.