The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (20 page)

Another
giggle came out.

“You
look like a grown man trying to drive a child’s play car.”

He
didn’t laugh, just jerked the seat back into a comfortable position, then
peeled off into the night.

She
tried to speak to him, but each time he’d send her that same pissed-off look
and she’d clamp her lips shut.

Well
if that’s how he wanted to be, then fine. Big baby.

All
too soon they pulled into a rather desolate parking lot for the Palm Springs
Motel. The neon sign had a dulling green palm tree on it and plastic pink
flamingos littered the lawn.

Really?
She thought. They were in
Oregon!
It was the kind of motel that had ‘skanky’
written all over it, from the falling off shutters and broken blinds, to the
unkempt yard covered in dandelions.

Only
three cars were in the parking lot of the ranch-style motel. Two of which were
parked in front of one door. She recognized one of them.

“That’s
his car.” Her voice was soft, a whisper.

Alex,
thankfully, didn’t say anything, just pulled up next to it. Outside of room
eight just like the message on the answering machine said.

“Don’t
do this, Hanna. He’s a piece of shit and you deserve better than him.”

Hanna
looked at him, surprised. “Why?”

“What?”
Irritation flickered.

“Why
do I deserve better than Tom?”

His
hands squeezed the steering wheel much like she’d done when he’d ‘pulled her
over.’

“Because
you aren’t a piece of shit like him. You’re good and smart and funny. He doesn’t
deserve you.”

She
smiled a bitter smile. “He’s all those things too though.”

“He’s
not good if he’s fuckin’ around on you, Hanna. We both know he is.”

Oh god.
Why did hearing him say it aloud feel like he’d shove a spear through her heart?
She clutched herself, climbed out of the car on wobbly legs. Before she knew
it, he was there. Standing before her.

“Let
me do something for you, Hanna.” His voice was deep again, or at least deeper
than usual. Almost husky.

“What’s
that, Alex?”

“Let
me take care of him for you.”

Her
eyes darted to him. “What? You mean…
No.
No! I mean—no! You can’t…you
can’t beat him up for me, Alex, that’s crazy,” she whispered, in case someone
heard his wild notions.

“I
don’t think it is.”

He
said it so seriously, those dark eyes resolute and almost…carefree. The look of
a man who’d beat the pulp out of a guy and have no qualms about doing it.

“You’d
really do that…for me?”

For
one long moment he didn’t say anything and then his eyes did that
soul-searching thing that made her belly flutter. “Yeah, really. I’d do that
for you, Hanna.”

Whoosh,
all the air left her belly.

“That’s
crazy. You don’t even know me.”

He
lifted a brow. “I don’t?”

She
was shaking her head. “No way. I mean, you can’t.”

He
shrugged. “Whatever.”

Whatever?
That’s all he had to say. What did that even mean?

A
woman’s high-pitched moan pierced through the night like a flying dagger moving
end over end until it found Hanna’s heart and sank deep.

She
actually took a physical step back at the sound.

Alex’s
eyes closed. “Hanna, let’s get out of here. You shouldn’t be here.”

Oh god,
did it hurt to hear that sound. The sound that came from room eight. Yeah, it
hurt like a hole to the freaking heart. But she had to do this right now, or
else she’d never have the courage again.

“No,
I have to do this, Alex.” She looked up at him. “But thank you for being here
with me. I don’t know if I could have done it alone.”

He
winced. “Ah, fuck. Come on then, let’s get this shit over with.”

That
almost made her smile. She grabbed the mating tether out of the car and pulled
her ring out of her pants pocket. Alex only showed his surprise by lifting a dark
crescent brow. He grabbed her hand.

It
was weird. Another man hadn’t held her hand in…a long time. He pulled her up to
door number eight and the sounds of wild sex was rampant. Tom must be near the
end.

“I
don’t know if I can do this,” she said, a hollow ache around her heart. Her
skin turned cold and clammy. Her breath came fast. It was Tom that did it.
Hearing his whispers through the door, his groans. Familiar sounds that pushed
the dagger deeper.

Her
eyes slammed shut.

But a
hand in hers squeezed and she looked up at Alex. Those smart eyes calmed her,
relaxed her. “You can do this, Hanna.”

When
he said it, she knew without a doubt in the world that she could do anything.
He could tell her with that same confidence that she could become the next
famous supermodel and she would. Because when he said those words with that
utter conviction and honesty in his eyes, she knew he spoke truth and that he
was right.

Alex
lifted his fist and banged on the door—hard.

Muffled
exclamations, voices panicked as someone raced across the room. Then the door
was thrown open.

“What
the fuck?”

It
was Tom. Every naked inch of him, even down to the pair of work slacks he used
to cover himself.

Alex
nodded to her. “She has something to say to you.”

Tom
glared down at her with so much rage she was taken aback by it.

“Tom,
who’s there? What’s going on?” the woman in the bed asked.

He
looked back at her. “Shut up!”

“What
the hell---”

“I
said shut the hell up!” he yelled.

The
woman quieted.

His
gaze slid back to hers. Hanna could feel the ring and tether biting into her
palm, getting sweaty. She held her palm out so he could see it and dropped it
on the ground of the dirty motel floor where it belonged.

“You
forgot that when you left.”

His
jaw clenched and what happened next passed in a blur.

Alex
let go of her hand and a pang of disappointment shot through her. But then she
realized he only did it because he was a righty and that right hand just let
loose a punch so hard, Tom flew back through the motel and slammed into the
opposite wall cracking plaster around him. He slid down to his butt as the
woman in the bed screamed and ran to him.

Hanna
was quickly ushered back to the car and shoved inside. They were on the road
again.

It
all happened so fast.

She
kept replaying it in her mind.

She smiled
up at Alex. “Thank you.”

He
smiled back and grabbed her left hand again. She shouldn’t, there really was no
reason for them to hold hands now, but she threaded their fingers together.

“My
pleasure,” he said.

And
then she laughed and her heart felt like a dead weight had been lifted.

CHAPTER 14

Alicia’s
brain fumbled around to figure out what had happened. She hadn’t seen it
coming, hadn’t even heard it thanks to the alcohol dulling her most useful
senses—ones Mother Nature had ensured were in prime condition for surviving
occasions like this one.

Something
heavy and metal barreled into them, flipping them end over end like a child
flicking a toy car across the floor. Only they were in Jo’s SUV and when they
finally stopped rolling they were upside down and off the road in the thick
grass.

Her
fuzzy mind struggled to find normal calibration. Alicia blinked and looked
around in a daze not hearing anything. It was as if her brain was on overload
and her hearing had been turned off in order to compensate. Her head swung
around, saw the white puffy airbag slowly deflating in her lap, sawdust
particles drifting through the air, and Jo getting in her face. His mouth was
moving, he looked angry and ready to kill, but she couldn’t make out a word he
was saying.

Blood
ran in lines down his face.

Like
a switch being thrown, her hearing came back.

“Ah,
fuck,” she winced.

Overload.
Overload!

Sound
rushed in all at once. The horn blared at an uninterrupted blare. Jo was
shouting in her face. A ringing sound reverberated in her eardrums like a
high-pitched whistle.

“Are
you okay? Can you hear me, god dammit? Alicia! Answer me!”

“I-I
can hear you,” she answered.

“I’m
getting you out of here. Don’t move!”

“As
if I could.”

He
disappeared and her door was thrown open a few moments later. How kind of him
to help her, she thought as he unbuckled and pulled her out of the car. Her
knees were too weak and she folded down to the ground, staring at the smoking
engine of the car.

Jo
had his phone to his ear, speaking rapidly. Then he knelt down in front of her.
“Stay here, Gavin’s on the way. I’m going after them.”

“After
who?” God, she was so confused. What on Earth was he talking about?

“The
person who tried to kill us.”

He
took off on a sprint. She was all alone. Her gaze darted around the darkened
night. A tremble started in her belly and moved down to her legs and out into
her hands. Oh god, she was shaking. Someone had tried to kill them?

It
took supreme effort but she stood. What if someone came back to finish off the
job? She was all alone. She didn’t want to die. Clammy sweat filled her palms, twisted
down the back of her neck like a snake. A chill ran through her like she’d been
caught in a stiff breeze.

She
couldn’t stay here. Had to move. She started trudging through the tall grass
toward Gavin’s house, tears streaming down her face. Her lips were parted and
breaths stuttering unevenly.

Sweat
dripped down her face. So much sweat.

She
wiped it with the back of her hand then winced as pain exploded in a burst on her
forehead. Every muscle froze as she gazed down at her hand now covered in deep
red blood.

“Oh
my god. Oh my god!”

She
was bleeding. Her fingertips traced over her face slowly, finding the gashes
and cuts, the shards of glasses still stuck in her face like deadly splinters.

“Help
me!” she screamed, her voice shaking. “Somebody help me!” Where were the other
pack lieutenants? Where was everybody?

A
part of her heard the sound of an engine coming closer. The sound made her
pulse jump with fear. They were coming back. Jo had gone the wrong way and they
were coming to finish her off.

Choking
on a sob, she searched out the vehicle and saw blurry headlights rushing toward
her.

She
backed up. “No, no, no.”

She
turned, not back toward the wreck, not toward the car that could be trying to
kill her, but toward the thick expanse of woods and she ran. She ran hard.

Her
feet caught in weeds and thick grass tripped her like tiny hands entrapping her
ankles. Blood and tears clogged her vision, the salty mixture burning her eyes.
Her eyelids fluttered and twitched to stop the flow but it was useless. A
branch tripped her, sending her face first into the ground. She tried to catch
herself, but the panic that gripped her made her careless and her cheek grazed
the grass and the shards of glass dug deeper into her skin, burning hot pain
engulfing her.

“Gavin,”
she whispered. “Help me, please.”

She
picked herself up and gently swiped at her brow to move the blood and sweat
dripping down from her hairline.

That’s
when she heard it. The most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

“Alicia!”
A hoarse, raspy shout from a man with a damaged voice.

She
sobbed and spun around. “Gavin!”

Her
eyelids fluttered over the heavy liquid there, the tears blurring her vision
into smeared pink images. Back toward the street she saw his tall figure, saw
him coming for her.

Joy
filled her with a burst of energy and she raced back across the field to him,
burning eyes and stinging cuts on her face forgotten.

She
never made it far because he beat her to it. He enclosed in strong arms, caught
her. In his arms she was safe. He lifted her into his chest and cradled her
like a babe.

“Gavin.”

She
cried. Harsh, choking sobs.

“I’ve
got you now, beautiful. Everything’s going to be all right now. I’m goin’ to
take care of everything. Just shush now.”

Eventually
her sobs slowed. He carried her back to the street but she couldn’t really tell
anything. Trust guided her because she trusted Gavin to take care of her, and
he did. He set her in his truck, buckled that seatbelt around her and ordered
her to keep her eyes shut so no more blood would get into her eyes.