The Alpha's Secret, An MMF Erotic Romance (The Stonewall Pack Alpha Series)

by Tabitha Conall

  "We'll talk to Deirdre, too, since she's older. She might know something about motive. Or have seen enough to give us a clue where to look." Gavin started to pull his documents together and pack up.

  "I don't know. My parents always hid the bad stuff from us. If one of my parents had been mixed up in something, I never would have known." Liam put the papers from the thin report onto the top of Gavin's pile.

  "But you might have known there was something off. You might have seen some tension among your parents, or a strange person stopping by late at night, or something like that. When you're in trouble, it's hard to hide it completely."

  Gavin had a point. But Liam wasn't so sure the sisters would remember something like that five years later.

  "Now let's go to dinner," Gavin said.

  Liam grinned. He couldn't wait to torture his mate again. And steal as many kisses as he could before they had to leave.

  After picking Bridget up at her office, they went to a bar/restaurant called Mary's Tavern. The place reeked of wolf. Aside from the owner and a one of the waitresses, everyone in there was a wolf. The restaurant side where they got seats wasn't quite as dark as the rest of the place. It still had wood paneling, but also sported a wall of windows that let in light from the street outside.

  Liam thought they should have gone back to the Weeping Widow. This place had booths but they weren't circular, so only one of them could sit next to Bridget. While Gavin was hanging his coat up, Liam scooted in next to her.

  Gavin frowned when he realized what had happened.

  "You can sit next to her next time," Liam said.

  After sliding into his side of the booth, Gavin said, "That's fine. I can still reach her from here."

  Bridget squeaked. "Was that your foot?"

  Gavin smiled.

  Playing footsie had never even occurred to Liam. Good thing he got the good seat. Liam slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him so their sides pressed together.

  "Hey! Getting a little familiar." She pushed at his chest but couldn't budge him.

  "I'm gonna miss you." He'd thought he was still acting lighthearted, but even he could hear the wistfulness in his voice.

  She stilled. "Two weeks is a long time."

  Maybe Gavin was right. Maybe she was bending. "You could still go with us."

  Staring blankly at her menu, she said, "How can I do that? You'll want me to sleep with you."

  "We already want you to sleep with us," Liam said. Surely she knew that.

  "I'll get you your own hotel room." Gavin played with the corner of his menu which he had yet to open. "You don't have to worry about being forced to sleep with us by choosing to come with us."

  Her own hotel room. While Liam would prefer she stayed in his hotel room, having her nearby was almost as good. Neither one of them could stay with Gavin, since he lived in pack territory and they weren't in his pack.

  "I can afford my own room," she said.

  That was what she focused on? Who was paying? His breath caught. Wait—did that mean she was thinking about coming with them?

  Gavin didn't seem to get it, either. "You're my mate. I'll pay for your room."

  "Stubborn alpha males—" she said.

  "Get used to it. We're yours. Forever." Gavin glared at her.

  Looked like Gavin was finally breaking. At not necessarily the best time. Time to derail this train. "So you're thinking about joining us when we go back tonight?" Liam said.

  Bridget's pale skin turned pink. "There's something I want to do up there. I thought maybe I could just go with you. I can't stay away two weeks, though. I can't take that much time off work."

  That blush was intriguing. Liam's hand still sat on her hip, so he rubbed his thumb up and down the side of her rib cage. "What is it you want to do?"

  Her blush got even darker, her eyes watering a little. "Nothing."

  Liam ran the knuckle of one finger down her cheek. "Can't be nothing when you're blushing like that."

  Her eyes looked everywhere but at them. "Maeve—Maeve suggested a therapist. Someone I could talk to. So I could get over this."

  His heart seized, his breath stopping.

  "Us?" Gavin said, his voice sharp. "You want to get over us?"

  A tear leaked out of one of her eyes. "No. I want to find out why I'm so scared of us. I want to get over the fear so we can be together."

  Liam let out all the air of his lungs. She wanted them. Scared as she was, she wanted them.

  Gavin took her hand and held it in both of his. Several times, he opened his mouth as though to talk, then finally said, "Thank you."

  Tightening his arm around her, Liam pressed a kiss to her temple. He left his lips there for several seconds. He wanted to tell her how he felt, how he really felt, that he loved her already, but figured that would just run her off.

  Still holding her hand, Gavin said, "We'll get you a room in Liam's hotel. And we'll get you an appointment with this therapist. And we'll get you back here by Monday for work. Okay?"

  Bridget nodded.

  The waitress came by and they ordered drinks. Liam hadn't even opened his menu yet, so he got to work on that. He didn't let go of her, though. He'd never let go of her again.

  "We have something else we want to talk to you about," Gavin said. "About the night your parents died."

  She closed her menu. "You really think it was foul play?"

  The waitress delivered their drinks and took their orders.

  Gavin resumed the conversation. "It's looking like foul play to me. Do you remember anything strange in the days before their death?"

  Bridget took a sip of her soda. "Not really."

  "Anything at all," Gavin said.

  "Well, a month or so before, we got that postcard from Maeve."

  "What postcard?" Liam moved his hand to her shoulder and played with her hair.

  Bridget shifted toward Liam. "Maeve ran away—"

  "We know," Gavin said.

  She looked back at Gavin. "Well, about a month before my parents died, we got a postcard from her. The postmark was from Paris. All it said was that she was okay and not to worry. And that she loved us." Bridget put her hand on Liam's thigh. "But I don't see how that would have anything to do with their death."

  Liam slid his hand over hers, holding hers in place.

  "I don't, either," Gavin said. "Do you remember anything else?"

  She looked up, as though remembering, and was silent for a few minutes. "I can't think of anything. That was a long time ago."

  "Then let's talk about the postcard, since you remember that. What did your parents do when they got it?" Gavin paused as the server put their food in front of them. "Did they tell anyone? Did they try to find her?"

  Bridget picked up her fork. "They wanted to hire a private detective. They were still trying to scratch together enough money and find someone good when they died." She cut a piece of her lasagna. "They told lots of people. That's probably not going to help much. Between who they told and who spread the story, I'm sure everyone in the pack knew."

  "Was there anyone helping them out? Maybe helping them find a private detective?" Liam said.

  She finished chewing before answering. "Ted came over a lot. Now that we know what he did, I'm guessing he wanted to find her as much as we did."

  Liam was glad the old Alpha was gone. "What would he have done, though? Don't child molesters have a preferred type? By the time the postcard arrived, Maeve would have been too old for him."

  Gavin's eyes met his, although Liam wasn't sure what Gavin was thinking until he spoke. "You look a lot like Maeve, and you're only a year younger. Did Ted ever touch you, Bridget?"

  A frisson of fear followed by pure rage swept through Liam. The only thing that stopped it was Bridget, shaking her head forcefully.

  "No. Deirdre thinks he tried to once but she came in and he didn't get the chance. I'm not sure she's right about that, though. I think he was always fixated on Maeve. He went
crazy after she left. And then again when we got the postcard. Everyone noticed. He kept saying it was just his duty as Alpha, but everyone could see his concern was over the top. We just didn't know why."

  Liam unclenched his fists. "Maybe he's more like a stalker than a pedophile?"

  "Or some combination of the two," Gavin said. "We know of two girls he molested. Although he doesn't seem to have gone stalker on Fiona's mom."

  Maeve screwed up her face. "Maybe that's because he got to be the one to end it. Maybe what really got him was that Maeve left before he was through with her."

  Liam wasn't sure that was how child molesters thought, but it didn't really matter. "Sounds like Ted had a good motive for wanting your parents alive—and thus no motive for wanting to kill them."

  "Maybe," Gavin said. "Although picture what would have happened if her parents had found Maeve. Do you think they would have let her keep Ted's secret? Or would the whole thing have come out? Seems to me Ted had a good motive for killing them—to keep what he did to Maeve a secret for as long as possible."

  "Or," Bridget said, "once he knew Maeve was alive, maybe he thought she'd come back for the funeral."

  Liam's stomach turned. Would Ted really have killed three people just to lure Maeve back to town? His little mate seemed to be taking the idea better than he was. Had it been only one day ago that she'd complained that everyone was more dominant than she was and they'd all run roughshod over her? Yet she could look at this whole situation with a logical eye, in spite of all the heartache it must have brought her.

  Speaking of dominance, she'd held them at arm's length for quite a while. It was her who was acting more dominant than them, not the other way around. That, and she had nerves of steel to be able to withstand the mating urge when she was sitting so close to them.

  Before he could voice his new insights, Gavin said, "We should still consider other suspects. We'd all like for Ted to be guilty, but we can't let that cloud our judgment. We have very little evidence suggesting it's him."

  They finished off the last bites of their meal. Gavin sat back. "We need to get on the road soon. How quickly do you think you can pack and meet us?"

  Bridget looked at her watch. After a second, she said, "I could meet you at the park on the edge of Stonewall territory in forty-five minutes. I'll get Deirdre to drive me so I can leave my car at the house."

  "Good. Why don't you go ahead while we take care of the bill?" Gavin said.

  Smooth. If it worked, Gavin would get away with paying and she wouldn't even notice. Liam let her out of the booth. He wanted to give her a goodbye kiss but was afraid she'd change her mind about going with them, so he left her alone.

  Bridget paused. "So. I'll see you soon."

  Liam sat back down and scooted to the center of the seat.

  "See you soon," Gavin said.

  She hesitated another second before leaving.

  "I think she wanted a kiss," Gavin said.

  Liam grinned. "Good."

  ***

  By the time they checked into the hotel that night, Bridget thought she'd go crazy. It was hard enough resisting them when they sat beside her touching her and kissing her. But to be cooped up in a car with them for over three hours, their scents surrounding her, the mating urge scraping at her insides, was more than she could bear.

  She practically ran to her room, ignoring Liam's offer to help with her suitcase. Once there, she dropped onto the bed, her hand finding its way between her legs, under her pants.

  Someone knocked on the door. "Bridget?"

  Liam. Why couldn't he leave her alone?

  "Go away," she said, aware that he'd be able to hear her through the door with his werewolf hearing. Her fingers didn't stop moving over her clit, even though it didn't bring the slightest bit of relief.

  "Are you okay? You ran off."

  Shit. What would it take to get a little alone time? She got up and yanked open the door.

  "Is everything okay? You seemed like—" He stopped, his nostrils flaring. Liam grabbed her hand and brought it to his nose.

  Bridget pulled on it, but he wouldn't let go.

  His eyelids dropped. "Why would you do that when I'm right here?" His voice sounded deep and rumbly. He advanced on her. "I'm right here, and more than happy to help you with that."

  Chapter 7

  Bridget's stomach clenched; she felt more excited than she'd ever been in her life. She quickly walked backward, but he turned her and trapped her against the wall. The door closed behind him.

  She had to stop this. Didn't she?

  His hands rested against the wall on either side of her, caging her in. He didn't say a word, just leaned down and captured her lips, plundering them. His hands stayed where they were but hers slid up his chest to lie flat against it.

  He must have thought she was going to push him away, because he took her wrists and pushed them over her head. No longer leaning on his hands, his body pressed against hers. She moaned.

  ***

  Liam loosely held her wrists above her head, pressing them against the wall. He kissed her cheek and down her neck. With his face buried in her shoulder, he said, "I love you." It slipped out, just a whisper and he hoped she didn't even hear it.

  But when he pulled back enough to look at her face, she said, "How can you love me when you don't even know me?"

  "You're my mate. I've loved you my whole life. But when I finally met you, that love became real. You're amazing. You're perfect. I just want to spend my life making you happy." He couldn't believe he'd spilled so much, especially knowing she wouldn't reciprocate.

  To keep her from saying something awful, like "thank you," he quickly kissed her, letting the kiss turn into a long hot tangling of tongues. Hopefully she'd forget what they'd been talking about by the time they came up for air. He, on the other hand, put his love into every second of that kiss.

  His free hand moved over her hip and then her ribs to cup one breast. Oh, heaven. Had he told her she was perfect? This was beyond perfect. He rubbed his thumb over her nipple and gloried at the shiver that ran through her body.

  "Stop," she murmured against his lips.

  He pulled back only far enough to speak. "Why?"

  Her throat worked.

  "Why? Why should we stop? I know you want me as much as I want you." His thumb rubbed the palm of the hand she'd been using. "Otherwise I wouldn't have found you touching yourself."

  Her cheeks burned.

  As she fumbled for something to say, he realized they did have to stop. They couldn't do this without Gavin. "Let me just call Gavin and we can continue with this."

  She gazed up at him. "Not tonight, Liam. Please." Her eyes fluttered shut. "It's too soon."

  He kissed her eyelids. It would kill him to walk away from her. Kill him. But he would never hurt her or force her. So if she really wanted him to stop, he'd stop. Liam stepped backward, releasing her.

  She made a little sound of protest.

  That killed him, too. "I'm leaving because that's what you said you wanted. But all it'll take is one word. Just one word, and I'll stay here all night."

  She breathed through her mouth almost gasping.

  "Good night."

  He made it as far as the door before she spoke. "Call Gavin."

  ***

  Gavin broke every speed limit racing back to the hotel. He still couldn't believe he'd heard Liam right. She was really ready?

  He shouldn't have gone back to his house at all. He'd wanted to bunk with Liam, at least, but he needed to check on his house, get some fresh clothes. It seemed easier to just hit the sack at home. Easier, and less tempting. He hadn't been sure he'd be able to sleep one door down from Bridget and not do something about it.

  He just barely made it into a parking spot, his front tires pushing against the edge of the curb. The engine hadn't even turned off by the time he had the door open and made it halfway to where Liam stood holding the outside door open.

  "You're not with
her?" Gavin said.

  "If I were with her I would have marked her by now. What took you so long?"

  They rushed down the hall. "It took five minutes, tops. How on earth did you convince her?"

  Liam grinned. "I caught her masturbating."

  Gavin choked. He instantly pictured her spread out on the bed, nude, her fingers working feverishly on her pussy. "Seriously? Was she naked?"

  "No such luck. But my God, does she smell good."

  Gavin's knees felt weak. He'd smelled her? How the fuck did he get so lucky?

  Liam stopped abruptly and rapped on a door. "It's us."

  Several agonizingly long seconds later, Bridget opened the door. She looked a little wide-eyed.

  "You sure you want to do this?" Liam said.

  Gavin wanted to strangle him. No, he knew they had to ask, but she'd better not say no.

  "Yes." She stepped toward them. "But this doesn't mean anything. I mean, don't think just because I'm sleeping with you that means you can control me."

  Gavin pushed into the room, Liam behind him. The door slammed shut. "Of course this means something. It means we're committing to love each other. Love and respect and take care of each other. That's what it means." He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her against him. "Which hand was it?"

  "What?"

  Gavin grabbed her right wrist and lifted her hand to his face. The sweet scent of her sex still clung to her fingers. He moaned then slid one finger into his mouth tasting the faint echo of her nectar.

  "You told him?" Bridget said.

  Liam rounded her and slid his arms around her from the back. "Of course I told him. If you had any idea how much it turns us on, you'd understand." He nibbled at her neck.

  Her finger popped out of Gavin's mouth. He gazed into her eyes. "I want the real thing. Now."

  ***

  Bridget held back a shiver. Wasn't that just like an alpha, demanding even in the middle of sex? Worse, his demands turned her on. A little.

  Oh, hell, fine. They turned her on a lot.

  But she couldn't just give in. "What about what I want?"

  Liam's hands slid up her body to cup her breasts. "That's what we're here for. To give you what you want." He squeezed her nipples. "Tell us what you want."