Chapter 3 #2
Her mama’s growl, the expected feel of the switch coming down on her already bloody back, never came.
She’d closed her eyes and heard her father’s deeper growl, knowing he’d shifted.
Although her mama was an alpha female, her father remained the alpha in their home.
Her brothers had come home during the fight, but at seven, she wasn’t strong enough to get up off the wooden table yet.
She was sure that if her dad hadn’t shown up, her mother would have killed her that day.
Breezy still didn’t know what had set her off, or why she made her own mother hate her so.
All she’d known was she’d come home from school with a smile on her face, which was quickly erased.
The rest of the day was a blur as both her brothers tended to her injuries, and then it was just her, her dad, Shaw, and Parker.
Her brothers were both a few years older than her and were identical twins.
The one thing that stood out in her memory, that she’d never told anyone else, was the hatred she had witnessed in the eyes of her mother when she stared at all three of them.
However, she feared the twins for some reason.
When they’d stood tall next to their dad as he’d tossed her luggage into the trunk of her car, Sandy Mattice had pointed at Breezy and said words that she still couldn’t remember after all these years.
But her brothers had stepped in front of her, and their mother had looked away and jumped into her vehicle. That was over twenty years ago.
Talk about a screwed-up family. Or at least partly. Her father and brothers had done everything in their power to make her happy and feel loved. They did everything they could to give her a better life, going so far as to paint her room pink and letting her paint their nails. She laughed.
“What’s put that smile on your face?”
She told Xan, and he smiled. “I’ll have to give them both a raise.”
“I don’t want everyone to know about my scars. Nobody except my family and you, and the few doctors that I’ve had to see over the years, has seen them.”
His eyes narrowed. “I will know the entire story.”
“So bossy.”
“You better believe it. Now, let’s go before Kellen beats the door in, and then you know what will happen.”
She rolled her eyes but got up. He followed, taking his top off and putting it over her head, the ruined sweatshirt falling to the ground at her feet.
“Has anyone ever told you that you were a Neanderthal?”
“You better believe it where you’re concerned.
Let’s go, or do I need to carry you? I believe if I go by your description, I would need to toss you over my shoulder.
” He closed his eyes, then opened them. The blue replaced the brown.
“I don’t think that would be too smart as it would put your ass and pussy too close to my face. ”
She shuddered at his words. “Xan, you really shouldn’t talk to me like that.” Her body came alive where it had been cold with other men. Now it seemed electrified, or on fire, just for Xan. Damn him, and he knew it.
“Don’t act like a virgin, Breezy. I don’t expect it, nor want that kind of shit in my bed. Come.” He opened the door, leaving her feeling like a bucket of ice had been thrown over her.
“You are such a fucking prick.” Her words had him stopping outside his room, his mouth hanging open.
She was sure no one, especially a female, had ever called him names before.
Well, she had news for him. He was a dick.
As his hand reached out to grab her arm, she twisted and hurried down the hall. Safety in numbers.
“You can run, but you can’t hide.” His softly growled words made her tummy flip.
Kellen stood by the large picture window at the front of the house while Lyric sat on Rowan’s lap.
Breezy envied the two lovebirds’ closeness.
She sat down on one of the large leather recliners, opting for single occupancy instead of one of the sofas.
The alpha raised his eyebrow, but didn’t make a move until Xan came in, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and smirked.
Breezy squeaked as he handed her the unopened bottle, lifted her, then sat back down with her in his lap.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’re in my spot.” He took the bottle back from her.
She tried to scramble up, but one beefy arm held her in place. His barked order of “Stay.” Had her glaring at him.
“You two finished?” Kellen sat on the window seat, humor glinting in his gaze.
“Yep.” Xan took a long pull from his drink, offering it to Breezy. She grabbed the cold longneck, brought it to her lips, and drank deeply.
I realized I’d hurt her feelings and wanted to kick my own ass.
I couldn’t say what drove me to keep mentioning her sex life, except that the image of her with other men drove me insane.
I’d never cared how many men my previous women had had before or after me.
The fact that they weren’t virgins happened to be a plus in my estimation.
For one, I wasn’t a gentle lover. For two, I was a large man and wasn’t sure I could go slow enough to make it good for a virgin.
For three, virgins expected a lot of shit I wasn’t prepared to give.
With Breezy, I imagined I could do all the above, except change my size.
Only I couldn’t change my past. If I could track down every man or wolf she’d been with and kill them, my wolf truly wanted to do it, legal or not.
The man in me was almost tempted to get their names and allow the beast to do it.
I sighed and took the bottle back from her slim hand, finishing off the cold brew. Damn society and its rules.
“You done planning the death of the entire male populace?” Kellen broke into my musings.
I looked at my best friend. “Fuck me.”
“You’re not my type. Now, let’s get back to the problem at hand, and I don’t mean you’re a problem, Breezy, but obviously someone is out to get you specifically.
If I’d had my head outta my ass, I’d have connected the dots a little sooner.
Back when Lyric was almost grabbed, and Taya had been abducted, you’d had a note put on your car.
I know you had stated you didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, no wolves in the area.
Now we know we aren’t dealing with just a group of rogue wolves, but humans, too.
The attack on Lyric and Taya, and now you, could all be connected.
We know the rogues employed humans, but we never found the group that held her or the one that orchestrated the attacks.
By the time we got to the abandoned house she’d been held in, it was cleaned out. ”
My arms tightened around Breezy. “All we know is there were humans as well as wolves. The ones we killed were never reported as missing from any pack, and the humans that we questioned didn’t know jack shit.
Beyond that, they were supposed to be on some mission.
They were new to their crew and weren’t filled in, or they were considered collateral damage, and whoever sent them didn’t give a shit if they lived or died. Either way, they were not missed.”
Rowan held his hand up. “I know professional mercs, and none of the ones I encountered were anything more than boys playing.”
“That’s what we figured. Do you think any of your old buddies could or would be willing to help us out if this goes south?” Kellen asked Rowan.
“I’m sure I could make a few phone calls and have a small team here in a matter of days. However, there will be full disclosure. Meaning I will tell them about what I am.”
Kellen nodded. “Understood. But you need to know I will not hesitate to kill them if they fuck with me or mine.”
“Not a problem, alpha, since we are family, I’d say we are on the same page. You’d have to get behind me if they did something to warrant that sort of action.” Rowan ran a hand over Lyric’s head.
“If I get as sappy as you two, would someone please shoot me?” Kellen turned back toward the outside.
“There was something else,” Breezy said, jumping up, making me growl.
“What do you mean?” Kellen stood from his perch, his attention focused on Breezy, where she paced.
“When I went inside to buy that stupid pack of gum, there was a guy who followed me around. Not odd because it was a convenience store. What was weird was what he was wearing. I remember thinking it was odd for him to be wearing all black like he was. He was really huge, like bigger than you and Xan.” She looked at Rowan, who was a little bigger than both of us.
“About your size, maybe even bigger. He had on a long-sleeved black top that looked like a second skin. It showed off every muscle he had, and his pants had a bunch of different pocket thingies.”
I growled at her description of the other man. “Were you checking out his muscles or what?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, yeah. I totally wanted to bang him right then and there. Not. He was scary looking, and his bulky build was off-putting. He looked out of place, which is what I’m saying, but he didn’t look at me, so I ignored him.
Usually, if a guy is checking you out, you can tell, but I didn’t get that with him. You know what I mean?”
“I do.” Lyric raised her hand. “Creepers give off a vibe. This guy was obviously a pro but didn’t want to get in your pants. More than likely, he was tracking you, or he could’ve been into wrestling, or a fan of The Rock.”
“Oh, god, not him again.” Rowan groaned.
“Back to the creepy dude. Did he say or do anything else, or did you see anything else?” Kellen questioned.
Breezy chewed on her bottom lip. “No. When I walked outside, I was busy opening my gum when I noticed the note under my wiper. I thought it was going to be a stupid admirer, not a stalker.”
“You get those a lot?” My hand shot out and pulled her back to my lap. She fit just right, even when she squirmed and almost injured me.