by T. A. Grey
“He’s here,” Hanna whispered. Nerves fluttered in her stomach. She swallowed past the big lump in her throat. She met her sister’s gaze for support, but Kaity merely grinned.
“Well you look good, so don’t be nervous.”
Alicia gave her an encouraging hug. “Call if you need anything.”
“Thanks mom,” Hanna teased. Laughing helped to ease her nerves a touch.
The doorbell chimed again and Hanna squealed in panic before running downstairs to answer the door.
Hanna opened the door, smile in place.
And there he stood.
Prince Remi Gerioux. Thirty-three years old, nephew to the Queen of Gerioux Pack. He was a cute man with ginger orange hair, light skin like the moon, and a sweet personality. He made her laugh and seemed interested in the things she said. And he appeared to enjoy hanging out with her as well. They had only gone on a few dates since meeting, but this was their first official “date.” Where they’d be away from her family, her pack, her safety net. Tonight she’d be leaving the pack to go on her first real date since leaving Tom.
“Wow...you look fantastic!” His energetic response after the havoc, or rather disaster that had occurred in her bedroom brought a smile to her face.
“Thanks, I’m ready to eat I think.”
They strapped into his sleek black car and sped off into the night. His car was quiet compared to the rumble of Alex’s motorcycle.
As Hanna left the pack, her stomach twisting with anxiety, she couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching over her. Her eyes followed the receding front gates of the pack as Remi drove her further and further away. No one in sight. She was actually a touch surprised no one was ordered to follow her. Normally Gavin was an overprotective big brother and his protectiveness had only gotten worse since becoming alpha of the pack.
Chapter FIVE
“I want you to follow her.”
“Follow who?”
“I want you to follow Hanna tonight.”
Alex sat back in his seat. “Whoa, there. Say what? You want me to follow her? Where? Why?” Those were just his beginning questions, for starters.
Gavin and Alex were hunkered at the gym. This time of night on a Saturday and the only guys here were single ones. What a pathetic thought that was. Made his lip curl.
Jo MacKellen didn’t let up was here, he spent a lot of time in the gym. Without a doubt, hands down, he was the biggest lykaen in the bag.
Jo didn’t miss a workout. He just wasn’t the type of guy who could. Everyone had different capabilities. Jo’s was to never be wrong and to always be right. Jo lifted. Jo worked hard. Jo was a big motherfucker. Hovering close to six-foot-six and probably two-fifty-five, the man looked like he could easily lift the side of a house. Like a big mma-fighter and the man did know martial arts. Made him dangerous.
The man, like most of the MacKellens, rarely smiled. He was a cousin to Gavin, Hanna, Hart, and Kaity. He was also a high-ranking member of the pack. A commander of sorts. He had tanned skin from all his time outdoors, and dark-brown hair he kept trimmed close to his head. He might be a handsome mother-effer if he didn’t look like he hated everyone and everything.
“Hanna’s going out with Remi Gerioux from the Canadian pack up north. He’s taking her up there for dinner. I don’t trust him.”
Alex rolled his eyes and hopped back up to his feet. “Not my problem.” He turned back to the punching bag he’d been working, and delivered a series of blows. Jabs, hooks, uppercuts and vicious knees. He only made it through one round before the bag in front of him was gone, and he’d been spun back around. Gavin stepped close, one-step closer and they’d practically be kissing.
“You signed on to this with me. Remember?” Gavin said, crossing his arms.
Alex felt like he was sinking into the earth as it dawned on him. “Yeah, I agreed to help around the pack with but...” He shook his head viciously, slammed his fist into the body bag. “Dammit! I’m not a babysitter. She’s a grown ass woman. She’ll be fine. Besides, she’s stronger than you give her credit for.”
Instantly after his accidental compliment, his jaw crunched to the side.
Should not have said that. Should not have said that.
Jo’s dark-set eyes widened a fraction, he came closer to hear the conversation. “You into my cuz, bro?” He might as well have asked did you put a gun to my mother’s head? Because that’s how it felt hearing that question and that was about how eager Alex was to answer it.
“No.” There. He managed to answer straight-faced. Only after undergoing Jo’s intent scrutiny, did Alex finally blink in relief.
“Good,” Jo said with a nod. “I want you to follow her. They’re going to a restaurant called Ala Gujardia in Gerioux territory. Just keep an eye out. We don’t know much about this guy.”
Alex’s shoulder muscles tensed. “I thought you gave him the pass, Gavin.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t. There’s only one way to be sure. You go with her,” Gavin said, shrugging.
Jo crossed his big arms looking like a burly bear. “Yeah,” he agreed.
“Then you go. I’m not doing it.” The last thing he needed was to spend tonight watching Hanna on a date with that pansy boy. Alex turned back to his set of punches when someone tapped him on the shoulder. “What!?” he replied sharply, spinning around, and straight into a meaty fist.
Alex had to admit he hadn’t seen it coming. At all. Gavin’s fist was the size of a giant’s and he only tasted a little blood in his mouth, so at least he hadn’t put everything into it like he could have. Alex licked at his ever swelling bottom lip, glaring at the big alpha.
“What’d you do that for?”
“Because you’re going. Get ready and leave. They left thirty minutes ago. You have some catching up to do.”
A crackling growl emanated from Alex’s throat but Jo and Gavin’s stoic face refused to be changed.
“Fine,” Alex muttered, grabbing his towel, he left the gym.
Just great. He got to spend the first Saturday night of his new and “important” job babysitting Hanna. He tossed his head back into the night and shouted--a brief exhortation of sound that rhymed with luck.
Alex hopped on his bike, revved the chrome pipes and rolled off into the night.
Tonight he was headed north.
Chapter SIX
“That was a lovely dinner.”
Hanna refrained from patting her stomach after buckling into Remi’s car. Dinner had been nice, if a bit tame. They’d talked about their families, their work, their favorite movies. Normal date stuff. Truth be told, Hanna enjoyed her fish dinner more than the company. She bit her lip nervously at the thought. She wasn’t trying to be mean, but her earlier thoughts of “romancing” with Remi seemed to be out the window completely at this point. It seemed that unless she had a few drinks in her, she didn’t find Remi nearly that interesting. Where was the chemistry she thought they had in spades?
Shoulders sagging, she knew she had to push the negativity away. They still had a long drive back to her pack.
Remi flashed her a grin. His eyes were sparkling. He’d had a few drinks tonight. Truth be told, his actions had made her increasingly uncomfortable. It maybe had something to do with Alex’s intervening actions one night when she had been drinking and trying to drive. Alex had, rightfully, put an abrupt stop to that. But now Remi was tearing off down the highway, driving alarmingly close to the shoulder of the road. The dark roads making it even harder to see as their speed climbed higher and higher. She began to hold tight to her seat for dear life.
Hanna gulped in fear, fighting between wanting to ask him to slow down and smiling nicely at him.
“Wahoo! This is fun!” he shouted.
He actually shouted, tossing his head back and shaking it like a dog. He flipped the switch on the radio and music blared deafeningly through the speakers.
Hanna flinched at the noise and quickly moved to turn the volume down. But he slapped
her hand. It stung where he struck her.
“Uh uh,” he said, shaking his finger back and forth. “This is my car. My tunes, babe!”
Hanna’s mood deflated like a balloon with all the air let out. “C-can you slow down?” Eight miles per hour and rising. They flew past a highway speed sigh which read: sixty miles per hour. Hanna covered her stomach feeling sick. The night, flying past the car so quickly, she gripped her seatbelt in fear.
“Relax! I got this! What’re you so scared for anyway? It would take a pretty serious crash to kill a lykaen, yeah?” He laughed.
It might not necessarily kill them, but it could and that wouldn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt a lot either.
The engine roared and the speedometer rose and rose. Passing ninety. Crossing the threshold into the hundreds. The road whipped past them, trees a blur of color. The car drifted in and out of white and yellow lines. Car horns blared in warning at them, one car swinging wide around them to narrowly miss striking them. Hanna couldn’t help it. She screamed in terror.
He laughed at her. Like this was all funny. Some joke.
Then, suddenly, they slowed, took and outer road leading north and not south to where she lived. Swallowing past her dry throat, she yelled over the throbbing music, “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Her skin crawled. Stomach tensed. She did not like surprises.
“What surprise? I thought you were taking home?”
He whistled to the music, ignoring her question. Hanna’s eyes feverishly searched the area. They were driving into a deeply wooded area. Her heart raced, banging in her ribcage. He stopped the car.
She was stiff, muscles so tight they began to cramp.
The music seemed far too loud now. “Can you turn it down?” she yelled. She didn’t look at him. Too uncomfortable, and growing steadily worse as each moment ticked slowly by.
“Nah, I like it,” he shouted back.
She would never see him again. But it was a bit too late to realize that now, wasn’t it?
“Where are we?”
Remi smiled at her, then shrugged and got out of the car, coming around to her side. “Let’s dance.”
How about you answer my fucking question? she wanted to snap.
But she didn’t say that because she was too afraid of what he might do if she did. She didn’t want to make him angry.
He opened her car door. She was still buckled in, so when he grabbed her hand and pulled she was crushed against the belt.
“Stop it,” she said, yanking her hand back. It was trembling.
A slow burning sensation was running through her blood. Picking up in speed and intensity. Crushing her with its strength. She could barely look at him, so close was she to bolting. That’s all she felt: run. Run for your life. But how silly. He had yet to do anything seriously dangerous to her. He’d just drank too much, surely and was acting a bit out of control.
“Get out of the car, Hanna.” He yanked at her wrist.
She shook her head, holding her ground. She had to be firm, strong. She lifted her chin to stared straight ahead. “I’d like you to take me home now.” She spoke clearly, succinctly.
He didn’t say anything for a moment, merely stared at her. Then, the hand around her wrist clutched tight. It hurt. Her skin pinched and warped under his harsh grip. Hanna didn’t know what came over her but some feral emotion inside her snapped. Like a thin cord of twine put to a steely sharp blade.
Moving quickly, she unbuckled her seatbelt, shouldered out of the car and shoved him away. Now that she was on even basis with him, standing head to head, toe to toe she felt more secure. He wobbled on his feet letting out a howl of unsteady laughter.
“Hey there! Whoa, pretty lady.” He flashed her a cheesy grin.
She wanted to spit in his eye. “Can you take me home now?” There was no kindness in her voice. Not even a shred. All niceties had vanished. She had to be firm before things got out of hand. She knew far too well of her vulnerabilities out here, far from home and alone. Thank god, she’d been training with the soldiers, learning a few tools now and then. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to call upon her weak knowledge of them.
Over the rocking cadence of his music, his smile died. His expression turning unfriendly. Unkind.
“No, I don’t think so. That’s not why we’re here.”
“Where’s here?”
No answer. Only a cold moment of silence as the corner of his eyes twisted. In a flashing second, he was an entirely new man, one with a predatorily glint in his expression. She felt very little. Like a child about to be challenged by a monster far larger than herself.
Then her breath expelled harshly from her lungs as he moved in a flash. His body slammed into her, propelling her back against the car. Slimy, soft lips smothered hers in an awful attempt to kiss her. An invasion of her body. She fought back. His tongue thrust into her mouth and she gagged at his taste and at his persistence. His hands groped her, grabbing parts of her he had no business touching. Once upon a time Hanna would have been frozen in fear, unsure what to do. But now? She was a fighter, a solider in training. A changed woman.
So when her right uppercut shot up between them, clipping Remi in the jaw hard enough to crack teeth and send him spiraling, Hanna did what her instincts had been telling her to do all this time.
She ran.
* * * * *
Alex shoved the silver kickstand down and lifted his leg up and over his hog. He’d parked and rolled his bike into the edge of the woods to hide it. He was trying to stay back and let Hanna have her date. Some damn privacy for the both of them. Hell, if he didn’t have to be here, acting like a damn spy, he wouldn’t be here. Hell no. He would be at home, steaming in a long, hot shower. A nice relaxing treat would be long to come for these sore muscles. That’s for sure. Not showering after the gym meant he likely wasn’t going to win any sniff-contests tonight either. The very same kind of smell he’d teased Hanna about.
Of course, while Alex had stuck to the shadows outside, he’d watch her and lover boy enjoying their date. Alex had never even seen food prepared like that either. Perfectly clean white, square plates, a bunch of unnecessary silverware, and the food came in small perfectly sized portions. The food didn’t really look like food to him, more like slivers of real food. He didn’t care much for salmon in glazed sauces himself. He preferred a spicy burrito. You could toss anything in a tortilla wrapper and he’d eat it.
Hanna though? She ordered some shrimp cocktail thing, which she slurped and ate at like a taste-testing professional. All delicate nibbles and perfectly cut pieces of meat. Who ate like that?
Seriously?
When he ate, inevitably, grease slid down his fingers and eventually something landed on his shirt. Not Hanna. By time she finished her six-course meal, her dress was as neat as when she’d walked in.
Alex scrubbed a hand down his ragged face. He’d had dark circles under his eyes and puffy little sacs of shit hanging around lately. He jammed his palm into one eye socket, pushing until pain seemed to burst in his skull.
There. That was better.
Pansy boy had taken a right instead of a left to take Hanna back south towards home. Which was interesting enough for Alex to follow. God dammit, he swore if he happened upon them in any state of undress, he was fishtailing it out of here faster than a sniper’s bullet. For real. That was the very last thing he wanted to see—some man touching Hanna. His body gave a violent shiver. The very idea disgusted him on multiple levels.
Growling, Alex fished through his pockets until he found the soft crumpled pack of smokes lingering there. His eyes twitched--he wanted one. Badly. Craved the heated burn, but damn he knew he needed to stop. How many times had he said he’d stop now? Too god damn many.
Not even a second after that thought, he had a smoke pinched between his lips and his lighter out. His eyes peered into the night, studying the dusky darkness around him. God, a part of him, his bestial, lykaen side
loved this environment. Pure nature. This far out from civilization, there were no street posts to lighten up imperfect roads. In fact, there weren’t much of paved roads out here on the outskirts of the Geroux land.
The Geroux were a traditional pack. Meaning they valued the “old ways” over the new. So while they held a massive plot of land spreading from the Northwest America into southern Canada, the pack kept mostly to an inner city. The city was heavily guarded and kept gated and private. The Gerioux pack were not known for congregating much with the local humans, nor with other packs.
So that left Alex wondering why, oh why, did Pansy Boy Remi stop all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? Far south from the main city. Still on his land sure, but nothing was built around here. Only a dank, dirt path up ahead and nothing but woods. Why bring her here? For a romantic counter, perhaps?
The wind blustered making orange-and-red flowers tremble between blades of grass. Dying tree leaves fell prey to the wind and finally descended to earth where it would become one with the earth. Somewhere his cigarette ashes floated in specs of black and gray to the ground.
In the distance, he picked up a sound.
A scream. The voice soft and womanly, Hanna. She sounded terrified, panic edging in her voice. Alex’s head snapped in her direction, heart instantly racing, body alert.
Alex finally found his cue. No second-guessing. No plans or thoughts. Hanna was in trouble and that’s all he needed to know before he took off.
He pursued, sticking to hiking in the woods off the dirt path in the darkness where he belonged. Only the quiet sounds of his boots squishing into mushy earth, very little noise. His ears thanked him for the quiet. The chirping of crickets, the rustle of squirrels diving in and out of trees. The peaceful tranquility of the forest was like a balm to his ears. To his soul.
Alex pushed on, ever closer to the noise of blaring music, cigarette long tossed away. A heavy drumming rock song blasted--the sound a cacophonic distortion, ruining the silent beauty in the air.