Untamed Force (Force of Nature Series) (18 page)

“You’d do well to turn yourself in,
Richard. You’re only hurting yourself by doing what you’re doing to everyone. The
council may go easier on you if you only admit what you’ve done.”

Over his dead body.

“It may come to that.”

The connection closed almost as if a
door had physically come down between them. Rich looked around to see if he’d
spoken out loud and his brother had been close enough to hear him. But there
was nothing, not even a squirrel or bird.

Something was wrong here. His brother
seemed to have grown a backbone and was speaking to him as if he was better
than them. Yes, Rich thought, something was definitely wrong here.

“Of course there is. Did you think that
Force was going to sit around and wait for us to come and shoot him? I think
not.”

He wanted to glare at Poor, but didn’t
know how that worked. “Are you being smart with me? You know what I do to
people who are smart to me.”

“Yes, and look where that has gotten
you. In the middle of nowhere, fat, lazy, and walking much too slow for us to
ever get to where we’re going before it snows. Move the fuck up a bit, will
you?”

Rich started to walk again. He was
suddenly not liking his other self and he told himself so. “You should have
better respect for me. When I get this other pack I’m going to be rich again
and where will that leave you?”

The laughter again made him pissed. He
continued walking without saying another word to his other self until he got to
the gates of the compound. The hum of electricity was enough to make his wolf
snarl and back away.

“Now what? I can’t crawl under it
because I don’t have the proper tools. I can’t even go over it without killing
myself.” Then there is the added bonus of not knowing what’s on the other side.
He looked up and down the high fence and wondered just who this guy didn’t
trust.

“You? Or maybe…no, he doesn’t trust you.”
Rich walked on.
“You do know that we could have shifted and been there in half the time, don’t
you?”

“And been naked when we got there. Thank
you, but I have no desire to be fighting and killing whatever person is on the
other side of this fence while I’m buck naked.” Rich thought he’d gotten the
last word when he spoke again.

“And I suppose bringing extra clothes
would have been out of the question. You did know that you were coming here,
right?”
Rich tried to clamp his mind down to his other self and couldn’t manage it.
“Of
course you can’t, you moronic dick. I am you.”

~~~

Georgia was sitting in the kitchen when
Dallas came down. He looked around and saw that, with the exception of the cup
in front of her, everything was cleaned up and everyone was gone. He opened the
refrigerator and took out the milk. She stood up and took it from him before he
could pour himself a glass. She ordered him to sit.

“Your mate Stacy has gone to her alpha. She
said that she has pledged to the woman who makes soaps.”

Dallas nodded, took the glass, and
watched as she took out eggs and bacon.

“I must speak my mind. If you don’t
mind.”

He started to point out that she’d been
doing that, but only nodded again. He wondered where his mom was and the rest
of the people who’d been staying with them. The smell of bacon frying made him
realize that he’d not eaten much the night before and had burned a lot of
calories. He flushed when he realized she was staring at him.

“You said you had something to say. Why
don’t you have a seat and tell me what it might be. I can’t fix what I don’t
know is broken.” He tried to smile at her, but she looked a great deal like his
mother did when she knew he was shining her on. “I do want to help you.”

“Rich isn’t going to stop until you kill
him.” Okay, blunt worked too. “And when you do the council is going to come
down on your heads for it, aren’t they?”

“No. I don’t know what they are going to
do at this point. A rogue werewolf isn’t something they want others to find out
about. He is being hunted now as if he is going to be killed. No one will try
to take him alive after what they’ve seen he’s done to his pack.”

Georgia nodded as she set his plate in
front of him. “I want to know what your brother has planned for us. There are a
few that want to leave now before Rich kills your brother and others still that
want to help this pack so that they have a better chance of staying.”

“Everyone can stay. Austin is a good man
and he’d never turn anyone away. But if some of you want to leave then…I
suppose we can make some arrangements for them to go to other packs.” Dallas
started eating and was surprised to find not only eggs, bacon and hash browns,
but fluffy biscuits as well as gravy to smother it in. He moaned when he ate a
few more bites. “You should open a restaurant. This is fantastic.”

She got up and started cleaning the
spotless sink. She tossed the rag in it and turned to him. “Can I? I used to do
it. Run my restaurant. But when it started to lose money because Rich was
taking all the profit and then some, it began to fail. Soon I couldn’t even pay
the employees or the bills and we had to fold.”

It took his mind a few seconds to catch
up. Unfortunately, by the time it did, Georgia had taken his silence for a no. She
started talking about what a bad idea it was and that she’d never be able to
make it work anyway.

“You can do whatever you want, Georgia. In
fact, there is a building in town that I think you’d be able to make work for
you.” He tried to think what a restaurant would need and decided to ask someone
in the college to help them. “After this is over why don’t we sit down with
Austin? You come up with a plan. You know, a menu and how much startup capital
you think you’ll need. The pack will help you start it, but you’ll be
ultimately responsible for it.”

She was nodding and smiling. He thought
she was going to hug him several times, but checked herself whenever she got
close. He thought she was the happiest he’d ever seen her.

He grinned. “In the meantime, do you
think you could fix us some meals here? Stacy doesn’t cook and if you cleaned
up from last night you know that I can’t either.” Something else occurred to
him. “Maybe you could bring in a couple of people to work for us after you get
the restaurant going. That way you can train someone to help you when you need
them and I won’t have to eat my own cooking.”

This time she did hug him. It was quick,
but he felt it all the way to his heart. He looked up at the door when his mate
walked in. She didn’t say a word, but Georgia stepped back and flinched. Stacy
only hugged her as well and sat down.

“Do you think it is possible that I get
some of what he is eating?”

Georgia stood there for only a few
seconds before she moved to the stove again.

“And I would like some sausage, please. I
do not care for bacon.”

“Yes, miss, of course. I will do—”

“Georgia? You have hugged my mate and
gotten away with it today. The least you could do is call me by my name,
please.”

Georgia nodded and turned back to the
stove again. But not before Dallas saw the tears in her eyes. He looked at his
mate.
“You are a good woman. You could have harmed her for what she did.”
Stacy took the last piece of biscuit from his plate
. “Hey, you’ll get yours.”

She bit off a large piece.
“So will
you. Do not let another woman hug you, Dallas. I am a very jealous woman and
would hate to cause you harm because you have a big heart.”

“You’d like for me to be mean?”
He smiled at her
when her own plate was set before her.
“Perhaps you’d like it if I only
touched you. Like I did last night.”

“That would be advisable for you.”
She flushed a
deep crimson
. “Of course we could go our separate ways and you could have
any woman you want taking you into her arms.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her. Devoured
her mouth before he let her go.
“You’re the only woman I want to touch,
love. And all I will ever have. I love you.”

“And I, you.”
She finished her
breakfast in record time as he drank his milk.
“We must go to speak with
your brother soon. My uncle has played his part well. Richard has threatened
him.”

As soon as they both stood to leave
Georgia stepped up to Stacy. The two of them looked deeply into one another
eyes before Georgia nodded. “You are the one they said he murdered, his
daughter.” Stacy nodded. “The other man, his brother? Is he yet dead? The drugs
in his system were supplied by the other alpha.”

“My father?” Georgia shook her head. “Then
who?”

“He is your sire, child, not your
father. He supplied him with the drugs.” Georgia looked at him them at Stacy
again. “I knew your mother. She was a good woman and did not deserve to die
like she did.”

“No, she did not. And my uncle lives. He
is better now thanks to some of my mate’s family. He asks of your children. He
said that he was training them at one time, giving them help with the lessons
of our kind before his mate was murdered.”

“I will send them to him. They would
enjoy seeing him. Thank you.” Georgia wrapped her arms around Stacy. “You are
like her in many ways. Your mother was a good person, as are you.”

Dallas and Stacy walked out of the
house. Neither said anything as they got into the car and they were nearly to
the pack house when she started to speak.

“My fath…Richard needs to be gotten rid
of and I would very much like it to be me. He has caused more harm than should
be caused by one man. And he will continue to do so until someone murders him.”
She looked over at him when he turned off the engine. “I have spoken with your
sister and she said that she would work with me on defense. She said that I
have a good body and will not go down easily.”

Dallas wanted to forbid her to do this,
but even if she didn’t fight her sire, she would be prepared for anything else.
He pulled her into his arms and held her to him.

“The man will not go down without a
fight. The simple reason he’s gotten away with so much so far is because
everyone was afraid to go against him. That isn’t the case any longer.” He
pulled her back and lifted her chin so that he could see her. “But if you get
hurt or dead I will never forgive you. I love you and would very much like to
spend some time with you that doesn’t involve fifty people in our home.”

She nodded. “I would very much like that
as well. We will need to make a plan for that.” She looked to the house where
there were already several people milling about the yard. “They will want more
from Austin that he will not be able to provide. Some of these people have been
harmed beyond simple neglect.”

“We have some doctors coming in soon. And
not just for the physical ailments. Austin is aware that some will need therapy,
as well as someone they can talk to and meds. He will keep them healthy as well
as happy.”

“I have heard of the educational classes
he has had set up. Some believe that he will bore easily with this and be like
the man they have left. But I have told them that he is a fierce man and a good
alpha. He will not let go until everything is settled.” She looked back at him.
“They are in love with CJ and Alexis. They are in awe of Holly.”

Everyone loved CJ. And Alexis. Both were
kind and gentle when necessary, but bears when one of them thought someone was
being harmed. Holly would kick ass with very little provocation. He loved that
about her too.

“You and I need to get this settled so
that we can start our life together. I want to see you swollen with our child.”

She looked up at him, panicky.

“You aren’t going to worry about whether
or not they have scent. You just worry about how much we’re going to spoil
them. All right?”

She nodded and looked away. “I am not
worried that you will not love them. I do not want them to be ridiculed. I
would leave with them if that were to happen.”

“You won’t leave me and, trust me, they
will be cherished for who they are, not what they can do.” Dallas looked over
at her uncle as he walked toward them.

Harvey was looking better every day. Today
he was wearing a short coat in deference to the cooler weather and Dallas could
see that he was even starting to put on some weight. He waved and smiled at
them as he came toward them.

“My brother just contacted me. He would
very much like for me to come to him. He said that…” Harvey cleared his throat
as he looked around. “He thinks that I owe him and is very vocal about it.”

Chapter 15

Phil walked to the door then turned to
go back to his desk. It wasn’t until Holly giggled that he remembered she was
in the room with him. He tried to glare at her, but she was simply too
beautiful lying there with a light blanket over her still nude form.

“You should know that I get less and
less work done when you’re home. If you would have an office in the city I could
get things done here and still have time to work.” She stretched out and her
breast slid free of the blanket. “Of course there wouldn’t be as much fun in my
day, just more work.”