The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (5 page)

“You
never get the fucking door, you lazy son of a bitch. Why do I always have to do
it?”

The
door opened on the end of her question.

Joan
Linchman was a dour woman. Gavin’d lived in the same pack with her all his life
and he couldn’t remember seeing her smile before. She wore a dirty muumuu that
fell to her pale, knobby knees and her ratty hair stuck out at unevenly like
she’d spilled something then slept in it. It wasn’t a good look for her. Made
her face look too old, made the wrinkles in her forehead and around her eyes
stand out in ways they shouldn’t. Hell, she was younger than he was yet managed
to look older than him by at least ten years.

She
peered at them, squinting against the sunlight blazing behind them. “Todd it’s
the alpha,” she called back. She nodded to Gavin. “What you want?”

When
she spoke he caught a whiff of stale cigarette smoke and liquor, probably from the
night before. His stomach heaved.

“We
got a problem, Joan. Me and Hart are gonna have to come in and talk to you and
Todd now.”

Todd
cursed from inside. “Fuckin’ hell. It’s barely seven in the morning. What’s the
meaning of all this?” Todd ambled his pot-bellied form off the couch and
lumbered over, hovering behind his skinny wife.

Gavin
had to look away for a moment to take a deep breath. The rancid odors of foul
body odor, beer, and cigarettes clung to him like a cloud. Gavin sucked in a
deep breath then braced himself.

“It’s
about Emma. Do you mind if we come inside?” he asked.

Joan
realized it first. A trace of fear flickered in her eyes. Her mind was already
running with ideas as to why the alpha and his detective brother was at her
doorstep at seven in the morning on a Sunday. She surely already knew Emma wasn’t
home last night since it’d been a Saturday and the Linchman’s had no curfew for
the girl.

Todd
was slower. Grumbling, he moved aside and allowed them into the house. Again,
Gavin was assaulted by smells, though none of them were as bad as Todd. The
house smelled of mold, rotted wood, and dust that had collected in crevices and
on broken shelves that never got cleaned.

Todd
and Joan sat but Gavin and Hart didn’t bother. They only had one sofa and it
sat low to the ground and was covered in stains and god knows what else. So
they stood and delivered the news.

Hart
told them what happened. He kept his voice calm and professional, but with an
edge of kindness. The sound wasn’t how Hart normally spoke, Gavin could tell
this was practiced. He carefully chose his words as he told this family their
daughter had been bludgeoned to death inside their own pack.

Gavin
had to admit, he was surprised by their reactions. Joan broke down first in
loud, anguished cries that squeezed his chest until it hurt to breath. Her
wails soon were followed by Todd’s. The man’s red-rimmed eyes watered and fat
drops fell down his splotched cheeks.

Gavin’s
instincts drove him and he pulled Joan into a tight embrace, rubbed her back as
she sobbed against him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hart clap Todd on
the back as the man sagged forward in grief.

They
might not have been the best of parents, but they loved their daughter.
Everyone loved Emma. There was so much about her to love.

Over
Joan’s bony shoulder, Gavin met Hart’s hard eyes. Without words they exchanged
a thought. They would find who did this, and he would pay on lykaen terms—by
death.

CHAPTER 3

They’d
shut Alicia in what looked like a spare bedroom. It had hardwood floors, with some
of the boards bowed from age. The paint on the walls had to be at least sixty
years old; it had long faded and begun to chip. A small twin bed was pushed
against the corner, a worn dresser stood on the opposite wall, and a small
bathroom was connected. The house was so quiet she thought she might be going
mad.

They
gave her a room with a window but they dashed any chance at escape. Heavy metal
bars covered the window. She’d opened the window up and pushed and pulled on
the rungs until sweat dripped down her temples, but nothing gave. Had these
bars always been here or did they install them just to make sure she didn’t
escape?

Aside
from that, all she had was a small window. She’d been standing at it a long
time, gazing out watching the morning come. The soft purr of a car arrived and
a truck left. She caught voices or what she thought were voices.

Light
footsteps, either that of a child or a woman came toward her door. She froze in
the middle of the room with a nail file she’d found in the bathroom slipped up
her sleeve. It was one of those metal ones with a point. It wasn’t a knife but
she could jab a man’s eye out with it.

Metal
slid against metal as someone unlocked the door. The rickety metal doorknob turned
and opened. Alicia froze, her weapon hidden well in her sleeve. Today she’d plan
her escape. She couldn’t return to her pack if she managed to escape, but she
could find a new one. Maybe even a better one. One where the alpha didn’t
simply turn over single women to some mysterious alpha.

A
woman opened the door, stepped inside then shut it behind her. She had blonde
hair cut around her neck in a bob so the ends flipped out. It made her look
pixielike and cute. Her eyes were a vibrant dark blue.

“Who are
you?”

The
woman scowled, the act making her face scrunch. It looked cute on her. “I’m
Kaity, Gavin’s younger sister. Hanna, my older sister, is on the way. I already
called her.”

Alicia
took a step back. “What do you want?”

Kaity
held up her hands. “Just came to make sure you’re all right. Gonna bring some
food up soon. Can I get you a book, a deck of cards or something to kill time
with? I know I’d be going stir crazy up here by myself.”

Alicia
sucked in a breath. A tingling sensation formed in her chest and her belly
fluttered. “Can you get me out of here? Just get me to the property line and I’ll
run, please!” She rushed toward the young girl, desperate.

“Whoa,
there. I can’t do that. Gavin would have me raked over hot coals. Listen, I
know this stinks but we weren’t expecting you in the first place, and I just
heard about this. That’s why I’m here actually. Came over to give Gavin a
little piece of my mind.” She laughed ruefully. “He has a way of making you see
things from a different perspective, you know?”

“No,
I don’t know.” Alicia ground her teeth. She spotted the key clenched in Kaity’s
little fist. She had to be about twenty-four-years old. She debated whether she
could take her in a fight. Probably.

The
girl flushed. “Yes, well, what did you think of him?”

Alicia’s
gaze narrowed. “Excuse me?”

Kaity
rocked on her feet, unable to hold Alicia’s glare. “I mean, just what did you
think of him? Gavin?”

Alicia
straightened her back. “You want to know what I think of the man who’s
practically kidnapped me? Who has blindfolded me, tied me up and stuffed me
into a dark room to interrogate me? Who possibly wants to
mate
with me?”
The girl’s face grew white as a sheet. “You want to know what I think about
him? Well, let’s just say none of it’s good.”

Alicia
twitched at her own lie. Some of it wasn’t bad. He had an interesting voice and
he did have a sort of genuine quality to him. He hadn’t actually hurt her. She
had no bruises or anything. She had been left alone all night. No one came and
molested her. The night ended…rather boring really.

At
the insult to her brother and alpha, the girl stiffened. “I didn’t know he did
any of that but I’d bet my college tuition you weren’t hurt, were you? That you
were probably treated kind of nice, considering.” She paused, waiting. “So, am
I right?”

Alicia
refused to answer that, not even by a nod.

She
smirked. “See, I’m right. Gavin would never hurt a woman. He won’t hurt anyone
unless it’s really deserving and even then…” her words trailed off and a pained
look came to her eyes. She shook her head as if to get rid of the thought. “Listen,
my older sister Hanna will be here soon. What do you want for breakfast in the
meantime?”

Instead
of answering, Alicia fixed the girl with her own question. “What’s wrong with
his face?”

Kaity
flinched as if she’d been struck. Then her face burned red and anger blazed in
her eyes. “Nothing’s fucking wrong with his face! You’re no better than the
rest of them!” Alicia actually took a step back, ready for the girl to swing at
her.

Kaity
spun around and left, slamming the door behind her, the wood cracking in the
frame. The lock turned and that was it.

Alicia
went back to the window, her mind working a mile a minute. She’d insulted the
girl. She hadn’t really meant to though she could have said things nicer. Who
was the rest of ‘them’ and why did Alicia feel like a sack of garbage at being
compared to them?

She
didn’t like that. She didn’t like that one bit.

But
why should she feel like the bad guy? She wasn’t here of her own volition. Her
alpha and Gavin forced her into this.

All
because of my stupid mouth.

Her
inability to keep quiet in the face of injustice usually worked out well. In
this case both she and Sarah were victims. 

About
an hour later the other sister came. This one didn’t bother to introduce
herself. She opened the door, slid a tray of food against the wall, then
slipped back out. Alicia had her features memorized though. She had dark blonde
hair, not as light as Kaity’s and a full, rounder figure, curvaceous. Her hair
was longer too, but straight. She didn’t bother to look at Alicia.

Alicia
ate and tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Just what did Gavin
MacKellen look like?

Why
do you care so much?

Because
no sane person had a conversation in pitch black like that! It was beyond weird
and she wanted to know why. Why all the games.

The
sisters both had blonde hair so she’d guess that he did as well. One had blue
eyes and she didn’t get a look at Hanna’s but she’d bet they were about the
same. Blond hair, blue eyes. He was tall and broad, looked like he worked for a
living. Not a behind a desk kind of job, but on the land, hard work with his
hands. A job that used muscles.

She
was out in the mountains. The land was rich and beautiful. The air even smelled
fresh and clean like it was new. A part of her liked it, wanted to run out to
those rolling hills and climb the mountains in the distance. She didn’t have
scenery like that in Arizona where sunblock was mandatory for leaving the
house.

With
rich land like this he could be a farmer. Maybe a work incident had busted his
face up pretty badly or he’d been in a car accident. Lykaens didn’t heal well
from major injuries like that even if they did live long lives. A chill ran
down her arms. She didn’t know what she’d do if she had to live the rest of her
life with a face she was ashamed of. She didn’t like to think she was that
petty. She didn’t make a whole lot of fuss over her own face, but she knew it
was pretty.

What
would she do if she lost that? If she had something so terrible she couldn’t
stand to show it to a prospective mate?

Alicia
hung her head, weary. She was weakening. Actually wanting to hear him out, to
see his face; maybe if she did all that he’d lose interest in her and she could
go back home. Back to the design that would make her famous.

She
went back to her position at the window. The sun rose higher in the sky then
descended into nightfall. Later in the afternoon another knock came at her door
and Hanna slipped in another tray with food. Alicia was finishing her last bite
when she heard the rumble of a truck.

Excitement
flashed through her veins and she ran back to the window, clinging to the
rungs, her face pressed into the bars. She faced the side of the house away
from the front that led up to the house so she couldn’t see much. But she could
hear the door of a truck open and close, soft footsteps lead up to the house,
then pause. Her heart fluttered. She just knew.

It
was him. He was back.

Heavy
steps beat against the front porch then the door opened. Alicia stepped back
from the window and stared down at the ground as she focused all of her energy
on listening. If she concentrated hard enough she heard a rumble of voices. A
few minutes later the soft purr of an engine started and then the car took off.

Her
breaths came faster. This was it. The sisters were gone and the alpha was home,
possibly even alone, unless his brother, Will, was here again.

Bootsteps
pounded up a staircase, the movement slow and tired sounding. Alicia’s muscle
flexed and stiffened, ready for action, though she didn’t exactly know what.
However, those heavy steps didn’t come her way but disappeared into another
room. She heard the door close. A minute later a shower kicked on.

Alicia
ran to the window and tried pushing the bars again. She kicked at them but they
didn’t budge at all. Running back to the door, she tried the handle. When that
didn’t work she surveyed the door but it was sturdy and hard. No way could she
kick that thing down.