Tormenting Her Mate (My Wicked Mates Book 3)
Page 9
At least, none she could have lived with then.
The smell of the blood curdled her stomach and a sense of clarity came over her. She was late and Marcus hadn’t used a condom the last few times they’d…
Oh my.
She blinked and placed her hand over her belly.
Her fox circled protectively, making plaintive low barks.
Danger.
It was all making sense now. The sore, heavy feeling breasts. The morning queasiness, and the sensitivity to smell.
She was pregnant.
Why hadn’t she figured it out before?
“Come on. You’re coming with me.” Charlie gestured toward her with the gun.
Why were all the men in her family assholes?
Another thing Marcus and she had in common. Marcus’ father was dead. He’d stayed away to keep her from him. He knew just what kind of monster he was living with. She wished she could have said the same.
And now a man was dead.
Outrage sizzled through her.
“You didn't give me much choice. I sold myself to keep you alive. So, if anyone is to blame for this, it's you.”
But even as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it was a lie. From the first second she met Marcus, she knew she was his. The fact that his baby was growing inside her belly only solidified it. She wanted to be with him.
He was her mate.
The mark on her shoulder blazed and she pulled her sweater tighter around her body.
What would Charlie do if he found out they were mated? He would probably lose whatever faculties he had left. And if he found out she was carrying Marcus’ child?
The blood drained from her face as Astrid realized without a doubt, he would kill her rather than let any child of Marcus’ live.
With shaking hands, she turned her back on him and started walking back to the gate. She had to have faith he wouldn’t shoot her.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go home. The housekeeper is waiting.” She toyed with telling him and hesitated. Laying a hand over her stomach, she marveled at the life hidden within.
“Over my fucking dead body. Stop walking, Astrid. I mean it.” She heard him cock the trigger on the gun and she halted, bile once more rising in her throat. Turning around to face him, she lifted her chin defiantly.
He wouldn’t harm her baby. She’d kill him first, brother or not.
Her fingers curled into fists.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
His eyes narrowed. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”
“Tell you what?” She countered, avoiding his eyes.
“I can tell by your scent.” He growled, furious.
Sleek and black, a car pulled up and stopped in front of them. A muscular Hispanic man that she'd never seen before emerged.
“Lopez. What are you doing here?” Charlie demanded, surprise evident on his face.
She had heard that name. But where?
“I came to check on my investment. Since you can't seem to do what you've been paid to do. I wanted Lupin brought down and instead you’re playing with his whore.”
Charlie’s face tightened. “I'm taking back something he wants.”
“Just kill her.”
“No. We can use her to get him outside.” Charlie cut his eyes at her and gave her a smile that set her teeth on edge.
How many times had she set herself up to help him and now this?
Astrid didn’t think she could feel any more where he was concerned, but she was wrong. This betrayal stung worse than anything else he had ever done to her and now he placed her unborn child and the man it had taken her a decade to find again at risk.
Her mate. Her family.
The lump in her throat grew and a tear slid down her cheek.
“Your tears won’t work, girl. Your wolf didn’t know when to lie down and play dead. It’s time to show him how. He'll be along to rescue you in a minute and when he does, he'll find me waiting. His father's business should have been mine. He didn’t get the memo.” She saw the coyote in his gaze and the same raw hunger to destroy and ravage everything in his path.
Just like Charlie.
Another car pulled up and three heavily armed men in black leather made their way toward the gate.
The shadows grew around them and she stood there and prayed. How could she have been given everything and it be taken away?
It wasn’t fair.
“Leave her alone.” A voice called out and she could see a solitary form walking down the long drive toward the gate. His boots ground along the path, jeans whispering in the pregnant silence. The black tee and leather jacket made his face ashen against the night as twilight took over.
Marcus. His wolf was wild in his eyes.
“No. Marcus…” Astrid started toward him, but Charlie grabbed her and hauled her backward, the barrel of the gun at her throat.
“Quiet, or I’ll take his advice and end it.” Charlie ground out, pushing the gun in deeper.
She struggled for balance, fearfully watching as Marcus grew closer. Rigo, Hector, and the other man he was with were nowhere in sight.
Where were the rest of his wolves?
“Give your crew the night off?” Lopez edged his chin up, sending his goons to fetch Marcus.
“Leave my property now and take your assholes with you. Then maybe I’ll let you live.” Marcus’s eyes glittered in the half light, his face a mask of contempt.
“You didn’t get my personal invitation then,” Lopez smiled, but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. “I really must insist you do as your father willed and step aside, son.”
Marcus laughed, a dry humorless sound.
“That would be funny, if he’d had any of his faculties to make such a call in the last three years of his life. Get. Off. My. Property. Now.” He stepped forward, his hand edging toward something along his belt line.
Chapter Twelve
The fucker had Astrid. He’d come home to find her and instead found her phone. She’d left it out, the smart girl that she was.
After the last conversation, there was no way Charlie would come here unless it was to make trouble. In seconds, Marcus was on the phone to Ambrose, Rigo, and Hector.
“Get your teams out there.” He made it to the camera room in time to see Charlie shoot Mike in front of Astrid.
Fuck.
“I’m on it.” Ambrose was first to respond. “ETA two minutes. Pack enforcers are already enroute.”
“He’s at the front gate. I’m going out there now. You’d better fucking hurry or you’ll all be out of a job.”
His wolf wanted to shift and fucking rip his motherfucking throat out but he had to remain in control.
He yanked off his shirt and threw on the body armor he’d had made right before his father had taken ill and tried to kill him over dinner one night. Pulling the shirt back on, he ran down the stairs and through the kitchen.
Mrs. Patterson glanced up from the sink where she was washing dishes.
“Is everything okay, dear?”
“No. But it will be.”
“Be careful.” Her gaze met his and he saw the grim determination in hers. He nodded, taking in the cat winding around her feet.
“He has Astrid.”
Mrs. Patterson closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them again, her expression fierce.. “Well, then. You’d best get her back, hadn’t you?”
“I will.” In moments, he was out the door, a plan already forming in his head. He tapped the earpiece and tapped Ambrose. “Here’s what I want you to do.”
Lopez was a dumb fuck. He’d relied on someone as stupid as Charlie and that was his first mistake. That Charlie held a gun on the woman he loved was about to be his last.
Coyotes streamed over his lands and were met by the snarling wolves at his command. The pack wouldn’t tolerate interlopers.
They had spent too many years at his father’s mercy to ever contemplate ano
ther homicidal dictator, especially a coyote.
High pitched death cries and sounds of battle met his ears as he made his way toward the center of the storm.
The first shots were fired from the tree line and Lopez’ goons took the bait.
Three of Marcus' wolves burst from the bushes, tackling more of his men and dragging them to the ground, screaming. A few more of his men shifted and a snarling mass of coyotes and wolves began to battle it out.
The man was a fool to come here. But then again, Lopez always had overestimated his own self-importance. Marcus' father had been right about that. He warned him that this asshole would make a play for the business and the pack in one of his more lucid moments toward the end.
Probably the single time he looked out for him or the family's best interests, aside from when he took out Charlie’s idiot father.
The only thing his father ever loved was the business and the pack and he would have rather died than let that murdering bastard take it from him.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. Pack rules were pack rules and you didn’t get to be Alpha by boardroom meetings and golf tournaments. You took your place the old way but he wasn’t about to let his pack fall to a bunch of fucking coyotes.
He saw a streak of movement in the brush and recognized Hector with his group coming up the side. More shots rang out and more of both sides began to shift and tear at each other in a battle of tooth and claw.
Lopez’ men fell one by one as Ambrose’s team rounded up the front, keeping Charlie and Lopez in their line of fire if Marcus gave the order.
“Get up you morons! Don’t just lie there.” Lopez screamed, furious.
“I think it’s a little late for that. Marcus pulled the gun out from the waistband of his jeans and held it out in front of him. “Drop it, Charlie.”
“I don't think so. I'm going to kill your woman and your baby and then I'm going to kill you.”
Baby?
His mouth dropped open in shock. He took a step back, searching Astrid’s eyes for the truth. She gave a little nod. A burst of happiness infused with terror splintered apart inside of him. They would take all of it if they could, just like they tried to take everything else. Drug dealing fucks.
Not this time.
Lopez reached into the side of his suit jacket and pulled out a gun and raised it in Marcus' direction. “You should have died when I tried to kill you the first time.” He fired and he darted out of the way, the round hitting the dirt a few feet away.
He fumbled with his gun as it jammed and Marcus smiled an ugly smile.
“You can’t even fight the old way, can you?” He threw out even as his body began to shift. He would take him down before he could become functional again.
Astrid screamed. More shots were fired from the woods, this time hitting Lopez in the hand and knocking his gun to the ground.
“You fuck!” He screamed, holding his bloody hand against his chest.
Marcus lunged. It was over in moments, the gurgle of his torn out throat and the salty taste of the coyote pack master’s blood sliding over his tongue as he ravaged him.
“Marcus…” Astrid called out and he paused, meeting her gaze. His wolf knew her. Loved her.
His mate.
His child.
And then there was Charlie. He turned to look at the traitorous bastard but to rip out his throat in front of Astrid? He couldn’t do it.
Ambrose smiled a terrible smile as if he understood and cocked his head toward the outlying land.
Sirens sounded in the distance. The police were on their way. And that meant this had to be taken care of quickly or there would be way too many questions.
Coyotes fled, chased by members of the pack. Their leader dead, they would scatter to the winds like roaches until they found some other misguided soul to follow.
The bodies of the three goons were already zipped into bags and being loaded into Rigo’s vehicle. Hector sprinted down the walk, a clean-up kit in tow. No evidence.
Ambrose handled Lopez himself, tucking him away in a standard issue body bag and putting the corpse into his car. Starting the engine, he took off, followed by Rigo. It was as if the other men had never set foot on his land.
One of his wolves padded forward, watching them with upturned ears.
Marcus shifted back, uncaring about the bite of the wind on his naked flesh. “What's it going to be, Charlie? Are you going to live? Because I don’t care either way. Not this time.”
The pile of his clothes was nearby. And with it, his gun. He reached for his shirt, wiping it across his face. Charlie didn’t see what else he’d picked up.
“Get back. I’ll kill her.” He moved backward toward the car, his eyes wild.
“No, you won't.”
“Why is that?” He angled the gun, jabbing it into Astrid’s neck. She gasped, stumbling along and trying not to fall.
“Because you're already dead.”
The red and blue strobes of the cop car lit up the driveway as he fired. One shot was all it took to take him down. The bullet hit him right between the eyes and he collapsed, releasing Astrid.
“Freeze!” Uniformed officers swarmed the drive as Astrid tumbled to the ground, safe.
“Put your hands where we can see them and drop your weapon.”
The gun hit the dirt and Marcus raised his hands. None of it mattered. Only the relieved look on Astrid’s face and the knowledge that neither one of them was going to die today.
Epilogue
6 months later…
“It’s too big.” Astrid blinked at the ring on her finger and stared up into her soon to be husband’s eyes.
“You want something smaller?” Marcus grinned, pointed out another one in the case that was even larger.
It was good to have him back in her life full time after the legal circus they had just lived through. Lopez and his men were still listed as missing persons and she never asked. But Charlie…that one had been hard.
The police had asked her about what happened and she told them he had come and tried to extort money, threatening her life, her baby, and that of her future husband. The DA held Marcus until their lawyer could get the case dropped and with her testimony it was as dead and buried as Charlie.
Today was the first step toward their forever and she couldn’t wait.
“God, no. Why don’t you just buy me a diamond tiara while you’re at it?”
A wicked smile spread across Marcus’ face. “I know just when I’ll want you to wear it, too.”
“You would,” she snorted, rubbing a hand over her pregnant belly. The baby kicked in response and she staggered a little. Her daughter was going to do just fine.
Looking back at the ring in front of her, she considered it and the other two he’d selected. Of the three it was the largest, but the three diamonds in their platinum setting held meaning. It was them. Their future.
Only a month and a half, at the most, and little Rose would be born, effectively changing their lives forever.
“What are you thinking about?” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and she sighed.
“Okay, this one. You’re right.”
“Of course, I am, woman.”
The girl behind the counter giggled as Astrid leaned in for a kiss.
“Don’t get used to it,” she whispered into his ear. “You’re about to be outnumbered.” Two girls. He wasn’t going to stand a chance.
Her fox danced under her skin, sniffing and snuffling in her excitement.
“We’ll see about that.”
She laughed. “Come on handsome. Get me to the church on time.”
He flashed his plastic and cleared the sale, placing the ring on her finger right there on the downtown street. They vanished into the crowd of people as they walked hand in hand toward the picturesque church a few blocks over.
“Forever my mate.” He pressed her knuckles to his lips and her heart fluttered.
“Always.”
The End
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Erzabet Bishop
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