Untamed Force (Force of Nature Series) (10 page)

Dallas nodded, not letting his smile
falter.

“I don’t want you to make me go back.
Please don’t make me go back. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Of course you won’t. And I break stuff
all the time.” He picked her up and tried to ignore how stiff she became. “Let’s
make sure you’re not cut then I’ll clean this up. What’s your name, little
princess?”

“Luna. What’s yours?”

Dallas sat her on the counter and
reached for the first aid kit above her head. She was a cute little girl and
looked like her mom, Georgia.

There was a small cut on her knee and
another on her elbow. He washed them gently watching for any sign that he was
hurting her. When she started to relax, he started making jokes that involved
his brothers and sister.

“I’m Dallas Force. My sister Holly used
to follow us around all the time when we were kids. She’d tell on us, too, when
we did something wrong.” He started to say how he’d gotten his bottom beat
several times because of his sister, but let that part go. “We would get her
later, though. When she was dating we’d tell when she kissed somebody. Have you
kissed a boy yet?”

“No, sir. We aren’t allowed to kiss
nobody until the lord and master finds us a mate. Then we can only kiss him. It
was almost my time when we left.”

Everything in him froze as he looked at
Stacy. The little girl couldn’t have been right. She was barely old enough to
be in school, certainly not someone’s mate.

“We have to be ready no matter what or
he beats us and makes us go anyway. Momma said that she would let me go over
her body, but I don’t know what that means. Do you?”

“It means she loves you very much.” Dallas
smiled, though he was sure that it didn’t reach his eyes. “Luna, honey, why don’t
you go out and play for a bit. I want to help out in the kitchen for a change. I
want to make a good impression on Stacy.” He winked at her and she smiled.

She went out the door, taking the little
boy that was watching the exchange between him and Luna carefully. He looked to
be very protective of the girl and he wondered if someday he’d be calling to be
her mate. It had been known to happen that way, children of a pack knowing
almost from birth they were meant to be together. Dallas sat down in the chair
and looked at Georgia, who’d been twisting a towel in her hands.

“I wouldn’t have let him take her. Not
without a fight. He said that he was getting into trouble because his numbers
were too low. Lord Sterling said that it was our duty to—”

“You couldn’t have stopped him and you
know it. And he isn’t a lord anything. He’s a man, a dead wolf when I catch up
to him.” Georgia put her hands to her face and Dallas knew she was crying. Right
now, he didn’t have it in him to comfort her. He reached for his cell phone and
called Austin. “We have to meet. Now. And make sure you let CJ know that I need
to vent.” He put down the phone and watched Stacy do what he couldn’t. He
looked up when she said his name.

“What are you going to do with Austin?”

“We’re going to go on a run. A hard one.
Will you be alright here?” She nodded. “I’m sorry, but I need—”

“Do not be. You need this. It is obvious
that you need this. Go. I have things here. The children will be safe.” He
stood up and kissed her on the mouth. “Go now before I cannot let you.”

Austin met him in the field between
their houses. As they stripped down, Dallas told him what he’d found out. His
brother was as shocked as he’d been. To give little girls, small children, to
men for breeding…well, neither man would let that happen here.

“I’ve heard from the council. They want
me to see what I can do about bringing him in alive.”

Dallas snorted at his brother.

“I told them that I’d give it my best. Of
course I didn’t tell them that if he stepped on my land, he was as good as
dead.”

“So now what do we do? Oh by the way, I
heard about your little fun at the man’s house the other day. Next time you go
out I would appreciate it if you’d let your enforcer know. Can’t save your ass
if I don’t know where it’s at.” Austin nodded. “Also, what did you do with the
money? I’m assuming the council doesn’t know about that.”

“Nope. But if I have to feed and shelter
a bunch of new wolves, there has to be some extra capital involved. I’ve
already talked to two of the contractors you set up appointments with. Thank
you for that. They’ll be starting on the houses and other outbuildings we need
next week. I told both companies that the one that finishes first gets a bonus.
I think I like having this much cash to use.” Dallas asked how much. “Nearly
twenty million. I had to count it twice before I believed it. What the hell was
he doing with that much money and not caring for his people?”

Dallas didn’t know, but he would bet
that wasn’t all of the money. If the man had that much there was no reason to
believe that there hadn’t been twice that much. “He wouldn’t have left that bag
of money in the driveway without a good reason. I’m betting he had carried all
he could to the car by the time you guys pulled up.”

He agreed. Then they shifted and took
off. Dallas wanted to run hard and if they could bring down a deer for meat so
much the better. Neither of them saw anything big enough to make it worth their
while, but they needed this badly. When they finished and headed to the pack
house Austin asked about Stacy.

“She’s fine. I think she’d like to talk
to you about her uncle. Not sure what you can do about his addiction, but she
wants to try.”

Austin nodded before answering. “Phil
has an idea. He said that he can make the man think he doesn’t want drugs any
longer and then he thinks he can give him a fighting chance. He said, with your
permission of course, that he’d like to try and boil the drugs out of his body.”

“My permission? Why does he need mine?”

Austin shrugged.

“You tell him that. I’m not…wait. Could
it have something to do with it being Stacy’s uncle?”

“Don’t know, but I can ask. But I wouldn’t
wait too long. Phil seems to think he’ll die without the drugs or kill himself
if we try to give him something to help him get off them.” Austin stood on the
porch. “You should also know that the uncle said he’d like to talk to Stacy when
she wanted to come by, but for her to make it soon. Said he’s not feeling well.”

Austin went inside and Dallas started
back to his home. He reached for Stacy and told her what he’d learned about
Harvey. She sounded upset, but he didn’t know her well enough yet to know why. But
his wolf did stir and wanted to return to the house immediately to comfort her.

“I will see him tomorrow. I think I
would like for it to be me alone. He might talk to me better without you or one
of the others there.”

Dallas thought she was right, but he
didn’t have to like it.

“I will be careful and not let him touch
me. I know what the drug can do to a person.”

Chapter 8

The news had nothing else to show but
the burnt out shell of his house. Rich watched as each station showed the
destruction and how it had been so far off the beaten path that, until someone
called it in tonight, it would have gone undiscovered for who knew how long.

He looked around the house he’d stolen
into and could smell the food cooking in the microwave. He didn’t want the
owners of the house to come home and catch him inside especially since, when he’d
been looking for some clean clothes, he’d found all those guns.

He’d broken into the nice little house
about an hour ago, right after he’d seen the owner and his little wife leave.
He knew they were probably headed to their jobs by the briefcases and the large
mugs of coffee in their hands.

Rich had come in the house by the locked
back door and headed straight to the phone hanging on the wall. He’d been surprised
by that too. A land line in a house this new? But calling the news station had
been perfect. He’d reported the fire, wanted to know what was going to be done
about it, and then had the audacity to ask them if there was a reward. He might
have gotten it too if he could have had an address and been able to give them
the phone number he’d been calling from. But he knew neither and hung up.

The microwave dinged in the kitchen and
he left the big screen in the living room in favor of the littler one in the
kitchen. He pulled his still hot food from the machine then sat at the table
with a bottle of wine he’d found in the refrigerator, as well as the leftovers
he was now enjoying. There was a whole apple pie in there he was planning to
have as well. The news anchor was still talking about the shame of it all.

“There seems to be no one living here,
Michelle. We’ve had crews looking around for someone, anyone who can say who
the family was that lived here, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone around.” The
camera panned to the once beautiful building. “The only thing we can think is
they have been on vacation. A Mr. Richard O’Brien and his family have lived in
the home for more than twenty years, but according to records they all died
some years back.”

“That’ll be a horrific thing to come
home to no matter who it is. To have lost everything without knowing until you
got back. My heart goes out to them.” The woman in the newsroom then turned
from the television where Adie Pinkersmith was at his house to the camera in
front of her. “If anyone knows the whereabouts of this family, please contact
your local police department.”

He was just cutting into the pie when he
heard the door in the front open. He nearly swallowed the spoon he’d been using
to scoop the ice cream into his bowl. The woman who came into the kitchen wasn’t
the one he saw leaving and, when she screamed, he tossed both the pie and the
ice cream container at her. He knew he’d hit her, but not how badly because he’d
taken off out the back door as fast as he could go. He was nearly down the
street when he realized he’d left his things in the house. He actually thought
about going back and getting his dirty clothes and the cell phone he’d found in
the house, but decided that, the way she’d screamed, there would be a good
possibility that the cops were already there.

“Damn, damn, damn,” he cursed as soon as
he stopped running. He’d been so winded by the time he’d gotten to the
outskirts of town that he thought maybe the dinner or the ice cream had been
tainted. He couldn’t believe how short of a distance he could go before he’d
feel like the needed a nap. Rich sat near the tree he’d been leaning against.

He looked down at his body. When he’d
broken into the house today he’d been surprised how tightly the man’s clothes
fit him. It had been so bad that he’d had to go and find something a lot looser
to wear. He’d finally ended up in a pair of sleep pants and a really baggy
sweatshirt.

Rich realized that he’d put on some
weight. He’d believed that it hadn’t been all that much and told himself that
when it got to be a problem he’d do something about it. Well, he’d waited too
long. He was a fat blob.

And he knew it wasn’t just vanity
talking either. When he’d gotten out of the shower and stepped on the scale, it
had said he was close to three hundred-fifty pounds. Nearly three times what he’d
weighed when he’d become pack leader at only one-twenty. For reason’s he couldn’t
imagine were right he blamed this on this nemesis too. He was fat because of
Austin Force.

In the back of his mind he knew that
wasn’t possible. He’d not even known the man for all that long, had never
actually met him, but he had to blame someone and he was simply the best
possible source. Rich lay down next to the tree and closed his eyes. He couldn’t
even look at himself. It was time to make it an issue and lose the weight. But
first, he was going to kill that bastard.

Moving slowly, he made his way back to
the cave. It was the best possible place for him to be right now. He was
exhausted, hungry again, and had to plan. He knew where the other pack was and
all he needed to do was find a way onto the property, kill the bastard, then
wait for them to fall apart before he stepped in as new pack leader. He was
laughing to himself as he entered the cave. In a week’s time he’d not only have
Georgia and her brats back, who he only just realized he was going to kill as
soon as he got them, but he’d have a new pack, a better home, and maybe a new
bitch to call his own. Life was going to get a great deal better.

He was only about five miles from the
pack where he was currently. That meant that once he got the wolf and killed
him he’d be able to get back here to hide until they did what he expected them
to.

But what if he was injured? It was a
good possibility with him being so out of shape, so he had to think that
through as well. He should have a backup plan. What if he simply lured the wolf
here and then killed him? That would work.

But drugging the wolf would be better.
Then he could bring him back here, tie him up, and make him pay for all the
things he’d made Rich suffer through. He had a long list too.

Okay
, he thought, and started to make
a list in the dirt. Drugs. He’d have to find something that would knock him out
completely without killing him. Rich liked the idea of bringing him to heel and,
the more he thought about it, the better he liked it. He thought about some of
the drugs he’d taken recently and decided that he’d be better off getting
something that didn’t enhance his abilities and only put him down. At least for
a little while.