The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (4 page)

Shaking
his head, he forced himself to walk away.

Gavin
climbed into his truck and roared off down the dirt-strewn path to work. A
dusty cloud billowed behind him.

What
was it about her? Couldn’t just be her pretty face or her knockout body. He
wasn’t as capricious as that. All anyone had to do was look at his two exes to
see the truth in that. The first, Jana, everyone said was too plain, to
straight-hipped and skinny, but Gavin had liked her just fine. They’d stayed
together for a few years before she tired of him and moved on. As all his exes
did.

His
jaw set at the thought. That’s why Alicia Clarkson wouldn’t work. If he couldn’t
keep a plain-miss around, how could he keep a masterpiece like Alicia Clarkson
happy? He couldn’t and she’d soon be telling him the same story he’d heard over
and again. He was too boring, they never went out and did anything, and why
didn’t he talk more?

He’d
tried to explain that he couldn’t help how he was and that he didn’t have a
whole lot to say. Didn’t mean he didn’t feel like everyone else. But words didn’t
really come to him like that. Never did, in fact. Women loved to hear the words
though, loved to talk. Alicia Clarkson looked like the friendly type too, could
make friends with damn near anyone. That type of woman would befriend the whole
pack in under a month. It’d take even less time than it took his exes for her
to figure out that he didn’t much care for going to parties and that he didn’t
make a great host. Especially not since the incident. People didn’t much like
looking at him now.

Gavin
took a turn that’d lead him to the lake. He and his crew were constructing a
new house for the Louis family. Theirs was one of the first built in the early
1900s and given the choice to renovate it or start anew, they chose new. They
paid a percentage out of pocket that went to Gavin and his crew and supplies.
The rest they’d pay out in monthly installments. After the cost of the supplies
and salaries was dished out, the rest of that money would go back into the pack’s
funds. They needed that fund for emergencies.

He
spotted his crew already starting today’s work on laying foundation. There was
no road out here so close to the canyon which made it a bumpy ride. His truck
handled it well.

Even
the sight of his crew couldn’t break his thoughts from her though. He had to
give all the women a chance. He’d promised Will that much and he owed him so
much more. Maybe after he talked some more to the clothing designer he’d
realize something about her that wouldn’t suit. Yeah, that’d be good. Then he
could send her packing. He didn’t like the idea. Hell, he liked her already. A
strong woman not afraid to go after her dream even if it meant making little
money for herself. At least she was putting herself out there and living by her
own means. Damn, but he respected that. Maybe a bit too much.

He’d
promised Will to give all the girls a chance. Tonight he’d sit with them and
talk. Figure out which he could send back. He scrubbed a hand over his haggard
face. Little worse in life than a bad day.

Gavin
braked to a stop and looked out at the crisp blue lake glittering beneath the
fresh morning light. The hairs stood up at the back of his neck and he rubbed a
rough hand across it as he stepped out of his truck.

“Hey,
boss,” one of his team hollered.

He
lifted a hand in a wave.

Two
nagging questions refused to escape him. What if he didn’t want to let Alicia
Clarkson go? And how could he possibly show her his face?

One
of his crewman, Alex, strode forward. He had a wrinkled cigarette clamped
between his teeth and a hard look in his eyes. Something was up.

Gavin
met him halfway. “What is it?”

Alex
plucked the cigarette from between his lips with two fingers. “Have you seen
Hart today?”

Gavin
shook his head.

“Well,
he came around here looking for you real early this morning. Said something bad
happened and he needed to talk to you.”

Gavin
peered out at the great expanse of rising mountain behind them. Such a
beautiful sight, never ceased to humble him. Until now. Now when he gazed at
that glorious piece of earth with grass knee-tall and trees a hundred years
old, he only saw in black and gray. The pulse at his forehead pounded.

“I
was at home. He could have stopped by there.” Strange he didn’t.

“Seeing
as he stopped by here, I’d say he thought you were already here. You are late.”
Alex paused to suck in a long drag. “How’d last night go?”

Gavin
grunted in answer. Alex nodded as if he understood. No words were necessary.

“Take
over my work for today. I gotta go find Hart.”

“Will
do.”

Gavin
hopped back into his truck, backed out, then drove back into town. His brother
was looking for him and it wasn’t to celebrate some good news. This was bad.

Today
was turning out to be one hell of a day.

Gavin
found his brother at the end of one of the patrol fields. Gavin’s timing could
have been better. Hart had his no bullshit-taking cop face on and another
packmate, Marcus Graham, backed up against the wall to their headquarters.

“God
damn,” Gavin muttered.

He
killed the engine and hopped out of his truck in one motion. He raced to get to
them in time. Judging by the raised voices and tense postures things were getting
nasty, quick.

He
didn’t make it.

Hart
stepped back with his right foot. Gavin knew what that meant. He was about to
throw down.

Gavin
shouted, “Hart!”

Surprised,
Hart looked over at him but damn if Marcus didn’t wind one up and let it fly.
He slammed a right hook into Hart’s surprised face. A vein ticked in Gavin’s
forehead.

He
locked onto Marcus, strode forward and jabbed him twice, hard, in the mouth. “You
hit my brother in front of me, Marcus?” Marcus fell to one knee. Another hard
jab and his lip split, blood running down his chin. Marcus smiled up at him
with those smart, cold eyes. Gavin hated those eyes.

Strong
arms banded around Gavin’s waist, tore him away. “Let him go, Gavin. Bastard
cheap shotted me is all. It’s nothing. Don’t even feel it. We got bigger
problems anyway.”

Gavin
breathed hard, had to get it under control. Marcus stood up, that smile still
in place. The blood on his lips and chin only made the sight more grisly.

“I
see you still have a strong jab, Gavin.”

His
abs clenched as if preparing for an attack. Ignoring the man, he turned to his
brother. “I heard you need me.”

“You
might want to brace yourself for this.”

He
blinked once and his mind raced through the possibilities. Then, it hit him. “Someone’s
dead.”

“Not
just dead, murdered. We have a homicide.” Hart looked away and tucked his hands
in his coat pockets. Gavin recognized that look. He’d seen it many times before—unease.

“Who
is it? One of ours?”

Maybe
it wasn’t one of his own. Kaity would have heard about it and been in tears at
his door this morning instead of pissed off. No, it wasn’t one of his. That
didn’t give him much relief.

“Emma.
It was Emma, Gavin.”

It
felt like a cold spear pierced his stomach. It was one of his. “She’s only
twelve.” What a stupid thing to say, he knew. Anyone could be murdered
regardless of age. Still, she was so young. Had so much going for her even with
her shitty parents. With the support of her pack she was making the best of
things, had a positive outlook on life. Even when one of the pack had to take
her in for a night or two because Joan and Todd couldn’t stop screaming at each
other.

Hart
nodded. He understood. He saw all kinds of sickness in his work.

“What
happened to her?”

Hart
looked away, fidgeted with something in his pocket. “Bludgeoned. The bastard
beat her to death, caved her skull in.”

Gavin’s
voice croaked. “Where?”

Hart
pointed out toward the property line on the south side. Gavin followed where
Hart pointed. Somewhere out in those woods he and his people walked through every
day was a dead twelve-year-old girl who’d had her head bashed in. Blood rushed
through his veins in a rapid pulse.

On
his land. Under his protection.

His
gaze flicked to Marcus and pondered for a serious moment drilling him in the
face again. Didn’t matter if he did the crime or not, he’d committed other
sins. Enough that Gavin wouldn’t despair breaking his nose.

“Who
found her?”

Hart
leveled his gaze on Marcus and lifted his chin in a nod.

God
damn. Marcus found her. Of all the people…

Gavin
kept his jaw still though it yearned to grind. “What time and what were you
doing?”

Marcus
ran both hands through his blond hair, curling it back against his skull. “I
was on my patrol shift seeing as it’s Sunday. Was walking the southern
perimeter when I found her.” He shrugged. “Didn’t touch her.”

Gavin
noticed his brother also watched Marcus closely. Marcus wasn’t exactly known
for his winning personality.

“I’m
going to have to bring you in and question you, understand?” Hart said.

Marcus
nodded.

Gavin
took a step forward, his body opening up, craving the fight he knew Marcus
would give him. The skinny man smiled at him, that sick cold smile that always
made Gavin’s skin crawl as if hundreds of ants were marching up and down his
back.

“Why
all the smiles, Marcus? Did you know Emma Linchman? Are you happy she’s dead?”

“Nah,
I didn’t know her. That’s not what has me feeling all warm inside, Gavin.”
Marcus’ eyes roamed over Gavin’s face. “I see the scars have made a permanent
home on your face. Not bad if I say so myself.”

Gavin
tensed but before he could pound the smile off Marcus’ face, Hart beat him to
it. He grabbed Marcus by the collar and slammed three brutal blows into his
face. Bone crunched as it broke and a spray of blood gushed from his nose. Marcus
dropped to the ground, laughing and looking like a mad man with his watering
eyes and broken face. Hart hovered over him like a shaking beast aching to
really let loose.

Gavin
tapped him on the shoulder before they had two deaths today.

“Leave
it be, Hart. The man’s a coward.”

Marcus’
eyes flashed. “I’ve proven myself. I ain’t no coward.”

Gavin
started away with his brother. “You proved you can fight like a coward, Marcus.
That’s all you proved and everyone knows it.”

Gavin
and Hart climbed into his truck. The seats sighed as their weight settled in.
Marcus stood, his fists clenching then unclenching.

“A
coward wouldn’t have challenged you,” he said. “A coward wouldn’t have done
what I did.”

Gavin
grew silent. Hart turned to look at him questioningly but Gavin ignored him.
For a moment all he could do was remember. Remember waking up, feeling
something wrong, then stumbling into the bathroom and flipping on that light
switch. Some days he wished he’d never flipped that switch. But he couldn’t
live like that. He had a pack to take care of, responsibilities. He wasn’t
going to let people down over something so trivial.

It
took him several hard, deep breaths before he closed the truck door and started
the engine.

He
met Marcus’ gaze through the windshield. “No, Marcus, only a coward waits until
a man can’t fight back.”

Rage
boiling inside him, he threw the car into drive and tore off. He had to get out
of there before he threw himself out of the car and tore Marcus limb from limb.

After
a moment, Hart spoke. “I waited to call the murder in until I talked to you. I’ll
have to do that now.”

“Yeah.”

“You
should let me take care of this instead of bringing in the Justicars. We’ll
have some human cops on the property but that might be better than the
Justicars.”

Gavin
clenched his teeth. “Yeah, do what you go to do. I’ll get word to the lieutenants
to let them in.”

Gavin
pulled to a stop in front of a broken down house that had seen better years.
Yellow paint had once coated the walls but long ago chipped and faded into
something ugly. A busted porch swing hung from the front porch and Gavin knew
the wood railing leading up to the door was broken. He’d offered to fix it but
Todd wouldn’t have it. Didn’t like no one interfering with his business. What a
fool.

They
exited the truck and headed up to the house together.

“Knew
this was gonna be a bad day,” Gavin was saying to himself. “Just didn’t know it’d
be this bad.”

Hart
didn’t say anything, only knocked on the door. It rattled in the frame and Hart
shook his head in disgust, muttered something beneath his breath. Movement came
from inside, footsteps and cursing.

“God
dammit just get the fucking door, Joan!”