The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (43 page)

Then
Marcus struck. An impulsive move and Gavin was ready for it.

Marcus
charged forward like a battering ram, his shoulder cocked to hit. Gavin leaped
to the side and kicked his foot out at the last second sending Marcus tripping
over it. Marcus slammed to the ground and the pack cheered like their home team
just scored a point. Gavin supposed he kind of had.

Marcus
stood up and growled, the sound feral and that’s when Gavin struck. Marcus was
lost in his anger now, no longer tightly controlled as he had been. That’s just
what he wanted.

Gavin
ran straight for Marcus. The action took his foe completely by surprise. That
second delay in Marcus’ reaction was just what he needed and Gavin didn’t hold
back. He landed a hook across Marcus’ eye, jerking his face to the side. Marcus
shoved him back and Gavin swung his leg out in a vicious kick that connected at
Marcus’ ribs. Bones crunched under the pressure, popped.

Marcus
howled in pain and dropped to his knees. And then the unexpected happened. From
across the distance, he heard a voice he recognized. A young man’s voice, his
brother. He and almost everyone else looked in the direction of that voice and
saw Will being dragged up the main road by pack lieutenants. He mumbled
incoherently, crying out.

Gavin
couldn’t believe it. His heart skipped a beat. Will was here and alive. Elation
and anger were nasty emotions churning in his gut. And he nearly vomited up his
meal when Marcus suddenly struck, taking him by surprise in a series of hard,
teeth-clenching blows that landed in his gut. His muscles tightened to take the
impact but it still hurt like a mother.

Grimacing
through the pain, Gavin snapped his head forward and broke the bastard’s nose.
The sight of blood made the lykaen inside him howl in victory.

“Gavin!
Gavin! Gavin!” cheered the pack.

He
fought harder. They exchanged a series of bruising blows. Fleshing hammering
against flesh. He was hit—staggeringly hard. A tooth came lose and he spit it
out. No problem, he thought, he’d grow another one. And then Marcus flipped him
down to the ground and landed a knee in his spine, the pain exploding up to his
brain and making him growl.

It
was as if they’d both been holding back before. Not really fighting for blood.
Now they were. They started using harder parts of the body, biting, foreheads,
elbows and knees. They didn’t throw a fist to hurt but to make the other bleed.
It worked. Blood splattered from the both of them. Their ragged breaths beat against
each other as they grappled along the ground with sweat-slicked skin.

Gavin
had to push everything out of his mind. The fact that Will had come home. The
fact that he’d forced his mate to leave. All of that had to go away into a
place he couldn’t think about.

Marcus
gained the advantage and curled his thumbs into Gavin’s eye sockets. He pushed
hard, trying to tear his eyes out. Gavin squinted and slammed his fist up into
Marcus’ nose. Again. Then again. The bones in his nose collapsed under the force,
blood drenching Gavin’s fist and Marcus screamed in agony. Marcus fell off
Gavin and he didn’t bother trying to get up again.

Marcus
was done. He squirmed restlessly in a pool of his own blood.

Hart
and Hanna came over and helped Gavin to stand. He couldn’t really tell why
right away but he knew he couldn’t have stood on his own. The pack applauded
wildly. As Gavin was led away from the fight, he looked back down at Marcus.
His chest still rose and fell as he squirmed to try to get up.

That
is until the pack swarmed over him like vultures to a carcass. They finished
Marcus off. He died screaming while his brothers screamed after him.

Gavin
hated that this had to happen but Marcus and Harry chose to kill two innocent
kids because of Marcus’ ambitions.

After
several minutes, feeling began returning to his legs and he let his family go
so he could walk on his own. It wasn’t his usual walk because his right knee
slumped each time he put pressure on it and his left leg felt like someone had
taken a baseball bat to it.

Will
was cuffed sitting on his knees between a handful of guards. They wouldn’t even
look at him. Will wouldn’t look at them. He couldn’t keep his own head up.
Shame ate at him. Tears coursed down his dirty face. He smelled of piss and
worse things. His hair was filthy and he was wearing the same clothes he’d been
last seen in more than two weeks ago.

This
was the man who’d hurt Alicia, not once, but many times. This was the man who’d
tried to kill her. Who’d poisoned him. Who gave his enemy the knife that
destroyed Gavin’s face.

And
yet, when he looked down at his pathetic form he realized he only wanted to cry
along with him.

“I’m
so sorry, Will.”

Will’s
face crumpled and he sobbed. Gavin did what all good older brothers are
supposed to do and he wrapped his younger brother in his arms and let him cry.

“I
love you. I’ll always love you, baby brother.”

“I’m
so sorry,” Will said, his voice thick.

He
held his weeping brother until Hart announced that Dmetri and Brayden were here
to take Will away.

It
was hard to let his brother go, but he did it, feeling like a piece of his
heart had been cut off. Each of his sisters hugged Will too, told him she loved
him. The rest of the family still couldn’t look at him for what he’d done. Will
couldn’t look them in the eyes. Gavin understood it. He hoped that eventually
they’d come around as he had.

Dmetri
Demidov was a blond man wearing the nicest suit Gavin had ever seen. It looked
ridiculous out here in the mountains. Dmetri looked like a Russian playboy who
should be out in Vegas, not Oregon.

Dmetri
shook his hand. “Dmetri, and this here is Brayden.”

Brayden
had shorter, darker hair with intense eyes and a no-bullshit attitude. He
looked like a man who could command an army. Gavin appreciated it. They shook
on the introduction.

“After
everyone says their goodbyes, we’ll be taking him from here,” Brayden said.

“Where
will you take him?” Gavin asked.

“We’ll
drive him to Justicar’s Headquarters in Chicago for processing. From there, he’ll
be tried officially and sent to one of the prisons. If you want him close to
Oregon we can petition for that,” Dmetri said.

Gavin
looked at his brother. He hadn’t thought of that. Did he want to see his
brother again or was this goodbye? He didn’t know if he could see him again but
he might want to…someday.

“Yeah,
do that.”

Will
continued to sob apologies as Brayden grabbed hold of the cuffs and lugged him
off toward a dark SUV.

“We’ll
take everything from here then, Alpha MacKellen. You’ll be hearing from us with
updates. From here it looks pretty cut and dried though,” Dmetri said.

Suddenly,
a girly voice started singing
Lick me like a lollypop
and Brayden
flushed as he quickly reached into his pocket to answer his phone.

“What
is it?” he growled as he marched several feet away. “Vanessa, listen, I’m
working. Yes…yes…
yes
… You know I do.” A pause and then he cursed. “Fine,
I will. I’m not doing it while on the phone with you.” Another pause. “Hell,
hold on.” He spun around and faced Gavin. “Vanessa, previously known as Vanessa
Kategan, then Vanessa Harrington, wishes to say hello to all of you. She misses
some of you. Especially Hanna, Kaity, Elliot, and Jo.” Turning back around he
said into the phone, “There, are you happy? Fine, you too, bye.”

Gavin
found himself fighting a grin. He remembered Vanessa Kategan well. She’d been
mated to the previous alpha, Joseph Harrington. Joseph had been a dick, a
misogynist, and an opportunist. When he’d been given the chance to expand their
land in exchange for mating with Vanessa, he’d taken it. No matter that he’d
been about fifty and she eighteen when it happened. Her father forced her into
it, but luckily at the encouraging of Gavin’s sisters and some of the
packmates, she’d run away several months ago. She’d petitioned the Justicars
for a divorce—not something easily given to lykaens—and that’s when she met the
vampire, Brayden. Though not for the first time. And the rest, as they say, was
history.

“Where’s
this Harry Graham who’s wanted for homicide of two children?” Dmetri asked.

Gavin
looked back at the bonfire. Marcus had been thrown on top of it, body burning
to ash. His two brothers knelt by the fires, holding each other.

“They
are both banished from this pack. Harry, we believe helped Marcus to carry the
kids’ dead bodies. We have no concrete proof, but Marcus didn’t trust anyone
else like he does his brothers. They’re both banished from here on out. I won’t
worry myself and my pack over their bad blood.”

Dmetri
nodded. “We’ll see them out for you.”

Nodding,
Gavin made the announcement public. “From this day forth, the Graham brothers
known as Harry and David cannot be trusted. They are henceforth banished from
the MacKellen pack so long as MacKellen blood rules it.”

The
two brothers were escorted away. They didn’t fight it, but there was vengeance
in their eyes. One day they’d want retribution for what Gavin did to their
brother. But they’d never have that satisfaction. He’d make sure of it.

The
SUV took off down the lane and Hanna came up, tears streaming down her face. “I
can’t believe any of this.”

“I
know.” He wrapped her in his arms.

Now
that the fight was over, lethargy was starting to get to him. He needed to
crash. But first he had something important to do.

“Hart,”
he called. His brother came over looking worse for the wear. “I need a ride.
Think you can help?”

Hart
cocked a brow. “Where to? Home?”

Gavin
would have grinned but it hurt too bad to smile. “No, Arizona. I’m going to get
my woman.”

CHAPTER 28

“I’m
gonna step out for a while,” Jo said.

Alicia
popped her head into the living room. “Why?”

He
sighed. “Because I need some damn space, woman. Your apartment’s the size of my
living room.”

She
checked the time. “Okay, good, I need to try this piece on and I don’t want you
here for that. Also, if Gavin calls again…come back because I’m ready to take
it.” She tapped the wall with her finger, biting her lip.

“Really?
What made you change your mind, sis?”

She
smiled. “I think it was finishing this piece I’ve been working on. Feels like I’ve
been working on it forever, you know? Even though I know I haven’t. I’m just so
happy. I guess I want to share that with him and get over all the crap between
us.”

“Smart
plan.”

“Yeah,
yeah, I know. Now lock the door behind yourself and knock before you come in. I
don’t want you catching me in my under things.”

He
shivered. “Yeah, me neither.”

“Hey,”
she threw a ball of yarn at him. “I’m not that bad to look at.”

“Just
not my kind of woman. I’m gettin’ out of here before you take my head off.”

“Good
idea,” she said.

She
heard him throw the locks after he left. Alicia spun around and couldn’t stop
from smiling. It was done. Really, finally done.

For
the second time.

And,
if she did say so herself, it looked even better than it did the first time.
The matching black feather bra and panty set was complete. She even had the
perfect black nylon stockings picked out with garters that clipped on to them,
and a matching feather garter. It was in the makings to be the sexiest lingerie
ever.

With
too much excitement to contain, Alicia started pulling off her clothes in wild
movements. She toed off her socks as she unhooked her bra and tugged it off.
Her underwear flew away next.

She
pulled on the feathered bra first. She took her time and enjoyed the feel of
the material against her skin. She’d worn the pieces several times during the
fitting process. But this was the final stage. This was it. It was complete. No
loose threads or hanging feathers. Everything was in place.

Breath
catching as she caught a glimpse of herself in the full-body mirror, she
quickly turned away. She couldn’t look too soon. She had to see it once it was
all finished. She pulled the panties on first one leg, then the other before
she moved them up over her rump. The satin inside warmed against her skin. The
feathers made her feel like a goddess, like something to be worshipped.

She
noticed she stood a little taller, felt a little braver, and definitely a whole
lot sexier. Things every woman wanted to feel when she pulled on the perfect
lingerie.

The
stockings and garters came on next and she held her breath as she stepped into
a pair of tall heels. The feathers on the garters caressed her thighs in a
teasing touch. It almost tickled. Black feathers against creamy skin. Oh my,
but this creation was perfect. She knew it in every fiber of her being and she
was going to start making matching sets in every size and selling them to women
across the world.