Untamed Force (Force of Nature Series) (12 page)

His cock lurched in her. Knowing that he’d
reached even his limits he surged again. This time he felt her come; her entire
body tensed for several seconds before she started to scream. Dallas bit her,
sank his canines deep and then bit harder still. Her strangled scream this time
told him what his body already knew.

She was his.

Their climax went on. And when she bit
him in the shoulder he held his teeth into her flesh. His own body was trying
to give her its all and he nearly blacked out twice when she screamed again. After
her body and his settled he released her throat. Then licked the blood clean
and sealed the wound. There was a mark there this time, a scar already forming
so that anyone looking at her would know she belonged to someone, belonged to
him. He lifted his eyes to hers and looked down at her sleeping form.

Blood still stained her own mouth. Her
lips were swollen from biting him. Dallas couldn’t help but stare at her,
knowing that for as long as they lived this memory, this picture of her in his
mind, would be the one that stayed with him through death. He kissed her gently
on the mouth and left her body.

Standing up, Dallas walked to the Jeep. There
were clothes there, a bag that was now in each car they had, as well as hidden
in a few places in the forest. And there, on the seat was a set of clothes for
Stacy. He grinned when he looked back at her. She’d planned to seduce him, the
little vixen. Dressing quickly, he picked her up and put her in the back seat. She
didn’t even stir. Getting into the Jeep he found himself whistling all the way
back to his house. Dallas was in love and didn’t care who knew it.

~~~

Connor looked over the bags lying on the
floor, then at the money stacked up on the table. Well, in this case, tables. He’d
never seen so much money that wasn’t directly attached to a drug bust. He
decided he should say something, but for the life of him couldn’t think what it
would be but, “
wow
.”

“What do you think he did to get so much
of this? I mean, there is over ninety million dollars here. Even if he
collected monies annually like Georgia said, that’s a shit ton of money to
amass over twenty years.” Myles picked up a stack of fifties. “She said they
had to pay an annual fee of what? Half their income? What the hell were these
people doing that paid so fucking well?”

“There were a lot more of them when the
pack was with his predecessor.” Stacy moved in the room slowly and with grace,
as she did everything, he’d noticed. Then he saw her scar, looked to his
brother, and smiled as she continued. “The pack was huge, nearly ten thousand
strong. Then over the years the numbers began to…lower. I think now it had more
to do with deaths than people moving on.”

“We’ve come across several more mass
graves. All of them with the driver’s licenses in a steel box and when they
were young, too young to do more than be a body count, there were certificates
of birth.” Myles nodded toward several large boxes grimly. “Most of those we
have found over the past few days and, according to your uncle, there are a
great many more. Do you think Sterling knows about that money? Do you think it’s
possible that Harvey put it there in hopes of getting away on his own?”

Connor shook his head at Myles’
questions.

“Then why save it that way? Why not…I
don’t know, bank it?”

“My uncle said that he and his mate had
decided to leave earlier the morning she was murdered. He said that he had made
the mistake of going to my father and telling him that they were not happy and
that they would like to go out to find another pack, maybe become the alpha
after a few years.” She reached for Dallas’ hand and held it as she continued.
“He told me that he had been assigned another duty, this one that took him out
to the far reaches of the territory. He would be gone for two days. Before he
had gotten halfway to the place he was to be he felt his mate’s cry. By the
time he had gotten back it was too late.”

“So your father killed his own brother’s
mate and child.” Austin stood up to pace. He’d been so quiet all morning that
Connor had forgotten he was even there. “Then what, he started to give him
drugs to make him do all the dirty work that his alpha needed?”

It wasn’t a question, but Stacy answered
anyway. “Yes. He said that he had started off giving him something to sleep.
Then something more to keep him awake during the day. Uncle Harvey said that by
then he had not cared. He wanted to forget.” Stacy looked at Dallas, and Connor
knew that whatever was said next wasn’t easy for the girl. “My father had him
dispose, that is what he called it
dispose,
of his own wife and unborn
child. He told me that he’d never felt such anguish. His daughter had died in
the womb, but his wife had not been dead when he’d made it back to his home. She
died in his arms, loving him for being there for her. I believe that alone has
made him what he is.”

“Mother fuck,” Austin exploded, then
took several deep breaths. When his wolf started to surface, all of them felt
him. It was a powerful emotion to bring a wolf to front for an alpha. “Stacy,
do you know if Harvey remembers where she’s buried?”

“Yes. She and his daughter are not in
the mass graves as my father thinks, but in one that he dug on his own. He said
that they are on your property and that he visits them when he can.” She looked
up at Austin. “You will not move them, will you, alpha? That is all that keeps
him from joining them, knowing that they are close and not with the others.”

“Of course not. And as soon as this mess
is over, we’ll erect a marker in their honor. But we have to take care of this
man. Do we have any idea where he is? I thought by now he would have taken the
bait and come here for what he considers his property.” Stacy didn’t answer and
no one else knew either.

“What about all of this? I’m honestly
not sure how I feel about this. The money belongs to the pack and the pack is
now yours. I’m sure that’s how it works, right?” All of them nodded at Myles’
question. “Then I guess our next question should be, how do you use it?”

“Buildings first and foremost. I have
some construction companies working on that now. And I’ve just been informed
that a large section of land to the south of us came to the pack this morning.”
Austin looked pointedly at Stacy. “It seems that someone donated it as a member
of the pack.”

“It belonged to me to use as I saw fit. I
do not have to explain myself to you. Should you not want it then I am sure
that there are any number of packs or businesses that would—”

“Simmer down. I was kidding you. Yes, I
want it…we want it. There are several hundred acres there that we can use.” Austin
kissed Stacy’s cheek then frowned at Dallas when he growled. “Sorry. I was only
happy is all. Anyway—”

The phone ringing startled them all. His
mom walked into the room and reached for it just as it rang a second time. She
was smiling when she answered and it suddenly turned to a frown. She looked at
him when she handed him the phone.

“The house and building are gone, Mrs.
Force. All of it.” Connor couldn’t understand what was going on, but he did
recognize the voice, one of the officers that he’d worked for with the police.
“Been trying to contact Connor all morning and he ain’t answering his phone. His
house is a’burning right now.”

Connor calmed the man then hung up a few
minutes later. He looked at his family. “My house is gone. Someone set it to
flames about an hour ago, it seems, and then most of the studio went up as
well.”

“Ah, Connor, I’m so sorry.” Austin
pulled him into a hug, but all he felt was numbness. Everything he had, owned,
and things he’d never replace, were gone.

He looked at his family. “What am I
supposed to do now?” No one answered because they didn’t know either. “I’m
homeless. I didn’t much care for my house, but the things in it? Things that
were Dad’s and our grandparents’ are all gone.” He moved to the yard to go home,
to see what was there or not there, and was nearly in the car when he felt
someone pushing him to the passenger’s side. His family piled into the big SUV
and helped him buckle. All he wanted to do was go alone, but was suddenly glad
they were going too.

It was a mess. The fire department had
done a good job of keeping it out of the forest surrounding his home, but it
had been a total loss on his house. The studio, where he made molds for things
and did some art when he had time, was mostly destroyed, but the back and the
basement were still there. Very little, however, escaped the smoke damage and
water. He stood back and watched as the last wall in his home fell.

Connor was staring at Phil before he
realized the man was there. He knew the man was speaking, but wasn’t entirely
sure what he was saying until he shook him. Connor bit his tongue he’d been
rattled so hard. Phil finally got through to him.

“I said this is what I could get. I
reported the fire, but there was no way that I could save it all.” Connor
looked at the pile of things lying on the ground. “I’m just glad that last week
you showed me those things or I wouldn’t have had a clue what to grab first.”

Connor dropped to the ground and touched
the things lying there. His pictures in the large boxes that he’d been meaning
to hang and sort. There was his father’s rifle, the one that he’d shown Connor
how to shoot when he’d turned thirteen. A shirt that had been his grandda’s
that lay on the back of the couch, a cookbook that his grandmother had given
him when he’d moved into the house. Connor stood up and grabbed the big vamp.

“You couldn’t have…I don’t know…you’ve
no idea what you’ve done for me. It’s all here. All of the treasures that I
have… Oh Phil, I can’t begin to tell you what this means to me.”

Phil nodded and pulled away. The man was
either going to have to get used to hugs or he was forever going to be
uncomfortable. As soon as he was within reach of the others, each of them
grabbed him up and pulled him to their bodies. By the time he’d made the rounds
the poor man was flustered and out of sorts. Funny, but Connor had a feeling
that the man probably loved it as much as he complained about it.

The house was finally out. The fire hadn’t
burned long because it wasn’t really all that big, one bedroom, kitchen, living
room, great room, and a bath. And it was made of logs. Connor listened as the fire
marshal told his attorney, Phil it just so happened, that the fire was set and
that, pending an investigation, he was willing to bet it came back as gasoline
was used as the accelerant.

“I know you weren’t involved. Been in
this business long enough to know when a man has lost it all. Besides, you were
just telling me how much you put into it this summer when the storms came a’busting
through. New roof and all, I’d say you had more invested in the house than you’ll
get from insurance. Unless, of course, you had one of them riders on it.”

“He did. All the houses that I help with
do. I make sure they have them.” Phil winked at him. “Thanks, Roger. I’ll make
sure I get the claim in as soon as you close on this and I’ll make sure I tell
the mayor what a great job you and your boys did to keep this under control. Fire
like this could have been a lot nastier if it had gotten away.”

Connor didn’t care, nor did he
understand what the men were talking about. A rider? No clue. He was simply
happy that he had some of his things left.

Chapter 10

Rich was laughing so hard he nearly
missed where he’d been staying. The cave looked much like all the others in the
area and he’d been distracted. He’d finally had some payback.

The only thing he regretted were the
burns on his arms. The stupid fire had gotten away from him and he’d nearly not
made it out of the house alive. But he’d made the bastard pay. Much better than
he’d ever dreamed he would.

He’d seen the man coming out of the
house earlier that morning. It had only taken him a little while to figure out
it was the same man that had been at his own home only days before. The bastard
Austin Force. There, of course, had been some slight differences, too small to
quibble over, but he knew it was him. Now all he had to do was wait, wait and
see how the man reacted to such news.

Rich looked down at the burns that hadn’t
healed when he’d shifted. They should have, but now they were sorer than
before. He wondered if the man had planted a trap in his house in the event
that he tried to burn it down. He wouldn’t put it past him. He peered harder at
them and saw that they were sort of seeping and looked bad. He smelled them and
all he could detect was soot and burning flesh. At times like these he wished
for his brother.

He’d been trying to contact Harvey every
day and still nothing. He didn’t think he was dead, but he also didn’t think he
was strong enough to go without the drugs for as long as he had. Unless, of
course, he was getting them from someone else, which would be surprising as
Harvey rarely left the compound and, when he did, it was only because Rich had
made him.

But for now he was content to think his
brother had been hurt badly in some sort of an accident and that was why he’d
not been answering him. No, the only reason that came to mind was that he was
going through detoxification somewhere and that was why he was unable to reach
him. Harvey had a lot to answer for. But Rich was willing to cut him some slack
if he returned soon and helped him gather his fold. But then he was as dead as
the rest.