He glanced at Avery’s car, and then he did a double take. Her tires were flat, all of them. One of her windows was smashed, and someone had keyed her car with the words WHORE along the side of the panel. He could still scent the human’s rage in the letters. This was an attack against Avery. He picked up his phone and swiped the app that controlled the security system Sam had installed while he weatherproofed her house. Everything was still tight, so no one had gotten into her house. Alarms would have gone off on his phone as well as Sam’s and the enforcers’ on duty. They were unconventional with claiming their mate, but they weren’t playing with her safety one bit.
He walked around the car and found the same word on the other side. He spotted claw marks and inhaled. A fucking human male and a coyote had done this. Could it be the biker gang Mortef had taken over? Why would a human and a coyote work together, much less leave this kind of message for Avery?
Either way, their plans of going slow with Avery so they could gently ease her and Rylee into their lives had to change now. It wasn’t safe to allow her to live alone, even with their security measures. He wasn’t sure if Avery was awake yet, so he did a walk around her house to see with his own eyes that the security was still holding.
There was an imprint of a pair of booted feet by the side living room window. He crouched down and inhaled the scent. It was the same human male’s scent, but no one that lived around here. Being part Lycan and part Vampire, he cataloged local human’s scents like old-time librarians cataloged books. He scanned through the humans of the town, but none of them matched. He tried to put the pieces together as he stood up. She’d been terrified last night when he came down the stairs. He’d blown it off as her relationship anxiety. Now he suspected she’d seen something that spooked her.
It all hit him at once, and the rage had his Lycan ready to burst forth. His clothing ripped as the shift started and fur grew out of his arms. He stifled a growl of fury and possessiveness. There was only one explanation. The man that had hurt Avery and Rylee so much had found them. He had to get away from her house before they saw him changing. His clothing shredded and his wolf burst forth as he ran to Sam’s house. He bounded up the stairs and forced himself to shift again back into a man.
“Sam! Get up Sam, now!” Gage yelled and then slammed the door.
He heard a thump as if Sam had fallen out of bed, and then he came out of his room looking halfway awake. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone or rather some Supernatural slashed up Avery’s tires and car, and I think the asshole we want to rip apart the most found Avery.”
Sam stopped, and Gage noticed the color of his eyes change. The dark brown darkened to nearly black. “Who?” His claws extended and fur grew over his arms. A threat to their mate meant that both of their control was thin.
“It’s no human that has ever been around her before and a coyote. He was outside her house last night, and Avery was spooked when I came back down from laying Rylee down. I think she saw him, and you know Avery.”
“We’re done. Now. Neither she nor Rylee are to go anywhere alone. Call Brandy. We may need her later to help calm Avery down. Fuck, why the hell didn’t she see this?”
“You know as well as I do that a seer’s visions can be sporadic. If she’d seen it coming, she would have said something,” Gage said as he dialed Brandy’s number.
As he waited for her to pick up her phone, he thought they might get their chance to exact revenge for Avery and Rylee after all.
* * * *
Avery tried once again to get the wrench around the pipe under the sink. Misery blanketed her today in ways she never expected. The accusations that she’d had sex with Gage and let Sam fuck her on a tabletop in a bar screamed at her after she saw that vile accusation scratched into her car. Whore. As usual, someone had seen her for what she was. What the hell was she thinking? She should have just ignored her own longings and kept her head down. Would it be all over work on Monday? Would they fire her now? Tears pooled in her eyes, but she tried to remain quiet. Rylee was tense enough with the coming therapy appointment, without seeing her fall apart. Hell, she was ready to grab her baby and run now more than ever. The commercials on the kitchen radio ended, and a Garth Brooks song from the Hope Floats movie began.
Avery pictured Sam and Gage holding her like the song lyrics described, and her face fell into the crook of her arm as she wept as silently as she could. She was so scared and confused, but she didn’t know what to do.
Rylee sat in one of the chairs, holding her doll and watching her intently. Pull yourself together, girl. Brandy will be here, and maybe she will know what to do. She quickly blinked away the tears and did her best to get herself under control. This may be for nothing if The Brotherhood had managed to find her, or she had to run from being the town joke again.
She heard a knock at the door and heard the rustle of Rylee getting up from the chair to answer it. She’d called Brandy and asked for a ride to Paris to get Rylee to the therapist for yet another obstacle. Maybe Brandy knew what she was doing wrong with this damn wrench, and she could get the water leak stopped. She heard the door open and close, and then heavy footsteps along with Rylee’s lighter, skipping ones. At least Rylee was happy again. With any luck, she’d begin talking again before her appointment, and she could tell the therapist to shove it.
“Avery?” Sam’s deep masculine voice reverberated through her and sank into her heart. She jumped at the surprise of the tingling feeling as much as the deep voice instead of Brandy’s soft one. She glanced up, and his image blurred through her tears.
“Hey.” Sam crouched down close to her and pulled her into his arms. “Hey, it’s okay, baby. I’m here now. Tell me why you’re crying.”
She wrapped her arms around him and dug into his bare skin. She’d hoped she wasn’t hurting him, but she was on the edge of losing control and was literally holding on by a thread. “I just. I can’t. I don’t know what to do.” She couldn’t form a coherent sentence as Sam held her.
“Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.” Sam continued to hold her until her weeping had calmed to a simmering grief. “That’s a girl. Let it all out. You let me have it all, Avery.”
She held on to him as she took a shuddering breath. She saw Gage’s boots, and soon he also had an arm around her. “You have us now, Avery. You don’t face anything alone.”
He pulled away when she’d calmed down, took the wrench from her, and gently moved her further out of the way. He glanced down under the sink. She heard the clinking of metal on metal. “I think you have a worn-out O-ring washer down here. I will turn the water off for now.”
Great. Just what I need. Something else I need to buy. How much was that, and how the hell am I supposed to fix it? “Okay, thanks. At least it isn’t spraying water anymore.” She’d just have to head on down to Hunt’s Hardware, and ask for the right part. She had no idea how to do plumbing, or what parts she needed. Hopefully, they could tell her what to do down at Hunt’s.
“I have some O-rings in my garage. Let me see if any of them will fit in here before you buy anything.” He turned before she could reply, winked at Rylee, and walked back out while Wyatt and Dylan stood on her porch.
Avery stood in her kitchen staring at the sink that now had no water, and then Rylee climbed into Gage’s lap and watched his phone. Sam was coming back to fix her sink. She didn’t have a lot of time to fix herself up. “I need to change really quick.” She almost told Rylee to tell Sam for her.
Rylee nodded with her favorite doll in one arm, and she showed Gage whatever game she was playing on his phone.
Avery ran up the stairs to take the world’s quickest shower and change into blue jeans and a shirt. When she came back down the stairs, she stopped and stared in open-mouthed shock. Sam, now wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, crouched under her sink as Rylee sat next to him holding a flashlight.
“Can you point it right at this part of the pipe?” Sam pointed to the part he meant, and Rylee mov
ed the flashlight a bit.
“Thank you, sweetie.”
Rylee smiled at him with such adoration in her gaze, Avery’s breath caught. Rylee had never looked at anyone but her that way. Again, that shining light in her soul began to glow, and the words whispered, He was meant to be Rylee’s daddy. Somehow, it was true. She’d gone down a terrible road full of ruts and potholes, but those pitfalls didn’t define her. They made her stronger and into a person that could handle two men like Sam and Gage. Everything was going to be okay.
Sam glanced over at Rylee. “When are you going to finally talk to me?”
Rylee shrugged, and Sam nodded. “That’s okay. You can hide for a little while longer, sweetie, but I’m going to find someone to help you find your way. I promise you it’s safe to come out now.” He tapped the end of her nose with his forefinger and then stood up, “There. Let’s see if that fixes the pesky leak.” He turned on the faucet and let the water run. “Shine that light on that part of the pipe, so we can see if it’s dripping at all.”
Avery walked farther into the kitchen as she grinned from ear to ear. A new feeling flooded her as the radio played an ad for western wear in Paris. Hope. She didn’t know how or when, but everything was going to be okay. “Thank you so much, Sam.”
“No problem. I am a bit of an expert at repairing these old houses.”
“Are you now?” Avery smiled as she imagined Sam fixing the million and one things wrong with her little house.
“Yeah, I used to flip these in my spare time until the market crashed. I love working on them, but there aren’t a lot of buyers in a small town like Shadetree.”
“Like you did your own house?”
Rylee took Sam’s hand. He smiled affectionately down at her.
Sam’s gaze met Rylee’s. “Why don’t you go and get ready to go while I talk to your mom.”
When Rylee went up the stairs, he turned to her. “I can’t leave you alone or allow you to go anywhere alone now. Where do you need to go today?”
Warmth filled her. Was this what it felt like to be taken care of? She wanted to embrace it. More than anything, she wanted to throw her arms around him and thank him for fixing everything. That little bit of fear crept in still. What if he hurts me? What if he met someone else and didn’t want her anymore? “Brandy is on her way to take me to Paris.”
“Not anymore. Gage called her and talked to her. If she had plans in coming to take you, they’re canceled now. We will take care of you.”
“I—I—” She was so confused. She couldn’t sleep half the time, and when she was awake, she thought only of them. She needed to be a strong, independent woman, but when she was with them, she wanted to let them take control.
“Shhhh, love. Let us take care of you.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “We love you.”
“There is so much about me that you may hate. I’m not wife material. I am a terrible mom and a wh—”
“No!” Sam pointed his finger at her as his lips formed a hard line. His eyes hardened like flint steel, and his tone deepened dangerously. “You will not talk about yourself like that, or I will spank your ass red every night for a week.”
Her eyes widened. It was true, though. It was something she’d just learned to live with. She was the nasty girl from a nasty family. Now people here knew it. She gazed up at him with all her inner accusations. Her muscles quaked as her expression hardened. “You don’t even know me or what I’ve done.”
Sam brushed his finger over her lips, and he soothed away the angry creases in her brow. “You can’t push us away that easy. We’re more than we seem, and we’ve picked up a lot more than you realize. We’re going to have a nice long talk this evening, but for now, let’s get this appointment over with.”
Gage walked back in with a pinched expression and his face red.
“What?” Sam asked.
Was that hair growing in his arms? No. Surely, his arms always had that extra hair, and she just didn’t notice.
“A band of motorcycle riders robbed the gas station. One of them slashed Albert across the chest. He says they were coyotes, ghouls, and a few fully human men.”
“Son of a bitch.” Sam stormed toward the door. “Get them ready while I go and talk with Dylan and Wyatt. I want to get back here as soon as possible. Mortef is not bringing his civil war into our town.”
* * * *
Gage helped to pull Rylee’s princess dress over her head while Avery finished getting dressed.
“Thank you for your time, Alpha.” Dylan hung up the phone and gave Gage a grave look. “It seems Mortef is hiding among some coyotes, and they’re using the criminal motorcycle club, The Brotherhood, to hide, as well. They are a nationwide branch, but are heaviest in the South.”
“So that means Mortef is losing support and hiding among humans?” Gage grabbed Rylee’s pink socks and Minnie Mouse polka-dot shoes.
“Marcus thinks Mortef is sending you a warning to stay out of the conflict going on between him and Devon’s nest. He said there have been more vicious attacks further north.”
Gage laughed. “Mortef is getting his ass kicked without our help.”
“Exactly. If you and Sam start helping more, Mortef will live like a rogue Supernatural.”
“Quite the change from the lifestyle he’s used to.” Gage wiped Rylee’s feet before putting her socks on. “Marcus is hosting another gathering next week for pack Alphas to discuss Mortef and the Vampire council.”
“Wyatt and I can watch over the pack while you’re gone. You two haven’t been out of Texas in years. We can handle whatever he throws at us. Your mate and youngling would be safer with that many enforcers around. How long has it been since you’ve seen Owen?”
Gage knew Dylan wasn’t being disrespectful by not calling him Alpha or asking about the Vampire that had taken Sam and Gage in and taught them how to use their Vampire skills. Dylan and Gage had been friends since they were young, and Dylan was one of the few Lycans that knew their mother had loved a Vampire master while mated to a Lycan she didn’t love.
“You know it isn’t easy to see him. If word got out, my mother would suffer.”
“I doubt that. Besides, Alred would probably put any rumors down himself. He has just as much to lose as your mother does.”
“Right. Still, it could cause a lot of shit for my mother if word ever got out that we’re part Vampire when my mother and her mate are pure Lycan.” His father had taken several lovers, even when his mother hoped to make their mating work. They weren’t fated mates like he was with Avery, but their parents had arranged it. Both had been young and immature and made mistakes. They still didn’t love one another, and they mostly lived their own lives unless they needed to attend an official function together. Most assumed Alred, the Alpha of a Lycan pack in El Paso, Texas, was their father. Although Alred didn’t love Gage’s mother, he didn’t want to dishonor her either by exposing her affair.
“I think Owen can be discreet. He’s close to many Lycans in Marcus’s pack, especially with that BDSM club he opened.”
Gage turned. “I wonder what Avery would think of a supernatural kink club?”
Dylan grinned at him. “There’s only one way to find out.”
They could go. They needed to stand on a united front against Mortef. He thought he could wipe out any resistance by murdering his own nephew, only he hadn’t counted on Sam stepping in to keep the fight fair, and he thought he could intimidate them now to keep their pack out of the conflict. They didn’t scare that easy, and they could protect their mate against the coward.
“I’ll talk to Sam about it.”
Dylan nodded and walked toward the door. “Good. I will be tailing you three in case anything happens. Text me if anything out of the ordinary happens.”
Sam came back in just as he had Rylee ready, and Avery opened the door and walked out of the bathroom.
“Rylee has therapy today,” she said and saw the change instantly in Rylee. Her smile faded and her fac
e paled.
Gage frowned. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He held her closer. His strong arms wrapped around her like a warrior’s armor. “She’s shaking!” He rubbed her back, and his face creased in concern. “What the he—heck?”
Sam jerked his head to follow him. He pulled Rylee’s toddler seat out of the car and shook the glass out of it. “Fu—um, fudge this. We’ll get one from one of the other pack families.” He pulled his phone out of a leather case on his belt and made a quick text. The phone beeped almost instantly, and he smiled. “Jake and Brad have one we can use.”
They sat Avery in Sam’s truck, and he turned to Gage. “I picked some thoughts up from Avery’s head this morning while she had a mini breakdown in my arms. If half of what she is scared of with this therapist is true, I am erasing any memory of Rylee and Avery from the woman’s head, and we’ll have our own healers take care of Rylee.”
Gage cocked his head to the side and looked at him. “Like what?”
“Threatening her. Trying to take Rylee away and put her in some mental hospital.”
“What? That’s insane. Rylee isn’t mentally ill. She’s traumatized.”
“I know, and I’ve noticed every time Avery goes up to Paris with her, Rylee comes back worse off again.”
Gage shifted his weight as the warm glow of a mating bond settled in once again. It was a wonderful feeling. Avery’s bond also bonded them to Rylee as if she was their blood child, and it would only grow stronger with time. “It’s been a bit more complicated to work around a youngling, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything.”
Sam grinned with the same pride and love he felt. “I love her as much as I’d expect any father to love his youngling.”
“Mom will watch Rylee, and we will tell Avery everything. I think we need to keep Rylee home, and we can tell her in the apartment at the bar after it closes. When she finds out everything, I don’t want Rylee scared.”
Alphas' Embrace [Southern Supernatural Alphas] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Page 11
