Miles Away from Home, page 9
“You think it’s that simple, heh?” I frowned.
“It’s not foolproof,” he said and shrugged. “I’ll admit. What you really need is to find an omega looking for a pack. That would seal the deal for sure!”
“An omega,” I choked on my beer. “What the hell for?”
“Please! Omegas are like little puppies to alpha females. They instantly fall for them.” Luke laughed.
“I’d like to get her to fall for me first,” I grumbled.
The sound of shattered glass interrupted Luke’s reply. We both jumped up and headed outside to find out what caused the noise. I expected to find kids throwing rocks or maybe a car thief. What I got was a family reunion.
My eyes first landed on Dex standing off to the side looking a bit smug, but once he saw me in the doorway, a sense of unease wrapped around him and his eyes lowered with guilt. My two older brothers were here in the flesh, beating the crap out of some poor sap. A smashed-in bloodied car window made my jaw tick. The site of a prone body lying in the gutter made my stomach turn. It was Tate. Seems like brother dears used our baby bro as a battering ram.
“What the actual fuck!” I roared. Both my brothers might have had an inch on me and a few more pounds of muscle, but I was the only alpha in this parking lot. They both froze as I made my way over to check on Tate. I gently rolled him over. There was a gash on his forehead where he must have hit the window and another lump on the back of his head. It looked like he was hit from behind with a heavy object. His face and hair were covered in blood. I tore off my tee, the only thing I had to use to stop the bleeding. “You assholes! Are you trying to kill him?”
My oldest brother chuckled. “It would be a kindness. Something we were meant to do a long time ago. World don’t need the runts of the litter anyway.”
“What the world doesn’t need, Scott, is brain-dead morons like you in it.” He attempted to stare me down, but I put every ounce of dominance I had into my glare. Scott lasted a few seconds before he looked away. I shifted my glare over to Dex. “Did you enjoy the show?”
Dex looked more contrite than I’d ever seen him before. “Alpha…” He swallowed loudly, his eyeline never leaving my shoes. “It was just a bit of fun at first that got out of hand.”
“Come on, Miles,” my other brother jeered. “Dex invited us out tonight. We were coming to join you and passed these two going at it like horny teens in the alley. We were only busting his chops about it. It was Tate that got a little hotheaded and started shouting at us. Well, that couldn’t go unpunished. You know our ways.”
I peered closer at the other man on the ground at exactly the moment Tate started to come to. He winced and cradled his head in his hands. “Easy there, little bro. You took more than one lump.”
“Get your hands off me,” he ground out through clenched teeth. He was clearly in a daze as he shoved away from me and attempted to crawl toward our brother’s other victim. “Get away from him,” he slurred.
Luke had gone over to try to help the other guy. He scrunched his brows in concern. “He’s pretty fucked up.” He looked at me. “He needs medical attention.”
I wanted to bash my older brothers’ heads in but I had to calm down and focus on making this right. “I’ll bring my truck around. We can take him to the shop.” Shifters didn’t go to normal hospitals for obvious reasons.
“I think we better call an ambulance.” Luke held his cell in his hand waiting for my confirmation.
“Shit,” I swore. “He’s human?”
“Get away from him!” Tate was still unsteady. His eyes glazed and wild and he finally reached the guy. “No, no, no, no,” he moaned repeatedly.
“Jeez, Scott! We don’t beat up humans. Ever! They aren’t as resilient as us and it comes with more heat and scrutiny than Wa’ya need.
Scott looked at Tate with disgust. “Everything about him is weak. Austin raised a bunch of pansies.”
My hard-fought calm evaporated instantly. I saw red. The next thing I knew, my hands were around my eldest brother’s throat and I was choking the life out of him. My other brother jumped on my back. Luke leaped over the human to come to my aid. A car screeched to a stop behind us. Dex attempted to step in but tripped over Tate and landed on his legs. Other patrons of the bar started streaming outside, and I could hear sirens in the distance. Things were not going well.
The distinct sound of a shotgun being caulked was followed by an enraged female voice. “Hey dickheads!” Akela stood over us pointing a sawed-off in our direction. Dex raised his hands while rolling off Tate. I released Scott’s neck and threw my other brother from my back. A storm was raging in Akela’s eyes as she took in the entire scene. She was glorious in her wrath. She pointed the shotgun directly at Luke. “You. Put Tate in my car.”
“But Jason,” Tate protested as Luke pulled him up from his armpits.
“Sorry, Tate.” She grimaced looking behind her. The lights of the cop cars could be seen in the distance. “Help will be here for him sooner if we leave him, longer if we take him.”
Luke awkwardly stuffed my little brother into the car that Akela parked directly behind our brawl. He struggled to get back out. “Can’t leave him with them.”
“It will be fine.” She said soothingly before turning around and breathing fire. “These losers will scatter the second we leave.” Her eyes were glued to me as she spoke. “Control your dogs!”
I knew things were bad. Tate covered in blood. Me, shirtless and fighting in the street. It was her look of absolute disdain, however, that made me want to panic. She thought I was an accomplice in this beating and not the one to put a stop to it. There was no time to set things right. She jumped in the car and tore out of the parking lot as the police started to pull in.
“Gotta go, Miles!” Luke yelled, still waiting for me, though, before fleeing.
I nodded and started running in the opposite direction of the sirens, leaving that poor man bleeding on the sidewalk and my mate thinking I was the guilty party.
Fuck my life.
****
Months had passed since the night Tate was beaten by our older brothers, and Akela continued to refuse to see me. It had me on edge all the time. I’ve gone off and wailed on Dex for even mentioning her name and shoved Caius against a wall for challenging me about what color to paint the inside of our new cabin. I know it’s my wolf freaking out about our mate, but there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it. I can’t storm up to her house in the heart of Austin’s pack. It wouldn’t end well. I’d end up hurting someone she loves if they tried to stop me, and she’d never forgive me.
The only solution when my beast was driving me to track her down, was to drown him out with as much alcohol as I could swallow. Hungover from the night before, I was still desperate to suppress my urges. Luckily, Able agreed to drive me to the liquor store. I felt like absolute shit and had no desire to be in a social setting like a bar. The plan for the night was a large bottle of whiskey and my couch.
Able parked his new Toyota Corolla in the parking lot and looked over at me. “Hey, Boss, you want to wait here?”
I eyed him warily, afraid if I said yes, he’d just go in and shoplift. Able’s not one willing to pay for things. “Nah.” I grimaced as I open the door. “I might grab some snacks too. Not sure what I want.”
Lumbering at a snail’s pace, I entered the store with my pack mate trailing behind me. My head was pounding and a complete fog enveloped my senses. I made a beeline to the bottles of the hard stuff and pulled one from the shelf without ever noticing the other customer squatting down grabbing an item from the bottom section. I stepped right on her hand.
“Motherfucker,” she cussed sucking in a pain-filled gasp.
The murkiness around me evaporated instantly. The string constricting my heart unraveled. I could breathe in deeply. I bent down and hoisted Akela up by her elbow. An electric current of pure pleasure shot up my arm from the brief touch. “Are you all right?” my voice sounded gruff and ill-used. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Let go.” She rotated out of my grip but stumbled. I caught her before she faceplanted directly into a stacked display of Southern Comfort. Sensing she was unsteady on her feet, I pulled her further into the aisle. Taking advantage of the rescue, I couldn’t resist circling both arms around her waist. Sure looked like she’d been starting early on the same hair-of-the-dog remedy I was working diligently on. Her hair was a greasy tangle tied up at the top of her head. She was wearing a threadworn concert tee stained by either barbeque sauce or blood. An oversized flannel shirt missing every button on the front but two hung limply from her shoulders but luckily trailed down to cover her ass, since I wondered if the skirt she had on was just a tube top substituting for a bottom. The entire outfit was finished off by mismatched flip-flops. My girl was a hot mess.
“You are one stubborn woman,” I grumbled.
“I’m not talking to you,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
“This has gone on long enough,” I shot back firmly. It was one thing to make me miserable, but I was not going to let her self-destruct as well. Ignoring her protests and curses, I shuffled her out the side door and into the alleyway behind the store. The skunky smell of stale beer wafting from the large green dumpster wasn’t the most romantic location to make amends, but it would have to do.
Before I could lay into her for not taking care of herself, I had this overwhelming need to hold her tight. I set down the bottle I accidentally took outside, wrapped my arms around her and pressed her close to my chest. Obviously showering had not been a priority for either of us, but I didn’t care in the slightest. Standing here with her tucked against me was all I truly needed. The happy little thrum in my chest grew stronger the longer neither of us moved. The intensity spiked till my dick grew hard and my body vibrated with need. Akela was not impervious. She rubbed her face against my collarbone and lifted on her toes till her lips found the flesh of my neck near my ear.
Groaning, I shifted my hands under her ass and lifted her up. I needed access to her mouth. I sucked her lush bottom lip before she opened and our tongues battled. Akela circled her legs around my torso forcing me to firmly cup her ass to provide support. The motion delivered a revelation. Her ass was bare. My fingers pushed forward. Sure enough, she was panty free. The switch in my brain that provides higher levels of reasoning malfunctioned. I took three large strides till I had her pinned against the brick wall. Akela’s switch obviously had stopped working earlier in the day when she dressed herself. Her hands dropped to my fly. She unbuttoned and pulled me out in what had to be a world record.
Either time froze or sped up. I have little recollection except for pounding my mate senseless between two dumpsters, in broad daylight, in the back alley of a liquor store, on a Tuesday. I did have perfect clarity the minute we both orgasmed and time and space returned to normal, and with it, the complete awkwardness of our situation.
“Fuck,” I grimaced. I pulled out and looked around to make sure we had not been observed. Then, instead of apologizing, I opted to lash out. “You’re not wearing any underwear? Is this scrap of fabric even a skirt?”
“Does it look like I’ve done laundry to you?” she seethed as I set her down.
I could have kicked myself for opening my big mouth, but it just kept spilling out. “I cannot believe you are out in public like this. It’s not safe! You’re dressed like a blind hooker.”
“You know, Miles…” She backed away from me, pulled that ridiculously small scrap of fabric down to cover her lady bits, and scowled. “I’m the one pissed off at you. So, if this is how you want to do it, then fine! Fucking leave me alone. I can’t keep doing this with you. We. Are. Over.”
“You are such a child!” I shouted directly in her face. “You never play fair.”
“I don’t play fair?” Her eyes bulged out. “Was what you did to Tate and his friend fair?”
“I ran out to stop that fight! I never wanted to see my brother get hurt again.” I pounded on my chest. The anguish the memory evoked was still raw.
A flicker of doubt crossed the ocean of blue in her eyes.
“Did Tate tell you I hurt him?” It crushed me to ask the question. My voice noticeably shook.
Tears slid down Akela’s cheeks. “He doesn’t remember much from the beating. He’s been a shell of himself. His friend Jason, well, more than a friend…” Her breathing hitched and she gulped a sob. “He didn’t survive.”
“Oh, God.” My stomach rolled.
“I made him leave Jason there on the street to die alone.” She sobbed harder now and I pulled her to my chest again.
“You did the right thing. If you had taken him with you and he had died in your car, it would have been a lot of heat on your pack,” I whispered into her hair as I rubbed her back.
She looked up at me. Her tear-stained cheeks sent millions of knives to my gut. “Promise me,” she started, her lips settling into a firm line. “Promise me you had nothing to do with the beating.”
I took her right hand and placed it directly over my heart. “I swear on our bond, I knew nothing about it. I heard a noise. Went outside. Immediately jumped in to put a stop to it.” I stared solemnly into her eyes until I was convinced she believed me. “Can I see Tate?”
She shook her head. “He left Austin’s pack last month.”
“What do you mean? Where did he go?” I asked worriedly.
“Raff started a pack. Jason wasn’t the love of Tate’s life, but they were close and he needs distance from all of this to heal. Raff came to collect him after the last full moon. Tate looked relieved to go.”
She had no idea the impact her words had on me. I was crushed. I thought Tate would leave Austin’s pack one day, but only to join mine, so we could be a family again. But he didn’t even consider joining me. I was only worthy of the misfits.
As if on cue Able pulled up at the end of the alley and rolled down his window. “Hey, Boss!” he shouted. “We really gotta go.” He was frantically waving at me.
I turned back to Akela. “Come home with me. We can get washed up, I’ll cook you dinner.” She had never said yes before, but her excuse was always Tate.
Glancing over at Able’s car she shook her head and any hope I had plummeted. “I need to get home.”
Rejection was a bitter pill to swallow. One would think I’d be immune to it by now. “I should be your home,” I said with little inflection and headed to the car.
I slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. “Why didn’t you just wait in the parking lot?” I questioned with a groan as I noticed the back seat full of snacks and liquor. “Did you pay for that?”
“I paid for some of it?” was his sheepish reply. “The trick is not to just walk out without buying anything. Like you did,” he countered with a pointed look. “With the whiskey.”
Oh, shit! As Able peeled away I watched the owner of the shop round the corner to where I left Akela, post-coitus, presumably still pissed off, and seemingly in possession of a stolen bottle of whiskey I left by her feet. I’m pretty sure I just landed myself another few months in the doghouse.
Chapter Fourteen
Present Day
Breakfast was a pleasant affair, that is, once Caius put some pants on. Not having Dex around changed the group dynamic. Akela was noticeably more open. The six of us actually used the country oak dining room table for an honest-to-goodness sit-down family-style meal. Luke slowly sipped his coffee while a dreamy expression floated over his pale features. Able took advantage of Luke’s distraction sliding bacon from the pale shifter’s plate to his own, but a single frown from Akela had him hanging his head and putting it back before Luke even noticed. Xan and Caius were retelling their favorite story of when an older human woman came into the shop. Her car had been towed in and she had no clue why it wasn’t working. She’d been feeding it all good stuff. Which then always prompted, “She what?” Then they regale the listener with a crazy list of the sixty-four items they extracted from inside the engine of the car.
“Wait a minute.” Akela paused to take a breath and wipe her eyes, “She stuck fried frog legs in where?”
“She said she was looking for the intake manifold,” Caius answered with a grin. “’Cause where else would you want to take in something?”
Akela’s full belly laugh at the question stirred a fire inside my own. This felt so right. All this time. All these years. She was finally here, with me, with my pack, soon to be our pack. I could’ve been pissed that getting here was a bumpy road, requiring a prisoner exchange, but fuck it. She slept in my bed, made me breakfast, and was sitting here listening to car mechanic stories with a smile on her face. This is all I ever wanted.
“You must have made a fortune off of her,” Akela chuckled.
“Sadly, no.” Xan shook his head solemnly. “Our alpha barely charged her enough to cover the cost of the parts. Said it wouldn’t be fair.”
Akela shot a questioning look my way.
I shrugged. “She was elderly and most likely had dementia.”
“Why fix her car at all, then?” she asked.
“He helped her sell it,” Xan provided the answer when I was slow to. “She still had payments to make on the thing, but clearly shouldn’t be driving anymore. So, Miles fixed it, sold it, covered the costs of the parts and her payments, and then gave her the rest.”
“There were only a few hundred bucks left. She needed it more than we did,” I muttered, hating how much the guys needled me about being a softie when it came to the elderly.
“You’re right, Alpha,” Xan replied startling me with his sincerity. “It was the honorable thing to do.”
I rolled my eyes. “No need to lay it on so thick, man.” I clapped Xan on the shoulder. “Akela isn’t meeting me for the first time. You don’t have to talk me up. She’s here to get to know all of you better.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Luke spoke for the first time.
