Forbidden Desire (Lee County Wolves) Book #3

by Teresa Gabelman

  “I like when you catch me.” Roxy grinned, placing a finger in the cleft of his chin. “I trust you.”

  “You still aren’t staying here alone.” Marcus cocked his eyebrow at her, knowing exactly what her game was, but enjoying the way she was playing it. A flirting Roxy usually ended up being a naked Roxy. She was beautiful, and he was relieved that her face was healing. It was so hard to keep his promise day after day seeing the damage the bastard had done to her.

  “Who are you having come here?” Roxy sighed with a roll of her eyes.

  “Not sure, I think everyone is busy at the moment, as I should be.” Marcus glanced at his phone. “You’re going to get me in trouble with my alpha. Maybe Dell can come over.”

  “This is ridiculous.” Roxy huffed. “You have this place set up like Fort Knox. No one is getting in here. I’ll be fine.”

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “No.”

  “You’re so frustrating,” Roxy grumbled. “Hey, how about Roslyn.”

  “Ross?” Marcus glanced up from his phone. “No.”

  “Her name is Roslyn, and why not?” Roxy had turned and was looking at the newly hung picture, turning her head this way and that. “She knows her stepbrother more than anyone. I’d feel safer with her because of that fact. Plus, there hasn’t been any sign of him, right? So maybe he got bored and took off.”

  Marcus grinned, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. There was no way Carl had taken off. Wolf shifters didn’t like to have their asses kicked, and they certainly had the tendency for revenge. From what Ross had told them, he was crazy, so Marcus wasn’t taking any chances.

  “No,” Marcus repeated, then looked up to see her trying to move the heavy ladder. Gently, he moved her out of the way. “Where do you want it?”

  “Over there.” She pointed to the wall near the window. “Don’t you trust Roslyn?”

  “Not completely, no.” Marcus looked up and judged the distance before placing the ladder down. He then turned to see her confusion. “Roxy, honestly, I only trust myself with your safety as well as my brothers and Dell. I don’t know these new shifters enough to trust them with you.”

  “Oh.” Roxy bit her lip, staring at him. “I’m sorry I’m being difficult. It’s just with work and with what you have to do, we don’t have a lot of time.”

  He walked toward her and took her in his arms. “And I told you that you could quit the coffee shop anytime you wanted.”

  “I don’t want to quit.” She hesitated before answering, which pissed him off because he knew the reason why. Her ex had made sure she had no means to support herself. It was a fear that she was battling, and he understood it had nothing to do with him personally, but it still pissed him the fuck off.

  “And that’s fine.” Marcus g roaned when his phone rang. Grabbing it, he looked at the screen and cursed. “I really need to go.”

  “Okay, let me get my coat.” Roxy sighed, then pulled away.

  Marcus watched her go and wished it was different, but until he felt it was safe for her to be here alone, he wasn’t budging on his decisions. Her safety was his top priority.

  “I’m ready.” She gave him a small smile.

  “It shouldn’t take long,” Marcus said as he locked up. “We’ll take the car.”

  “Good because it’s cold.” Roxy snuggled in her coat as she headed for the car.

  They drove into town and pulled into Garrett’s. “It’ll get better,” Marcus said as he shut off the engine. “I promise.”

  “I know it will.” Roxy leaned over and kissed him. “I’m sorry for being a pain in your ass and making you late.”

  Marcus chuckled as he climbed out and hurried to open her door. “I’m always late, and you’ll make it up to me tonight.”

  “Good to know.” Roxy wrapped her arm around him. “I’ll make sure to be a bigger pain in the ass on a daily basis.”

  “Now, wait a minute.” Marcus laughed, squeezing her tightly as they climbed the steps. “A bigger pain in the ass, I don’t know about that. You’re too sweet to be a bigger pain in the ass.”

  “You have no clue.” Roxy walked inside with a grin. “I’m putting on my best behavior act until you’re mine officially.”

  Before they could reach the kitchen, where they heard everyone, Marcus pulled her back into him, wrapping his arms around her stomach. “I already am yours, official or not, so no worries there.” He bit her neck. “Give me your worst, and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference.”

  With that said, he walked her into the kitchen still in his arms, both of them wearing huge smiles. Emily, Janna, Garrett, and Hunter all stood around talking.

  “Get a damn room,” Hunter said as they appeared.

  “How you feeling?” Roxy smiled at Janna.

  “Fat.” Janna shifted on the stool.

  “You’re beautiful.” Marcus kissed her on the cheek then dodged Garrett’s punch.

  “Roxy, keep your man off my woman, would you, before I kick his ass?” Garrett growled with a grin.

  “Okay, what’s the plan?” Marcus was ready to get whatever he had to do done so he could get back home with Roxy. Home. Damn, that sounded right.

  “Head on over to Jonah’s.” Garrett became instantly serious. “Taz picked up Carl’s scent, and he’s not alone. He said there were five different scents. He’s one hell of a tracker and a big asset to our pack. I want him to lead you, Hunter, Dell, and the rest of the new guys to where he picked up the scent. I’m staying here. Slade is on his way and should be here anytime to check up on Janna.”

  “If you need to go, I’ll be fine,” Janna said, rubbing her growing stomach.

  “No,” Garrett responded with a shake of his head. “They can handle it. Just keep me updated.”

  “No problem.” Marcus leaned down and kissed Roxy. “Stay here and don’t leave.”

  “Yes, sir.” Roxy grinned when he narrowed his eyes.

  He seemed to think for a minute then gave her a thoughtful look. “I kind of like that sir stuff.”

  Roxy rolled her eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”

  He gave her a wink before walking out the door with Hunter.

  ******

  Roxy sat in the kitchen, glad that she was there. She was enjoying talking to Janna and Emily, making plans for the babies.

  “How’s the house coming along?” Emily asked, taking a bite of apple pie she had brought over.

  “Great. I’ve never had so much fun and actually gave Marcus crap about leaving today.” She laughed. “It’s just between my work and what he does, we have very limited free time.”

  “I know what you mean.” Emily sighed. “I never realized what it took to rebuild a business, and Deb is no help.”

  “Speaking of Deb.” Janna glanced at Roxy. “Thank you for what you did. I heard what happened and if I wasn’t so pregnant, I would have kicked her ass.”

  “It was my pleasure, believe me.” Roxy snorted, relieved that Janna wasn’t too upset about her punching one of her guests at the baby shower. “Sorry, Emily. I know she’s your sister.”

  “Yeah, well I punched her the next time I saw her, so no apology needed.” Emily glanced at them both. “Terrible isn’t it, but God, it felt good.”

  They all started laughing just as Garrett walked in. He stopped, looking down at himself. “What?”

  “We aren’t laughing at you,” Janna assured him. “We’re laughing at Emily and Roxy’s boxing skills.”

  The front door slammed, causing them all to turn that way. A man with a shotgun walked into the kitchen. Roxy stared in horror as he pointed at each of them. Everything happened so fast, no one had time to say anything or react. She watched in horror as Garrett didn’t hesitate and rushed the man. She knew before it even happened that the man was going to pull the trigger. She screamed, but it was too late. The shotgun went off, and Garrett hit the floor. She tried to catch him, but he was too heavy. He fell halfway on her, but she was too bus
y staring at the man with the gun.

  “What did you do?” she screamed as Janna dropped to the ground next to Garrett.

  “No!” Janna screamed, trying to turn Garrett, his weight too much for her.

  Roxy pulled her legs out from under Garrett and looked up to see another man grab Emily. Not really knowing what to do, she screamed at the top of her lungs, praying someone heard her. Her scream was cut short when something hard hit her in the head, and then all went black.

  Chapter 19

  Marcus jogged to Jonah’s, which was just down the road from Garrett’s. Actually, everything was just down the road from Garrett’s place which sat in the middle of town.

  “What the fuck is the hurry?” Hunter jogged up next to him.

  “I want to get back to my mate,” Marcus said as he reached for the door. “Don’t you?”

  “Shut up, asshole.” Hunter pushed him out of the way, going inside first. They both walked into the kitchen and stopped.

  “Don’t make a fucking move or I’ll put a bullet in the back of his head.” A man stood holding a gun to Jonah’s head, who sat at the kitchen table.

  Marcus did a quick sweep with his eyes and saw that every single one of them had walked into a fucking trap. “Who are you?”

  “What gave you the impression that you could ask questions?” the man spat, his eyes shifting around seemingly monitoring everyone’s moves.

  Marcus made eye contact with Dell, who was the closest to the man, but he remained still, not wanting to spook him. “Guess I’m just the curious type.”

  “Get in here and sit against that wall. Don’t make any moves or he’s dead,” the man ordered, pushing the gun into Jonah’s head, making sure they got the message.

  “I told these stupid fucks to go ahead and take him out.” Jonah growled in disapproval, his eyes burning with anger. “I’m fucking old and don’t give a shit if I die. Take him out!”

  “Shut the fuck up.” The man smacked Jonah on the side of the head, still holding the gun on him.

  Both Marcus and Hunter slid down the wall, while Marcus’s mind raced for a way out of this clusterfuck of a mess.

  “You know….” Hunter started, and Marcus gave him a sideways glare.

  “Man, don’t piss the guy off.” Marcus didn’t know where Hunter was going with this, but Hunter always had a way out of situations, so he was going along with it hoping it didn’t get Jonah killed.

  “You know me. I piss everyone off.” Hunter offered him a raised eyebrow.

  “Both of you shut up,” the man hissed, getting antsy, shifting from foot to foot.

  “You know,” Hunter restarted, ignoring the man’s demand to shut up. “It’s pretty badass that you have the Lee County wolves all under your control. I mean, that’s some legendary shit right there. We’re pretty well known as badasses ourselves.”

  Marcus watched the man closely and noticed he kept looking toward the door as if waiting for something or someone. This man was definitely a shifter, his wolf sensed it. He knew he couldn’t send any messages mentally as they’d done before because most shifters could pick up on it. Instead, he glanced at Dell and eyed Jonah, then eyed the table. He did that three times and when Dell gave a short nod, he knew Dell understood. At least, he hoped he did.

  “Is that why you’re a little nervous?” Hunter asked. Not waiting for him to answer, he continued, “Because that’s totally understandable. I’d also be nervous among legends. Hell, man, you’ll probably be a hero, get all kinds of pussy. Shit, I want to be you, man.”

  “Will you just shut the fuck up?” the guy roared, his eyes going back to the door, his shifting from foot to foot going faster. He was sweating like a pig. He also didn’t realize the faster he shifted his feet, the gun moved.

  “Hey, just trying to break the tension.” Hunter slowly scooted closer to the table, as did Marcus. Each time he looked at the door, they moved an inch. “So how much is Carl paying you? Hope you got your money up front, ’cause I heard he’s broke as fuck and stiffed the last dumbass or, ah, guy who did a job for him.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” he screamed as he pointed the gun toward Hunter.

  This was it. But before they could make their move, a loud gunshot echoed from outside. Everything happened at once. Dell went for Jonah as Marcus and Hunter both leaned back, kicked their feet up under the table and launched it at the man with everything they had. The gun clattered to the ground along with the table and the man, who was knocked out cold.

  Marcus scrambled toward the man, making sure he was out, grabbed the gun and took off. “Make sure that fucker’s tied up tight.”

  He followed Hunter out of the house, looking to see where the gunshot came from. People were out looking toward Garrett’s. He saw Clare hurrying that way. “They said it came from Garrett’s,” she called out as they passed her.

  Fear overtook any common sense Marcus had. He charged straight through the closed door; it splintered everywhere. His eyes searched for danger, searched for Roxy, and his heart stopped when he saw his brother lying in a puddle of blood, facedown on the floor.

  “Goddammit!” He ran to Garrett, slipping in blood. With Hunter’s help, they turned him over carefully. Marcus tore off his shirt while quickly examining the room, making sure Roxy wasn’t lying on the floor somewhere, but she was gone, and so were Emily and Janna.

  “Garrett!” Hunter shouted as he ripped open Garrett’s shirt.

  Marcus glanced down to see he had been shot in the chest. “Fuck!” He took his shirt and placed it on the wound. “Is there an exit wound?”

  Hunter lifted Garrett enough to look. “Yeah.”

  “Good, he needs to shift.” Marcus cursed again, and blood seeped from the exit wound.

  “No.” Slade ran in with Jill following closely. “I don’t want him shifting. Not yet.”

  “The women are gone,” Marcus said to Hunter, their eyes meeting.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Jill asked, her eyes wide as she stood by, ready to help Slade if needed. “Where’s Janna?”

  “They got her,” Marcus said, then looked down at his brother. “We have to go after them.”

  “Go on.” Slade cursed as he tried to stop the bleeding.

  “Don’t let him die,” Marcus instructed as he stood, but his blood ran cold when Slade looked up at him with concern. “If he shifts, he’ll heal quicker.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Slade promised, then nodded. “Go on.”

  Marcus and Hunter ran out just as Taz ran around the side of the house. “This way.”

  “Did you see them?” Marcus followed Taz.

  “No, but I can track anything.” Taz led them into the woods. “And these fuckers are leaving a trail a blind man could find.”

  Marcus followed him with Hunter, who he knew was raging because he was silent. Hunter was never silent. He would get Roxy and the others back, his brother would survive, and the motherfucker who even dared hurt his family was going to die.

  ******

  Roxy did everything in her power to slow them down, even piss them off. The more they focused on her, the less they focused on Janna, who wasn’t faring very well with her big belly.

  “Didn’t think this through, did you?” Roxy complained as they pulled her, Emily, and Janna along. “I mean, a car or van would have made more sense.”

  “Do you ever shut up?” one of the men said as he jerked the rope around her wrists.

  “Sorry, I talk when I’m nervous.” Roxy glanced at Emily, who was helping Janna. “But as I was saying, our mates know these woods better than anyone, and I’m sure they heard the gunshot, so I expect them at any time now.”

  The men laughed, not sharing the joke.

  “Did I say something funny?” Roxy asked, not having a good feeling at all.

  “Yeah, actually, you did.” The one pulling her grinned back at her. “We’re smarter than you think, Red.”

  “Oh, and how’s that?” She hated to be called Red. />
  “Right now, I’d say they are tied up.” The man chuckled. “Maybe dead like that big son of a bitch I shot.”

  Hearing Janna cry out, she glanced over and cringed when Janna fell to her knees. “Hey, slow down with her.”

  “Shut up.” The man jerked Janna up to her feet and began walking again.

  “So, what’s this all about?” Roxy decided to see if he was in a bragging mood. “Who’s calling the shots and what’s going to happen to us?”

  “It’s a paid job.” The man jerked the rope. “And for what’s to happen to you, I don’t know. I was told however many women we can get is more money for us.”

  “Well, you guys are screwed.” Roslyn stepped out of some brush. “Because if you’re working with Carl, who is my stepbrother, he doesn’t have money.”

  “Hey!” The man raised a gun, aiming it at Roslyn. “Don’t make another move.”

  Roslyn raised her hands in the air. “I’m no threat to you. Actually, I’m trying to find my stepbrother and figured I’d tag along.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” he sneered, dropping the gun slightly. “And he better fucking pay me.”

  “Yes, I do, and you just proved it,” Roslyn answered, then motioned to Roxy who pulled on the rope that tied her to the man so hard she fell back on her ass.

  The gunshot went off, which propelled Roxy back up to her feet. As Roslyn fought the man, Roxy scrambled for the gun. On her scramble there, she saw Emily fighting with the rope while trying to keep the man who held her from getting to the gun.

  Finally, Roxy grabbed it, pointed it in the air and fired off a shot. Then she aimed it at the man who Roslyn was beating the shit out of.

  “I’ve got him so stop aiming that fucking gun my way,” Roslyn ordered. Then her eyes widened. “Watch out!”

  Roxy turned and aimed it at the man who Emily was struggling with. He was making his way toward her. “Stop, or I swear to God I’ll shoot you.”

  A noise to her side startled her, and she aimed that way and fired. Marcus, Hunter, and Taz all dove for the ground with a curse.