“I hear sirens headed this way. We better head out before they get here. It would look really strange to outsiders to pull up on an accident that was surrounded by wolves. It’s probably only the Lightfoots, but we can’t take any chances, and you need to get some clothes on before they get here, Teaghen. We won’t be far.” Duncan slowly backed away from the truck, and with a gesture of his head, all the wolves followed in behind him, disappearing into the surrounding forest.
Shifting back to human form, Teaghen walked back to his truck and opened the door.
“Reach under the front seat, baby, and hand me the bag that’s there. It’s got an extra change of clothes in it.” Kianna quickly found the bag and handed it to Teaghen.
“Who is it?” she asked. “Is he dead?”
“He’s not dead, but he might wish he were once we get through with him.” Teaghen growled low in his throat as he finished getting dressed.
“It’s one of your employees, Kianna. He’s been spotted by some of our pack hanging out in town with Ray and his cronies, so I’m pretty damn sure Ray sent him.”
Just then, two police cruisers pulled up to the scene, Jack Lightfoot exiting from one.
“What the hell happened here, Teag? Looks like you got into a little bump and grind with this guy,” Jack said as a scowled down at the damage to the back of Teaghen’s truck.
“The little bastard tried to run Kia and me off the road,” Teaghen explained.
The two other officers that had shown up with Jack were busy making sure that the scene was secure and that the guy in the truck was still alive.
It wasn’t long before the ambulance arrived and began assessing and then loading the injured man. Jack walked over and was talking to the paramedics, trying to get some information before they headed off to the hospital. From their position, it looked like the young man had regained consciousness and was also speaking with Jack.
As the paramedics pulled away, a smaller truck pulled up to the scene.
Ray and an unfamiliar man stepped from the truck and strolled over to Kianna’s side of the truck. Before Jack could stop him, Teaghen was around the truck and had Ray’s throat in his hand. Ray’s face was turning a lovely shade of red as Teaghen tightened his grip.
Grabbing the hand at Ray’s throat, Jack tried to pull Teaghen off of Ray to no avail. Finally, Kianna got out of the truck and yelled to him to let Ray go.
Teaghen wanted nothing more than to snap the little prick’s neck, but he could feel and then, through his rage-filled haze, hear Kianna yelling at him to stop.
Releasing Ray Deacon was probably a mistake, but he didn’t want to upset his mate any more than she already was.
“Your sister just saved your sorry ass, Ray. Next time you go after my woman, even her pleas won’t stop me from killing you.”
Teaghen wanted to shift and run. Whenever he got angry, that was how he worked it off. It freed his mind and soul when he ran in wolf form. This time he couldn’t do it right away. He had to make sure his mate was safe before he could run.
Teaghen could hear Ray yelling at Jack about the way he had been treated.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” he screamed. “For fuck’s sake, I wasn’t even here.”
Jack looked at Ray and then at the truck in the ditch. Hopefully, the driver was smart enough to realize that he’d be going to jail for Ray if he didn’t talk.
“You may not have been here, Ray, but that boy in the truck works for you and everybody around here knows how pissed you are because your daddy left everything to your sister. Maybe you hired him to get rid of her,” Jack yelled back at Ray.
Teaghen was pretty sure that’s what was happening, but without concrete proof, there wasn’t a damn thing Jack could do about it, and Ray Deacon knew it.
“I want you to do your job and arrest that asshole Featherstone. He just assaulted me right in front of you,” Ray sputtered.
* * * *
Kianna walked over to Ray and pointed a finger into his chest. “You will not press charges, Ray, or I’ll make sure your stay on the ranch is a miserable one. I don’t have to make sure you have access to water. I also don’t have to furnish that small house you’re in with lights or heat. All you’re entitled to is a roof over your head. So you go ahead and press charges and see how long you last without work as well.”
Kianna took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest and waited. She was pretty sure that Ray would take her threat seriously, but she wanted to hear him say the words.
“Dammit, Kianna, he tried to kill me. That man is an animal. But right now I don’t have the time to deal with a court case with him anyway, so I won’t press charges, but don’t think that for one minute he isn’t going to pay for it someday.” The smile that crossed Ray’s face chilled Kianna to the bone. Ray Deacon was not a man to turn your back on.
Chapter 5
Kianna watched as Ray and his crony drove off in his fancy truck. Something else was going on with Ray. He was just a little too sure of himself lately. She knew he was angry about his daddy leaving the ranch to her, but would he really try to kill her to get it back?
Did he automatically inherit the ranch if something happened to her? She’d have to call the lawyer and find out about that because, if he did, she was going to really have to watch herself around him.
She was brought out of her thoughts when Jack slammed the car door beside her.
Teaghen had come to stand behind her, putting his arms around her from behind her. He nuzzled into the side of her neck.
“I can sense your worry, baby. What’s got you so upset?” he asked.
Turning in his arm, Kianna placed her head on his chest and her arms around his waist and cuddled in close. She didn’t want to answer any more questions right now. She just wanted Teaghen to hold her and never let her go.
* * * *
Teaghen was glad that Jack had sent his deputies to the hospital to keep an eye on the driver. He didn’t trust Ray, and he wanted to make sure that, when the kid woke up again, one of the first people he saw was someone in a police uniform. Maybe it would scare him into talking.
“Do you need us for anything else, Jack? If not, I want to get Kianna home.” Teaghen was pretty sure that the enormity of the situation hadn’t quite hit Kianna. The adrenaline from the accident was still affecting her, but as soon as it wore off, she was going to crash hard. They’d already been standing around for over an hour while his truck was checked for damage and all their statements were taken. Now he just wanted to get Kianna back to the ranch.
“Nah, you take your woman home, and if I need anything else, I know where to find you. Mel is coming to tow the truck to the city lab to collect whatever evidence they can find. I just heard from one of my new deputies, Bastian Vlachos, that the driver has a broken leg and a pretty bad concussion, but it looks like he’ll be okay. He’s awake, but the doctor won’t let Bastian in to talk to him until after the surgery to set his leg.” Teaghen hoped the little dickhead was in agony right now.
Taking her hand, Teaghen led his mate back to the truck. She looked a bit shell shocked.
Kianna was aware, he knew, that her brother was dangerous, he just didn’t think she realized how dangerous. Having finally found a loving home with her mom and dads, far away from Bubba Deacon and his boys, Teaghen didn’t like having all this ugliness brought back into her life.
He felt her pull him to a stop just before they reached the truck. Turning, he looked at her questioningly.
“Ray wants me dead, doesn’t he?” she asked him quietly.
“Let’s wait until we get to the ranch, and then we’ll talk more about it. I don’t like being out in the open like this,” he said as he started walking again. Opening the door, Kianna slid in past the steering wheel to sit in the middle of the bench seat so that she could be close to Teaghen.
He smiled, climbed in, kissed her quickly, and started the truck heading for the ranch.
When they arrived
at the ranch, Alex and Duncan were waiting for them. He knew his brothers would be there, as they would want to see for themselves that their mate was not hurt.
* * * *
Duncan was the first to the truck. Opening the passenger door, he leaned in, unbuckled Kianna’s seat belt, and pulled her out of the vehicle and into his arms.
“Are you all right, sugar? We were scared shitless when we saw the truck in the ditch.” Duncan wanted to pick her up and take her back to their compound so that nothing could ever hurt her. He knew it was irrational, but his wolf was in full protection mode now.
Leaning down, he gently kissed her cheek and then handed her off to Alex. Alex placed his hands on either side of her face and started dropping kisses all over her upturned face.
“I don’t want to be that scared ever again, babe,” he murmured softly to her.
* * * *
Giggling softly, Kianna stepped out of Alex’s arms and took his hands in hers.
“I’m fine. Teaghen was there and made sure that nothing happened to me. I just don’t understand why the hell that driver wanted to make us crash.”
Releasing Alex’s hands, she slowly walked up to the house, the men following behind her. Taking her keys out, she opened the door and entered the kitchen only to find what looked like a tornado had hit.
Cupboards were emptied of their contents, and they were poured all over the appliances and floor. The word bitch was spray painted across the wall, and whore was written along the kitchen table.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes. You could almost feel the malice behind the horrible sight before her. Was this going to be her life for the next two years? Was Ray so spiteful and vicious that he would deface his daddy’s precious home just to get rid of her?
Of course he would. Ray was a bastard just like his daddy. Only, he was a little crazier than Bubba ever was.
“Why?” That was all she could get out before her anger overtook her, and she turned and headed out the door. Halfway down the steps, Alex grabbed her from behind around the waist and lifted her off her feet.
“Slow down, sugar, you can’t go tearing after Ray no matter how pissed you are,” he said in a calming voice.
“Why the hell not, Alex?” she yelled, kicking her feet in the air. “You and I both know he did this or had one of his boys do it. I can’t just let him get away with it.”
Carrying her back into the house, Alex set her down and motioned for her to stay. Duncan and Teaghen were just coming back into the room after checking the rest of the place out and shook their heads wearily at him.
“It’s not just the kitchen is it?” she asked.
“No, baby, they hit the living room and your bedroom as well. They pretty much tore up most of the clothes that were there as well as painted a few more nasty words on your walls in case you didn’t get the message from the ones in the kitchen.”
* * * *
Teaghen was trying to lift some of the tension from the room but was failing miserably.
“I called Jack, and he’s on his way. He’s bringing someone to go over the place with a fine-tooth comb to see if they left any evidence behind,” Duncan said to him as he closed his phone.
“They’re not going to find anything. Ray’s too smart for that. Besides, he wouldn’t do this himself. He’d send someone to do it for him. And he’d make sure they had gloves on, too.”
Kianna sighed, and Teaghen felt a knot form in his gut as he watched her look around at the mess in front of her. She finally flopped down in the only unbroken chair and leaned forward, resting her head in her hands.
“You know you can’t stay here, don’t you, sweetheart?” Teaghen said quietly, hoping that she wasn’t going to fight them on this. “If Ray is the one doing all this shit, then he’s too close, and you aren’t safe here.”
Looking up at him, unshed tears in her eyes, she understood now why she always ran to them when she was a girl. They would do anything to protect her and make her feel safe.
“I know. As much as I’d like to stay here just to show that little prick I’m not afraid of him, I don’t think he’s just trying to scare me off. He’s trying to get rid of me permanently, and my life is not something that I’m willing to let him take from me.” Turning back toward the men, shoulders back, she said, “I’ll find a room in town to stay in until Jack finds out who’s doing this.”
“No!” all three men said at once.
“You’re coming to stay at the compound so that we can protect you, Kia. Staying in town is still too close to Ray. Do you think a few townsfolk are going to stop him if he really wants you out of the way?”
Duncan didn’t want to panic her, but he also didn’t want her to be at risk, and the only way he could guarantee her safety was with him and his brothers on Featherstone land.
“Ray wouldn’t dare set foot on our land, baby. He knows, if he does, he goes back to prison for another two years.”
“What do you mean, he goes back to prison?” Kianna questioned him.
“Part of the deal he made was that he never set foot on Featherstone land without permission again,” he told her. “If he’s caught on our land, he goes back to prison for at least two more years, and then, once he’s finished with that sentence, he’s subject to tribal law.”
* * * *
Duncan went on to explain what had happened with Ray to get him that deal.
Two years earlier, during the Deacons’ trials, Ray’s lawyer had sought to cut a deal for him. He would plead guilty if he got a lighter sentence. When the Crown had come to them telling them of the Ray’s lawyer’s deal, at first they all balked at the idea of any of the Deacons being cut a deal. But the lawyer for the Crown said that he’d make a stipulation that, if Ray set foot on Featherstone land again, he’d not only be subject to finishing a full sentence, but he’d also face the tribe’s judgment as well. After speaking with the elders and the rest of the pack, they all agreed that keeping the Deacons off their land for good outweighed their desire for vengeance. Sean was the one who killed Steve, and he would pay for it. As long as Ray stayed away, they would go along.
Duncan stood in front of her and gently ran his hands up and down her arms as if trying to warm her. She was starting to shake a little now that all the adrenaline was out of her system, and her body was going into meltdown.
“We need to get you back home and into a hot bath. You’re starting to feel the effects from the day, and you need to get some rest. We can talk more about everything after you’ve had some time to come to grips with it all. You’ve only just come home, and someone is trying to scare you away from us, and we’re not going to let that happen.” He pulled her against his chest and brought his lips down hard on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as best she could as she stood on tiptoes.
Duncan moved in behind her and kissed her neck, and she reached behind herself to caress his face.
Teaghen could see Alex watching from his position in the doorway as he and Duncan kissed and cuddled their mate. He just didn’t understand why Alex was holding back.
“We need to know that you’re safe, Kianna. Please, come with us so that we can protect you,” Teaghen whispered as he placed kisses along her jaw.
“All right,” she breathed out heavily, her heart beating a mile a minute from their kisses alone.
“I’ll come with you, but I want my own room, and our deal still stands.” Kianna stepped away from Duncan and Teaghen. Teaghen knew she was trying to create some distance between them so she could get a handle on things.
“I need some time to absorb all this mate stuff, so until I tell you otherwise, the deal we had about you giving me space and us dating still stands.”
“Whatever you want, Kia,” Alex finally spoke. Taking her hand, he drew her to him, one hand coming to rest at her waist as he brought his other one up to take hold of the back of her head, pulling her lips to his.
They were both out of breath when he releas
ed her lips, leaning down to say quietly, “Thank you, sweetheart, for giving in to us on this. We know you can protect yourself, but our wolves would not rest if you weren’t close to us.”
Kianna’s smile radiated warmth as she said to him, “I’ve always come to you because I knew you’d always keep me safe. Why should now be any different?”
Duncan burst out laughing and headed out the front door with the rest of them following behind him.
* * * *
The drive back to the compound was thankfully uneventful, and once they’d arrived, Kianna knew that this had been the right decision.
Waiting for them were three very large, very irritated looking men. They were a little shorter than Duncan and his brothers, but hell, most men were. But they were just as built.
“Who are the three snarly-looking brick walls standing in front of the house?” Kianna couldn’t hide her giggle.
Duncan smiled along with her, and when they stopped, he jumped out of the vehicle and quickly opened her door.
“Those three ‘brick walls,’ as you put it, are Simon, Ash, and Savage,” he told her.
“Savage…? What kind of a name is that, or do I really want to know?” She couldn’t keep the laughter out of her voice. She didn’t know why she couldn’t stop giggling. It was so unlike her. She liked to laugh as much as anyone, but she hadn’t giggled since she was a little girl.
Both Teaghen and Alex were now beside them as they headed inside.
“We need to get you into a hot bath and then bed. You’re starting to crash from the events of the day.” Teaghen walked slightly ahead of them, shaking the new men’s hands when he came up to them.
“Hey, guys, thanks for coming over so quickly,” he said.
Kianna and Her Three Alpha Wolves [Featherstone Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 6
