Archer_Alliance of Peace [Book One]

by Lisa Ray

  Bella looked at him and saw the determination in his eyes. “Alright. I suppose it will be nice. Just don’t do it when it will interfere in the clinic.”

  “No problem, “and Archer leaned back, folding the drawing and placing it in his pocket. He stared out at the night and he could smell Walker and Roman in the woods somewhere in front of him. “Let’s go inside.”

  Bella agreed and they wandered to the couch. Turning on the television, Archer found a movie while Bella popped popcorn and soon they were laughing together on the couch.

  Bella awoke to the smell of male animal. She knew that smell well from her line of work. She sat up straight and realized she had fallen asleep in the crook of Archers arm. Sunlight was streaming through the balcony doors. It was morning. Archer was looking at her with an amused smile on his face.

  “I’m so sorry. I must have been tired from work,” Bella stood up and thought she must look a mess.

  Archer thought just the opposite. He had been watching her sleep for a while. Her eyes closed in total relaxation. Her breathing was even and soft. The feel of her body against his caused him to think of things that made him a man. “I couldn’t make myself disturb you. You were sleeping so peacefully. I’m sorry if that wasn’t all right.”

  “No, no it was fine. I just have to get ready to work. The clinic is opened half a day and I have Arianna here. Chloe is taking off. So I have to get ready.”

  Archer pulled her back down onto the couch and said, “It’s still early. You have plenty of time, “and he kissed her. Full on, all in, kissed her, ravaging her mouth with his. Exploring and building a fire in her she was afraid would never burn out. She responded in kind. Archer could feel her tension fade and she was all he thought she would be. He was hard pressed to keep his hands off of her. But he didn’t agree with that. Not this time anyway. She was special. Finally they pulled back from each other and Archer stood up.

  “I need to leave before I can’t stop.” And he looked into eyes he knew felt the same way. “I will call you later.”

  Bella nodded and watched him go. She had given him the extra set of keys to be able to work on the balcony so he would let himself out and lock up behind him. She sat for a minute thinking about that kiss then she readied herself for a busy day.

  Chapter 10

  At nine forty-five Archer was at the main community square in the center of his community. His council, minus Arianna, surrounded him in conversation. They were awaiting g the arrival of Ryker and his volunteers. When Archer looked up he realized that the whole community had come out in droves. The streets were filled on all sides like the people were waiting for a parade. Archer knew his people were curious and hoped they were there to show support. He growled a loud warning to let everyone know he would expect them all to be on their best behavior. When he sensed excitement at the entrance to the street, he knew Ryker must have arrived. Five pitch black sedans, gleaming in the sunlight, drove slowly down the street and stopped in front of Archer. The driver stepped out, looked around and walked around to open the door for Ryker. Archer knew the driver was probably one of Ryker’s council that was watching over him. Ryker stepped out, dressed all in black, blonde hair blowing in the breeze, and two other men stepped out of the backseat. Ryker looked around and then looked at Archer with an amused smile.

  “I apologize for all the fanfare. My people are curious. You are absolutely safe.” Archer spoke seriously to Ryker.

  Ryker laughed, “Don’t apologize; I’m sure my people are gathering even as we speak, waiting for our guests to arrive.”

  Archer laughed with Ryker and their respect for each other grew even more. Ryker walked to Archer and they shook hands like old friends. At that point, the other car doors opened and two drivers plus ten others emerged. They all walked over toward the square. Archer heard a shout from one of his people.

  “Hey, John, over here.” And one of his male single pack members made his way out of the crowd. One of the male vampires smiled and immediately went to shake hands. The pack member, Jason, spoke loudly toward Archer, “Archer, John can stay with me if that’s ok. He and I work together. Been friends a long while.”

  Archer looked at Ryker and they both raised their eyebrows. Archer responded, “Its fine with me if it is with John, is it?” John said yes, sir and they stood side by side. Soon others in his crowd had claimed the remaining nine and everyone seemed happy with the arrangements. Archer growled loudly to bring the crowd to silence.

  “I am happy to welcome our guests. I expect everyone here to treat them with respect and to welcome them also. But we must also remember the reason we are doing this. We have increased our training to include more time and younger participants. We will need our guests to participate and learn from us and at the same time, teach us anything else that can help us all be prepared should the need arise. Is everyone in agreement?” All the volunteers and crowd murmured yes and shook their heads in agreement.

  Archer turned to Ryker who was watching Archers people. He didn’t seem worried in the least. They shook hands in farewell and Archer told Ryker he would be there in an hour with his people. Ryker nodded and then was gone. The crowds dispersed quickly, volunteers in tow.

  Archer looked at Cash and asked him if he had set up all the extra training sessions. Cash and Archer talked this over for a bit and then four of their own beautiful black sedans pulled up by them. The volunteers had arrived. Archer, Roman, Chloe and Sasha were in the lead car. Walker drove four volunteers and Cash drove five. The last car held four more of his pack, strong men that he trusted, just in case. And off they drove.

  Arriving at the Vampire community was new even for Archer. He had never in all his years visited it. The houses were much like theirs and the community looked as any other. Archer chuckled to himself when he saw the streets were lined with what must be most of the Vampire community. Men, women and children waved as they drove past. Soon they pulled up to the main square where Ryker stood waiting for them.

  They all emerged at the same time and Archer walked around his car and once again shook Ryker’s hand. The ten volunteers stood in the street, each looking for anyone they knew, most expecting to have an immediate response. It didn’t take long before co-workers and friends stepped forward claiming each of his volunteers. Everyone was content with the arrangements except for Chloe. She didn’t have a co-worker or anyone she knew very well. When Archer saw no one had claimed her in welcome, he almost growled but before he could, Ryker himself walked to Chloe and took her hand.

  “It would be my honor to have you as my guest if you will agree. I have a rather large home to share. You are Chloe, correct? I have seen you in town. Will this be good with you?”

  Chloe looked into Ryker’s blue eyes and smiled. “I think you’ll do.”

  Ryker threw back his head and laughed. Archer didn’t think he had ever heard Ryker say so many words at once, “Chloe, are you sure about this?”

  “Of course, Archer. I will be fine being Ryker’s bodyguard.”

  Ryker laughed again. Then he turned to his people and repeated what Archer had said to his. “We will make all our guests welcome and show them respect. We will learn from each other and train together. We will be ready to fight as one if necessary.”

  A cheer went up from his people and Ryker looked at Archer.

  And so it began.

  On the ride home, Roman teased Archer about his overnight stay at Bella’s. Archer tried to explain but Roman brushed him off, “Doesn’t matter to me what happened inside. What matters to me is that Cash and I had to sleep in the car while Walker turned and watched from the woods. It was a barrel of laughs for us.” And Roman laughed.

  Archer hadn’t thought about his men that were watching over him. He apologized and when they arrived home he apologized to Walker and Cash. They laughed at Archer and Archer laughed right along with them. Going into Archers home, they all went their separate ways to do whatever they wanted to do. Archer headed for the phone. He
knew the clinic was only opened half a day and would be closed so he wanted to call Bella.

  When the phone rang, Bella knew without answering who it was. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Bella,” Archer spoke in a more sensual than normal tone, “I miss the feel of you in my arms.”

  Bella laughed that deep throated laugh, “I had a wonderful time last night. I don’t think I remembered to thank you for dinner.”

  The conversation didn’t last long. Archer asked Bella if he could bring his crew over and get started on her balcony. She readily agreed. Selfishly, she wanted to see Archer again. He felt the same way.

  The afternoon was spent with Bella and Archer talking and laughing as they watched his crew make quick work of the balcony renovations. By seven the work was done. The crew left and Archer and Bella were once more alone.

  Archer didn’t wait. He took Bella against him and kissed her until she was dizzy. He was a little dizzy himself, “I’ve waited all afternoon to do that.”

  “Then why stop.” And he put his mouth on hers, at the same time lifting her and walking to the couch. He sat with Bella on his lap. He knew this was dangerous because she would feel his reaction to her. But he thought he could control that. The only thing, with Bella he couldn’t. He had never felt this way before in his extremely long life.

  Bella knew he wanted her. She felt the same way. So she stood up and led him to the bedroom. They came together fast. Bella felt a wild, raw craving she didn’t understand coursing through her veins. Archer growled deep in his throat as he loved this woman with all he had. When they finally lay side by side, both stared at the ceiling.

  Archer was afraid with his immense strength and loss of control that he may have hurt her. “Did I hurt you? I’m sorry. It’s been a long time for me.”

  It took Bella a moment to answer. She was still catching her breath, “I’m not hurt. I feel wonderful.” She turned on her side and looked him deep in his eyes. He held her until she fell asleep and then he slipped out to make his way home.

  Once he was there, he couldn’t sleep. Bella had awakened something in him that had lain dormant for a long time. He needed to run. Out the back door he went. Roman and Walker right on his heels. Running at full speed he would leave them behind so he kept himself in check. Soon they had reached the mountain peak. Archers howl could be heard for mile.

  And a shot rang out.

  Chapter 11

  Bela woke in the darkness alone. She had roused when Archer left but hadn’t said anything. She was feeling ashamed. She had gone against all of her beliefs tonight. She believed in saving herself for marriage. She believed in God’s word and she had thus far in her life honored that. She had been a virgin until this night. It wasn’t that big of a deal. She was only twenty-five. She had never met a man she wanted to give herself to so she had never had to go against her beliefs. Tonight it had happened all too fast. There had been no mention of love or being together forever. That is what Bella wanted to save herself for. And now it was too late. She asked God’s forgiveness and promised she wouldn’t do that again. Archer would just have to understand. If he didn’t, he wasn’t the man she wanted to be with.

  On the other hand, what had happened between them had been almost savage in its intensity. It had been far more than she ever imagined it to be. She had never felt as much a woman as she had tonight. She definitely wanted that again one day. And to top it off she knew she was falling hard. She hadn’t known Archer that long but she felt as if he were what she had been waiting for all of her life. Love. Did she love him? She felt something very strong for him. Her heart wanted him to be safe and careful and happy. And she was extremely physically attracted to him. She would call that love or something close to it. She wondered how Archer felt.

  She was just drifting back off to sleep when she heard the lonely howl of a lone wolf in the distance. And then she heard a pop like that of a rifle. She thought nothing of it as her eyes closed in sleep.

  On the peak of the mountain, Walker and Cash were fighting a battle of survival. Archers. The bullet had pierced his body in his upper right shoulder and they exit wound was on the bottom of the other side. Both wounds were pouring blood. Roman and Walker, each back in human form, moved quickly to place their hands over the wounds. Letting out several long howls, it wasn’t long before several others of the pack arrived. Seeing what had happened they change into their human forms and while Walker and Roman kept their hands pressed tightly over the wounds, lifted Archer and carried him down the mountain. Romans house was closer through the forest so they headed there. Archer was still in his wolf form. He was unconscious and he didn’t need to change anyway. He was shot as a wolf and needed to be treated as a wolf. They had a woman in the community that was their Doctor in wolf form. But she wasn’t a true Doctor and had never had to deal with anything major. Roman made a decision without even second guessing himself. With Archer spread out in the back of his truck, two other packs members applied pressure to stop the bleeding. He threw Walker some clothes and they dressed quickly. Walker jumped in the back of the truck and covered the wounds with his hands and Roman headed toward town, breaking all the speed limits and then some. When they reached the Vet Clinic, Roman was to the door in a flash.

  Bella heard the ringing of the emergency bell and sprang up out of bed. The bell kept ringing along with much knocking and shouting. Bella didn’t dress she threw a robe on and ran down the stairs to see Two men banging on the door. She recognized Roman as Archer’s friend. The other man she didn’t know but had seen with Roman at the restaurant. She opened the door and they both walked in carrying between them the largest wolf she had ever seen. It was solid black under the blood that was covering it.

  “He’s been shot.” Roman said.

  Bella didn’t hesitate. “Take him into surgery. I’ll need your help.”

  Once Archer was lying on the table Bella could see better the wounds.

  “It looks as if the bullet went clean through and right below his heart. I’m going to clamp the wound shut and get an x-ray to check for internal problems.”

  Working quickly, she clamped the wounds and moved the table under the x-ray machine. A few minutes later, the men looked on as she examined them against the light.

  “He’s very lucky. A little higher and it would have punctured his heart. As it is it missed all his vital organs. So I’m going to sew his wounds and stop the bleeding and then we will go from there. Roman and Walker watched as Bella methodically stitched the wounds shut, all the time unconsciously murmuring words of endearment to the animal. Telling him it was going to be ok. She was going to make him all better. When she was finished she looked at the men.

  “Now what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is a wild animal. But he has to be kept quiet and still with as little movement possible until his wound heals.”

  “I can do that. I have a good clean pen he can heal in. I’ll take him with me.” Walker offered.

  “That’s fine but I will need to change his bandages and will have to sedate him to do it or he may attack us. I will come by tomorrow afternoon. Give me your address.”

  “I can do that. You don’t need to bother with it. If you give me the sedation and the bandages.” Walker said.

  Bella hesitated. She wasn’t going to just had out sedative shots. “No, I have to give the sedation. I’ll be out tomorrow afternoon.”

  Walker shrugged in defeat and wrote Archers address down. Lifting the wolf gently, they placed him in the truck and after thanking the Doc, drove into the night.

  Bella couldn’t sleep. That was an adrenalin pumper. She was wide awake. She wondered to herself if that was the wolf she had seen from her balcony. It was certainly big enough. Roman and Walker didn’t seem to fear the animal or the possibility it might wake up before they got home. She hoped they made it alright. She decided sleep was over for the night and took a shower and dressed for the day. She cleaned the surgery room and looked d
own the street at the one non-denominational church in town. At ten o’clock she walked down the street for an hour of worship.

  Walker, Cash and Roman were sitting in Archer’s living room. They were looking at the large black wolf on the rug in front of them. Roman was speaking.

  “Archer, you have to stay in that form. If you change back then the damage you received from the bullet may be life threatening.”

  Archer, in his wolf form, knew this was true. He wasn’t worried about staying wolf. His kind healed so quickly the wound would be healed by tomorrow. He was worried what Bella would think when she arrived today and saw the amazing way it had already healed. He knew what he was going to do. He was going to be awake and not let her near him. He would pretend to be dangerous. That would keep her far enough away.

  “I hope you have a plan for when Bella arrives,” Cash looked at Archer.

  The large head nodded in the affirmative.

  “Good. We need to go ahead and get you to the large cage we built. We aren’t sure what time she will be here.”

  The wolf rose to his feet and moved, slowly. He was still hurt and still healing but he could walk. He went into the nice large iron cage the men had built and placed in his garage. There was a nice huge mattress on the floor and Archer lay down. He was tired from the short walk. The wound was only half way healed. There he would wait for Bella. Cash, Walker and Roman laughed and made a remark about Archer in a cage. The animal snorted and the other men left him alone with his thoughts.

  Archer remembered the night before. It was a night he would never forget. He had lost control in a way he never had before. And to top it off, Bella had been a virgin. She hadn’t told him that. And she had given herself to him first. It was something that meant more than he could say. But with the events of the shooting, apparently things were closer than he first thought. He knew Cash had made sure Ryker knew of the attack so he would be on guard. Cash and Ryker were also sending out hunting parties to find any evidence of who, what, where they might find the shooter. Archer was sure the shooter was a lone gunman, maybe two, one for him and one for Ryker and that they were long gone. But they would be back. Soon. And he couldn’t endanger Bella’s life. She had come to mean far too much to him. He had never in his whole existence felt like he did when he was with Bella. He knew it was a cliché but he felt as if he had been waiting for her all of his life. And he would have to wait a little longer. At least until this danger and the rogues were taken care of. He didn’t know what he would tell her. But he would think of something.