The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (15 page)

Gavin
shook his head, struggling to remember, struggling to regrow brain cells back
after that kiss. Holy
fuck
it’d been better than…he couldn’t even think
of a comparison.

Jo
cocked a dark brow. “Yeah, remember? About fifteen minutes ago, you called me
sounding panicked. Couldn’t find Alicia,” he said with exaggerated patience.

“Right,
yeah.” He cleared his throat, which still didn’t take the rasp out of it. “Well,
I found her.”

Jo
looked him over from head to toe. “Everything okay? You look a little…distracted.”

“Great,
great. We’re fine.”

Jo’s
cocked brow clearly said
oh, is that right?
He peered into the house
then up the stairs. “Where was she?”

“Found
her in the basement.”

His
cousin frowned. “What was she doing down there?”

“Working.
Had herself a little shop set up down there.” He left out the part about
finding her in the hottest little panty/bra thing he’d ever seen. And the
kissing, too.

Jo
nodded, his eyes seeing Gavin’s flushed cheeks and missing nothing. Bastard.

“Listen,
I came here for another reason too.”

“What
is it?” Please, not another murder.

“Dan
Knight was on watch today over Alicia. He said Marcus came by.”

His
body completely froze. The only movement he made was a single blink.

Jo
nodded, understanding Gavin’s reaction. “He said he didn’t go in the house but
that he shared a few words with Alicia. I don’t know what about.”

That
sick fuck was here talking to Alicia. He charged out the door in the next
second, only one thing on his mind.

“Gav,
Gavin
? Where are you going, man?”

He
palmed his truck keys out of his pocket, opened the truck door and glared at
Jo. “You comin’ or what?”

Jo
slowly ground his jaw, then nodded.

Gavin
peeled away from the house, the engine roaring.

“What’s
the plan then?” Jo asked.

Gavin
drummed his index finger on the steering wheel. “Got a smoke?”

Jo’s
snorted. “You gonna start that up again? And hell no, you know I don’t like
that shit.”

Gavin
shrugged. A man could hope.

“So
what’s this really about?”

Gavin
shot him a brief look. “What do you mean?”

Jo’s
bulk made the big truck cab look like he was sitting in a mini-cooper. He
adjusted the seat to give him some more leg room then sighed when it wasn’t
enough.

“Well,
we’re charging out to Marcus’ house, at least that’s what I’m assuming we’re
doing, and we’re doing it because of that woman you got holed up in your house.
So, like I said, wanna explain?”

“Don’t
see what there is to explain.”

Jo
laughed. “Oh,
please
, tell me what’s going on with you and the woman. It
serious?” His voice got quiet. “You show her yet?”

Gavin’s
jaw cocked, the bone popped. Jo didn’t even have to say it, ’cause Gavin knew.
Did
you show her your face yet?
Fuck no, he didn’t.

“I
don’t know if it’s serious, but I know I want it to be.”

Jo
peered at him with smart eyes. “So you haven’t shown her.”

Gavin
didn’t reply.

Jo
sighed wearily then rubbed a big paw of a hand over the back of his neck. “Man,
I’m tellin’ you, you gotta show her. Just get it over and done with, like
rippin’ a Band-Aid off or stealing that first kiss from a girl.”

Gavin
jerked, the truck swerving in the lane. Jo laughed. “I strike a nerve? Which
was it—the showing her or the kissin’ her?”

He
didn’t answer but his cheeks darkened. Jo boomed out a hearty laugh. “Man, you
already kissed her. Good for you. How was it? Wait, wait, wait, better yet, how
did you manage to pull that off if you haven’t shown her your face?”

“That’s
none of your business.”

Jo
shrugged those huge shoulders. “You’re right. I’m only your cousin, your top
lieutenant, and your friend. Plus, if you decide to mate with her, she’ll be my
queen too, you know.”

“What
does that mean?”

“Just
sayin’ that I have some stake in this, is all.” Jo grew quiet, smirking. “It
was that good, huh.”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gavin pressed his foot into the
accelerator. They couldn’t get there quick enough.

“See,
I’m betting that if it was bad, you’d be talking about it, or at the very least
looking disappointed. However, when you answered that door you looked ready to
tear my head off. So I’m guessin’ it was good. Damn good, too.”

Gavin
didn’t say anything as he pulled to a hard stop outside Marcus Graham’s house.

All
the conversation and jokes were pushed aside as they stepped out of the truck.

He
went up to that front door in long, angry glides. His fist beat against the
door. Voices sounded inside then the door opened.

“What
do you want?” The tall blond that answered wasn’t Marcus but his younger
brother, Dave. 

“Get
Marcus, now.”

The
boy, no more than eighteen, glared at him with hatred usually reserved for a
personal vendetta. Not that that surprised Gavin. The whole Graham family hated
him, thought he’d stolen the Alpha position out from under Marcus. Didn’t
matter that he won it fair and square.

Gavin
peered inside the Graham’s house. Marcus was the eldest and kept his two
younger brothers, Dave and Harry, in line with militaristic fashion. The house
was clean and neat with simple furnishings and no added fluff. Probably cause
it’d never seen a woman’s touch of any kind. The Graham’s mother had died when
Marcus was eleven and none of the boys had ever been mated or taken on a
serious relationship. Their father left them about two years after her death.
It’d probably been a good thing. Jerry Graham was a mean son of a bitch with a
quick temper and loose fists.

Harry
came up from the basement door. He was bulky by Graham standards, whose
physiques bordered on slender and lean. Gavin knew firsthand just how strong
Marcus was and his slender body did not retract from that.

“Davey,
get inside,” Harry ordered, crossing his arms. Dave got behind his older
brother. “What’s this about?” Harry asked.

“Just
looking for Marcus. He here or what?” Gavin asked.

Harry
merely stared at Gavin. After a few moments he nodded to Dave. “Go get Marcus.
Tell him Gavin MacKellen’s here.”

Dave
darted down into the basement, the door slamming behind him.

“I’ll
ask again,” Harry said. “What’s this about?”

Gavin
leveled him with as steely glare. “Where were you last Saturday night?”

Harry
didn’t flinch. “Here at the house.”

“What
were you doing?”

“I
don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“We
got two dead kids. I’d say knowing where everyone was on those nights is my
business.”

“Yeah,
well I was here watching TV with Davey.”

The
basement door swung open and Marcus strode through. He wore a fierce
expression. Gavin almost smiled. Marcus always had a game to play and when he
got caught off guard, he didn’t know what to do. That’s when the real Marcus
shone through.

Marcus
stepped into the doorframe, their chests almost brushing. “What do you want,
alpha
?”

“Why
did you come to my house today?”

Gavin
watched as Marcus transformed. His eyes turned cold, his lips curled into a
smirk, and his shoulders relaxed. He had his game back.

“Just
paid a little visit to our possible new queen. Nothing wrong with that.”

Don’t
hit him. Don’t hit him.
“What did you say to her?”

Marcus
shrugged. “Just a bit of chit chat. Besides, why don’t you ask her? Or do you
even talk to her? Rumor has it that you haven’t even shown her your face.”

The
smirk lifted into a full-blow smile as his cold amber eyes roamed over the
scarred terrain of Gavin’s face.

He
tsked. “Pity, really. What if she likes it? Though, I guess a pretty gal like
her would want those good-looking model types. Not something that looks like it
went through a meat grinder.”

Gavin
didn’t slam his fist into the rotten bastard’s face no matter how badly his
hand shook to do it, and he didn’t head-butt the motherfucker who’d destroyed
his face because he was the alpha now. He had to be the bigger man.

But
damn, his hands trembled with the effort it took not to move, not to act.

“I’m
only going to say this once.” He leaned into Marcus’ face, watched the amber
eyes flicker with rage. “You come to my house again, it’s either to fess up to
what you did or to announce you’re leaving the pack for good. You come by for
any other reason, if you come by my woman, what you see on my face will be
nothing compared to what I do to you.”

He
held Marcus’ gaze in a locked battle of wills. Marcus faltered first and looked
away, his jaw twitching. Then, at the snap of fingers, the anger was gone and
Marcus had his game face back on.

Marcus
smirked. “Still never found out who managed to do one over on your face, huh?
Real shame that, real shame.”

A
part of Gavin wanted to rip off Marcus’ skin by hand. Wanted to watch him bleed
and make him bleed. But the other part…the part that helped him to obtain the
position he held as alpha, didn’t. That part was smarter, that part was better
than Marcus Graham could ever be.

Gavin
knew Marcus was the one who did it. He had no proof other than Marcus’ goading
and his gut instinct. But he knew.

“I
know you did it, everyone knows you did it. See, that’s the difference between
you and me. Why I’m alpha and you’re not. Because I face things head on. I don’t
coward away from challenges or wait until someone’s back is turned to act.”

The
smirk fell from Marcus’ face. “Get off my property.”

Gavin
got in Marcus’ face, so close they could kiss. “Stay away from Alicia and watch
your back. If you had anything to do with Emma and Anthony’s death, you’ll
roast.”

Gavin
and Jo climbed back into the truck then took off.

Jo
turned to give him a wry smile. “Not a coward, huh?”

Gavin
shot him a glare. “So what?”

Jo
shrugged. “Just wonderin’ how that matches up to what you said earlier. You
still haven’t shown Alicia your face. Maybe you need to rethink yourself.”

Cursing,
Gavin stared straight ahead and pretended to ignore his cousin’s truthful
words.

CHAPTER 12

“I
said I’m sorry.”

Alicia
glared at her bedroom door with her arms and ankles crossed. “Well, excuse me,
if I don’t think an apology fixes this.”

Gavin
sighed from the other side of the door. “Well I mean it. I messed up.”

“You
kept me locked in here all night! I was starving! I still am!”

Something
thumped against the door like he’d slammed his head into it. Good, it’s the
least he deserved after keeping her locked in her bedroom all night long. He
came home last night and didn’t come back to her room, just went into his for
the night. Uh, hello, she’d wanted to scream—remember that time we were kissing
before you
just left the house like I didn’t exist?

But
she hadn’t because…she’d been unsure. She hated to admit it but she’d been
nervous. Nervous that he hadn’t liked the kiss as much as she did, nervous that
she wanted to do it again so soon, like right now, and maybe he didn’t. Because
that kiss blew her mind. And she was scared that maybe her breath had been
scary and that’s why he didn’t come back that night to finish what they’d
started.

Finish
what exactly, or where ‘finishing’ would take them, she wasn’t sure—to bed? Her
stomach fluttered at the idea but most of that was nerves. The last man she’d
slept with…
yeeeeah
.

So
she’d just stopped ’doing sex’ after that and had turned to focusing on her
work. Work was good, kept her busy mentally and physically. Of course, it didn’t
help that every time she left her apartment the pack members looked at her with
those judging eyes. Tramp, they called her.

Aaargh!
She hated, hated leaving her own damn house. All because of that damn man and
his nasty, lying mouth.

“I
got you something. It’s not much but I thought you might like it. If you don’t,
that’s fine. I can have Kaity or Hanna go into town and pick out something else
instead. I certainly don’t have much of a sense,” he coughed to clear his
throat, “with um, women’s things.”

Alicia
blinked. He bought her something. Women’s things. What was that supposed to be—tampons?