Eye on the Prize [Alpha Eye 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Fel Fern

  Winter patted his shoulder, and he snarled. The other man didn’t flinch, merely met his own gaze. “Calm down. You won’t be of much help to Tom like that.”

  Winter made an excellent point. What felt like hours later, but in reality was only fifteen minutes, Diaz got back to him.

  “Okay, I ran a check on Morris’s files. He used his American Express to get a room at a motel downtown. I’ll text you the details.”

  His phone beeped moments, Diaz’s promised information.

  “Thanks, Diaz. I owe you one.”

  “I’ll take you up on that promise one day.”

  He ended the call, opened the phone to see the address and started the engine. His heart raced as he considered the situation with a clear mind. Bradley was reckless, taking such a fancy car and using his own card, but that also meant the other shifter could be unpredictable, which made him dangerous.

  Raul swore under his breath. “I should have paid more attention to all the negative press Bradley’s been getting. Maybe that pushed him over the edge.”

  “No one could have predicted a guy like that to break,” Winter told him. “Don’t blame yourself.”

  “You don’t understand. Only minutes ago, I kissed Tom good-bye. Since then, Asher got shot and Tom got taken. How could so many things happen at once?”

  He shook his head. Raul knew blaming himself would get him nowhere. They arrived at the location fifteen minutes later. He parked the car and looked out the window. It was a second-hand Toyota, the blue so faded it appeared gray, but even he wouldn’t trust to leave it in this neighborhood. He spotted Bradley’s flashy red car further down the road and a few youths eying it.

  Wouldn’t it be sweet revenge, if Bradley’s car got stolen? Bradley must really be not in the right state of mind, to leave such an expensive vehicle on the road. Something in the other shifter had cracked, he realized. Raul didn’t care what triggered it. The only thing that mattered was rescuing his mate and teaching that son-of-a-bitch a valuable lesson—that no one messed with his mate.

  They got out. It was daylight, but the neon sign of the Cloudy Day motel kept on flashing. He strode inside, knowing Winter followed him.

  “Raul,” Winter said in that same calm voice. “Let me handle talking to reception. Violence isn’t the answer.”

  “Yet,” he conceded.

  Winter nodded, then walked up to the middle-aged, balding man behind the desk. He stood to one side, studying the worn-out lobby. Nothing of note. It looked like every flea-bitten run-down motel in the city, the perfect venture for a one-night-stand or to crash the night before moving on somewhere else.

  Seconds later, Winter slipped a couple of twenties across the counter and the man grabbed it, counted it, before taking out a key from under a drawer. The guy returned to watching porn on his phone by the time Winter reached Raul. The good thing about these kind of places, was no one would blink an eye.

  “Third floor, room eleven,” Winter said. They headed to the elevator, his nerves shot. “Raul, what’s the plan?”

  The plan? Raul wanted to smash that door to splinters and rip out Bradley’s throat, but he thought about Winter’s question further as the elevator doors slid open. Stealth was the better answer. Bradley didn’t know what would hit him, and if he ended Bradley’s life at this instant, it would be a quick trip to prison, especially since Diaz, a cop, had given him the location.

  “We go in, you retrieve Tom, and I handle Bradley.”

  Winter regarded him. “Are you going to kill him?”

  A practical question. If he went in that room right now, his wolf might get out of control. Right now, he was this close to letting the animal take over, to show Bradley he wasn’t afraid to use his fangs. Maybe he could rip out Bradley’s intimate parts first, hear the shifter scream before putting teeth to Bradley’s throat.

  Winter gripped his arm, making him growl. “Raul, you with me?”

  He shoved his wolf back. “Yeah, let’s go. Every second we’re standing in this hallway my imagination gets worse.”

  Thinking about what Bradley could be doing to his mate right now made him furious. A scream came from the room Bradley rented. His wolf hovered on the surface and this time, triggered by that sound that came from Tom’s throat, he didn’t hesitate in welcoming the shift. Fur covered his chest and shoulders. Claws emerged. Bones and organs shifted. Once he hit all fours, he went straight for the door, using the size of his body to break it down, an unstoppable force of nature.

  All hell broke loose.

  * * * *

  Sweat dripped down Tom’s back. With his wrists cuffed to the bed by hard metal cuffs, he couldn’t move, could only watch as Bradley walked around the bed, a predator eyeing its prey. Bradley approached the edge. He lashed his foot out, doing no damage at all, because Bradley easily dodged it with a laugh.

  Golden eyes—so unlike Raul’s, because they were filled with cruel pleasure—made him shudder in revulsion. Bradley joined him in bed, easily pinning his legs down to prevent him from kicking.

  He sucked in a breath, then spat onto Bradley’s face. That only enraged Bradley. A fist slammed against his side, making it difficult to breathe for a couple of seconds.

  He gasped. Bradley opened his mouth, showing him sharp fangs. Dread coiled in his stomach as understanding of what Bradley was going to do dawned on him. It made sense. Bradley wanted to put his mate mark on him again, erase Raul’s, but unlike Raul, the method would be painful, even worse than the first time Bradley bit him. Tom could tell, because Bradley seemed to have little control over the animal inside him.

  “After you’re wearing my mark, I’m going to break your legs, so you won’t be able to run,” Bradley said with a growl.

  A shiver of fear crawled down his spine at those words. He had to do something, anything. Refusing to go out like a silent victim, Tom opened his mouth and let out a hoarse scream. Then, the room door slammed open, wood breaking into splinters. Something large, lethal, and covered in black fur leapt at Bradley, instantly knocking his ex off Tom.

  Recognition hit him at those golden eyes. “Raul!” he cried out.

  A second man entered. Winter, he realized, spotting the other shifter’s pale blond hair. Winter easily came by his side and held out a hand. He gasped when it turned partially to claws, but Winter only used it to slice off his restraints. The metal gave, freeing his hands. Alarmed at what was happening, he sat up, only to see Bradley shifting, suit shredding during the process.

  Now, it was two werewolves clawing at each other. He was about to get off the bed, but Winter shoved him back.

  “Don’t. You’ll get caught up in the mess and become gravely injured.” What Winter said made complete sense. A human stood no chance against a shifter, but he held his breath, terrified for Raul.

  Claws and fangs tangled. Both men scratched each other up good. He knew Bradley only felt jealousy the way a spoiled brat would feel envy when one of his toys had been stolen. It wasn’t the same for Raul. Raul fought for him, for them.

  “Winter, he’s going to win, right?” he dared to whisper.

  “Of course.”

  He didn’t think Bradley was capable of fighting, that Bradley was all talk and action. Winter was right, though. Raul ended up on top of Bradley, teeth clamped on Bradley’s throat. One rip and his mate might make the biggest mistake of his life. Tom dove for the gun that clattered on the floor when Bradley shifted.

  “Tom!” Winter yelled, tried to haul him back, but he hit the floor, grabbed the gun. With shaky hands, he pointed it at the two werewolves. “Raul, don’t, please. Kill him and you end up in prison. What’s going to happen to us?”

  Worse, Joshua Morris wouldn’t take kindly to the death of his son. He couldn’t let Raul kill Bradley for his sake. “Please, baby,” he pleaded, tears welling in his eyes. Miraculously, Raul halted, took his mouth off Bradley, to stare at him.

  Bradley took that opportunity to swipe at Raul’s neck. Blood welled, but it
wasn’t a critical injury. Raul got off Bradley. Bradley rose on all fours and he fired, shooting Bradley through the shoulder. Bradley howled, but he steadied his hands and said in a cold voice, “Don’t move, Bradley, or I’ll shoot you in the head next.”

  He was lying, of course, but Bradley believed it enough to freeze.

  “I’m calling the cops now,” Winter said behind him. “Keep the gun on Bradley. Raul, too, will make sure the asshole doesn’t make any sudden moves.”

  The next few minutes were most tense moments of his life. It felt like an eternity before the cops finally arrived on site. Winter seemed to have them on their side, because the detective in charge said to one of his men, one who wore the uniform of a paranormal cop, “Arrest the gold wolf, not the black.”

  He felt the brush of fur on his leg later. Tom let the gun go, relieved he didn’t need to use it again.

  “I shot Bradley in defense of Raul,” he told the detective.

  The man, who introduced himself as Detective Diaz, gave him a curt nod, but there was a reassuring smile on his lips. “We’ll sort this all out. I’m glad Raul managed to get to you in time.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Father,” Tom greeted, taking the seat in front of Johnson’s desk once more.

  Had it only been that recently, since he last threatened to leak his photos of Bradley cheating to the press? In the end, it didn’t matter, because after the announcement that they were no longer together, the press managed to dig up information about Bradley’s affairs.

  Raul insisted he sit on this meeting, but this was one thing Tom had to do alone. With the promise of letting Raul do what he wanted to him in bed later, Raul grudgingly agreed to sit in the waiting room. Ever since his kidnapping two days ago, his werewolf mate had been overprotective, watchful of him.

  He couldn’t blame Raul and welcomed the shifter’s presence, didn’t even argue when Raul took some time off his work to be with him. After the police caught Bradley and the press got wind of his kidnaping, it had been a media storm. One reporter even managed to take a shot of him, all bruised up and covered in a police blanket as Detective Diaz led him to the police cruiser.

  In the end, it helped stack the evidence against Bradley. Since then, reporters called the house all day and night. Raul had to disconnect the phone. Then, his father reached out, asking for a meeting.

  Now, he looked the man that shared his blood across the desk, unable to read anything on that grizzled face.

  “Let’s get the facts straight. I’m not going to retract my statement about what happened,” he finally said, breaking the silence.

  His father blinked. “I don’t expect you to, after all that happened.”

  Stunned, he stared. “What?”

  For the first time in his life, he glimpsed emotions he didn’t think he’d ever see on his father’s face—guilt and regret.

  He finally managed to find his tongue. “Why did you call me here?”

  “To apologize. If I’d known Bradley wasn’t stable, that he’d harbored psychotic tendencies, I wouldn’t have pushed you into mating him.”

  “Even if me mating him landed you that vital partnership with the Morris Corporation?” He looked his father in the eye. In the end, apologizing once had been his father’s limit. Tom had a feeling he’d never hear it again, but it didn’t matter.

  It wasn’t just his father to blame, because back then, he’d been foolish, naive to think that he had the power to make Bradley look his way. It was an error of judgement. He nodded. “We have anything else to discuss?”

  His father’s attention was back to the computer screen in front of his desk. Tom wasn’t offended. An apology was a big deal from Johnson Meadows. They’d come to some kind of understanding, at least.

  “And Joshua Morris?” he had to ask, because he also had to think of his and his mate’s future. Raul might be a powerful dominant shifter, but Joshua Morris was still Alpha of the city’s largest wolf pack.

  His father didn’t look at him as he spoke, “Joshua and I have spoken. He’s been harboring doubts about his son for a while now, had that theory proven true when one of his enforcers told him Bradley planned to overtake his position as Alpha.”

  “So, my mate and I needn’t worry about him?” He knew Raul, too, didn’t lower his defenses. Even now, his resourceful mate was the first to hear news if Joshua decided to move against them. A powerful man like Joshua could easily hire supernatural bounty hunters to make a quick end to them.

  “No. In fact, Joshua and my business arrangements still remain and continue to grow strong.”

  “I see.” Relieved, he rose to his feet. That sounded like a dismissal from his father. True, Johnson wouldn’t be winning the best dad of the year award anytime soon, but Tom would never forget that today, Johnson took his side. He headed for the door, unsure if this was the last time his father would contact him.

  It didn’t matter, he told himself, because he had a caring mate waiting for him outside, and a new family. The one good thing about his kidnapping was the fact he’d grown closer to Asher, Jax, and even Winter—close enough they considered him a friend and not just Raul’s human mate.

  “Tom?” his father called as he was by the door. “Good luck.”

  Tom looked over his shoulder. His father was exactly like he remembered him during his childhood, behind his desk with a phone, gaze on the computer screen. It was almost as if he imagined the old man saying those words, but there was nothing wrong with his hearing.

  His father might have voiced his objections when Tom decided not to work for the company to open his bookstore instead, but those days were over. Tom made his own choices now, and he liked to think his father respected him for that. With a nod, he headed out. He found his mate pacing in the waiting room.

  Through their mating bond, he could sense Raul was on edge. Seeing him, Raul walked up to him, pulled him into a hug. Once, he would have been embarrassed to show affection in public, but not anymore. He hugged his mate back, inhaling Raul’s familiar scent and enjoying the warmth of Raul’s body.

  “Things went well?” Raul asked, studying his expression.

  “Actually, better than expected. I’ll tell you all about it on our drive back home.”

  Raul broke into a grin. “Glad to hear that.”

  They walked to the elevator. He hurried to catch up to Raul’s pace and twined their fingers together. Home. That word felt perfect on Raul’s lips. When he crashed at Raul’s house, he thought it would be a pit-stop.

  In the end, the destination turned out to be his final one.

  * * * *

  “I didn’t expect my father to be so civil about the entire thing,” Tom was saying.

  Hearing they expected no trouble from Joshua Morris or Tom’s father gave Raul relief, although he’d still be keeping tabs on the Alpha and Johnson Meadows. He had a feeling that for all of Johnson’s cold treatment of Tom, some part of him cared about his only son.

  At least they weren’t trending on dangerous ground anymore. He’d been following the news. It seemed Bradley’s crimes started to stack up when ex-lovers started coming out of the woodwork, accusing him of assault, of paying them to keep quiet.

  Raul figured Bradley would be spending the rest of his life in prison. A guy like that wouldn’t survive being behind bars for long. That seemed like fitting punishment, one worse than death. At the present, though, he shut the bedroom door behind him and focused on his mate instead.

  Nothing stood in the path of their future anymore.

  “Raul, are you listening to a word I’ve said?” Tom finally demanded, crossing his arms.

  “I was too distracted by your fine little ass.”

  Tom blushed at that. Fucking adorable. They knew every nook and cranny of each other’s bodies, the secret places which made Tom laugh or Tom’s pleasure points. Despite all that, he was still capable of making his mate embarrassed. He liked that. It leant his mate an innocent look, although he’d alre
ady done plenty of corrupting.

  “What are you thinking about?” Tom finally asked.

  “About the filthy things I did to that sexy body of yours.”

  “Did, past?”

  “Past and present.”

  “I shouldn’t have asked,” Tom mumbled. They were playing a game, he knew, because he could scent Tom’s arousal in the air, mingling with his.

  “I think it’s about time I cash in that little promise.”

  Tom wore a mock look of confusion. “What promise?”

  “That I can do whatever I want to you, if I let you talk to your father alone.”

  “We made such a promise?”

  He stalked to his mate, peeling off his tee in the process, aware of Tom’s interested gaze fixed on him.

  “No fair. You know how weak I get when you take off your shirt.”

  He strategically edged Tom toward the wall. “There is no fairness, when it comes to bedroom games.”

  Challenge blazing in Tom’s eyes, Tom hurriedly took off his shirt. His mouth watered at the sight of his mate’s lean body, the smooth skin that easily bruised under his rough and hungry touches.

  “Okay, I thought I would look sexier tugging off my top,” Tom admitted.

  “You’re perfect.” Tom’s back finally hit the wall, and he wrenched Tom’s wrists above Tom’s head.

  Then he took his fill, plundering Tom’s lips. He grazed Tom’s lower lip with his teeth, sucked down on Tom’s tongue. All the while, his mate decided to shamelessly rub himself against him. Denim grazed denim. They still had their pants and boxers on?

  He gave Tom’s wrists a squeeze. “Keep them there, you understand?”

  Tom pouted at him. “If I don’t?”

  “Then I’ll drape you over my lap and leave my handprints all over your ass.”

  Tom let out a snort. “You’re threatening to spank me?”

  His growl silenced his sassy human mate soon enough. “I think we’ll both enjoy it, you squirming on my lap while I swat you.”