Seven Years (31 page)

“What are you going to do with this house?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Keep it,” Austin said with a mouthful. “It belongs to my parents and I don’t plan on selling. Maybe I can pass it on someday.”

Then he got real quiet and cut his meat into sizeable pieces.

“The house will fall apart,” I pointed out.

“Land doesn’t fall apart. The house can go for all I care,” he said, waving his fork around. “It’s the property that holds value. We can use it for a getaway whenever someone in the pack wants some time alone with their woman, or their wolf wants a private run.”

Ivy’s eyes brightened and she glanced around, as if she were thinking the same thing I was.
What woman
? These men didn’t seem like they were ever going to settle down.

Austin held the fork to his mouth and slowly pulled the meat from the prongs. He had a look on his face that only an inside joke could deliver. “You
did
mention something about a heat house.”

Oh God. I blushed so hard I had to pretend to drop my napkin on the floor and then bent over to pick it up. Someone in the room snorted with laughter and I was tempted to crawl all the way underneath the table.

“I want the key to
that
house,” Ben said from across the room.

“A place like that would be useful,” Ivy remarked. “I’d be interested in something like that.”

“What are you all talking about?” my mom finally chimed in.

I swear, I couldn’t get up. I kept staring at the floor, three seconds from bolting out of the room. Then I felt Austin hook his fingers around the waistband of my shorts as if he could read my mind.

“Females go into heat,” Austin said matter-of-factly.

Oh God, just shoot me now.

“Heat?” Mom asked, setting her fork down.

“It means they go into freak-mode,” Ben replied in a humorous tone from the other side of the room. “Ever seen a cat in heat?”

I tried to get up but Austin’s grip on my shorts tightened. I remained under the table, holding the napkin between my fingers and staring at my mom’s black shoes. She was probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

“It’s when they’re ovulating and their body wants someone to give them babies,” Maizy suddenly blurted out.

I sat straight up like a lightning rod and glared at her. “Who told you that?”

She tucked a large cucumber in her mouth and smiled. “I saw it on TV. That’s how kittens are born. Can we have a kitten?”

“No,” Wheeler cut in, tearing off a piece of his bread and stuffing it into his mouth. “We don’t like cats around here.”

“That’s all you,” Ben said. “I don’t give a shit about cats.”

“Watch your language around Maizy,” Mom scolded.

“Well,” Wheeler replied, “
I
don’t like cats. I don’t want them anywhere near me.”

Ben smirked. “What’s the matter, Wheeler? Afraid of a little pus—”

Austin slapped his hand down on the table and everyone shut up. “We’ll head out before sunrise so we can get as much done as possible before it gets hot. I don’t want to hang around here any longer than we need to, so the sooner we move, the better. I’m going to close out the bills on this place by month’s end.”

After the table was cleared, everyone fell out of their chair when Mom surprised them with peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

Yeah, she was definitely worth her weight in gold around this place.

***

A few hours after dinner, Austin was sleeping in Jericho’s room with Lexi beside him. Only this time, there was no touching. It was weird since he had spent the previous night pleasuring her for hours. But Austin didn’t want to throw mixed signals by showing her affection that would make her question their nonexistent relationship. Lexi didn’t know the rules of pack life, especially not the dynamic of a single woman in the mix.

As an unmated Packmaster, it was his duty to make sure his women were taken care of. That meant abating Lexi’s discomfort while she was in heat. Single women in packs didn’t sleep around with the men because of the friction it created, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to seek out the alpha for relief. An alpha had more self-control, which would allow him to satisfy her without it resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. Most Shifters had no restraint around a female in heat and couldn’t resist the urge to have sex. He
could
have left Lexi alone to take care of business.

But damn, the idea of having his hands on her was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Her luscious scent was floral, like roses after a thunderstorm, awaking the male within who desired nothing more than to please her. It was an epic internal battle raging, because he wanted to take it a step further. But sex might have pushed her away and left all kinds of question marks about his intentions. It wasn’t like that among Shifters, but he knew how human women broke it all down. Lexi was a complicated woman and too good for a one-night stand.

So when they crawled into the bed after a second round of peach cobbler, Austin turned his back to her and didn’t say a word. He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw she had done the same thing.

Nothing had felt more awkward.

Sleep was an exercise in futility. All he could think about was wrapping his arm around her and smelling the leftover sunshine in her hair.

He remembered how beautiful she’d looked on the porch that night with a storm brewing in the sky and in her rich brown eyes. The way she looked up at him as the breeze lifted a few strands of her hair. He wondered if he fucked it up by staying with her and not sleeping in another room like originally planned.

Then he thought about Lorenzo, who was an attractive choice for a woman looking for money or status. Most women didn’t hesitate to choose him, and Austin had learned that the hard way years ago when Lorenzo Church wooed Austin’s first Shifter girlfriend away from him. Not exactly a way to build up an alpha’s confidence. Regardless of how he felt about the asshole, Lexi had a right to learn about her family. She possessed Native American features, now that he thought about it. High cheekbones, beautiful brown hair, and supple lips. Yeah, supple. The kind that he wanted his mouth all over the more he remembered their kiss on that porch and the sweet taste of sugar on her tongue.

She was no longer the girl he once remembered, but in a strange way, she was. The qualities he loved in her she had never lost, even though her body had blossomed into that of a stunning woman.

Sleeping beside Lexi without touching her was one of the hardest things Austin had ever done. The idea of her being with any other man, or in any other pack, made his wolf pace nervously.

When he had taken her out to The Pit on their date, Beckett had been waiting outside for them.

With a baseball bat.

Austin had picked up a strong scent of adrenaline and instead of walking straight to his car, he’d gone around the back of the building. That’s when he confronted Beckett and they got into a brawl. It was against the law to kill a human, so all he could do was beat the shit out of him. By the time he got back to the restaurant, Lexi was nowhere to be found.

Twice he almost lost her, thanks to Beckett. He shouldn’t have been distracted by his phone when Beckett had crept into her apartment, nor should he have confronted Lorenzo’s guard while Beckett was attacking her. That split-second decision had almost cost Lexi her life. Austin didn’t have any remorse over the murder. Even if they did find the body, he stood a good chance of justifying his actions.

If he didn’t? Then fuck it. She was alive and that’s all that mattered.

Thinking about it made him want to pull Lexi against him and feel her heartbeat, but he stayed where he was, content with listening to her breathe as he stared at the misshapen patterns on the wall. She made sexy little growling noises in her sleep that his wolf loved. He always liked watching her sleep, even when she was a kid. She looked so peaceful, as if nothing in the world was wrong, even when it was.

The next morning, Austin woke up before dawn and carefully crawled out of bed. Lexi rolled over and threw her right arm across the sheets, nuzzling her face against the pillow. After getting dressed, he watched her for a few beats before waking up the rest of the crew. It gave him peace of mind to know Prince was tracking down her father—just one less thing he had to worry about.

One advantage of making allies among neighboring packs was that they looked out for one another, reported suspicious activity, and were more likely to lend a hand than a rogue was. Not many packs occupied the immediate territory, but Austin had spent time building a rapport with the Packmasters, making them aware of his situation with the human family. Something he would have to start all over again in the new house. There were three packs in his immediate area, and one of them belonged to Church.

Ain’t that a bitch
.

Austin tucked his shirt in his jeans and peered into his bedroom, lightly tapping his knuckles on the door. He flipped on the light and stared at an empty bed.

“What the… Reno!” he yelled out, storming down the hall to the living room. “Lynn!”

Denver was lying on the sofa with a bowl of cereal on his bare chest while Maizy sat in front of the TV watching cartoons.

“What the hell, Aus? Chill out. The chicks went to redecorate. They were so excited about buying curtains and shit that Reno drove them out to Walmart about a half hour ago. The twins went to the house to crank on the air, and I’ve just been waiting for you to get your ass out of bed so we can meet up with them.”

“It’s not nice to say bad words,” Maizy reminded him without taking her eyes off the TV. She was already dressed as if she were going somewhere.

Denver’s face turned a little red and he stretched his arms behind his head and set the bowl of cereal down on the end table. “You ready? And PS, the next time you want someone to mark a hundred acres of territory, that’s
all you
.” Denver shot him a hostile glare before slinging his legs off the sofa and getting up, then walking barefoot toward the bedrooms. “Jericho said he might stop by, but I doubt it. You know how he gets after one of his shows; probably lying in bed drunk and stoned with two hot babes on each arm. Lucky bastard,” he murmured.

The clock read 4:35 a.m. Ordinarily, the men would have slept in, but Lynn was already working her magic to whip some of these lazyasses into shape. Now
Austin
was starting to look like the slacker.

When Austin sat down to put on his shoes, he looked over at Maizy who leaned back on her hands. The mark on her shoulder blade concerned him as to what fate lay ahead of her. Most of the younger generations of Breed wouldn’t know what it meant, but some would. Austin had never felt so fiercely protective of a child, and that’s when he knew Lynn and Maizy had to stay with him, even if Lexi chose not to.

Human or not, they were his pack.

Maizy peered over her shoulder. “I like you.”

His face softened and his chest tightened a little bit. She might not have looked like Wes, but damn if she didn’t have his smile with the dimples.

Austin walked over, squatted down on one knee, and tied her loose shoelace. “I like you too.”

After I fixed a plate of scrambled eggs and maple bacon for Maizy’s breakfast, I relaxed on the concrete porch step with a glass of orange juice, taking a moment to savor the early morning sunshine before the heat settled in
.

In Texas, that meant around ten in the morning.

I had Austin’s cell phone tucked in the back pocket of my shorts so he could get a hold of me if needed. I stressed that he not let my mother overwork herself, but I was glad she had something to keep her occupied after everything that had happened. When my father left us, it destroyed her, and I was worried she might slip into a state of depression like before.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Her ability to find strength through all this allowed me to focus on other matters.

After spending an hour reviewing the documents Charlie left for me, I uploaded the flash drive onto a computer in Austin’s house and emailed a few files to April. I considered having Wheeler review some of the bookkeeping stuff if he had any expertise in this area, which I’m sure he did.

People never got why I liked working at the candy store, and maybe at the time, neither did I. But pieces were locking into place, and now I understood what I didn’t then.

I loved the store, plain and simple. It felt like home. Charlie had been grooming April for the manager position—I could see that now.

Little did I know he had something bigger in store for me. It explained why he’d left me in charge to make decisions I shouldn’t have been making.

My legs were quickly browning in the sun, so I finished my coffee and went inside. Maizy wanted me to paint her nails shell pink. I braided a few strands of my hair, wishing I could wear it more like Ivy did. It suited her in an elegant and lovely way, whereas I would just look childish. I put a few braids in Maizy’s hair because we were going to graduate from Pretty Pigtail Day to Salon Day. After our trip to the Salon of Lexi, we devoured a homemade cheese pizza for lunch.

Austin called to check on me and we chatted for a little while. I laughed when he told me my mom was running the show like a drill sergeant, giving orders on where to paint and what not to touch. She had put Denver in charge of scrubbing the floors.

Austin told me he’d been able to secure the new house so quickly because the couple had moved out a year ago. They hadn’t gone through a realtor, so he’d bought it from them directly.

In cash.

That pretty much earned him the key on day one after signing a few papers and shaking hands.

A few minutes after Maizy went to her room with a book, I dozed off on the brown sofa. I missed lawnmowers, dogs barking, and passing cars—all the vibrant sound effects associated with living in the city.

The phone in my back pocket startled me and I answered in my sleepy voice. “Hello?”

“I hoped you would answer,” Lorenzo replied.

“Hi, cousin,” I grumbled, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I walked into the atrium and closed the sliding glass door behind me so I wouldn’t bother my sister with our conversation, in case she had fallen asleep. “Why are you calling Austin’s number?”

“Because you returned my phone and I had no way to get in touch with you. I was going to give Cole a piece of my mind, but I’m glad it’s you. Is he taking care of your needs?”

“I take care of myself,” I said, crossing my ankles and leaning back in the lawn chair.

“I hope you took care of yourself when you were in heat. Is that over?”

I held the phone away from my ear and looked up at the sky with my palms up.
Why me?
These guys thought my libido was appropriate table conversation to bring up while discussing their favorite beer or what’s on TV.

“Alexia?” he called out.

“I’m here. All that’s over with so, yeah. I don’t really want to discuss it.”

“Fair enough, but one day, you’re going to tell me everything that happened. I hope Austin warned you that you shouldn’t have sex while in heat unless you want to get pregnant. That’s what your body is preparing for, and a baby will tie you to him permanently.”

He was trying to get me to fess up either way on what happened. I decided to whistle instead.

A deep chuckle filled the other end of the line. “I get the point. Have you decided if you want to join a pack or are you stalling?”

“What do you have to offer?”

I was only kidding, but Lorenzo switched to his business voice and decided to give me his best sales pitch. “My property is five hundred acres and I own two more lots on the other side of the city. As I’ve told you before, I control a large pack. That means safety and protection for the females who live among us. My men follow orders or there are consequences. I left two of those consequences on your porch the other day.” He paused so I could get his full meaning. “We have sixteen bitches in the pack and eleven are mated.”

“To you?” I asked in an irritated tone.

“No one is mated to me, but three share my bed when they are willing. No other male can touch the ones I’ve claimed. There’s a code we follow and no one is forced to do anything against their will.”

“One isn’t enough?”

I heard the clicking of his teeth. I’m sure he was figuring out how to answer that one without digging himself in a hole, because Lorenzo didn’t really know my stance on such things. He’d never asked me out on a date or bothered to question what my favorite food was or what I enjoyed doing on the weekends.

“All I’m saying, Lorenzo, is that most women don’t want to share any more than you men want to share. They may seem okay with it, but if you married one of them, I can guarantee you
she
wouldn’t be okay with it. It’s not in our nature to share our man.”

“Which is why I haven’t mated. I’m not asking you to be my life mate, Alexia. I want you to keep my bed warm.”

“Not if someone else has kept it warm for me. And besides that—”

“If you bring up the cousin thing one more time, I’m going to come over there, throw you over my shoulder, and bring you home with me. We’re not related by blood, so let’s drop it. Are you wearing shorts?”

I glanced down. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

He laughed darkly. “I just wanted the mental image of what you’d be wearing while I was wearing you over my shoulder.”

“Someday you’re going to find a woman who doesn’t like it when you talk like that.”

“Suffice it to say I’ve never had any complaints from a woman when it comes to the private words I whisper in her ear.”

I glanced up at a red-tailed hawk spreading his wings across the blue sky and piercing the silence with a scream.

“This is who I am,” he continued. “I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t accept that I’m a feared and respected man.”

“Oh? Is that the kind of man you think women desire? I guess you’re not the same person who wrote that poetic message on the card that came with my roses.”

“Touché,” he replied. “We are all more than who we portray ourselves to be. So, Alexia Knight, who are
you
?”

Suddenly, I wanted to start singing an old classic rock song to those words. “I am a plethora of knowledge when it comes to rock and roll music. I love my family, rum makes me sick, my favorite sport to watch is soccer, and I’m a business owner.”

Wow. It felt amazing to say that last part.

“Impressive. Business owner?”

“Sweet Treats. It’s mine now. The owner recently died and left me the company.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Wouldn’t you prefer to sell it to someone with experience?”

“Not really.” The comment needled me and I pulled at a frayed piece of material on the chair.

“That’s more than a woman can handle. There’s too much involved with operating a business, and I can speak from experience because being a Packmaster is not much different.”

That peeved me. “What’s the matter, don’t like your women with a mind of their own? For your information, Austin supports me and thinks I should do it.” I heard a car pull up out front and I glanced inside. “Listen, I need to go. Don’t call me back on this phone because Austin will probably be the next person to answer, and he won’t like that.”

“Ah, but I will. If you need anything, you know how to reach me.”

Something must have happened for Austin and his brothers to come back so soon. They had planned to stay until dark and when I last talked to him, he said Reno had left to pick up a sack of burgers and fries. That let me off the hook of having to drive across town to deliver their lunch.

The hawk cried out again before disappearing. While sitting in the atrium, I’d come to the decision I wanted to move in with Austin. I didn’t know where it would lead, but I was absolutely certain of it now. My family needed protection and Austin had an accommodating house. It required enough work to keep my mom happy, right along with feeding five hungry men, who would eventually grow into a larger pack.

Then there was Maizy, who needed all kinds of protection if what Austin said was true. What if some pervert wanted to keep her as a little girl, like a Mage or something? I didn’t know much about other Breeds, but there were some twisted people in this world. I was going to have to make sure she concealed the mark and didn’t speak to anyone about it. Once she was old enough to understand, it wouldn’t be a big concern.

I’d have to break the lease at my apartment, and hopefully any evidence of blood had been cleaned up. Even if I didn’t remain with Austin, I’d never be able to go home again. I got chills just thinking about Beckett going savage and all those crimson rose petals scattered across the floor.

A high-pitched scream blared like a siren and I shot up out of my chair, flipping it over. My heart raced as I pulled open the sliding door and ran inside the house.

There was my father, holding Maizy under one arm like he was hauling a sack of potatoes out the door.

“Put her down!” I shouted.

Maizy’s eyes were ripe with fear.

I couldn’t believe it. After all these years, there was the man who had raised me, five seconds from kidnapping my sister.

The years had changed him and he had put on a little weight around the waist. But he still had the black mustache, bald head, and mean face. The kind of face that wasn’t afraid to look his teenage daughter in the eye and whip her with his belt. Maybe that’s why I didn’t have an emotional meltdown over him leaving. The only tears I had shed were for the destruction he left behind of a family shattered to pieces.

“Alexia, go back outside.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Your sister has something of mine,” he said, shaking her a little bit.

I stepped forward calmly. “How did you know we were here?” I was stalling, trying to figure out what to do.

He eyed the front door and sharpened his glance. “I followed you here yesterday from your job. Can’t believe you still work in that piece of shit kid store. Didn’t you ever grow up? Then again, you were never one of mine, so I always knew you wouldn’t amount to much.”

That stung. More than I should have allowed it to. When Maizy whined and Dad shook her with a violent jerk, I redirected my focus on staying calm. I couldn’t afford to shift and put her in danger.

“Maizy’s a smart little girl. She’s just the sweetest thing and has always been good about doing what she’s told. She’ll be going into first grade in the fall. You missed out on so much by leaving us, but don’t do this to her.”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” he ground out, rolling his eyes and shifting her in his arm again. “Save your breath.”

“Why do you want her? Let’s just sit down and figure it out.”

“She’s a thief,” he said accusingly, giving her another jostle. Maizy whimpered and I stepped forward again.

“
Please
don’t do this.” My heart sped out of control and my hands trembled. “I’ll help you with whatever you want. I’ll go with you if you just put her down.”

“Now why the hell would I want you? Wes was the only child who was mine, and now he’s dead.”

“Because of you.”

His eyes narrowed into thin slivers. “
What
did you say to me?”

“I know you did illegal stuff, but why would you want Wes to follow in your dishonorable footsteps? He knew about the Breed world and wanted to be immortal. Wes made a deal with a Mage for immortality and it cost him his life.”