by Grey, Aspen
“Maybe you should have stayed the fuck out of my business!”
“QUIET!” Clarice roared as she came running up from the basement, two units of blood in her hands. She handed Larcon a wad of gauze as she prepared the IV.
“Put this over the wound,” she instructed him as she found a vein in the crook of Tyson’s elbow. “Hold tight.”
“I know,” Larcon growled.
“What’s happening, Alex?” Blue whispered from behind me. “What—what is Larcon doing here?”
“He drugged you,” I replied, not letting my eyes waver from my enemy for a second. “He would have kidnapped you, taken you back to his compound and held you as part of his omega harem. Thank God I was in the right place at the right time.”
“You saved me?”
“I did,” I told him as Clarice stuck the IV into Tyson’s arm and began the transfusion. “Almost killed Tyson in the process. Thought I did actually.”
I couldn’t imagine how many questions were running through Blue’s mind, but there was no time for that right now. I had to focus on keeping him safe, and although Larcon was occupied at the moment with keeping his packmate alive, that would all change soon and there was no telling what he might do. Also, Blue’s father was on the way, and if this mess was going on when he showed up…
“There,” Clarice said as she pressed a hand to Tyson’s forehead as the blood began to flow. “Breathe, proud wolf. Breathe. You will survive.”
Proud wolf, I thought with disgust. That was always the way Clarice spoke to her patients when their wounds were severe. Tyson may have been proud in his own way, but he was a cowardly bastard who attacked from behind. If Clarice was calm now, it meant he would live, but I wouldn’t have been upset if the opposite had been true.
“Is he going to make it?” Larcon asked quickly.
“He is,” Clarice nodded. “But he’ll have to stay here for at least a half a day before he’s back on his feet.”
Shifter healing was accelerated. A wound like that would lay up a human for weeks, maybe more. But Tyson would be back to normal in a few days, and as Clarice said, on his feet by tomorrow.
“Impossible,” Eric replied. “He can’t stay here.”
“Agreed,” I added. “Blue’s father is on his way. They cannot be here when he arrives.”
“He can’t be moved,” Clarice protested. “It’s too dangerous—”
“No,” Larcon interrupted. “Alex and Eric are right. Tyson cannot stay here.”
It sounded as though he was agreeing with us, but the tone in his voice was really saying that he didn’t want Tyson here with us. What were we, lepers? Did we have the plague or something? Clarice saves his life and he still doesn’t trust us with his pathetic little alpha?
“Good,” I agreed. “We will get him in the back of that compensating truck of yours and you can leave.”
“Perfect,” Larcon sneered, showing his teeth. It was a ballsy (or stupid) move to do that in full view of my entire pack. Had we been a less honorable bunch, we could take that as a sign of hostility and tear him to pieces right then and there. But we respected the peace, even if it was a reluctant respect, and I simply stared back at him.
“I’ll help,” Jasper volunteered, going around to Tyson’s side.
“Do we really have to move him now?” Clarice protested.
“Yes,” I replied quickly. “We do.”
Blue’s father was on his way, and if there was a possibility of me not completely destroying any chance at making a good impression on him, I couldn’t have a naked, bloodied man lying on my living room floor.
Tyrese returned with some towels, which he handed to Eric, and he and Jasper helped Larcon lift the wounded Tyson carefully, setting the units of blood on his chest, and carried him out the door to Larcon’s ridiculously redneck truck. I felt slight relief as he exited the house and sat back down next to my fated-mate. I didn’t budge from Blue’s side as they loaded the big oaf into the truck bed and Larcon pulled away, slowly turning around in our driveway so as not to disturb his precious cargo.
“Yeah, I hope a tractor trailer runs you over on your way back,” I muttered as the boys came back inside.
“Lovely decoration,” Eric said sarcastically, tossing me one of the towels as he began to mop up the blood Tyson had left on our beautiful hardwood floors. “We’re going to need soap and water.”
“I’ve got it,” Jasper replied, always ready to lend a hand. I turned around to Blue and put a hand on his chest. His heart was racing. He was probably terrified and confused, thrown into a conflict he did not understand. I knew I had a lot of explaining to do, but right now, I was more concerned with meeting his father. If I blew that, everything would get a lot harder.
“I’m sorry you got caught up in all of this,” I told him, gently caressing his cheek. As I touched him, I felt an incredible lust flare within me. It had been there all along, but had been masked by the layers of fierce hatred, anger and adrenaline. It didn’t help that I was naked either. Before he could reply, I got to my feet, fully aware that I was completely exposing myself to him. “I should put some clothes on before your dad arrives.”
“Y-yeah,” he stammered. “That’s probably a good idea.”
As painful as it was, I left him in the living room and took the stairs quickly up to my room. I stepped into the walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of black pants and a loose-neck black t-shirt and slid into them, not even bothering with underwear.
I glanced at myself in my bathroom mirror and saw that I looked like I’d just gone eight rounds with Pacquiao, so I splashed some water on my face and did my best to fix my hair before heading back downstairs. Hopefully I’d have a few minutes to prepare myself mentally before Blue’s father arrived, but no such luck. Just as I stepped into the living room, I heard a knock at the door.
I looked down the stairs to see a friendly, but very concerned-looking father standing there looking in and took a deep breath.
Here we go.
Chapter Eight
Blue
To say I felt lost would be an understatement. I was a ship in an uncharted ocean with no map, no stars to guide myself by, and only a single bit of hope and light on the deck, and that was Alexander. But there was only so much my fated-mate had told me, and so much I still did not understand. I didn’t even know how I was going to explain myself and my stupidity to my father.
Yeah, dad, I just climbed in the truck with a random alpha I’d never met and accepted a drink from him at a deserted dive bar.
That would go over well!
Yeah, he drugged me and was going to kidnap me when Alexander saved me, almost killed the alpha’s friend, took me back here to his compound and then his packmate started blaming us for starting up a war with another shifter pack?
At least—that’s what I gathered was going on, but there was definitely more to it that I had yet to be told.
My dad knocked again, and as Alexander came down the stairs—now wearing a perfectly fitting, simple but obviously expensive, set of black pants and a black t-shirt that hung flawlessly from his sculpted body—Jasper went over to the door and let him in.
“Welcome to our home,” he said simply, but my father pushed past him and raced over to my side.
“Blue!” he almost shouted, grabbing my head with both hands. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”
He turned around and looked back at Tyrese and Eric who were doing their best to not look like they were mopping up a pool of blood, but my father was no dummy.
“And what the fuck are they doing?”
“It’s okay, dad,” I told him. “Everything’s fine now. I’m all right.”
“He’s in good hands, Mr. Mitchell,” Alexander said confidently as he strode quickly over to my father with his hand outstretched. But my dad didn’t take his hand. Instead, he actually stepped back and put himself between us.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked angrily. “Where’s the lady who call
ed me?”
“I’m here!” Clarice said quickly with a friendly wave. “I’m Clarice.”
“And I’m Alexander, Mr. Mitchell. I’m the one who saved your son.”
“Saved him?” he repeated. He turned to me, his eyes filled with confusion and concern that almost made my heart break. If I hadn’t still been so nauseous, I would have leapt onto him and given him a big hug.
“I fucked up, dad—”
“Screwed up,” he corrected me.
“I screwed up, dad,” I repeated with a slight smile. “You know how I texted you and told you I was with another shifter? Well…he turned out to be…not so nice.”
“That’s an understatement,” Eric said under his breath.
“What did he do? Did he hurt you?”
“He…drugged me,” I told him. The words tasted like bitter sorrow as they slid off my tongue. I watched the horror come over my father’s face as he listened. “He took me for a drink down at a bar, and I know I shouldn’t have gone, but I was just so desperate for a friend…a shifter who I could relate to, ya know? I only had a couple of sips before I passed out.”
My father put a hand to his forehead and I suddenly felt even worse, even more embarrassed than I had been. It was exactly the kind of story a parent never wanted to hear from their child, especially one who wasn’t yet out of high school.
“Jesus, Blue…”
He sat down beside me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. After a moment he put an arm around me.
“Luckily I was in town,” Alexander said slowly. “I came in and saw what was happening and got him out of there.”
My father wasn’t stupid. He looked up and pointed to the blood which Tyrese and Eric were almost finished cleaning up, now using soap and water from a bucket Jasper had brought in from the kitchen.
“Is that what this is?”
Alexander nodded. “Almost had to kill one of them.”
“But you didn’t? You what—took him back here and stitched him up?”
“I took care of him,” Clarice replied. “I’m the only shifter doctor in the area. I provide help to those who need it.”
“Even those who try to drug and kidnap my boy?” my father snapped. He was furious, and rightfully so. Clarice didn’t respond. In fact, no one did for a moment. It was best to let him get it out of his system. There was still much more to talk about.
“Dad,” I finally said, taking his hand. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
I looked up at Alexander, his scent swimming through my nostrils like a school of sparkling golden fish that lit up my soul like a thousand fireworks.
“It’s…it’s really important,” I said, trying to find the words. “And, uhm…well there’s no real way to say it, so I guess I’ll just—Alexander is my fated-mate.”
My father’s reaction was not what I’d expected.
Part of me thought he would be happy (a small part of me admittedly) and another part of me thought he would deny such a thing even existed, call me a crazy lovesick child and tell me I’d lost my mind. But he did neither. In fact, he didn’t even respond. Instead, he reached out, took me by the shoulder, lifted me to my feet and walked me quickly towards the door.
“W—wait, dad!”
“No, you don’t get to talk anymore,” he said fiercely.
“Mr. Mitchell!”
“You either, Alex!” he snapped as he tugged me out the door and into the pouring rain. My legs were barely working and he had to practically tug me the short distance to his truck. “I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve cast on my boy here, or what kind of crazy game you’re playing, but he’s coming home with me right now!”
“Dad!” I protested, but it was too late. Dad was on a mission. He all but threw me into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind me. He pointed to Alexander and the rest of his pack, who were now clustered in the doorway as he came around, and got in beside me.
“I don’t want to see any of you again, you hear me?” he roared as he floored the gas. “Never again!”
“Alexander!” I cried out, but it was too late. The old truck lurched forward, the tires spinning on the wet pavement, and we were speeding away back down the mountain towards town.
“No!” I screamed as tears fell from my eyes like the rain fell from the sky. “Why did you do that? Why?”
“Quiet!” my dad snapped, raising a finger to my face. My father had never hit me, not once, but he was angrier than I’d ever seen him before in my life and I knew better than to say anything more.
Instead, feeling like the child I was, I cried.
Chapter Nine
Alexander
The pain in my heart was almost too much to bear as I watched the old truck vanish into the falling rain. I stood there a long time after it was gone, letting the falling droplets soak my fresh clothes. I didn’t care. Clothes could be replaced, a fated-mate could not.
Never again!
That’s what Blue’s father had said to me. He never wanted me near his son again, and part of me honestly didn’t blame him.
I didn’t have a child, but I could imagine what it would feel like to bring a boy into this world and then be forever worried about his safety. I was fairly certain Blue and his father were brand new to this town, which meant they were already going through a lot as it was, and then to have this dropped in his lap…
“I’m sorry, sir,” I said into the rain, wishing my words could reach Blue’s father as he sped away from us—from me—forever…as far as he was concerned.
“You fucking happy now?” Eric asked angrily from behind me. I turned around to see him standing in the doorway, a mountain of bloody towels in his hand. “You got this close to starting another war with the Kurrens, breaking the peace we’ve had for over twenty years, and for what?”
“Eric,” I warned him. “Don’t.”
“For a fucking omega who you’re never even going to see again!” he continued. “His dad came in here and fucking took him from you, and he’s never giving him back!”
“Eric…”
“You’re really going to let a piece of ass destroy everything we’ve built?”
My fist slammed into his lips, shutting him up and knocking him on his ass. Eric was tall and strong, like me, but he hadn’t been expecting the punch. I stepped over him and began to strip off my wet clothes.
“I told you don’t,” I said over my shoulder as I made my way back upstairs to my bedroom.
Everything in my room suddenly looked like something I could sink my fist into. My record player, my bonsai plant, the bookcase, the Eames chair in the corner—if I wasn’t so good at controlling myself, I could have smashed it all to pieces. On the outside I was keeping it together, but on the inside I was an overheating steam engine ready to burst.
“Knock, knock,” Clarice said from the door.
“Hey,” I said, not turning around. My bedroom had a plate glass door that led to a balcony that overlooked the woods. I kept my eyes on one single pine tree and tried to count its tiny branches as the rain fell down—anything to keep my mind off what had just happened.
“Can I come in?” she asked. I nodded, but of course she didn’t wait for an answer anyway. She took my side and wrapped a maternal arm around my waist. In a house full of guys, it was nice to have some true feminine energy from time to time. “He’ll be back. His father was just overreacting.”
“I blew it,” I told her. “I should have met him outside and prepared him—given Tyrese and Eric time to clean up the blood…”
“There was no time. By the time we got Larcon out of here, he was pulling in. It’s a miracle he didn’t run into them when we were bringing Tyson out to the truck!”
“Yeah…” I replied. I didn’t mean it though. All I could see was Mr. Mitchell’s angry face as he pointed at me.
Never again!
“Eric’s really pissed,” I told her.
“He is,” she agreed. Clarice wasn’t one for bull
shitting. “But he’ll calm down.”
“He thinks I’ve broken the peace—that I’ve started the war again.”
“He may be right,” Clarice replied. I looked down at her with surprise. I hadn’t expected that response. “But if you ask me, you did what you had to do. We can’t simply ignore the fact that Larcon is kidnapping omegas and keeping them as part of his harem, especially if one of them happens to be your fated-mate. I mean, what were you supposed to do? Just let him take Blue?”
“Right?” I blurted out, giving her a huge hug. “I mean—how can Eric think I would ever want to start the war again? The war took everything from me!”
“Maybe he thinks you want revenge,” Clarice suggested.
“Nonsense.”
“You should talk to him. He’ll listen.”
“Tomorrow,” I replied, breaking our embrace and slumping down on my bed. She sat down beside me as I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled. “Right now I need to clear my head. If I get into it with him now, we’re just going to go round and round in circles.”
“It probably doesn’t help that his lip is bleeding either,” Clarice joked.
I chuckled. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“He’s a big boy. He’ll be all right.”
“I just—I just wish I could talk to him,” I sighed, meaning Blue not Eric. “Tell him that everything will be okay and I wasn’t going to forget him. I will see him again, Clarice!”
“I know you will, babe,” she said, kissing me gently on the temple. “And no matter what happens with Larcon, this pack will stick behind you.”
“Eric thinks he’s our leader,” I replied. “But he doesn’t act like one.”
Clarice thought for a moment before she responded. “We were rudderless after Hector left. Someone had to step up.”
“And you’re saying Eric has stepped up?”
“I’m saying…he’s trying,” she said. “Maybe if somebody doesn’t think he’s the right man for the job, that somebody could step up and make a better effort.”
