“Drink up,” Vince said with the cigar in his mouth. His voice was muffled but Lucas got the point.
Lucas put the bottle to his lips and threw it back, taking a healthy shot. The booze burned his tongue and it burned even worse on the way down. The liquor sat heavy in Lucas’s stomach, but it tasted damn great and felt great as it coursed through his veins. He put the bottle to his lips for a second time and took much less of a shot, but it was still potent.
“Easy, big man,” Vince said. “You’ll end up panting like a puppy dog with that shit.”
“No puppy dog here,” Lucas said and smiled. He traded the bottle for his cigarette, feeling much happier with his smoke.
“I talked to the guys,” Vince said as he put his cigar in an ashtray. Smoke billowed in the room, rolling against the ceiling. “They gave me the details. Two vics, torn to shit and back, huh?”
“Actually, it wasn’t that bad,” Lucas said. “One looked attacked from behind. My guess is he was running and whoever did it didn’t really mean to kill him so quick. So he left him. The other guy, the one with his pants down to his ankles, that one got it good.”
“His pants were down?” Vince asked. “What the fuck?”
“Probably taking a piss or something,” Lucas said. “That’s why the car was on the side of the road. Perfect opportunity to make a quick kill.”
“So they’re lingering on our side?”
“Or pretty damn close to it.”
Vince made a fist and slammed it to the table. “It’s out of hand. Who is it? The Oreno… the Saal… or the Reckingdune?”
“Who knows,” Lucas said. “My guess is Reckingdune. Seems to be from the west.”
“That slime to the west needs to go,” Vince said.
“Small battle to win for a bigger war to cause,” Lucas said. He rolled his cigarette into an ashtray and killed it.
The Reckingdune were an outlaw pack and loved drugs, women, and killing anything, anytime. They were settled east, taking to small towns all the way into Utah and down to Arizona. The kills were either planned and done in a way that they would never be found, or they were made to look like ravenous animals on the prowl. They used fear to control anyone they wanted. They had a small crew west and toward the mountains. The crew there were completely reckless, living like wild mountain men. They fed on animals and rarely enjoyed the taste of human flesh, making them a very outcasted kind of beast. But they belonged to the Reckingdune crew. Going after the Reckingdune crew west would only give ammo for the crew east to make a push at Full Moon Mercy.
Vince knew this already, which was why he looked away when Lucas said, “I think when they see we aren’t fighting back, they’ll back down. Or slip up.”
“Slip up,” Vince said and sighed. “How?”
“They’ll fuck up,” Lucas said. “We’ll catch them red handed. Maybe they’ll try pushing more into Mercy.”
“So you want them to come into town?”
“No,” Lucas said. “But if they did, we’d have them in a second.”
Vince picked up his cigar and puffed on it. “That kind of thinking makes me proud, Lucas.”
“Common sense?”
“Something a lot of those guys out there don’t have.”
“True,” Lucas said. “They’ve got women and booze on their minds.”
“Who doesn’t?” Vince said and laughed.
Lucas pushed from the conference table and stood up. “The bodies are taken care of. The car too. Charlie had a tow come get it to make sure it’s long buried. I say the night’s ended.”
Vince nodded.
Lucas made it to the door knowing Vince’s eyes were beating at his back like lasers.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked as he stood at the door.
“What about our other little problem?” Vince asked.
“What’s that?”
“Heard you almost had visitors. You heard a scream. Came rushing back to get your bike.”
“Let it go,” Lucas said.
“Two beer bottles,” Vince said.
“I’m thirsty.”
“You realize…”
“I said the night’s ended, Vince.”
Lucas stood frozen at the door for a few seconds. There weren’t many people who talked to Vince like that. Lucas knew there was even a great chance he shouldn’t have spoken that way to the leader of Full Moon Mercy. But Lucas had enough for now. Leah waited in his room. It had been a long while now since he left her and he wondered if she was nervous. Or if she had fled.
“Yeah, the night’s ended,” Vince said. Lucas opened the door. “Hey, Lucas?”
Lucas looked over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow.
“My guess is that the night is just beginning.” Vince smiled and all was settled within the club.
Lucas walked to the bar and picked up two fresh beers. He kept his eyes on the hall and ignored any of the comments Cooper and Zayne threw at him. The more they drank, the more they opened up. Lucas let it roll off his shoulders, his mind could only think about Leah. When he opened the door to his room he expected to find it empty.
It wasn’t.
Leah sat on the bed, almost in the same position as when Lucas left. He shut the door and twisted the tops off the fresh drinks.
“Sorry,” he said. “Business meeting.”
“Because of me?”
“Because of tonight,” Lucas said.
He drank and so did Leah. They casually caught each other staring. Lucas hated to admit he was even the slightest nervous around Leah, but he couldn’t help it. There was a voice inside him warning him not to take things too far with Leah. Part of him wanted to sit with her and spill out all of his secrets. He couldn’t figure out why, and that alone scared him.
“About tonight,” Leah said.
“What about?”
“I was on the ground when something came from the woods, Lucas.”
“Yeah? What did you see?”
“What did you think I saw?” Leah asked. “Is that what you were having your meeting about?”
Lucas smiled. He had to hand it to Leah for being persistent. Beautiful, provocative, and persistent. Very dangerous, but Lucas knew he could handle himself.
“The meeting was about the bodies we found,” Lucas said. “It’s sort of my job to get involved with everything.”
“What, are you the person who runs the club?”
Lucas smiled. “Mostly, yeah.”
Leah looked surprised. “Wait… the club downstairs? Or the other motorcycles?”
“Stand up,” Lucas said. “Come to me.”
He put his beer bottle down and put his hand out. Leah took it and he pulled her close to him. He ran a finger through her hair, moving her hair to behind her ear.
“What do you really want to know?” he whispered.
“Just what I asked,” Leah said.
“Take it for what it’s worth, Leah,” Lucas said. “We own the club. We are the motorcycle club. We don’t just have cool leather jackets, bad habits, and loud bikes.”
“Then what is it?”
“Protection,” Lucas said. “Mercy is our town. We take care of it.”
“Including me?”
“You’re all to myself, Leah,” Lucas said. “Personal protection.”
Leah smiled. “I kind of like that. It almost makes nearly being killed worth it.”
“There was no way that guy was going to kill you,” Lucas said.
“I wasn’t talking about the gun,” Leah said. She hesitantly moved up and kissed Lucas’s neck.
“What were you talking about?” Lucas asked.
“About that big, scary wolf.”
“He would never hurt you either,” Lucas said.
Leah looked Lucas in the eyes. “Why not?”
Lucas’s mouth opened but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. There still wasn’t enough trust. Instead, Lucas swallowed and went for a kiss. His lips grazed hers and she wanted
more right from the go. She opened her mouth, her tongue slipping against Lucas’s lips. Lucas opened his mouth and kissed her back, hard and fast. His hands felt everywhere on her body but they finally found comfort near her ass. He was able to lift Leah then, allowing her to wrap her legs around his body. Lucas moved forward and fell to the bed, making sure to take gentle care of Leah. He moved from her and Leah sat up. She tore at her hoodie, lifting it off to show a thin t-shirt. Lucas could see the line of her bra through it. The shirt barely covered the bottom of her stomach, leaving a slither of skin. It made Lucas hard. Leah placed her hands to Lucas’s stomach, just like before. Lucas leaned forward and let Leah’s hands run up his body. He then took his jacket and shirt off.
Leah moved back on the bed and Lucas chased her down. He almost caught himself ready to shift. He wanted to hover over her body as a beast, proving how much he could protect her. Lucas didn’t shift, but he did hover. The look in Leah’s eyes were just captivating. There was a sense of fear and need that mixed together, tearing Lucas apart on the inside.
“What’s wrong?” Leah asked.
Lucas placed his hand to Leah’s stomach. His hand curled around her shirt and lifted it. Her skin was exposed all the way to her bra. Lucas lost himself and moved down, kissing her stomach. He used just his lips for fear of really losing himself for good for the night. At her navel, he nuzzled her, tickling her. He loved the way she squirmed yet moaned. Lucas kissed down to the top of Leah’s pants. He turned his head and moved his nose into her pants. He felt the lacy top of her panties but beyond that, he could smell her.
It was a tempting sweet smell. The power of Leah’s needs and desires threatened Lucas’s judgement. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He kissed just above Leah’s pants and then slithered his way back up to her mouth. There kissing her softly and remaining hovering over her, he said, “I want to hold you.”
“Okay,” Leah said. “Right now?”
“Yes. I want to hold you right now, and all night.”
Lucas climbed from the bed and turned on a small light next to his bed. He turned off the bedroom light and watched as Leah pulled the covers down and climbed under them. Lucas joined Leah and turned the light off next to the bed. In the darkness, Leah couldn’t see. Lucas could. He could see everything. The outline of Leah’s body was a perfect black shape in the dark. Lucas kissed Leah’s shoulder and pressed his bare chest against her back. They fit together almost like pieces of a puzzle. Lucas didn’t care that Leah could feel his thickness. He waited patiently and soon enough, Leah was asleep. Outside his room he could hear the sounds of Full Moon Mercy partying and the faint sounds of the club below him. None of that mattered though, not with Leah in his arms.
Lucas just couldn’t figure out why she meant so much.
10
The morning was a blur for Leah. When she woke she wasn’t sure where she’d be. Part of her wanted to believe she had nothing more but a wild night of dreams. She knew better though, and that was the truth from the moment she opened her eyes. She was in the same position from the night before, right in Lucas’s bed, with Lucas’s strong arm around her. She touched his arm, her fingertips gently running up and down, feeling the definition of his muscle. He was sexy. He was deadly sexy. Not like Richie at all. Richie was a jerk, a man who would wield a gun at a woman. Not Lucas though. Lucas was a protector. It made Leah want to skip work. She actually considered calling off work, but when Lucas woke right after her, he made it clear to fulfill his intentions.
Lucas climbed from the bed, giving Leah time to stare at his powerful bare chest and rippling stomach. He dressed in a shirt and put on his leather jacket. Leah got out of the bed and found her hoodie. When Leah looked to the door she thought she would be taking some kind of walk of shame, but with Lucas’s hand tight around hers, it was anything but that. The bar and open floor was mostly cleared out with the exception of a few guys that fell asleep on couches or right at the table. Lucas took Leah to the door they came in, and when the morning sun hit Leah’s face, she began to yawn. She then realized she would be on the back of Lucas’s motorcycle again.
He took her to her place and sat outside her apartment with the motorcycle running while she got ready for work. Running late, Leah had just enough time throw on scrubs, pull her hair back, eat an energy bar, drink a glass of orange juice, and brush her teeth. All in all, she made it back outside in a record ten minutes. She had her bag and her keys in her hand. She pointed to her car and Lucas shook his head.
“I can drive,” she yelled over the running engine of the bike.
“I’m sure you can,” Lucas said. “But you’re not going to. Not today. I’m taking you to work and I’ll pick you up. What time do you get off?”
“I can get out around four probably,” Leah said. “I have a ton of hours in this week already.”
“Get on. Let’s go.”
Leah didn’t question Lucas. Maybe she should have, but face it, she couldn’t resist him. After seeing what she saw and having him touch her, kiss her, and hold her, she wanted more. She had wanted Lucas to pleasure her with his body, to be inside her, but he stopped himself and wanted to sleep.
The thoughts raced through Leah’s mind on the ride to work. Lucas rode right to the front door of the center and let Leah off. She took the helmet off and handed it to Lucas. Lucas shook his head.
“You’ll need it later,” he said and smiled.
Leah lingered for another few seconds, wondering if she should kiss Lucas or not. She wanted to, so bad. But he was the one in control and command. Lucas took her hand and rubbed the top of her fingers with his thumb. He then nodded and that was the end of that.
Lucas rode away, his motorcycle growling all the way down the street. Leah stood until she couldn’t hear the sound anymore and then turned to face her day job. She rushed inside and punched the clock with barely a minute to spare. She then hurried to begin her work. Checking on residents. Helping them. Cleaning them. Feeding them. Doing everything she could possibly do to make their lives better or even just make them smile for a second. The worst feeling was knocking and not receiving a response. It happened just after ten, and when Leah opened the door she found a woman named Mary standing at her window, staring out. Mary was in a comatose state as she stood at the window. Leah found a way to get Mary’s attention and helped the woman to her room for a nap. As she pulled covers up to Mary’s chin, the elderly woman confessed she was looking out the window, wishing she could have her freedom again.
It was the first time that day Leah cried.
The second time she wept was just before three in the afternoon. She was on the second floor, making another set of rounds. At the far end of the hall, she knocked on the door of a woman named Maggie. The dear woman was just four weeks shy of her hundredth birthday. Maggie had the best eyesight and hearing in the building, so when she didn’t answer right away, it worried Leah. After knocking again, Leah’s heart began to pound. Leah reminded herself of Mary that morning, that there was nothing to worry about. Leah opened the door and walked into the room.
“Maggie?” she called out. “It’s Leah. I just wanted to check…”
There was Maggie. In her bedroom, lying on her bed, her hands on her chest. Leah hesitated to go into the bedroom because she knew what waited. Maggie wasn’t sleeping. Her life was like that of a clock, she ate, slept, used the bathroom, and bathed at the exact same time every day.
Leah walked to the bedroom and found Maggie clutching an old photograph. She knew the picture because Maggie had explained it once before. It was Maggie’s picture from her wedding day. Maggie even made the comment that she would die someday holding that picture, so she could take it to heaven to meet her Edward.
That’s just what she did.
Leah felt her eyes fill with tears. She then called for help and in a whirlwind of an hour, she watched as Maggie’s body left the center once and for all. It was always hard when a resident passed away, but during the middle of t
he afternoon was the worst. So many people had interacted with Maggie that day. She wasn’t sick, just aged. The news traveled as a shock through the center, meaning the night would be bleak and somber, everyone considering their own fates, even the young employees like Leah. A little after four in the afternoon she found herself sitting with a plastic cup of coffee in front of her. The coffee had been sitting there for a few minutes. She had no real interest in drinking the coffee though. She just sat and thought.
She thought about Maggie.
She thought about Lucas.
Lucas was a man, and a beast. There was no doubt in Leah’s mind, even though it sounded too crazy to actually be true. How else could she explain to herself what had happened the night before with Richie? Leah played it all back in her mind. She climbed from the car and heard the sound of a growl. She saw the beast come from the woods. The way it looked at her, there wasn’t an ounce of threatening potential coming from it, or him. Even the eyes. The eyes were just like Lucas’s, if not actually Lucas’s. The beast went right for Richie, not Leah. It could have torn Richie to pieces, killing him, eaten him, and then setting its sights back to Leah. But it didn’t. Even after Richie fired the gun, again and again, nothing happened. It was as though the beast wanted Richie to just drive away.
That’s exactly what Richie had done. Then the beast went back to the woods and a moment later Lucas’s voice called from the woods. He wouldn’t show himself. He just spoke to Leah, ordering her, demanding her trust and commitment to wait. Even as Leah stood there on the side of the road, waiting, she wasn’t exactly sure what had happened or what would happen. Then the motorcycle came with Lucas, perhaps the hottest guy Leah had ever seen in her life, steering it. He’d come to her rescue and he didn’t just take her home. He took her to his club and made her spend the night with him.
But the one thing that stuck with Leah was whether or not Lucas was the beast. She had asked, and Lucas didn’t admit it but also didn’t deny it. That much Leah could understand because Lucas had no reason to offer such a secret for Leah to carry. But she wanted to know.
The Secret Wolf (A Full Moon Mercy Novel) (shifter / MC romance) Page 5
