The sound of a motorcycle called out in the distance.
Ian sighed in relief.
Lucas was almost here.
19
The second the Lucas hit the road, he knew it was a terrible idea to bring Leah with him. It would have been much easier to have her hide somewhere in her apartment and just lay low until he came back. She could have kept her cell phone close in case something did happen. Lucas didn't know all the circumstances surrounding Cooper and Ian though. This could have been a favor from Chief Charlie to Vince now passed to Cooper. Or it could have been something more serious. A situation with the Reckingdune crew, seeking revenge. They had the scent of Lucas’s blood and the scent of Leah. Lucas felt it was his fault and his responsibility to keep Leah safe, no matter what.
Even if it meant stepping into harm’s way, or confessing his deepest secret to her.
Lucas caught himself riding faster than normal. Speeding through Mercy was tricky because there were still local laws to abide. Getting stopped by an officer didn’t mean he’d get out of a ticket or out of getting harassed. But it did mean wasting precious time. Ian sounded as though he was scared to death on the phone and Lucas didn’t want to imagine what kind of mess Cooper had himself in.
When he turned a corner and sped through a parking lot toward an alley, he let off the throttle and stared at the scene before him.
Ian slowly climbed from the ground. A black car that looked familiar, part of Full Moon Mercy, with the driver’s door open and a cracked in the windshield with a bullet still wedged in it. Beyond that was a man on his ass with a gun in his hand. Another man was on the ground, crawling and coughing, blood dripping from his mouth.
And then there was Cooper, standing on an upside down car, as a wolf, mouth salivating, ready to pounce on the closest person to him.
Lucas parked the motorcycle sideways behind the car, knowing it wouldn’t offer the best protection, but something was better than nothing. He climbed from the motorcycle and Leah clamped a hand to his shoulder.
“That’s an animal,” she said with shock in her eyes.
“No, it’s not,” Lucas said.
“It almost looks like…”
Lucas wasn’t going to let her finish her sentence… it almost looks like the beast I saw the other night…
“Just stay here and stay safe,” Lucas said.
He rushed from the motorcycle, knowing he had to have trust in Leah to listen. He wasn’t worried about her being attacked by Cooper. He was worried about her being shot, even if it wasn’t intentional.
“Hey!” Lucas cried out. “Hey! Over here!”
Cooper looked at Lucas, his eyes and nose flaring. He was inhaling the air, enjoying the thrill of death in the air. There was a smell just before prey died that was perhaps the greatest smell in the world. A moment when the prey knows the time has come to die. The smell was a mix of every emotion possible, and obviously greater in humans because they were able to process and understand more emotions.
The man on his knees popped up and pulled a gun from his waist.
The man on his ass pointed a gun at Cooper.
“Lucas!” Ian screamed as Lucas ran toward the scene.
This was going to get ugly. There was no other way to put it. Blood would spill right there in the back alley of Mercy. Exactly what Lucas didn't want and exactly what Full Moon Mercy didn’t need.
Eyes were upon Lucas for a split second. The man on his knees started to pull the trigger on the gun but luckily the wounds and shaken body from the obvious car accident had taken its toll on his ability to attempt a decent shot. But as bullets began to sail through the air Lucas couldn’t help but worry of the safety of Mercy. This wasn’t what the small town was for. Not for a bloodbath because of drugs and werewolves.
Cooper lunged from the car and attacked the man from the side. He pounced with enough strength and force that the man was dead before his head could hit the ground. It made Lucas’s stomach turn in disgust. Why the hell did Vince set this up like this? It would have been easier to snag these guys and take them somewhere for Cooper to enjoy.
The guy on his ass now pointed his gun directly at Cooper. Lucas was just feet away but not there in time before the man pulled the trigger. The gun went off and a bullet hit Cooper in the ribs. At that close of a range, the bullet would hurt but it wouldn't kill. Seeing it, though, was all Lucas could handle. His emotions were imbalanced, his heart racing, his tongue still craving the taste of Leah’s body. As he jumped into the air, he looked over his shoulder. He saw Leah standing right there in the open, arms at her sides. There was no stopping Lucas from shifting. His clothes fell from his body as muscle and fur grew fast. By the time he hit the ground, he was a massive wolf. Bigger than Cooper. He bit at the man’s shoulder, tearing shirt and flesh in a hurry. The man dropped his gun and fell back, crying in pain.
Cooper looked at Lucas and curled his lip. This was Cooper’s scene to enjoy, not Lucas’s. Lucas wasn’t there for pleasure, he was there for damage control.
As the man lay on his back, holding his shoulder, Lucas took a few steps back and nodded to Cooper. Cooper put his head back and sniffed the air. The moment to kill had come. Cooper then threw his head down and with one big skin-cutting, bone-crunching bite, he snapped the man’s neck into nothing. He then bit again and again, beginning to chew at the man.
Lucas nudged at Cooper, pushing him out of the way. Cooper turned his head, his mouth and fur soaked with fresh blood. Lucas saw the hunger raging in his eyes. He wasn’t going to stop. Cooper tried to bite at the man again and Lucas rammed his head into the side of Cooper. Cooper then turned and snapped at Lucas. As Lucas retreated, he goaded Cooper away from the bodies on the ground. Cooper jumped at Lucas and Lucas retaliated. Their massive paws met, along with open mouths. Lucas could overpower Cooper if need be, but he wanted to neither hurt Cooper or insult him.
As they grappled at each other, Lucas caught himself shifting back to human form. In a matter of a minute, the scene changed from two massive werewolves wrestling to two big naked men hugging each other. Lucas broke the hug and hurried to dress himself. Cooper did the same.
By the time Lucas dressed, Ian had walked over to survey the damage.
“Shit,” he said. "What do we do now?”
Cooper walked to the scene, head hanging with deep regret. “I lost it. I can’t control it…”
“It's okay,” Lucas said. “We’ll take care of it.”
“How?” Ian asked.
“Get the bodies in the car as planned. Go where you have to go.” Lucas looked at Cooper. “Do what you have to do.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Ian said, “there’s a car on its roof. And there’s blood on the ground.”
“Thanks for the update,” Lucas said. He put an arm around Ian. “Why the fuck did you let it get to this before calling me?”
“And do what?” Ian asked. “I did what I was told to do. Cooper…”
“This is all on me,” Cooper said. “I’ll call Vince.”
“No,” Lucas said. “I’ll call Chief Charlie. Then I’ll call Vince.”
“How’s that going to work?” Cooper asked. He touched his mouth, still fresh with blood.
“The car is going to be registered to some drug dealer, I’m sure,” Lucas said. “So there it is.”
“There is what?” Ian asked.
“Drug deal gone bad. Someone’s shot. Maybe killed. Other guys take the body so there’s no evidence. I’m sure Chief will have his opinion and it will make sense.”
Ian shook his head. “Fucking drugs.”
“Exactly,” Lucas said. “This is all because of drugs.”
Cooper stared at the scene and took deep breaths. Lucas knew he was still smelling the fresh bodies, still wanting to tear into them. To have them. And he would have them, as planned, but it wouldn’t be the same at all. They weren’t alive. They couldn’t fight back. They couldn’t run. The thrill of the hunt was gone now. It w
ould be just feasting, which would help with the urge raging through Cooper, but not by much.
“This is a fucking disaster,” Ian said and walked toward the car.
“Where are you going?” Lucas asked.
“To turn the fucking car around,” Ian shouted. “I’m not touching one of those bodies. That’s your problem.”
Lucas smiled. “Don’t mind him, Cooper. His panties are all twisted because he has extra work today.”
“I fucked up,” Cooper said.
Lucas smacked Cooper on the back. “Yeah, you did. But we all fuck up. That’s why we’re brothers, right? We help each other, no matter what. This will get cleaned up. And if anything, there’s now two less dealers trying to mess up the streets of Mercy.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Hey, you brought that woman…”
Lucas looked over his shoulder at Leah. She stood in the same position as before, just staring at Lucas. His secret was now out, for good. There was no way Lucas could try and smooth anything over. And within Lucas’s heart, he didn’t want anything to be smoothed over. This was his life. This was it. If Leah really trusted him then she would accept all of Lucas, both as man and beast. Then again, in a greater sense of it all, Lucas was simply a murderer. He had just helped Cooper murder a man. He had murdered another man in the woods. And that was barely the tip of it all, considering all that Lucas had done in his lifetime.
“I have to go,” Lucas said.
“She doesn’t know, does she?” Cooper asked.
Lucas looked at Cooper. “She does now.”
“Vince isn’t going to be happy.”
Lucas pointed to the bloodbath in the alley. “I think we’re both guilty here, don’t you?”
“Point taken. Go then.”
Lucas made it two steps and stopped. He had two important phone calls to make. The first was to Chief Charlie. He called the chief’s cellphone and made the conversation pretty simple. They had been riding through town, on their way to an important business meeting, when they heard some gunshots. They got to a back alley and before Lucas could reach for his phone a car came barreling down the alley, misjudged everything, and ended up on its roof. There were a couple bodies and blood everywhere. Another car showed up - a neon blue car - and took the bodies and sped away.
“So there’s blood there?” Chief asked.
“Blood and a mess,” Lucas said. “Going to need you to come and check it out. Alone. With your buddy with the tow truck. Get it?”
“Oh, I got it.”
“Look at it this way, Chief, less drugs on the street now.”
“Trading drugs for blood doesn’t make me happy, Lucas.”
“Me neither,” Lucas said.
That’s where the call ended. The call to Vince was a little more hasty and shorter. It was Lucas talking, making sure Vince didn’t have a second to speak.
“Cooper went off the deep end. Don’t know how and don’t care how, but a car ended up here and it’s on its roof. He’s loading up two bodies in the trunk and Ian is taking them somewhere. I called Chief and that’s where I walk away. This was a fucking mess here and it shouldn’t have been like this.”
The calls were done and Lucas went to Leah. He stared at her, unsure what to say. What could he say to explain what Leah had just seen? In her mind she thought she knew something but could never be sure. This was the stuff out of books and movies, not in real life, not in a small town like Mercy.
Lucas opened his mouth to speak but Leah was faster. She reached up and with her thumb, she touched the corner of his mouth. She showed him blood.
“Just a little spot,” she whispered.
That’s when Lucas realized Leah would accept him no matter what. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn't worried. She just stared at him.
“Tell me what you want?” Lucas said.
“I want to leave here,” Leah said. “I want you to take me back to my apartment and finish…”
That was the best thing Lucas heard all day.
Once on his motorcycle, he waited for Leah to wrap her arms around him. He looked at Ian as he began to turn the car around. He backed up a few feet and stopped. Lucas gave Ian a thumbs up, letting him know everything was in place. Ian returned with a gesture of his own. His middle finger. Lucas smiled, understanding how annoyed Ian must have been. It was more of a babysitting job with Cooper. But it would pass. The urge always passed, even when it felt impossible. That was another difference between beast and man. As a beast, the urge would come and go and come and go. As a man, the urge wouldn’t leave. Lucas couldn’t stop thinking of Leah, wanting her, needing her, speeding away from the bloody scene, wanting to get back to her apartment and show her what it was like to be with a man and a beast, all at the same time.
20
Vince put the cigar to his mouth and tasted it. Smoke rose from the lit front of it, the bitter yet soothing smell making him smile. All true business matters were cared for as of that moment. The call from Lucas unsettled him, but only a little. What the hell did he care about Cooper going nuts in a back alley? That wasn’t his problem to deal with. Chief Chrlie would step in, like he always did. Ian would take the bodies out to the edge of Mercy and let Cooper feast. Everyone would be happy. Life would settle itself down. It always did. No reason for anyone to get too excited, even with the Reckingdune crew up in the mountains.
A little conversation ten years ago didn’t mean shit to Vince. If they wanted to cross lines, Full Moon Mercy would push back. If the Reckingdune crew from the east wanted to get involved, then all hell could easily break loose. There were crews south and north of Mercy, not to mention other motorcycle clubs that scaled all the way up to the Canadian border that Vince could call. If anyone dared to see some rough and tough wolf bikers, those were the guys to call. They had no soul. They were ruthless. Vince loved them.
A knock at the door chased his thoughts away. Vince knew by the soft knock that it was Mandy. He smiled, wanting to see the love of his life. She opened the door slowly, her catlike eyes showing first, followed by her mature, angelic face. It still drove Vince’s heart wild when he saw her. When he caught scent of her, he killed his cigar and stood to greet his bride. He walked around his desk and hurried to take Mandy’s hand. He kissed her hand, then turned her hand around and kissed her wrist. He knew that was her sweet spot, turning her on. It allowed Vince to smell Mandy now. The club was mostly empty and Vince pulled Mandy closer, wanting to take her to their master bedroom for a little fun.
Mandy sensed Vince’s intentions and when he tried to kiss her, she put a finger to her lips. Vince kissed her fingers and then growled.
“Not right now,” Mandy whispered in that seductive little purr that tortured Vince.
“Not right now?” Vince asked. “That's not really fair.”
“I know. But we have to talk about something.”
Vince could see the look in Mandy’s eyes. It was about Lucas. There were several serious topics to discuss with his wife and it always seemed Lucas was one of them. Born to a different man and woman, yet Lucas always seemed to be right there in the middle of Vince and Mandy as though he was a child of their own. They could never conceive a child - or beast - on their own. Call it a maternal nightmare, or perhaps some sort of showing from a great power that perhaps Vince and Mandy weren’t right for each other, the inability to conceive wasn’t Vince’s fault and it wasn't Mandy’s fault. Somewhere between that existed a fine line of truth. They both knew the peril of going to a regular doctor for any kind of medical questions and tests. If a doctor dared to examine the sperm of a beast, they’d be jarred by the sight of it. If a doctor dared to examine Mandy’s feminine parts, they’d be baffled. All signs pointed toward more animal than human when it came to the instinctive and internal makeup of life. Even still, after years of trying, Vince and Mandy decided that their seed wouldn’t continue on. It meant that to keep the succession of Full Moon Mercy in its proper form, they would need an alternative.
&n
bsp; Lucas.
That’s part of the reason he had become somewhat of an unspoken son to Vince and Mandy. There was still plenty to be done between Vince and Lucas to even attempt a bond that would create the relationship of father and son, but with Lucas as close in Full Moon Mercy as he was, Vince could accept that for now.
With his hands on Mandy’s hips, Vince let out a breath. “I talked to Lucas just a few minutes ago.”
“And?”
“Cooper made a mess,” Vince said. “I gave him a hand out, some druggie dealing in an alley. He went down there and fucked it all up.”
“Everything okay though?”
“Always,” Vince said.
“I’m here about Lucas.”
“I figured.”
“We have a problem, Vince. A really big problem.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“There’s a woman…”
Vince growled and pushed from the desk. He lifted Mandy and moved her out of his way. He walked around his desk, shaking his head, and sat down.
“I knew it,” he said. “There shouldn’t have been any witnesses the other night. He should have just chased them off. If she stayed behind…” Vince looked at Mandy. “I know it’s hard to kill a woman, but for the sake of us…”
“Vince, you’re not understanding what I’m saying,” Mandy said.
“I am,” Vince bellowed. “He got tied up with some human bitch. He’s had her here a couple times now. I can smell her. He’s with her right now. He’s losing his goddamn mind over it.”
Mandy leaned over the desk. “Sweetheart, Lucas got someone pregnant.”
It made Vince’s blood feel cold. Ice cold. Deathly cold.
“Pregnant?” Vince whispered. “What are you talking about? They haven’t been together long enough.”
“Not her,” Mandy said. “A stripper.”
“Fuck,” Vince said. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not,” Mandy said. “I sort of know the girl too. I’ve seen her before. She came looking for Lucas earlier, in writhing pain. I got her out of here and to a doctor, figuring she was just some whore knocked up. It’s not that simple.”
The Secret Wolf (A Full Moon Mercy Novel) (shifter / MC romance) Page 12