Alistair (Golden Streak Series) (5 page)

“You remember me telling you that I’m a tad
possessive?” She nodded. “I told Keith that if he found anything on Lance that
was worthy that I’d let him hug you. The kiss was his idea.”

“I don’t understand. Why did you think
that hugging me would be worth anything to him? I mean I’m not really anything special,
just a woman on the run from her ex-husband. Why would you give him that as a
gift?”

“Because he knew it would bother me for
him to touch you. Not just touch you, but to hold you. Cats, especially
werecats, are very territorial and extremely possessive. Not with their things
such as cars, homes, or anything like that, but with mates…with a mate all bets
are off. That’s why we need to mate and bond so quickly. The need to…I guess
dominate the female so that she’ll know who is the boss is there, but with
another male it’s like we’re ape-shit possessive. Under other circumstances, I
would kill him.”

“So you gave me to him to hug.” He stood
up and came to her. She had no idea why she was so hurt. When he pulled her
into his arms, she tried to pull back, but he was stronger. For that reason
alone, she was hurt more.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. If you….” He
took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. If you knew how it made him feel to have
permission to hug you, then you’d understand why I did it. But I should have
explained to you first. I should have told you what an honor you were giving
him by letting him hold you in his arms.”

“An honor?” He nodded. “I don’t think I
understand this thing. I mean, I go for years and years with no desire to have
sex with anyone and boom you come along and the first time we’re together we’re
going at it like rabbits. I’m not that person.”

She looked at him when he laughed. “I’m
sorry. But rabbits? Okay, I understand what you mean, though. The first time I
caught your scent I wanted you. I’m not really sure why it works that way,
unless it’s some internal code to mark our family and compel us to multiply,
but it’s there. You felt it, too.”

“The first time I saw you, all I could
think about was that man was going to kill you and then me. I remember thinking
that I’d rather go out of this world a hero and not the victim of spousal
abuse.” She turned away from him. “This is going so fast, Alistair. I’m so
afraid.”

“I know, baby. And I promise you that I’ll
protect you, all of us will. Ryland is working on things now to keep you safe
so we can go out. And Bronwyn is going to go with you to buy some clothes. She’s
scary when it comes to what she can do.”

Bronwyn scared her, too. The woman had
only spoken to her once and Ally felt as if she was being grilled for some sort
of clearance to a big government facility. But she also had a feeling she was being
sized up for something. Ally looked at Alistair.

“I have a favor to ask. It’s not a big
one, but would you mind not calling me Allyson? Lance did that and I always
think of him when you do it. Most of my friends and my mom called me Ally. Just
Ally.” He nodded. “And we need some ground rules here. I know that you have
this tiger thing going on, but I don’t. I’m not…Christ, I never thought I’d say
this, but I can’t do sex like you do all the time.”

“You’re sore.” She nodded and flushed so
deeply that she felt the heat over her entire body. “I can understand that. You
need to get used to me wanting you all the time anywhere I can get you naked. I’ll
only make love to you three times a day and not ten. All right?”

She looked at him with her mouth open,
and when he pushed it closed, she knew he’d been kidding. Or at least she
thought he was. She backed up when he reached for her. His chuckle made her
pinch his arm.

“I was kidding you. And I’m sorry. I
should have realized that with a selfish partner like Lance, you’d be sore when
you had a real man between your legs.” He laughed when she pinched him again. “Christ,
you’re going to be fun to live with for the rest of our lives.”

Bronwyn came by to get her an hour
later. By then she’d been given strict instructions to stick with her like glue
four times, and had been lectured twice on the money being theirs and not his
any longer. He’d given her a list of things to purchase, and she wasn’t to come
back until she had all of it. When she got into the large SUV with Bronwyn, she
glared at the list. Bronwyn took it out of her hand and read it over.

“He actually told you to buy three dozen
pairs of sexy underwear?” She nodded. “Does he think you’re a simpleton?”

“No. He said he wants to tear them off
me, and if I had enough of them, we could go for a couple of days without me
being without under things.” She turned away when Bronwyn laughed. “I don’t know
why I agreed to this. I should be making plans to get away from here, not going
on a shopping spree like I have nothing at all going on in my life.”

“You leave and I’ll kick your ass.” Ally
looked at her and knew she was telling the truth. “I think we should forget
about his list and have fun. Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but Sandra is going to
meet us there. She said she wanted to get to know you better. I think she just
wants to find out if Alistair is treating you right.”

“He is. I mean, he’s better than….” She
frowned. “I started to say he was treating me better than my last lover, but
that’s not true. Alistair is nothing like I’ve ever seen before, much less been
with. He’s kind and giving. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

“They’re all like that.” Bronwyn drove
for a little while before she spoke again. “Keith told me that you let him hug
you. You made him feel really special for doing that.”

“I had no idea that it was such a big
deal. I still don’t understand it, really. I know that Alistair said that it’s
a mate thing, but I have been hugged by men before. It’s never been a big deal.”

“It is now. Trust me. And just while we’re
talking about them, have you been told that Ryland is the leader of the family?
And as his mate, I’m the she-leader. I don’t understand why there’s a need for
a pecking order, but there is.”

“Alistair told me. He said that before
his dad died he was leader.” Bronwyn nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. And so you know, what you ask me
will be answered honestly and directly. If you really don’t want the answer, I
suggest that you rethink the question.” Ally nodded.

“What are you?” Ally watched her face as
Bronwyn thought about it. She thought she might be pissy about it, but she didn’t
appear to be. When she smiled at her, Ally smiled back.

“How much do you know about magic?” Ally
shrugged. “Me either, but I can do a shit-ton of crap about it. Move things,
bend metal. I can also play with your mind. I can make you think things I want
you to, see whatever it is I need you to see, and do things that you wouldn’t
normally ever do on your own. I can shift into any animal I want, but there are
drawbacks. If I’ve never seen the animal shift, I might get it a little wrong. And
I can heal you.”

“Heal me? You mean if I get a cut or something?”
Bronwyn nodded then shook her head. “You mean that you can bring me back from
the dead kind of heal me?”

“Not that far, but when you’re close I
can. It takes a great deal out of me, but I can do it.” Bronwyn parked the car
and asked her for her hand; she gave it to her without hesitation. “I can tell that
you’re terrified of your relationship with Alistair. You’re also afraid that
when Lance comes here, he’ll harm one or more of us. May I touch your head?”

Ally was afraid, but nodded. When she touched
her forehead, Ally felt the connection immediately and profoundly. Then when
the images started to roll forward, she watched as Lance moved through the
parking lot of some hotel, she saw his mom talking to him on the phone, telling
him that he needed to get her and to get his ass back home. She saw Alistair sitting
at his desk, staring at the computer, and she saw Mrs. Golden approach them in
a shop that sold bath soaps. When she let her go, Ally felt dizzy, and she
could only stare at Bronwyn.

“Are those real?” Bronwyn nodded. “He’s
here then, isn’t he? Lance is in this state looking for me right now?”

“Yes. He arrived yesterday afternoon.” Ally
waited for her to tell her that things were going to be taken care of, but she
didn’t say anything like that. All she said was he would be really stupid if he
tried anything while they were shopping.

She got out of the car with her and they
moved into the mall. She was almost afraid to go in because she was afraid he’d
be there.

Bronwyn put her arm around her and
whispered, “If he were here, I’d tell you, but he’s not. Let him go for now.
There’s not a fucking thing he can do to you here. Not while any of us are with
you. You’re as safe as you’ll ever be, trust me.”

Ally looked at her. “I’m trying to trust,
but it’s a little overwhelming. What if he—”

“You could ‘what if’ until hell freezes
over, but it won’t mean shit when it comes down to it. He’s not here. You have
an endless credit card and more shops in this mall than any other in the world.
We’re going to have fun.”

Chapter 5

Ryland watched Alistair. He would stare
off into space for a few minutes, then back at him like he had no idea what
they’d been talking about. The first few minutes of teasing him had been fun,
but now he was just worried. When he looked at him again, Ryland told him what
he was doing.

“You miss her.” Alistair nodded. “It’s
not easy when you’re first together. It’s like you can’t get enough of each
other. And the need to touch is overwhelming.”

“Christ, it’s like if I’m not touching her,
I’m going to go crazy. And then touching leads to wanting her. Then sex. She’d
never come before me.” Ryland had to bite the inside of him mouth when Alistair
turned as red as a beet. “I didn’t mean to say that. But I can’t help but feel
like a million bucks when I think of it.”

He didn’t say anything. Not that he was
sure what he would say because he knew what it was like to have a mate that
loved sex as much as he did. Ryland was trying to think of something clever and
witty to say when Alistair’s phone rang. Alistair picked it up and barely said
his name when he looked at him with a look of fear. Something had happened. Ryland
reached for his mate, but she was blocking him. He was ready to go find her
when Alistair spoke.

“We’ll be right there.” His voice was
calm, but Ryland could feel his terror. “Yes, you’re right. Yes, Ryland is
right here with me. I’ll…yes, I’ll bring him, too.” When he hung up, Ryland was
ready to strangle him.

“There’s been a shooting at the mall,”
Alistair said. “Bronwyn said that they were shopping and someone came in with a
gun and started mowing people down. Mom and Ally are fine, as is Bronwyn.” Ryland
didn’t respond, knowing that there was more. “He just opened fire on the store
that they were in, and Bronwyn said that he was looking for Ally. He was
looking to kill my Ally.”

Ryland was afraid, too. This had gone
beyond a simple ex-husband trying to get his wife to come back to him to
outright murder. He guided his brother out to his car and even buckled him in.
As they drove to the mall, he reached out to Bronwyn.

“We’re all fine. I swear to you we’re
all fine.”
He felt his body relax just hearing her voice.
“He killed nine people, including
a small child. He wanted Ally, but he couldn’t find her. I couldn’t protect
them all.”

“I know, love. You protected what you
could, I have no doubt. What do you know about him? Anything? Is he dead?”

“Yes, dead. I didn’t mean to kill him,
but he just wouldn’t stop coming. It was as if he was on something or someone
was controlling him.”
He didn’t want to believe it, but she’d know more than anyone.
“Ryland, he
was sent here to find her by someone other than Lance. He wasn’t in his mind at
all.”

“You mean that there’s someone else
trying to kill her?”
She told him
yes,
and Ryland looked over at his brother.
“Does she
know? Does Ally know?”

“No. She said that she’d never seen him
before, but she’s looking like she might have remembered something about him. I
was going to look, but I don’t want to hurt her. She’s pretty fragile right
now. And she needs Alistair.”

“He needs her, too. He’s sort of in a
zombie-like state. Has been since you called him, and way before that, I think.
We’re nearly to the parking lot now.”
He looked around and wondered how he
was supposed to find them.
“Honey, I don’t know how we’re going to get to
you. There’s a lot of news vans here already.”

“Go to the food court entrance. There’ll
be a mall cop standing there. His badge says his name is….”
She laughed.
“His
name is Lance. He’s a tall guy and he’ll show you how to get here if you tell
him your name.”

When he turned off the car Alistair
looked at him. He looked like he was coming back to himself now, and Ryland
waited for him to say something. He looked up to make sure that the mall cop
wasn’t waiting on them before looking at his brother again.

“You’ve spoken to Bronwyn?” Ryland
nodded. “She said that Ally was fine, but all I could think about was that I
hadn’t been there to protect her when I told her I would.”

“You did protect her. If you had been
with her instead of Bronwyn, you’d both be dead. You protected her.” Alistair
nodded.

“He was gunning for her, wasn’t he? The
man that shot at them, he was coming for Ally like she told me on the phone?” Ryland
told him that was what Bronwyn had said. “Is it anything to do with her ex?”

“No, or it doesn’t appear so. Bronwyn
said Ally is pretty shook up. You ready to go and hold her?” Alistair nodded
but didn’t move. “Alistair, it’s going to be all right. We’re going to protect
her.”

“I know that, but what if the next time
no one is there to protect her. Whoever this is means to have her dead, not
just back like her ex does. How can I keep her safe from things I don’t know?” Ryland
didn’t know how to answer that, so he didn’t. “I don’t want to lose her,
Ryland. I don’t want to sound like a sap, but I already love her and I can’t
lose her.”

He got out before Ryland could say
anything. He knew how his brother felt. Having a mate, someone to love him no
matter what was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He followed his
brother in just as the mall cop was coming toward him. He nodded when Ryland told
him his name and started back the way he’d come. When he saw Bronwyn with Ally
and his mom, he nearly wept with relief. Alistair took off running and grabbed
up Ally as soon as she leapt into his arms. Ryland wanted to do the same to his
mate, but she was dealing with a newsman who was trying to get her to tell him
what had happened. He stood by to watch the show.

“You put that fucking thing in my face
again, I will shove it so far up your ass that you’re going to need to learn to
shit from your nostrils. I said I do not want to speak to you or your mother
fucking viewers. You want to interview somebody, go over and ask that woman whose
little boy was gunned down by that fucking cock sucker over there and see how
entertaining she can be.” The guy pulled his microphone back from Bronwyn like
she really was going to hurt him with it. Ryland was pretty sure she would,
too.

“You were there. We just want to—” She
slugged him. Hard and in the nose. As soon as blood started to erupt from his
face, she asked the cameraman if he was getting this. When he backed from her,
she smiled.

“You use any of this footage on your
program and I will hunt you down and shove that camera so far down your throat
that they won’t be able to bury you without it. Got it?” The man nodded, opened
his camera, and handed her the little card.

“You keep it,” the cameraman said.” “We’d
have to bleep every word you said anyway and unlike him, I can see that you’re
serious that you don’t want to be interviewed.” He moved away from her without
another word.

Bronwyn turned to him and wrapped her
arms around him. He laughed when she told him she had been so scared. When she
pulled back and frowned, he kissed her on the nose.

“You might have been scared, but that
man over there has you beat. I’m reasonably sure that if another woman tells
him she doesn’t want to be interviewed, he’ll walk away.”

She smiled at him and moved back when
his mom came toward them. Alistair was still holding onto Ally, and he kept an
eye on them both. This wasn’t a good place to fall apart. When Bronwyn looked
around, he asked her if there was anyone there that they should be worried
about.

“No. I just….” She looked around again.
“There’s something off here. Don’t you think? Look around and tell me what you
see.”

He held her to him and looked around.
There were several news crews talking into mikes or interviewing people. He saw
the cameramen standing very still as they filmed the anchors. Mall security was
milling about with the police, and there were several hundred shoppers staring
on as if they were waiting on someone to open fire again. Then he looked into
the store.

The front window was filled with half-dressed
mannequins as well as a large bathtub filled with what appeared to be silver
balloons. Ryland thought it was supposed to be bubbles and thought that they’d
done a good job of it. Towels hung over the edge and draped to the floor. And a
dark pink and red shower curtain hung behind the scene so that it looked like a
bathroom. He looked at the doorway into the shop, then back at the scene.

“How did he see you?” Bronwyn nodded. “Where
were you in the shop when the shots started firing?”

“In the back. We were trying to talk Ally
into a lovely bra-and-panty set when I felt him coming toward us. Before I
could step in front of your mom and Ally, the cashier was killed.”

“He knew Ally was in the shop.” She
nodded again, and he felt a shiver run up his spine. “Did you get anything from
him prior to him shooting the place up?”

“Only that he had a clear picture which
one she was and that he was to kill her at all costs. He was excited to be able
to take out so many with her, as well.” She turned in his arms, and he held
her. “There are four people in the crowd with cell phones that are recording
this. Two more behind us that are talking about how they’re going to be famous
at school in the morning when word got out they’d been here. There is a woman
in the shop still that won’t come out because she wet herself, and the woman
with her is trying her best not to tell the girl she’d done the same thing. But
there is no one here that has a clue what happened or why other than us.”

Ryland nodded to Alistair when he caught
his eye. It was time to move them out before whoever ordered this showed up to
finish the job. He was just turning to leave with them all when Bronwyn touched
his arm. He stilled and watched her as she spoke to Ally.

“They’re going to say you’re dead.” Ally
started to shake her head. “It’ll come out later that you’re not, but for now,
they’re going to assume you’re among the dead. It will buy us some time in
trying to figure this out.”

Ally looked back at the man that had
been covered up, then back at them. “You’ll tell me what you know. I know you
said you can do a shit ton of stuff, so I’m guessing you know what is really
going on here, right?”

“Yes. He wasn’t sent by your ex. According
to what I’ve found out and what Keith has, I would assume that you’re worth
more to him alive than dead right now.”

“If he tries to cash in on another
insurance scam with a dead wife, somebody might notice something. That’s why he
wants me to go back, so he can marry me again and make a claim when I’m dead.” Ryland
looked at Alistair, who looked as shocked as he felt. “I’m not stupid, and I
can look things up. If he makes another claim, especially on a divorced wife,
someone might look deeper into what he’s done before. And from what you told me
this morning, he can’t afford that.”

“I didn’t say you were stupid, and
believe me, if I thought so I would tell you.” Bronwyn took a deep breath. “Let’s
get out of here now before some asshole comes along and shoots us for simply
being here.”

~~~

Ally crossed her arms over her chest and
glared at the men and woman staring at her. She was as pissed as she’d ever
been. She moved back when Alistair stood up.

“I’m not happy with you, either.” He sat
back down. “And just so you know, right now you can all bite my ass. I’m not
going to put any of you in danger. I’m leaving.”

“So you said. Four times now.” Jules
stood up. “I’m going home. I’ve got three pieces I have to finish before next
week, and arguing with a woman bent on getting herself killed isn’t getting
them done. And just so you know, I would die for you right now. You’re his mate
no matter if you’re here or not; and you dying will kill him.”

“What do you mean?” Jules turned back to
her and smiled. It wasn’t a smile she thought of as warm and friendly. She took
a step back. He stepped toward her.

“Like him, I won’t ever harm you, but
that doesn’t mean that I’ll stand in front of you to get shot while you run in
the opposite direction. He will die if you leave him, because he would go and
hunt down your ex just to keep you with him. And he’d do it alone without telling
us, because he knows, like you, that your ex-husband will hurt us. Like we give
a shit where a mate is concerned. We protect what is ours. Period.”

“Lance will hurt him.” Jules cocked a
brow at her. “Okay, he’ll try to hurt him. What does that have to do with me
leaving now? Lance doesn’t know about any of you.”

Keith stood up and handed her a large
phone-like object. Jules took it from her and turned it on before giving it to
her again. There they all were standing in front of the store after the shooting.
She looked up at him, not understanding why he had this.

“It’s on all the social networks. Some
kid must have recorded it and posted it. I can take it down, but it’s gone
viral and been shared by nearly ten million people. I’ll never get them all
taken down before Isaac might see it.” Keith nodded to the device she had in
her hands as he continued. “I found that just simply by putting in mall
shooting. There are nearly a dozen more making the rounds.”