Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) (6 page)

There was a good deal to be happy about in taking a mate too. This, as he snuggled into her neck, was the best part. Then he laid his hand over her growing little mound that was their child.
He smiled when she grinned at him.

“When are you going to bring her around, Gordo
n
?
Your mom will love her
,
by the way. I already do.
Having another female in this family will be really nice too. We can go shopping and do lunch together.”

Gordon flushed before answering.
“I have to tell her what she is to me first.
It’s going to be bad
,
and then there are the kids. I’m not sure what they are to her
,
but they’re pretty scared of people.”

“You’ll have to tell her very soon. If there is another wolf in her family and he finds out, things could be bad for her. Or the kids,” Dallas said as he poured CJ a glass of milk and their mom a glass of tea.
“I’ve been trying to find out what I can about the brother-in-law
,
but all I’ve found so far is that he and the sister, Judith Dark Booth
,
had been divorced about two years before the murder.
He’d been accused of being into some drugs and some thefts
,
but now…it’s as if he just dropped off the face of the earth.”

Gordon’s phone ringing startled them all and then the pack phone going off sent them all off.
Dallas snatched up the pack phone just as Gordon started writing down things in his notebook.
He stood as soon as he closed his phone.

“I have to go. A woman was just brought into the hospital by her family. They say she’s been beat up pretty badly.
I’m on call so—
”

“It’s Alexis Dark,” Dallas said.
“Carol at the hospital called to tell me that she has been beaten by a wolf. His scent is all over her.
He…Christ, she said he beat her pretty bad.”

Gordon was out the door and into his car before the rest of them could gather coats and purses.
Dallas went out with him and Austin
went
with the women.
Connor, their brother
,
showed up just as they were loading into the car
,
and he jumped in with them.
Austin hoped it wasn’t as bad as they said
,
but he had a feeling that it was going to be much wors
e
.

~~~

Alexis could only open one eye and it was blurry. She tried to roll over
,
but it hurt too badly so she simply moved her head. That wasn’t much better
,
but at least she could see more. The first person she saw was the cop from today.

“The call came in and I’m on duty.
How are you feeling
?
” he asked as he put his face down to her level.
“They are going to give you something for pain
,
but the doc said he wanted to asse
ss
your pain level first.”

“Ten times infinity,” she told him as she tried to move again. “The kids?
Where are they?”

“In the lobby with my mom and your aunt.
Tim is trying to decide if he trusts us or not and Sis is telling my mom all about her dad.”
He brushed the hair from her mouth as he continued.
“He sounds like a real winner.
Did he hit you?”

She didn’t even try to pretend she was going to answer him.
Alexis had enough going on at the moment and a nosey cop in the mix wasn’t going to help her.
Especially not with Paddy and the children
,
and most assuredly with all the other shit she was trying to juggle.

“I’d like for you to go away
,
please.
I don’t know who called the cops
,
but nothing is the matter. I…I fell
,
that’s all.”
She hated lying
,
but whatever had pissed off Paddy
,
she was sure he wasn’t finished with her yet.
“I’m really okay. Thanks anyway.”

She tried to get him to back off by sitting up
,
but he just pressed her back into the bed. When she tried it a second time he leaned down to her and nipped at her ear lobe.
Her body seemed to like it a whole lot more than she thought it should.
When he licked her pulse she couldn’t help but moan.

“Unless you want me to join you in this bed to keep you here, I would suggest you be still.” Her body shivered in reaction to his threat.
“Christ
,
you smell delicious.”

His mouth moved along her throat and then along her ear again. She could feel him with her entire body.
Feel everything about this man and what he was doing to her.
She moaned when he moved to cup her breast.
She was about to beg him, for what she wasn’t sure
,
but he suddenly stiffened and she moaned again when he didn’t continue.

“Gordon,” someone said from behind him. When he started to pull away
,
she whimpered. The damned man actually winked at her after he kissed her quickly.

“Alexis, this is my brother Austin
,
and you’ve met his lovely wife CJ.” The door opened again and another man walked in with a pretty older woman.
“This is one of my other brothers
,
Dallas
,
and my mom, Nancy.”

Alexis nodded. She was too busy trying to get her hand from Gordon to pay much attention to what was going on.
Plus
,
she hurt. Her head was pounding and her busted lip felt heavy and swollen. Every
time she moved she could feel where Paddy had kicked her, even her toes hurt to wiggle them. When she was finally able to free herself, she huffed when he sat on the edge of her bed and put his hand on her leg.

“Miss Dark, could you tell us what happened today?
Who hit you—
”

She cut off the one he’d called Dallas. “No one hit me.
As I’ve told this man, I fell. Not that it’s any of your business anyway. So I’d very much like it if you all left.”

CJ giggled and Alexis wasn’t sure
,
but she thought the mother laughed as well before Dallas glared at her.
With a raised brow Mrs. Force had him backing off. That too might have been funny
,
but Alexis had had enough.
She finally managed to press the nurse’s call button before anyone else could ask her about today.
The nurse answered and Alexis asked for a doctor.

“Miss Dark, Alexis
,
there’s no reason for you to try and protect your brother-in-law.
We take care of our own whether it be the victim or the abuser.” She laughed at Dallas’ statement as he continued.
“We have laws. Laws that are enforced to keep everyone safe. Especially when our females are hurt.”

The nurse coming in the room kept her from telling him just what he could do with his laws of safety.
Ignoring all of them
,
but especially the one trying to grab for her hand again, she simply smiled at the nurse.

“Doctor Cable is on his way up,
m
iss,” Nurse Jenny said while she glanced around the room nervously.
“He’s not going to be happy about all th
e
visitors either. It’s not even visiting hours.
And that man is a stickler for rules.”

“Exactly,” Alexis snapped before turning to Gordon with a final jerk of her hand from his.
“What is with you?
I want you to stop touching me. In fact, why don’t you and the rest of your family get the hell out?”

She tried to move away from him again.
Then he did something that made her blood freeze and her heart skip several beats.
He growled low in the back of his throat.
Terror slammed at her.
She managed to look him in the eye as she asked what she thought she might already know.
“What…what are you
?
” she whispered.
And she knew…just knew that he was going to tell her something she didn’t want to know.

“I’m a wolf.
A born werewolf
,
as a matter of fact.
Not like your brother-in-law
,
but one born to parents of a were.”
He leaned closer to her and her nipples peaked even though
s
he was terrified.
“And I’m your mate.”

Chapter 4

Gordon waited until the doctor left her room before he went to the door again. The past three times he’d
tried
to see her someone, usually her aunt Glad
,
was blocking his path.
He could have moved her out of his way
,
but Alexis was upset enough without him physically moving her aunt so that he could explain.
And this time wasn’t any different.

“
You could have handled that a little better.”

Gordon leaned back against the wall near Alexis’ door before he answered his mom.
“I know.
I should have guessed she’d been hurt more than just today by him.”
Gordon glanced over at the kids.
“If she’s that terrified of him
,
I wonder what he’
s
done to those guys.”

Tim kept giving him that look. The one that said
“
I’m watching you
.”
The little girl, Sis
,
would talk your arm off
,
but even with the little time he’d spent with her he could tell she was afraid.
She also kept reaching for someone’s hand to hold as if she was terrified of being left behind.
Jake wasn’t a typical kid. Quiet and reserved
,
but friendly when he spoke.
It was Darcy who he was worried about the most.
She’d been hurt and hurt badly.

She didn’t speak
,
at least not since they’d come in with the aunts.
She simply sat next to Glad and stared at the floor.
When someone spoke to her she would look toward them
,
but she never made eye contact
,
nor did she acknowledge anyone in any
way.
He would bet his last dollar that the father had done something to her or she’d seen him do something that had terrified her.