The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (7 page)

“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.