Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) (26 page)

Austin nodded.
“Maybe she can.
I wouldn’t underestimate her.
I’ll be the first to admit that women, especially mates
,
are much stronger than we give them credit for.”
Austin moved to the door.
“And if you tell CJ I said that
,
I’ll hunt you down and cut your nuts off myself.”

Gordon was still laughing when he got into his truck to drive into town after dinner.
Alexis had gone in before him with Dallas.
Her shop was brightly lit and he could see her moving around inside.
He was nearly out of the vehicle when he saw someone hiding in the alleyway.
His cell phone going off startled him.

“Don’t go near him. If you do
,
then I won’t get him to return,” Alexis said before he could say anything. “Just come inside if you’re going to
,
but don’t pay any attention to the boy.”

Against his better judgment Gordon got out of his truck and walked past the kid trying to hide against the building.
Gordon did take a deep breath and nearly stopped to check the wolf out
,
but didn’t.
He went inside when Alexis opened the door and pulled her into his arms.

“Your boy is a girl,” he whispered in her ear.
“And she’s a wolf, did you know that?”

Chapter 14

Phil listened to the message again. He didn’t want to talk to Gordon
,
but the message from CJ made him think he’d better or else.
He had to smile at that.
He was a four hundred
-
year
-
old vampire and he was afraid of one little wolf who was barely out of her training period.
He picked up his phone to call her.

“I have some papers you need to come by and sign off on. And the property on Main Street is now yours if you still want it.” He smiled when she didn’t answer right away.
“Of course if you don’t want it any more I’m sure I can find any number of buyers for it.”

“You are so full of shit it’s not funny.
And if you try and sell that property I’ll hunt you down and rip your fangs out of you.”
She laughed.
“This is not going to get you out of what I asked you to do.”

He didn’t think it would
work,
but he had to try.
“Are you sure?
Because from where I’m sitting
,
not talking to your brother-in-law is getting me all sorts of work done.
If I have to answer his calls or even call him back it’s going to put me way behind and frankly
,
my dear, I could care less how sorry he is.”

That wasn’t entirely true.
He missed the cop.
Gordon had been very helpful to him when he’d needed it.
He’d given
him more information on things Phil knew he shouldn’t
have
known about to help him out in a couple of other things he’d had going on.
He looked over at the framed picture of the entire family and of him and Gordon standing next to each other with their arms around each other at CJ’s and Austin’s wedding.
He looked away and nearly missed what CJ was saying.

“What do you mean he needs me more than ever? What the hell has he done now?”
Phil sat up and punched a few keys on his computer to bring up the local newspaper.
“I don’t see in the paper w
h
ere he’s murdered anyone.”

CJ laughed and he felt marginally better.
“No
,
you dork.
I want you to talk to him about Alexis.
She told him she’s a shifter.
Well
,
she told him she could change into any animal she wanted and he surmised she’s a shifter.
There is something else
,
too
,
but I don’t understand it. Something to do with pack law.”

Pack law.
Those two words excited and terrified him at the same time. He thought about what his mother had told him about
Strongs
.
They were immortals once
,
but over the centuries things had changed.
They sort of bred out the fact that they could live forever.
He picked up the leather bound book that his mother had given him.

“I can help him from here.
I have a book that he can read. It’s very informative and—
”

“I swear to Christ
,
if you make me come over there
,
I’m going to…I’m going to pee on your very ugly
,
expensive carpet. Then I might rub your nose in it.”
She huffed and he laughed…to himself.
He wasn’t stupid.
“Come over
,
please.
I miss you and since you’re avoiding him I don’t get to see you.
And he does need you.
He needs you almost as much as I do.”

He rubbed the sudden pain over his heart.
He loved her.
He had loved her from the very beginning
,
but not romantically, never that.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
He knew he was going to regret this
,
but would do anything for CJ and she knew it.

“All right.
I’ll come over to your house
,
but not his.
And he’ll keep any comments to himself or so help me I’ll never come to you again.
Understand?”
She said she did.
“And I want something from him.
I want to know where to find Holly.
It’s high time she and I figure this shit out between us or cut our ties.”

“I don’t know where she is
,
but if he does I’ll make him understand that he has to give you the information.
And Phil?”
He waited for her to continue
,
but she only waited.

“Yes, love.
What is it?”
He closed his eyes again when she laughed that small laugh he’d come to love about her.

“I think you should know that you’re my very best friend and I doubt that I’ll ever have anyone I love like I do you.”

She hung up before he could form an answer.
He gently put the phone on his desk and looked around the office.
He could have been anywhere in the world, had been
,
actually
,
before meeting her.
Now
,
here he was
,
stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a job he sort of liked
,
but was very good at
,
and his mate was who knew where.

He stood up and picked up the book his mother had given him. Time to go and see what he could tell the others about what he’d learned.
He only hoped that he didn’t have to murder the wolf before he let him know that he was going to live forever.
He also hoped that when he told the man…and the girl
,
that they took the news better than his mother had.

“What do you mean she isn’t human
?
That is no answer
,
young man.
I want you to tell me what makes you believe she’s any more than…well, any more than what she appears.”
His mother had gotten on the phone when Phil had asked his dad what he knew about the legend of shifters.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“She can heal with a touch and…”
This was the hard part.
“She can heal all supernaturals, including wolves.”

He’d been told all his life that wolves, werewolves to be exact
,
were the hardest if not impossible
,
animals to heal.
If they couldn’t shift and heal, or heal on their own, then they were dead.
It was the natural way of things.
And he’d been there when she’d healed Gordon and knew that the man had taken his last breath and his heart had beat the last time when Alexis touched him.

His mother had been quiet for so long that he was sure she had hung up and was now at his front door
,
but she’d spoken slowly and very quietly after a bit.

“What makes you think of a shifter, son? I mean
,
she could simply be a witch and has the power to do so.”
He knew she didn’t want to believe it. Hell, he’d not wanted to believe it either.
“Could you be wrong?
Have you…Christ, please tell me you haven’t tasted her blood without permission.”

“No,” he assured her.
“I’ve not tasted her. I’ve asked and so far have been told no. But, well
,
M
om
,
I’m nearly as positive as I can be about this.
She is a shifter as surely as you’re my mother.”

He’d hoped to make her laugh and
,
if failing that
,
to lighten the situation
,
but she’d either been too upset or simply overwhelmed
,
he wasn’t sure.
But what she said next scared him enough that he’d gone to their home and picked up the book she’d told him he could have.

“That poor girl.
What is she going to do now?
The wolf pack won’t accept her now
,
will they?
And that poor man.
What will he do not being able to take his mate?”

He nodded.
“I know
,
M
om. But…
Well, I don’t think she knows what they could do to her.
Unless one of them has told her.
She’s very brave and strong.
I just…Mom, I really like this girl. I do need to tell her, tell her everything so that we can deal with this and her one step at a time.”

“I have a book.
It’s been in our family since my mother’s mother was born.
I’ll send it to you and you…
Christ
,
you have her read it and if one of those stupid dogs hurt
s
her, hurt
s
even one hair on her head
,
you tell them that I will hunt them down and drain them.”