by T. A. Grey
After last night, she couldn’t stay here. That strange conversation with Gavin had stuck with her all night long. She’d hardly slept and when she did her dreams were filled with nightmares of running and being caught. She woke up with her heart racing and breathing fast.
What bothered her more than the bad dreams was the fact that she’d broken down and cried. All of her frustrations since Josiah sent her here had come flooding out and nothing she could do would stop it. Worse, she’d enjoyed, to an extent, her conversation with Gavin. She couldn’t even think of him as ‘the strange alpha’ anymore. He had a name, though no face, a voice, and a personality that was coming through in his words.
She took him to be a kind, gentle man that cared much for his pack. Yet he wasn’t a pushover. The fact that he seemed to dislike that he had her here, yet refused to let her go attested to that. He also had a story and she’d bet it was a good one; however, she didn’t plan to stick around to find out.
The front door opened and banged closed. Alicia could hear almost everything in this house since it was so old. After some banging around in the kitchen, she finally heard soft footfalls coming up the rickety staircase. Alicia’s body tightened with anticipation.
It had to be either Hanna or Kaity since he had only girls coming to check in on her. She hoped it was Kaity; she was smaller. That would make what she was about to do much easier.
The door handle jiggled as someone pushed in the key. “How you doin’ in there?”
Alicia stood, her muscles taut. Excitement made the blood rush in her veins like a jolt of pure adrenaline. This was it. It was Kaity. “Good, good. Real hungry this morning.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
Downstairs, the front door opened and slammed closed. A voice hollered up. “Kaity, you in here?”
Alicia froze. Shit. That was Will’s voice. Please go away, she begged silently.
“Up here,” Kaity yelled back.
The bedroom door started to open. Before Alicia knew it Kaity and Will stood in front of her. Kaity smiled and set her breakfast tray on the dresser.
“What do you want?” Kaity asked Will.
“Did you hear about Emma?” The tone of his voice killed the light in Kaity’s eyes.
Alicia really looked at him for the first time in good light. He had dark blond hair like Hanna’s but with brown tones in it and his eyes were russet not blue. Still, she could see the family resemblance start to emerge. They each had strong, broad noses, thick brows, and were all attractive in their own way.
“What happened to Emma?” Kaity’s voice shook.
Alicia quickly peered between brother and sister, spotting the keys gripped in Kaity’s palm. It was now or never, while she had surprise on her side.
Alicia walked to the dresser and started picking at her food, all the while calmly taking everything off the silver tray. She knew the tray had some weight to it, was sturdy. She had picked it up yesterday to test it.
“She’s dead,” Will said.
Damn, her chest squeezed tight. She did not want to listen to this. She’d already heard it from Gavin last night and even though she didn’t know this Emma girl, her heart broke for her. A part of her felt terrible for what she was about to do, but she had to remind herself that she wasn’t here of her own will. She’d been forced here, and she’d had enough.
Kaity started crying. The keys fell from her hands and clanged to the floor. Will moved to embrace his sister and that’s when Alicia struck.
Alicia gripped the heavy silver tray and swung it in a wide arch. She blind-sided Will and the blow banged against his skull, throwing him off balance and making a loud, ringing sound like a gong. Kaity jerked, shock marring her tearstained face.
But Alicia didn’t stop. The second she landed the blow and threw Will off track, she ducked down and snatched the keys. Heart pounding like horses galloping in her chest, she raced out of the room, slamming the door behind herself. She heard scrambling and quickened to get the key in the lock.
There were three on the chain. She stuck one in the keyhole to lock it and someone twisted the doorknob to try to open the door. Fear kicked up and she started breathing hard. She tightened her own grip over the handle as she tried the key. Wrong one. She tried the next one when Kaity yelled.
“Get over here, Will! She’s trying to get away. She’s holding the door shut!”
He grumbled, his heavier steps ambling toward the door. Alicia worked faster, putting the second key in and turning it. Again, nothing! God dammit, why couldn’t she work faster? Her hands shook like palm leaves in a hurricane.
Someone stopped trying to turn the door handle and then another grip came on. This one turned much harder and faster. Oh geez, Will was much stronger than he looked. Fighting with the door handle, Alicia pulled back on it as he started to pull the door open.
It took her several tries but she finally got the third key in the hole and turned it. Click.
He cursed, turned the door knob, then did it again harder.
Backing away, Alicia stared at the door, waiting for it to fly open.
“Damn it all, I’m calling Gavin,” Kaity’s voice said.
Oh no. She had to move and now.
Alicia turned around blind to her new surroundings. She had to rely what she’d heard since she came here to guide her. She saw the stairs at the end of the hallway and raced to them, barreling down the steps. Adrenaline surged inside her making her heart race and blood pound in her ears.
A vehicle sounded outside, moving fast. It came to a hard stop out front. She heard doors open and slam closed. Gavin!
Backtracking, she raced back up the stairs and flew into the first room she saw, slamming and locking the door behind her. However, she knew an old lock on a door would never keep him away.
A voice hollered from down below, deep, masculine. “Kaity? Will?”
Shit, shit, shit, shit. She eyed her surroundings finding a bed, adjoining bath and two windows. The room looked plain, unused like a spare bedroom. She ran to the windows and checked her options. The drop to the ground was too far. She’d never make it without breaking something.
Footsteps bounded on the staircase. She froze, stilled her breath and waited. The footsteps boomed as they came nearer and nearer, pausing outside of the door.
“Kaity?” the voice said. It sounded like Gavin but different.
Oh god, maybe it wasn’t him. She didn’t know whether this made her feel better or worse. Wait, definitely better.
“In here!” Kaity’s muffled voice said.
The footsteps left, banging down the hallway to the bedroom. Alicia didn’t have any more time. She yanked up the window as quietly as she could, which wasn’t that quiet. Wind, cold temperatures, and time had aged the old wooden frame making the wood splinter along it, warping the wood. No way would this house keep heat in.
The drop was more than twenty feet to the ground so she ruled that out. All that left her was the tree outside it. The tree had to be old. But it looked sturdy and the branches were thick and not brittle. It was a good tree. She just hoped it was good enough to withstand her weight.
“Where is she?” asked the man.
“She ran away and locked us in here. I don’t know where she is. Find her!”
“God dammit,” the male cursed.
Alicia debated how to jump. The window didn’t leave much room and she couldn’t exactly get a running start. Her best bet would be to climb out then do her best to leap onto it. Eyeing the distance, she figured she had a good chance of missing it.
Those heavy footfalls bounded down the hall. She stopped breathing when the door knob turned.
“Who locked this? Does Gavin normally lock this?” asked the man.
“No, no I don’t think so,” said Kaity.
Something heavy and hard slammed into the door. Wood cracked open in a busted hole as a big foot shot through it. Alicia spun around as her hand flew to her throat. The man struggled to pull his boot back out.
“Fucking piece of shit door, told him he needs to fix this junker up.”
“Not now, Jo!”
Alicia ducked out of the window, sitting on it so her legs swung against empty air.
She panted, eyeing the distance to the sturdiest and longest branch as more wood cracked and splintered behind her.
“I can see her. Call ’em and tell ’em she’s trying to go out back.”
Fuck, she had to man up here, didn’t have time to waste. It had to be now or never. She had to make the jump before they made that phone call.
Alicia counted down from three, then pushed off the side of the house. She knew the instant she floated in the air that she’d never make that branch like she wanted. Her arms scrambled, flailing for the branch but finding nothing. She started falling then. Everything went very quiet. All she could hear was the sound of blood rushing to her ears, her own heavy breathing, and the air whooshing past her as she fell. Leaves and branches passed before her eyes, as her gaze swung over the gray morning sky.
She fell past branches. They scraped at her legs and twisted her feet. She went down five feet, eight feet, then her legs caught one just right and she locked them around it. Her torso followed afterward slamming into the branch and knocking the wind out of her. Wheezing, she held onto the branch for dear life with her arms and legs twined around it. She felt like a monkey at a zoo.
Her eyes squeezed shut. She heard something slam in the house, then voices shouting.
Alicia forced her eyes open. She looked down and found herself within leaping distance of the ground. A truck rumbled in the distance. She knew that sound. Gavin’s truck.
Blood pumped fast as adrenaline surged once more. She unwrapped herself and leaped off the branch, softening her knees for the fall and rolling into it. Wasting no time, she picked herself up and ran hard and fast for the hills in the distance. She raced across the expanse of tall grasses and weeds for the hill because that hill had trees covering it. Trees meant cover.
But this was Gavin MacKellen’s land. He knew it much better than she did, that’s for sure.
Lungs burned with each painful breath. Her elbows jabbed back as she ran, legs pushing and pushing. She couldn’t be sure, didn’t dare to look behind her and risk it, but she swore she heard footfalls pounding after her, beating against the grass.
Was it Gavin? Was he coming for her?
Her heart fluttered, belly danced with nerves at the idea. She could see the trees getting closer now, even as her ribs ached from running. She could do this. Hope blossomed in her heart and she smiled. She could actually make it and be free.
What about Sarah? Are you just going to leave her?
Fuck! She hadn’t thought of her friend. She’d get to the Justicars, the vampire and lykaen authorities, and report what was going on. They’d take care of it. Surely once they heard of the wrongdoings going on at the MacKellens, they could come in and free her.
She made it into the trees but she had to slow her pace. She heard a soft sound. It was too late. He was already here, already on her.
A swish of air stirred behind her and she stumbled in fear. A heavy, large body slammed into hers, crashing her to the ground. The air squeezed out from her at the impact making her eyes water. More air wheezed out from between her clenched lips.
The male didn’t move. She could smell him this close. Like fresh, healthy man. She knew that scent, had smelled him before when he’d come close—Gavin MacKellen.
“Get off of me,” she wheezed.
The pressure eased up but he didn’t completely remove himself.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he rasped in that strange voice of his. A battered voice like something had happened to it. People just didn’t sound like that, so deep and scratchy.
She almost laughed, almost. “What does it look like? I was trying to get away.” She buried her forehead into the damp earthy leaves as she caught her breath.
“Stupid.” He didn’t even sound out of breath.
“I am not stupid,” she said from between her teeth.
“I didn’t say you were. I meant what you did was stupid. I heard you jumped out my bedroom window. You could have hurt yourself.”
Heat suffused her body where he lay on her. A blush burned her cheeks at the pleasant sensation it caused and she squeezed her eyes shut. That empty, plain room had been his bedroom? “Well I’m not hurt so you can get off me now.”
The weight lifted off her taking the added heat with him. She held back her surprise that he’d listened to her but stiffened as a realization struck her. She was outside in the morning light with Gavin MacKellen. So fast she nearly twisted a muscle, she spun around. Her breath caught.
She sat up and stared at Gavin MacKellen.
Or, rather, the back of him. She’d take that at this moment because if she failed in trying to escape today then she wanted something else. She would see his face no matter what, and now nothing could keep her from seeing it. No doors to hide behind, no shadows to linger in. She’d finally see it, whether he wanted her to or not.
CHAPTER 6
Gavin let out a low, deep sigh. The kind of sigh that rattled in his lungs like an old creaky pipe. “I didn’t think this morning would be it but I suppose the time’s now,” he said.
Holy hell, really? Alicia slowly came to a stand as if any sudden movement might make him bolt and she’d lose her chance to see his face. “What are you talking about? The time for what?”
“I’m gonna send the rest of the girls home. No use wasting their time.”
Her pulse jumped. “But not me?”
He let out a deep breath like he’d been holding it in. He wore a hat this morning, a worn brown Stetson that looked like he’d been wearing it for ages. He stood with his back to her, holding the hat by the brim and turning it like a steering wheel. She admired his physique, couldn’t help it. The man was big and broad, strong looking. Just like an alpha should be.
Damn, but the man confused her. She didn’t want to like anything about him, didn’t want to find him attractive either. Yet, it seemed like she continuously did so. She must be stupid but she couldn’t help it. The man had a great body, the kind that drew her attention and made her wonder. Wonder all sorts of thoughts she really shouldn’t ponder about her captor.
But what was wrong with his face?
“I’m afraid you cemented my decision today, Alicia,” he said after a minute. “Fact is, it was brave what you did jumping out of that window. I like that. Doesn’t mean I like that you did it; you could have hurt yourself, but I appreciate it anyway. You’re a strong woman and…I’m gonna need someone strong at my side, you see.”
Air sawed from between her lips in a breathy gasp. Her body trembled, blood coursing wildly through her veins pumping fear and, strangely, excitement through her. “You mean to keep me here?”
His hands stopped turning the hat. He looked down at it and she cursed the gray morning. Dark gray clouds covered the sky with the warning of a storm to come. Heavy clouds billowed and rolled as they raced across the sky, blocking out the sun. She wished the sun would break through and shine so she could really see what his hair looked like, what his face looked like.
He had chocolate colored hair, almost but not quite blond. It sat somewhere in the middle of the color palette. The color wouldn’t draw her attention twice in a normal situation. A few streaks of gray smeared near his temples and on top giving him a mature appearance. His hair was short but she could run her fingers through it if she wanted to. Alicia jerked in surprise.
Where had that thought come from? I don’t want to touch his hair.
Shit, she thought, staring at his hair. It stopped in a neat line at the bottom of his neck. He had a strong looking neck, tanned from the sun, too. She cursed herself again.
Stop finding things to like about him, dumb girl.
He continued on in that strange, almost hypnotic voice of his. “I want more than that. I know I’m
a bastard for wanting it, but I’d like you to stay here, Alicia. Let you get to know me, then you can decide.”
Something in his words made her breath accelerate and her lips part to suck in some much needed air. How did he make her feel so much without even looking at her? Without even touching her? “Decide what?” She had a feeling that she already knew.
He started spinning the hat again, his head still bowed. “Whether or not you want to mate with me.”
Her heart jumped, actually jumped. How did the man manage to charm her with his shy, quiet way? She never knew until this moment how utterly endearing a shy man could be. “You want me to stay here, of my own choice, and get to know you…” she tried to wrap her mind around that one but couldn’t. “Wait, does that mean you’ve already decided that you want to…mate with me?” She almost couldn’t say the words. When she did, they came out soft and breathy. Surprised and flattered.
“Yeah, that’s what I want,” was all he said, his voice low and hoarse.
No over-explaining what he wanted, because he’d already said everything he needed to. No exaggeration. Just straight facts in their simplest form. Didn’t matter that some men had trouble expressing their feelings. He simply said what he wanted, what he liked, why he did and had no qualms about it.
She was starting to understand him.
Her face screwed in confusion. “Why me? I mean, because I jumped out of a window? Isn’t that…” she shrugged thinking how to explain it, “lame? It’s just I don’t think jumping out of a window should be the qualifier on whether or not you want to mate with me. Doesn’t that seem too weird?”
He shook his head once. “I know what I know and I know how I feel. I don’t care whether it seems weird or not, Alicia. I’m leaving the decision up to you.”
“You’re not going to lock me back up?”
The hat stilled in his hands again as he contemplated her question. “I guess not. Not now. I’ll let you have free run, but you can’t leave the pack. Not until you give me your decision.”