Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) (16 page)

Her voice was hard
,
but he could feel her fear.
She really had no idea that what he knew was going to irrevocably change all their lives forever.
He nodded to Gordon as he took a seat.
“You’ve mated with her.
You want to tell me what the problem is?”
Gordon stiffened
,
as did Alexis.
He knew that he was going to tell him it was none of his business
,
but right now he didn’t care.
“Jessie is right.
Alexis is going to need help. If you aren’t going to stand behind her or beside her, now would be the time to bail on her.”

“She’s my mate.
I can’t let her get hurt. Tell me what I need to know to make sure she’s safe.” Gordon glanced at Alexis then quickly away before he continued.
“Our issues have nothing to do with whatever is going on right now.”

“I bit him.
He and I had sex and I bit him. With my teeth
,
and I…I drank his blood.”
Alexis looked at him as tears fell.
“Am I part vampire too?
Is that why he is so repulsed by me?”

“I never said I was repulsed.
I merely said that you can’t go around biting anyone else. I won’t have you drinking from everyone because you didn’t share you wer—
”

“Shut the fuck up
,
Gordon.”
Austin stood up and shoved his brother in the chair when Gordon stood.
“Sit down and shut the fuck up before I do it for you.
Of all the stupid
,
asinine…what the fuck do you mean she can’t…
Have you been paying attention to what’s going on around us?
You’d rather she die than drink from…
You fool. You don’t deserve a mate.”

“She’s not a vampire.
Not even a half
-
breed like me.
And for the record, when Holly and I come together as mates you so much as breathe a bad word to her about me drinking from her and I will tear you apart.”
Phil pulled out a file and handed it to Alexis.
“Here you go
,
sweetheart.
If you have any questions give me a call.
I’m leaving.
I wouldn’t want to sully the air around here anymore.”

He was around the house and almost to his car when he heard the first
of the
loud voices.
He was too angry and too hurt to care what they did to each other anymore.
He was going to find himself a woman and fuck her until she couldn’t walk then he was going to drain her simply because he could.
He was nearly home when he had to pull over and take a few deep breaths. He couldn’t do either of those things and he knew it.
But he was going to wash his hands of Holly. There would be no way for him to be around the young wolf without remembering what her brother thought of him.

Chapter 9

After she threw everyone out, including Gordon, Alexis went to her room and locked the door. She didn’t do that often
,
but she really needed to think and she couldn’t
do that
with everyone coming to her.

She started to open the file when she realized she was afraid. She wasn’t sure what was in the information
,
but whatever it was couldn’t be good.
She glared at the file when her phone rang. She picked it up and debated on whether or not to throw it at the wall then gave in and answered.

“Can I come over?
Actually, I’m here
. C
an I come down and talk to you?” Gordon sounded as resigned as she felt.
“We have to talk and I want to grovel to you in person.”

She leaned against the coolness of her window
,
looked out into the dark
,
starless night
,
and watched the water fall over the stones a few feet away.
She didn’t want to deal with him tonight
,
if ever again
,
but if she hung up she’d have to deal with the file and thought he might be the lesser of two evils.

“Why?
If you really want to know the truth, I don’t care what you have to say to me.
I’m thinking you might be smart by staying away from me.”
She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and watched as Gordon came into view
,
naked except for the cell phone a
t
this ear.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I left the pack house to go on a run and came here.
I didn’t have anything stored here so my clothes are still back at the place I took them off.” He moved to where she was standing and put his hand near where her cheek was pressed against the glass.
“I’m a fool. Wors
e
, I’m a stupid
,
arrogant fool who should be shot.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on any of that.”
She knew she couldn’t really
,
but she thought she could feel his warmth.
“I didn’t know I could do that.
I
’ve
never bit anyone before and you hurt me.”
She turned away from him to wipe at the sudden flow of tears.
She looked back when he said her name th
r
ough the phone.

“I’m more sorry than I’ve ever been about anything.
You’ve no idea how much I enjoyed you biting me.
And after…I said those things because I was scared.
Not at you,” he said hurriedly, “but at me.
Christ, I wanted you to do it again and again
,
but I felt…well, I felt betrayed because you hadn’t told me then—
”

“I didn’t know.
I had no idea that I could do that.
The urge to bite you came over me so quickly and suddenly it seemed right.
And, Gordon
,
you have…”
She was almost ashamed to amid it so she looked down.
“I came so hard and it felt
s
o right to do it.
Then you looked at me like I was a disease or something
and
I couldn’t tell you anything.”

“Let me in
,
love.
Let me in and
let me
make it up to you.
I know what I did was horrible
,
and if Phil never speaks to me again or drains me it will be no less than I deserve.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to both of you, I swear.”

Alexis looked at the only opening in her room that didn’t come from the inside of the house.
She hadn’t told anyone about it and had had several contractors work on the emergency exit over the entire work being done so that no one but her knew the route.
Did she trust Gordon with the knowledge
,
or should she just have him come into the house like a normal person?
She looked back at him and nodded.

“Do you see the falls?” He nodded
,
turning to look at the small falls that hid the doorway.
“Behind it is a split stone.
When you step behind the water it will look like a solid wall
,
but the closer you get to it you’ll be able to make it out.
And once you get into the stone you’ll want to make constant rights.
I know that you’ll think you’re going the wrong way
,
but make all rights at every split.”

He nodded then turned back to her with a grin. “If you’re trying to get rid of me
,
will you please let my mother know that I loved her?
She might not mourn now about my passing
,
but she may wonder a little later.”

“She’s mad at you
,
is she?
Good. I hope she kicked your ass.”
He kissed the glass were she still was.

“They all did. So when you see my battered body in the light know that I deserved every one of the bruises and I should have gotten more.”
He was gone before she could make a comment
. H
is cell phone dropped where he’d been standing.
She hoped that she hadn’t made a terrible mistake when she saw him dive into the icy water.

~~~

The water wasn’t just cold
,
but blue balls
,
my
-
blood
-
is
-
going
-
to
-
turn
-
to
-
ice cold.
Gordon surfaced just below the small falls and climbed out where the water met the wall of stone.
He was scaling the embankment when he saw the place he thought that she’d been talking about.
He emerged behind the wall of water only to be faced with a sheer wall of rock.

Using his hands he felt his way along the large stones.
It was dark in the smallish cave
,
but he would bet that even in broad daylight it would be dark under here.
He finally found the
crevice
and moved to stand in front of the opening.

It looked impossible for him to go through. His first thoughts were that she’d planned this to get rid of him.
Then he took another two steps to stand to the direct right to the cliff and saw that the opening was incredibly wide.
He stepped to it and slid inside.

He knew now what she’d meant when she said that he’d want to go left.
First of all
,
the house was to the left.
If he went left like he thought
,
he should he’d be going toward the house
,
not away.
Secondly
,
the way to the left was clearer and defi
nitely
brighter.
Taking a deep breath
,
he started walking to the right.