Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (66 page)

“No. What do you see?”

He could hear the tension in his voice and it made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

“Dallas, speak to me.”

“I can smell…death. Not fresh, but…older. Let me look around and get back to you.”

“No. You keep in contact. After yesterday, I don’t want to take any chance with anyone. You said you’re in the south field. Where?”

He told him.

“I’m coming. Don’t look around, just wait for me.”

“Austin. It’s too late. I’ve found it.”

By the time Austin got to where he was, Dallas had shifted and pulled on the sweats that he had on him. Since his brother Connor had told them it was easy to carry a small pack on their backs when they were wolf, one that he’d designed that had breakaway straps, all of them were able to dress wherever they went. He was standing over the mass grave when Austin and Myles came up in a Jeep.

“I didn’t know what to bring so we loaded everything we could think of.” Myles was an ex-cop and a newly turned vampire thanks to Phil and Holly saving him. “You figure out what it is yet?”

“You tell me.” He led them over to the shallow grave and pointed. “Male, female, human, animal, weres, and vampires. I’m not sure on the last one whether or not it’s a vamp, though. The only dead vamps I’ve seen were ash and this one is not.”

“Christ,” Austin hissed. Dallas had to agree. “They look like they’ve been here at least a week. How deep is this thing, would you say?”

Dallas knew. “There are seventeen bodies. No children are in there, but someone was kind enough to put all the adults’ identifications in that box there.”

Myles walked over to it and opened the steel box. He was thumbing through a wallet as Dallas continued.

“Stacy and Connor spoke to Harvey today. He said that he was responsible for burying the dead that Sterling killed. I didn’t look at the book, but he gave it to Stacy and she said it had all the places that he’d dug up. He didn’t want to go to the same place twice.”

“So Sterling has been keeping track, or at least someone is. This Harvey, how does he figure in all this?”

Dallas shrugged at Myles’ question.

“Do you think he’s in with the alpha?”

Another Jeep pulled up and someone walked toward them speaking. “No, he’s not. The alpha is his brother and killed his family in order to keep him in line. Harvey is under the impression that he’s nothing left to live for. Hello, Dallas. You can’t know how sorry I am for all this.”

Dallas turned away from his brother Connor. He wasn’t too happy with him either.

“What took you so long?” Austin looked around when another car pulled up. “What the hell did you do, bring the entire pack with you?”

“No, just the ones I thought could help.”

Phil came toward them, as well as Holly. Dallas didn’t want her to see this, but she walked right up to the dead and hopped down in the hole. “This one was killed with a knife. I’d say a dagger. This one on top…looks like a nine millimeter.” She moved along each body and told them how they’d been killed and about how long they’d been dead. All of them less than a week.

“I’d say there are two vampires in that mess, maybe one more, but no more than that. And they weren’t dead when they were put in here but died due to sun exposure.” Phil winked at his mate. “I think they might not be day walkers like me.”

“Ass,” she growled at him. “All the others were killed someplace else and brought here. I’d say that they were carried, so that would explain why there are no other tire tracks.” She got out of the hole. “There’s something else you should know. The person on the bottom, the male, he dug the hole.”

“How do you know? Are there some markings that gave that away?” Dallas flushed when she cocked a brow at him. “I’m sorry. I’m having a shitty day.”

“Yeah, heard about that.” She grinned. “Anyway, the guy still has the shovel in his hands. Wrapped around it like he was still in mid-dig when he was shot in the back of the head.”

Holly was a former hit man…woman for the government. When she’d retired, Connor, Myles, and she opened an investigations firm. Their business had been doing very well. In fact they now had any other member of the family working for them when they were too busy to do it on their own. Dallas didn’t much care for his sister being anything but a mate, but he knew better than to say anything.

“Let’s get them out of here and call whoever we need to so they can get claimed.” Dallas pulled out his cell phone as he walked away. “I’m calling the were brigade to see what they can do for us.”

Eight hours later, they were just heading back. Dallas wanted to do nothing more than take a long, hot shower and crawl into bed. He was met at the door by not only Alexis, but Stacy, his mom, and CJ, who grinned at him.

“We have to talk.”

Christ, would this day never end?

Chapter 6

“The council said that Sterling has been a problem for some time. But as they didn’t have any proof, they decided to wait.” Austin was pacing as he spoke. He had his family sitting around the large pack table and couldn’t seem to think past the bodies in the grave.

“Why? I mean, I’ve been there. How can they not think the guy is abusing his people?” Connor handed out the pictures that he’d shown Austin when he’d gotten back. “Those alone should show that he’s not a good pack leader.”

“But the council didn’t see those places.” He tossed a folder on the table. “They saw those houses. With clean, well fed people in them. People who couldn’t say enough good things about their leader.”

He watched them spread the pictures on the table and see what they’d been told. When Austin had tried to tell the council what he’d heard from Georgia, he’d been reprimanded for taking in another wolf’s fold without permission. After today, they had a different story.

“So what do they think now? Do we go in and…shit. Look at this picture.” Phil tossed the picture in the middle of the table and then stood up. He went to the file that still lay on the counter. “Yeah, I thought so. It’s the same woman. Here.”

Phil pointed to the woman in the front door to a very lovely two-story home and then to the driver’s licenses they’d found in the box. It was the same woman. And her identification said she was from this area.

“Is he taking people from other packs and setting them up in these homes…to what? Make a good impression? Then he kills them off when they’ve done what he needed?” No one answered Myles. “That’s just sick. Not only that, but isn’t there some sort of pack law that prohibits abuse of your subjects?”

“Very good, grasshopper,” Phil said sardonically. “That’s pretty much the law for any group or species. When our kind is caught treating people like this, he’s staked to the ground, pissed on, and then watched from a safe distance as the sun takes care of him or her.”

Myles flushed. “Sorry. Still thinking like a cop. What I don’t understand is how did he know to set this up? Did they tell him they were coming?”

Austin nodded. “Pretty much. It’s considered ‘uncivilized’ to go to a pack without announcing yourself.”

Austin noticed that Stacy was looking at the pictures with more interest than he thought necessary. When she looked up at Dallas, he knew they were talking and wondered if it was something they all should know. When Dallas nodded, she turned to him.

“I know where this is. It’s about four or five miles from where the bodies were found.” She looked down at the picture with the woman in the doorway. “This is someone I’ve seen on this land. She said she wasn’t poaching, but she was just…she said she had gotten lost. I thought she was afraid, but she left before I could speak to her about it.”

“When did you see her? It would help, love if you could remember.”

Everyone looked at Dallas, who had growled low to the vampire when he’d asked.

“Oh sorry. I keep forgetting how possessive you wolves can be. Would it help if I said ‘Where did you see her, bitch, tell me now?” Phil shook his head. “Morons.”

“Oh like you blood suckers aren’t. And that’s my mate you’re calling love and I’d appreciate it if you’d back the fuck up.”

No one spoke. Austin had forgotten that Dallas had found his mate and now that he thought about it, he realized that Alexis hadn’t spoken a word since they sat down.

“Ah, so that’s what’s so different about you. My deepest apologizes to you, kind sir. Congratulations, my dear lady, though I think you could have done much better.” Phil took Dallas’ hand and shook it. “I am sorry, but it is a bad habit I have.”

“You can call me whatever you want if it will get us back to the subject at hand. I—”

“Wait. I have something to say as well.” Alexis stood up. “I owe everyone here a heartfelt apology as well. I wronged Dallas today and I was cruel and heartless to him. I also hit him.”

Austin watched the room around him, especially Gordon and Dallas. This could be bad or it could be extremely bad.

“He came to me today to tell me that he’d hit Stacy and that he and she had bonded. I acted like a banshee and I acted without getting all the facts. I hope that you both can forgive me.”

Dallas stood, as did Gordon. Neither man moved for several seconds until Gordon sat down. Dallas moved to Alexis, knelt before her, and took her hand into his. He kissed her gently and Austin held his breath. Okay, very bad to completely fucked up now.

“I’m sorry too. I should have come to you immediately to tell you what had happened. But…” Dallas looked at Stacy, who flushed. “But I got sidetracked. Will you please forgive me as well?”

She started crying and helped him stand then wrapped her arms around him. Dallas looked a Gordon, who nodded once before Dallas wrapped his arms around her. They held each other for a few minutes before Gordon slapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t push your luck. Let go of my mate.” They parted and each of them hugged Gordon before Dallas went to his seat but didn’t sit.

“This is my mate, Stacy Force. We have bonded and mated in the way of our people. Alpha, I know it’s a little late, but may I take a mate, and Alexis, may I take a mate in Stacy?”

Austin sat down and nodded. Alexis said, “hell yes” as he let out a long held breath. Things in this family were never going to be dull. He looked over at his own mate and pulled her into his lap.

“I call this meeting back to order. Tell us what you’ve found, Connor.” Austin watched the play between the other couples and wondered when Connor would find his true love. He nearly missed what Stacy said.

“What do you mean you’ve met all these wolves? On this property?”

She nodded.

“Why wasn’t I made aware of it?”

“They were only on the outer edges. You said that so long as they didn’t move into the perimeter it would be fine if others came close.”

He nodded. Damn it, they’d made that rule hoping to interact with others of their kind when they’d taken over this land. Now he might have to rethink it. “But how close to the dig site did they come? Any of them within the five miles from the Sterling boarder?”

He saw her thinking and then she nodded. “But not much more, if that. Most of them were…they seemed to think that you were going to kill them. At least the first few.” She looked thoughtful again. “You don’t think they were trying to get away, do you?”

More than likely
, he thought. “I want to expand the patrols to all around the perimeter. Whatever we find, report. I know we’ve absorbed the pack into ours, but we can’t take the chance that he’ll come gunning for them. Austin actually hoped he would. That was why he’d left the note. He wanted to make sure he came. And when he entered his territory, he was as good as dead.

~~~

Dallas was dead on his feet. When Stacy had gotten them home, he’d been dozing in the car when she finally pulled into his driveway. She really was nervous about what to do now. She reached over to touch his shoulder and he jerked awake and grabbed her hand.

“It’s me. It is all right. It is just me.” His breathing calmed and she could feel the tension go out of his body. “Are you all right?”

“I’m exhausted. I’m sorry, love, to have made you drive home, but I couldn’t have made it.” He opened the door and she sat there. “Aren’t you coming in?”

She looked at his house, one she had been in a thousand times over the past year, and then at him. “I do not know what to do. Do I live here? Do I go to the house that I have? I do not know how this is supposed to work.”

He closed the door and looked at her. “You’re my mate Stacy, and as of now, we live together. Forever. I thought you understood that.”

“I did. I do. But what…are you sure?” She hated to sound whiny, but she was afraid he would get tired of her and want her to leave, or worse yet, he would beat her. Well, that really was not something she was concerned about, but she was afraid.

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I need you. I love you. I want to spend the rest of our lives together.” He kissed her forehead. “Does this have anything to do with your father?”

“He said those same things to Mom before he killed her. He told her that he would never tire of her, never leave her. I do not want to lose you, but…well, I do not know what you expect of me.”

“I don’t either other than to love me back. I do expect you to tell me if I do something that pisses you off. I expect you to tell me when you’re not satisfied.” She flushed at his statement. “I meant in the house, the car, whatever. But I don’t expect you’ll have any complaints about me satisfying you. I’m a phenomenal lover, as you already know.”

She pretended to think about it and squeaked when he yanked her over the seat and onto his lap. She was straddled over his legs and he held her to him. She was sure he was asleep when she pulled back, but his eyes were wide open.

“I love you, Dallas. I think I have for a long time.” She laid her head on his. “And if you take me inside your house, I will show you.”

The swat at her ass hurt and she yanked his head back, ready to take a bite out of him. Before she could speak, he hit her again. Then he began rubbing the bruised area.

“Our house. Say it. Our house. Our bed. Our car.” He licked her throat. “Our bodies. Say it so I can take you inside our house and make love to you on our bed.”

She kissed his nose. “Our house.” Then his eye. “Our car.” Then the other one. “Our bodies.” She leaned back on his lap.

“You forgot our bed.”

She leaned down and kissed him full on the mouth, putting her entire being into it. “No, I did not. Take me there and I will prove it.”

He opened the door and set her out of the car. When he slid out as well, he turned her to the vehicle and set her on it.

“It’s much too far. What if I show you how much we own this car?” He pulled her to the edge and nipped at her mouth. “Out here where we are among out kind. Where we were meant to make love.”

He pulled her light jacket off and then pulled her shirt off and dropped it to the ground. While he bit at her neck, she pulled him between her legs and wrapped herself around him. His low groan made her bold.

“I want to undress you then I want to take you into my mouth. I want to feel you inside of me.” She ran her hands over his hard male nipples. “Do you have any idea how much I want to touch you right now?”

“I’m getting an idea.”

She pushed him back and then turned him to the place she had been sitting.

“What is it you think you are going to do to me? I want to make love to you.”

“My turn. You get to call the shots in the bed. Right here, right now, I’m going to be in charge.” She looked up at him and saw his eyes darken. “Will you let me try?”

He nodded and leaned back on the car and let her undress him. First she unbuttoned his shirt, then she worked at his jeans. The button came undone, but the zipper was giving her fits. She looked up at him again and watched as she ripped the sucker off him.

“You’re going to replace those. I love those pants.” He grinned at her. “Of course I’m willing to let it go if you show me how sorry you are.”

Dropping to her knees before him, she pulled his pants the rest of the way off. She left his boxers where they were, tossed the ruined jeans over her shoulder, and sat up on her knees so she could reach him. His cock was right where she wanted it.

Running her hands up his thighs then up over the elastic of the shorts, she watched him. Every time she came close to the head, he would rock toward her mouth. She was not ready for that yet; she wanted to play. When he growled at her, she felt her own juices begin to flow and rubbed her cheek over his shaft.

“I love the way you smell. Like rich earth and nature.” She pulled the boxers down until just the crown was out and licked the very tip. “And you taste like…hum, like the best chocolate I’ve ever had.”

“Stacy, please. A man can only take so much teasing.” He wrapped his fingers into her hair. “Take me, baby. Please, I’m begging you.”

She did take the tip into her mouth and worried the full head with her tongue. Pulling the boxers off while she took him, she left them at his knees to reach up and take his balls gently into her palms. His growl this time was punctuated with harsh breathing and a few “Holy Christs.”

She lost herself in what she was doing. His taste, his texture. Never had she known how a part of the body could be so hard, yet remain so smooth. So hot, yet not burn when she touched him. When he pulled her head off his cock, he looked crazed. She licked her lips and moved to take him again.

“Enough. I need to come or fuck you. I can’t…Christ, you’re going to kill me.” He stood her up, pressed her head down on the hood, and he stepped up behind her. “You’ve made me insane with need. I hope to Christ you’re ready.”

She knew she was and if she had not been, his rough words would have done the trick. As soon as her pants were ripped from her, she felt his hand come down on her ass. Nothing in the world had ever felt this good and so painful at the same time.

“Take me. Now, Dallas, take me, or so help me, I will figure out a way to—mother fuck.” He slammed into her deep. Her thighs were going to be bruised in the morning, but right now, all she could think about was him fucking her. Over and over he pounded into her. When he reached around to her pussy and pinched her clit, she came apart with a scream.