The Alpha's Justice

by Michelle Fox

  Gretchen’s face twisted with distaste. “I’m not dressing up like a furry porno star again.”

  “No, no more costumes.”

  “Thank goodness. You should have seen how those humans were looking at me.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “They had this gleam in their eyes like they wondered what it would be like to do me.”

  Talon’s grip on the steering wheel tightened while his wolf began to growl and snap his teeth. “You should have told me. I would have given them something else to worry about.” The steering wheel quivered against his palms and he forced himself to relax before he snapped the thing in half. “No one touches you. No one hurts you.”

  “And yet, you’re the one refusing to defend me and my family,” she said, her eyebrow arched. “I believe that’s the definition of irony. How can we be fated mates if you’re arguing with me about protecting my dad?”

  He gritted his teeth and took several deep breaths. “I have to follow the law.”

  “Even if that means getting my dad killed?”

  “No matter what, I will protect you and your dad,” he said, meaning every word. “But not in my role as sheriff.”

  “What does that mean?” She gave him a cross look, apparently failing to find his promises reassuring.

  “Simply that there are official avenues open to me for dealing with someone like Axel Sharpe that I can’t use for personal gain. You’re asking me to deal with Axel as a sheriff when none of the protocol has been followed.” She started to talk but he cut her off, “So I’m going to ask a small favor from you in return for me going out on a limb tonight.”

  “You’re not going out on a limb,” she muttered. “I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Maybe, but I have no proof.”

  “And if I’d kissed you back? Sank to my knees and sucked your cock into my mouth? Orgasmed when you called me your mate? Would that have made a difference?” She unbuckled her seat belt and slid closer to him. “I’ll play along if that will help. You’d do anything for your mate, right?”

  He pushed her away. “Put your seat belt back on.” He wanted her, but not that way. Never that way. Even his wolf had looked away, visibly upset.

  She yanked it over her shoulder, her expression sour. “Don’t say I didn’t try to make you happy.”

  “I don’t want a cheap fling,” he said, growls rolling through his vowel sounds. “You’re way more than that, Gretchen. I can feel it.”

  “Well, I can’t.” She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat.

  “Which brings me back to this favor you’re going to do for me.”

  “What?” Now she was growling, clearly frustrated with him.

  “Once I deal with Axel Sharpe, you’re going to let me kiss you without trying to find a way to kill me. If you still don’t feel it, then I’ll back off.”

  “Promise?” She gave him a sideways glance.

  “I promise.” He even held up his hand as he sent a little wish to the moon that he wouldn’t have to keep that promise, because it would suck.

  “We’re not mates,” she said. “We can kiss all you want but it won’t change anything.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because, like I said before, even though you refuse to get it through your thick skull,” she tapped her head, “there is no such thing as mates at first whiff. It’s a myth.”

  He glanced at her, struck by the pain he saw shining in her eyes. “What is your problem with love?”

  “Love doesn’t exist.”

  “Your last boyfriend must’ve been a real asshole.”

  “It wasn’t a boyfriend.” She was huddling against her door now, seeking to increase the space between them.

  Talon slowed his car and pulled over to the berm. Putting it in park, he said, “Then tell me, what happened?”

  “I don’t owe you that,” she said, her voice tight with anger. “Can we just get to Axel’s please? I want to go home.”

  “I’ll start moving again when you tell me what you’ve got against love and fated mates and basically everything that makes our species go around.”

  She wouldn’t talk at first, but he let her stew in silence. He’d dealt with enough strays to know how to draw them out. The trick was to be quiet and still until they couldn’t stand it anymore.

  Finally Gretchen sighed and said, “Fine. My mom split on me and my dad when I was five. Broke his heart. He was supposed to be her mate, but it didn’t mean anything. Not in the end.” She turned her head and stared out her window, her shoulders stiff. “That’s how I know love isn’t real. It’s just hormones. Now, can we go please?”

  Talon thought of several things to say and then clamped his mouth shut before any of it spilled out. Nothing seemed right. So instead, he started his car and hit the road again. Somehow he would show Gretchen there was something real and true between them. Her parents’ relationship didn’t determine her future. He just hoped her heart and mind were open enough to see it.

  Chapter Ten

  ~Gretchen~

  Axel Sharpe lived in a rundown farm-house overgrown by weeds. Any neighbors were a quarter mile or more away, but he wasn’t alone. Far from it judging by the cars that packed his lawn and the shouting coming from the backyard. Loud music boomed, too, and just like Jeb’s house earlier, there were bright exterior lights set up everywhere.

  Gretchen studied the house as Talon parked his car, wondering what Axel was up to. The bushes running along the front of his house gleamed white in the shadows. They were too dim to be Christmas lights, yet too bright to dismiss. She squinted, trying to puzzle out where the glow came from. “What’s going on?”

  Talon eased his Charger onto the side of the road and cut the engine. “Knowing Axel, it’s nothing good.”

  “Maybe he’s beating up someone else who owes him money,” she said, unbuckling her seat belt.

  “Could be. He would be the type to turn that into an event.” Talon held up his fingers and made air quotes around the word event. “He’d probably take bets too.” He opened his car door and stepped out.

  Gretchen shivered and followed suit, deciding at the last second to leave her purse behind. She wanted her hands free. “What’s the plan?”

  Talon surveyed the scene for a minute. “We shut down whatever this is and then I’ll lay down the law for him.”

  He strode off, leaving Gretchen to run to catch up. “You make it sound so simple,” she said, counting the cars sprawled all over Axel’s property. There were least fifteen and a distinct odor of unwashed, beer guzzling shifter hung in the air.

  “It’s never simple, but that’s what will happen. Stay close to me. There’s more going on here than I anticipated and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He pulled a gun from the small of his back. “Plus, since I’m here unofficially, I can’t call in back-up. We’re on our own.”

  Gretchen nodded and followed Talon as he picked his way through the yard. As they came up on the front of the house, she paused to get a closer look at the bushes. She gasped when she finally pieced together what she was seeing. Bones. Dozens of them, stripped clean and carefully hung in the brush with rough twine. “Umm, Talon?” She pointed to what looked like a human leg bone.

  “Yeah.” He turned back to look at her. Following the direction of her gaze, he leaned down and yanked one of the bones free.

  “That’s not good is it?” she asked.

  “Nope,” came Talon’s short reply. “But it doesn’t change our plan.” He tossed the bone away and motioned for her to follow him. “Come on. Don’t get sidetracked.”

  “He decorates his house with dead things,” she hissed at him. “You don’t think that’s a problem?”

  Talon just shrugged. “These bones are so old, they don’t even smell. It’s not an immediate threat.” He turned back to look at her once again. “Or do you want to wait in the car? Is that it? You’re scared?”

  Gretchen drew herself up to her full height, which didn’t acc
omplish much given that Talon was a good head taller than her. Still, she had her pride and he’d just insulted it. She would stand as tall as she could. “I’m not scared. I’m horrified, but not terrified. I’m not going to hide in the car either.”

  Talon tapped a finger by his eye. “Then focus, Halbmond. This isn’t the time to get lost in the small details. It’s just the two of us against whatever’s going on here. We can’t afford to get distracted.” He walked on, his stride long and full of purpose. Clearly, he didn’t plan on waiting for her anymore.

  Gretchen hastened to catch up to him, not wanting to be left alone with Axel’s gruesome lawn ornaments. They crept around to the back of the house, same as they’d done earlier that night with the human monster hunter. This is getting to be a theme, Gretchen thought. One I would prefer to avoid. She could not wait until this was all over and she could get back into a kitchen.

  “I’m going to bake a shitload of cookies and cakes when this is over,” she muttered under her breath. By her estimate, she needed to bake a few dozen cookies, a couple of layer cakes and mix some big batches of ice cream to feel normal again.

  Talon heard her and gave her a puzzled look. “What are you going on about?”

  “Nothing.” Her cheeks grew hot.

  “We’re not planning a menu here, okay?”

  “I know. It’s just…baking is my coping mechanism.” She bit her lip, worrying it back and forth.

  “Bake me some brownies then, but later, okay? Until we’re done here, can we please stay on task?” he asked, his tone aggrieved. Then, his expression softening, he put a thumb on her lower lip and tugged it free from her teeth. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he ran his thumb over her mouth. “Relax, Halbmond. I got this. It’s going to be okay, all right?”

  She just nodded, too embarrassed to say anything. Not to mention, the way he’d touched her had been so tender and full of kindness it had rocked her a bit. It set off the same fireworks in her system that their kisses had. Her wolf had perked up, too, very happy with attention from the alpha male she liked so much.

  Talon took her hand in his and pulled her after him. They rounded the corner and entered the backyard which was crowded with shifters, packed in like they turned into sardines when they shifted. No one noticed their arrival, they were too focused on a boxing ring of sorts in the middle of the yard. Made up of wooden posts and coarse rope, the ring had a dirt floor and not much else. If there’d been grass, all the fighting had worn it down to nothing.

  The sounds of growling, crowing and snarling filled the air. Gretchen sniffed and caught the pungent smell of hot excitement. Something had stirred their blood and brought their beasts to the forefront. Her other half hadn’t missed it either and paced back and forth, keeping a wary eye on the world outside.

  “What’s going on here?” she asked as Talon drew her back into the shadows of a nearby tree. Tilting her head back, she noted that yep, this tree also had a macabre garland of bones. Nice.

  “Fight club,” Talon whispered.

  “Is that where the bones come from?” She sidled closer to Talon, wanting the protection of his powerful bulk. Her wolf winked at her. It’s not like that. It doesn’t mean anything. At that, her wolf gave Gretchen a stern look. Gretchen gave up. Wolves didn’t reason, they went by instinct. All she could do was keep her wolf contained as much as possible.

  His expression grim, Talon said, “Probably. Outside of an alpha challenge, fighting to the death is illegal, but technicalities aren’t something Axel worries about.”

  A pitiful yowl sounded. Gretchen leaned forward, eyes narrowed as she tried to see past the crowd into the ring. A tall man, with ratty hair circling a bald spot, stepped into the center of the dirt mound. His stained tank top revealed muscular, but pale arms and the waistband of his jeans cradled a beer gut. The man held a dog and it was bleeding from multiple wounds running along its body. The animal slumped in his arms, giving a soft whine as the man thrust the dog over his head and spun a slow circle, showing off the dog’s wounds.

  “What’s happening?” she whispered to Talon.

  “Dog fight. They’re betting on the dogs. There’s the bookie over there.” Talon pointed with his chin toward a short, rotund shifter. He sat behind a card table, talking to the shifters who approached him and writing something in a book. Another shifter next to him passed out what looked like receipts.

  Gretchen swallowed, feeling sick. She’d caught a glimpse of the dog’s face and the bloody emptiness where one eye should have been. A cawing sounded as another man appeared in the ring, a large rooster in his arms. The bird strained to flap its wings and pecked at his captor’s arms, trying to break free.

  The man holding the dog, began to shout. “Tonight, we give you the ultimate fight, the fight of champions. Rocky the rooster, undefeated, and Bruiser the pit bull, also undefeated. Both of these champions will enter the ring, but only one will leave alive.”

  “Too bad they couldn’t get Rita in there,” muttered one of the men standing in front of their hiding spot.

  “Rita the python?” said his neighbor. “That would be interesting, but slow. Give me an alligator. Now that would be some serious fighting action.”

  “Or how about a pit, a rooster, Rita and an alligator,” countered the other man, ticking the competitors off on his fingers.

  “That would be cool. I would pay to see that.”

  “Yeah, me too. I’ll mention it to Axel.”

  “Don’t they have anything better to do than torture innocent animals?” Gretchen said to Talon.

  “Yeah, when this gets boring, they fight each other,” Talon said, his mouth a grim line.

  A bell rang signaling the release of the animals in the ring. Their handlers quickly backed off, climbing over the ropes to get away from the beasts they had unleashed. The rooster ran at the pit bull who growled and lunged for the bird’s throat. There was a squawk and feathers flew in the air, but neither animal was hurt. They rounded each other, looking for an opening, the pit bull slinking low to the ground while the rooster strutted in a circle, neck bobbing.

  “So where’s Axel?” she asked, anxious to leave before one or both of the animals met a grisly end. She’d done her share of hunting while in wolf form, but those were animals to eat, not set against each other and take bets on.

  “He was the one with the dog,” Talon said. “And I believe that man over there is your alpha isn’t it?”

  “What?” She followed the direction of Talon’s gaze and jumped, startled to see that he was right. Her alpha, Cal, stood with the rest of the spectators, his attention focused on the ring. “What’s he doing here?”

  “I don’t know. This isn’t a stray crowd,” Talon said. He pointed to several shifters in turn. “I recognize a lot of pack members.”

  Gretchen gasped as her alpha slumped to the ground without warning. She would’ve run to him, but Talon caught her around the waist and held her back. She tried to shake him off. “Let me go.”

  “I can’t. You’ll blow what advantage we have,” Talon said, his voice low in her ear. “They don’t know we’re here. Let’s keep it that way until we have some kind of plan formulated. And look, your alpha’s fine.”

  Some of the tension between her shoulder blades eased when she saw two shifters help her alpha to his feet. His eyes were open and he even spoke to the men, waving off their help. He took a few steps toward the ring on unsteady feet and began to fall again. The same men as before rushed in to sling his arms over their shoulders. They walked him to the edge of the crowd and over to the bookie.

  “Your alpha drink a lot?” Talon asked.

  Gretchen shook her head. “No. Not that I know of.”

  “He doesn’t look right.” Talon pointed out a few more men who also seemed to be having trouble walking. “And he’s not alone.”

  “Well, I guess we know why you haven’t heard from my alpha now. He’s been sucked into whatever this is.” She put her hands on her hips and ga
ve him a stern look. “So do you believe me now? Are we square on the fact that I’ve been telling you the truth this whole time?”

  Talon nodded again. “Yeah, we’re square.”

  “Good.” She scanned the crowd, noting that a lot of shifters were oddly unsteady on their feet. “So, do you think they’re all drunk?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “What else could it be?” She turned to look up at him, wanting to see his face, but his expression was guarded.

  Catching sight of a man moving through the crowd, offering beers to people, Talon let her go. “Let’s find out.” He stepped in front of her and waited until the free beer came to their side of the ring. Moving so fast he was no more than a streaking blur, he darted out, grabbed the man and yanked him back under the tree.

  “What the fu—” the man started, but Talon cut him off.

  “I just want some beer, man.” He took a bottle and sniffed it. “What’s in here?”

  “Uh, beer?” the man said. He tried to back away from Talon, but the sheriff expertly headed him off and herded him toward the tree trunk. The man held up his hands and kept his gaze down in submission. “What’s your problem, man?”

  Talon handed the bottle to Gretchen. “Smell this.”

  She did as he asked. The sour scent of beer hit her first, but underneath it was a faint acidic note. “What is it?” She rubbed her nose to clear her sinuses.

  “Roofies,” Talon said. “Isn’t that right?”

  The man shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I only serve them. That’s it.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t mind drinking this then, would you?” Talon advanced on the man and putting a hand on his shoulder, pinned him against the tree trunk.

  “I’m good, man. If Axel finds me drinking on the job, I’ll get beat down good.” He turned his head, trying to evade the bottle Talon held to his lips.

  “What’s your name?” Talon asked.

  “Jay.”

  “Jay who? What pack are you from?”