Come Out Swinging (Reach for the Moon Book 2)

by Sam Hall

  And Aidan? He watched the ease with which my mate interacted with me with a look of almost pain, something that didn’t lift until Angie came bustling over, paper in hand. Micah and I moved as one, hightailing it out of there.

  “So how did it go?” Zack asked, striding across the living room floor as we walked into the alpha residence, while the rest of them jumped out of lounge chairs and emerged from the kitchen to swarm around us. They’d gone home when Micah and I went to Selma’s and had obviously been waiting on tenterhooks. I didn’t answer immediately, just needing the feel of them against my skin, something thrashing around inside me until I was swallowed up into a multi-armed embrace.

  “Nancy,” was all Micah said, and by their reactions, the stiffening of bodies and the tightening of embraces, they knew everything he meant by that word.

  I didn’t want to think about that, about her, Selma, Aidan, any of them right now. I just wanted this. I reached out blindly, feeling bristling beard and full lips colliding, sucking on my bottom lip, tongue tasting me. Declan, my brain supplied, even as I was pulled away.

  A hard forehead rested against mine for a second, then slow, nipping kisses that teased my lips open, even as I wanted to spread them wide, taking his time, making the others growl. Zack.

  Then it got messy and confusing, one set of lips slamming down on mine, biting deep before I was jerked free and another mouth crushed them. Lorcan and Micah, they duelled with each other, kissing me senseless before I went staggering into the other man’s arms, until finally, I pulled free, standing on my own two feet, even if I did waver a bit.

  Mason stood apart from this, watching from afar with eyes that burned, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

  Dad always told me that knowing the right time and place for delivering information was key to good leadership, so a sneaky part of me liked that their blood was up and their critical faculties were down.

  “I’m going out with Aidan to meet someone who might give us a lead. Selma’s taken several mates, and he’s got a contact that might help me find them,” I said, scanning the lot of them.

  “Well, I’m coming,” Declan said.

  “She’s not asking us along,” Zack said with a smirk. “She’s telling us how it’s gonna go.”

  “I am. Micah’s right—Nancy’s at the centre of this, I just fucking know it. But…”

  All the murderous fantasies I’d entertained became a lot less heated when I thought of a member of my own family perpetrating this. The anger rose and rose, making my teeth clamp tight, but alongside that was a million damn memories—of family holidays, of countless celebrations, of playing with my cousins as the adults sat to talk, of watching all of us kids grow towards adulthood. Even if a lot of what came from Nance was close-minded and critical, she was still there.

  “I need to know what she’s done and why. Why would she kill Dad? What the fuck is she doing to Selma and…?”

  That was the thing about having a harem. When I was a kid and I was breaking, I was torn between going to Declan or Mason. Did I need to be now? I walked toward them, they, everyone reaching out, running hands along my shoulders and back when my throat closed up and my words came out as croaks.

  “I need to know what the fuck has happened. Who hit me? Who got the drugs and administered them to Dad? All of it. Aidan said it can only be me tonight.”

  “And that doesn’t sound like a trap to you?” Lorcan snarled.

  “He knots for her still.” Micah shook his head. “Wish I could say I couldn’t verify that, but I can.”

  “So he’s a potential…” Mason said. He blinked, that cool beta façade rising and swallowing him down. “He’ll need time… We’ll need to…”

  “Right now, all he’s doing is taking me to meet someone who might have information for me,” I said. “I’m not thinking beyond that, I can’t. Now, I dunno about you guys, but I’m bloody starving.”

  That seemed to be the right thing to say, as everyone pulled back, nodding. And so we had a lazy meal spread out over the coffee table, Declan hauling me up into his lap to hand feed me personally.

  “You know I learned to feed myself some time ago,” I grumbled. “And a lot tidier than this.”

  My face was probably glistening with BBQ sauce and grease. The guys had ordered in a mass of ribs and wings, and he was feeding me mouthfuls of them.

  “Yeah, but then I get to lick you clean afterwards,” he said, turning me in his lap and moving to do just that.

  Chapter 11

  “You’re going in prepared for a fight.”

  I looked up to where Mason lounged in the doorway of my bedroom. I pulled on gloves and a jacket, then looked around for my studded belt. It was kinda high school, but something like that wrapped around your knuckles could give you an advantage if really needed.

  He moved in, smiling slightly, but stopping from getting too close. He kept his distance, Mason did, even still. My eyes slid up, catching the stubble he’d let grow, all that tanned brown skin displayed in the neckline making my fingers twitch. He came into my personal space, but not for the reason I expected, instead bending down and pulling a knife from his boot, grabbing my hand and placing it on the palm, still warm from his skin.

  “You’re taking a gun as well.”

  “I intended to.”

  “So should I bring Nancy in? We’ve got a secure room in the enforcers’ quarters. I’d be a whole lot more comfortable with her under lock and key.”

  “Tell me under what pretext I can do that, and I’d be happy to sign off on it.” His eyes dropped to the knife in my hands, and he didn’t say a thing because we both knew we didn’t have enough to do so. Alphas couldn’t be petty tyrants, doing whatever they willed. They need to follow proper process, make everyone in town think we were fair and just, otherwise why allow us this position of power in the first place? “I’ll be OK,” I said, shoving the knife in the back of my waistband and moving to go. But his hand whipped out to grab me, and he hauled me back, just for a minute.

  “I respect your decision and know you’re well equipped to get in and out without a scratch, but I…I need you to come back safe.” Those brown eyes slid down to meet mine. “Seeing you hurt… That can’t happen again, Paige, it can’t.”

  For a moment, I just stared up at him, soaking in something I never thought to see on his face—vulnerability. I moved in close, putting my head on his chest and feeling his arms go around me, because that’s what used to happen when I was younger, but I could feel the difference here, so, so much. There was a specific pleasure that came from his hand stroking through my hair and over my skin that neither of us had felt before, rising and rising until I wasn’t so sure I needed to be going out tonight.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m gonna text you the address, but no one comes unless I say or this takes too long,” I said. “I don’t like outing people, so I need you to be discreet with this information.”

  “Just come back to me, and I’ll do anything you want. Anything.”

  That had me pausing. He’d meant it as an offhand thing, I was sure, but I had to be uncool and freeze. He just capitalised on the moment, repeating himself. “Absolutely anything.” His hand slid down the side of my face. “Just be back here in one piece.”

  He touched his lips to mine briefly, causing me actual physical pain to pull away, but that was OK. This was all gonna hurt until I had my answers. Pain is the body’s way of telling you you’re taking damage, Zack had said. That’s OK, just finish things decisively, and then you’ll have all the time in the world to heal.

  Here was I hoping he was right.

  “You look—” Aidan was waiting on the curb when I pulled over, approaching my door when I stepped out and looking me over.

  “This isn’t a date, Aidan,” I said.

  “Yeah, right.” He snorted. “Glad I didn’t bring those flowers I bought or this woulda been really embarrassing. So let’s…” I looked down to where he offered his hand, and he dropped it whe
n he realised. “Sorry…” He swallowed, and the sight of the boy most girls sighed over at school looking off centre was an incongruous one. “Come in.”

  Cheryl had a house out on acreage, so we walked up her long driveway to a nice house, a pretty garden illuminated by a single yellowing lightbulb near the front door. He didn’t look back when he rapped his knuckles on the security door, a chorus of thuds alerting us to who was inside.

  “Go to bed!” a woman shouted as she opened the door, her harried expression softening for a moment when she saw her brother. She looked a little older than at school, but not by much. Her hair was clipped short into a stylish but practical pixie cut, a single earring with a metal feather flickering in the low light. But her face changed when she saw me behind him, her smile fading.

  “Muuum, can I have a drink of water?”

  “One drink, then bed,” she snapped, moving to fill the doorway and prevent us from seeing beyond. “Paige, what brings you here?”

  “We need to talk,” Aidan said gently. “Please, Cheryl.”

  She’d been expecting this, I realised. She didn’t like it, her eyes going everywhere but me, but she opened the door and stood back, ushering us in.

  “Mum! Mummy! Mum!” A couple of little girls came barrelling out of the hallway down to the bedroom, stopping short when they saw us. “Uncle A—”

  “If you don’t get your butts in bed this instant, you will not be going to the birthday party on the weekend. I’ll take Tyson’s present to school and give it to him there. Am I clear?”

  Whoa. Female wolf shifters get an amazing mum growl when they have kids, but Cheryl was next level. The girls’ eyes went round, and they spun on their heels and walked straight back to their room.

  “I’d offer you a cuppa, but I’m assuming it’s not that kind of conversation,” she said, going to the fridge. She grabbed out three rum and Coke cans and handed one to me. “From memory, you drink rum, right?”

  “I didn’t realise you’d noticed,” I said, taking it and cracking it open when everyone else did. Sweet, caramelly cola with a bite of alcohol. If I closed my eyes a little, I could imagine us underage drinking at someone’s party.

  “Oh, I think you’ll find most people are aware of the Spehr girls’ preferences,” she said. “So what did you want to talk about?”

  She was playing it cool, but her façade was brittle and I was about to crack it.

  “Speaking of Spehr girls, I need to talk to you about Selma.”

  Her can was set down heavily on the crowded kitchen bench. She stayed where she was, leaning against the cabinets, but every muscle tensed.

  “Your cousin? What would I have to say…?”

  I’d printed out some of the surveillance photos again, this time leaving the faces intact, and I put them in a neat pile in front of Cheryl. She raised a hand to look through them, a faint tremor giving away her feelings about this. She looked at one, two, three, then pulled one out and peered closely at it.

  “Well, that’s me,” she said, pointing to one body twined tightly around others.

  “Shit, Cheryl…” Aidan hissed.

  “What? You like your lesbian porn with a whole lot less sister in it? Who fucking took these photos?”

  “My dad, I assume, or someone else did and gave them to him. We found a USB hidden away in his desk.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ…” she growled, then snatched the pile up with her drink and walked over to the dining table. We sat down opposite her and waited. “So I’m guessing you’ve got questions. When did you work out you were gay? Where did the girls come from?”

  That wasn’t what I was gonna ask, but I stayed quiet and listened.

  “The answer is your cousin. I’m not sure if you remember Frank Hahn from high school?” I nodded, but only a very vague face came to mind. “He’s the girls’ father. He didn’t knot for me, knew I wasn’t his true mate, but we liked each other well enough and as no one else was putting themselves forward… We got together, passed the other off as our mates, built this place. It seemed like a good life, a nice life until…”

  I watched her take a long drink from her can.

  “Like, I’d noticed girls before. At the time, I told myself fixating on how soft a girl’s hair was or how well a dress fitted her was just all part of a mad passion for fashion. We don’t exactly have many lesbian role models here in a rural town. Gay women were butches in boiler suits in my mind. I couldn’t imagine them breathing in a girl’s perfume as she passed, feeling the heat from the leg of the girl sitting next to you in class through the material of your uniform.” She shrugged abruptly. “Obviously, not knowing who I really was led to me readily accepting a situation that most wolves would never tolerate. We settled down, had the kids, and then your cousin sent out the call.”

  “She’s a nix,” I said.

  “She’s like a fucking forest fire is what she is. Hit me like a damn freight train.” Her eyes slid to her brother. “Something I’m starting to think you know something about. What’s your interest in this?” she asked Aidan.

  “You know,” he shot back.

  Cheryl shook her head slowly. “Fuck, so the Spehrs got both of us? Mum’d say this was all part of a reckoning.”

  “What? Why?”

  Both of them turned to look at me, and their bond became a lot clearer. Cheryl’s hair was a much darker blonde, perhaps due to the haircut, but their odd, amber eyes stared at me.

  “You’re a nix. Why didn’t every single guy in town go completely bug nuts for you when you sent out your call?” she asked. I just sat there, not knowing what to say. I didn’t know how many guys were single, nor how many were vying for my hand. It’d all been kinda messy. “A lot did, but not all of them.”

  She shook her head.

  “My mum was the one who convinced me settling for Frank was fine. She’d know, wouldn’t she?” Her eyes burned into mine as she spoke the words. “My dad should’ve been your dad, or one of them anyway. He competed for your mum’s hand, she told him she loved him and…” I knew what was coming. Of course I did. I was the end result. “And she chose to mate with your dad instead, leaving mine to pick up the pieces of his life.”

  Her eyes dropped to the table, tracing circles in the condensation left from her drink with her finger.

  “That’s what fucking Spehrs do. We all have our fated mates, but they might be in another town, state, country. We may never find them. Mum was in her late twenties by then, thinking she was left on the shelf, so she settled for a man who would always love someone else. Just like I settled for Frank. Then your cousin… She walked into my office looking like…heaven. My mouth went dry, my heart raced so fast, I was scared it would just stop dead, and all I could see was her. My mate…” She shook her head. “I can hardly remember how the conversation went, but she just smiled and pressed her business card into my hand, her personal number circled especially, and I felt the warmth of her fingers on my skin for hours afterwards.”

  Her eyes snapped up to meet mine.

  “If you’re wondering what happened? We fucked. Me and all the rest of her harem. Who that is cycles in and out because she won’t make a choice, will she? If she does, it’s real. She’s a gay woman in a polyamorous relationship in a town that cannot, will not understand. She’ll put the final nail in the coffin of your aunt’s dreams and be…free.”

  “She has mates. I saw the marks myself,” I croaked out, my throat feeling like sand.

  “Yeah, the ones who are content to keep everything on the down low, just like she wants. But what do you actually want to know? About your cousin’s love life or…?”

  “I didn’t know about any of this,” I said. “Not about Mum or Selma or… I’m sure you think I’m some sort of idiot, but everything was carefully scripted to appear as it was supposed to. It was only when I chose Mason…” My jaw tightened as my memory of that day reemerged, though it didn’t hit me as hard, which was a surprise. “It was then I worked out everything wa
sn’t quite as simple. I left to get away, but someone dragged me back by killing my dad. That’s what I want to know. Who killed him, who… Evidence points to Selma.” Cheryl’s eyebrows shot up. “Or Nance.”

  She nodded slowly, then took another long drink of her can, taking her brother’s when she emptied it.

  “You all right?” he asked.

  “Are you? Thinking you can get on her good side doing some sleuthing? I warned you about this, about all the shit Dad put on you.”

  “Cheryl…”

  “No good will come of it. We want them so much more than they want us. The power imbalance, it doesn’t make for good relationships. Dad wanted you to avoid what he was cursed with—Mum… But you don’t need to get caught up in this.”

  “Cheryl…”

  “There’s no happiness to be gained from messing with the Spehrs. That was Mum’s advice, and it was right—”

  “Enough!” Both of us jumped at the whip crack of Aidan’s voice. “Help her, please.”

  Cheryl’s eyes when they returned to me blazed silver. “I could give you the names of these women, but it won’t help. Who had motive to hurt the alpha? Everyone, Paige. People here are either tugged hither and thither by the nix you guys seem intent in pumping out, or they’re the children of those your ancestors rejected. Often, that’s what I wonder about this town. How did it form? Why do we all stick together? Other packs, there’s a lot more movement. It’s you, that’s what we have in common. You’re the glue that keeps us stuck, whether we want it or not. And now you’re home.”

  She shoved the photos back to me, and they fanned across the table, a libidinous wallpaper of secrets.

  “I take that back, I’m not telling you who they are. It wouldn’t take much for you to ask around and find out, but I don’t out people without their permission. Seems if you wanna put the screws on, your cousin would be a good place to start. Except you can’t, can you?”

  Cheryl’s smile was slow, knowing.

  “Your aunt, she’s locked Selma down tight.” She raised her fingers, licking the fingertips of each one. “Doesn’t realise it makes her all the more explosive when she lets go though, does she?”