Chapter 8

ALEXI

"Where is it?" I ask again as my silver knuckles connect with his jaw. I feel a slight twinge of something in my gut, I think it's because of my revelations. I dismiss them as I interrogate further.

He's bleeding. Burned flesh fills the barn.

"I don't know." He insists. No, longer yelling his protest. He seems to be tiring as we have been at this for over an hour.

I grab my coat and wipe the blood from my knuckles. "Mmmm......" I press my lips together as I walk circles around the men, my hands clicking my knuckles together behind my back. "Since you do not have the answers I need, maybe one of these gentlemen will give them to me."

He lifts his head, his wounds already healing. My knuckles are enough to deliver a more painful punch, but they don't sit long enough to scar on the skin. Already, his prefect features are coming back. "Tell me who you are?" He watches me walk around.

"Why?" I whip my head to him.

He thumps his head back on the pole. He's weak and seems desperate. "I just...need to know."

I walk back over to him. There's about a six-inch gap between us. "Where is the armory?" I ask softly. Eyeing him up and down.

He looks down at me, locking my eyes again. "Tell me your name." He whispers. He holds his jaw strong. A sight I appreciate in a man.

I spin around. "No. You will tell me where the armory is or I will systematically kill your friends right in front of you." I remove my coat. I clean off my black, tight long sleeve shirt and stuff my hands in the pocket of my black pants.

I walk up to him again. I pull a bullet out of my pocket. I hold it up to his face so he can get a good look. "Do you know what this is?" I tilt my head, waiting on an answer.

He looks to the bullet, then locks my eyes. "No."

I hold it on display between my forefinger and thumb. "Liquid Silver Nitrate. In a glass casing. Do you know what happens when a wolf's exposed to liquid silver directly to the bloodstream?"

"Where did you get that?" His eyes glow gold and his teeth are clenched. Even with a blood covered mouth, his lips and teeth are perfect.

I ignore his question. "The victim, if shot in say the lower leg, will still be alive for some time. 48 hours to be exact. Once the silver enters the veins, it pools. In the heart. Then the heart explodes. Give me the answers I seek or each one of your friends will have 48 hours to live."

He rolls his head back, wincing. Clearly fighting with himself. He needs just a tiny bit more convincing; I think.

I walk to my coat and pull out my gun. I pull out the clip and show him the liquid bullets. I put it back in. I walk to the one man beside him on the other pole. I get close as the man I stand in front of stares me down. I see a little fear in his eyes. I smile at him and run my fingernail down his chiseled jawline. I lift his chin and he fights his fear making tiny sounds. I place the gun against his cheek. His eyes immediately go to his Alpha as he struggles.

The Alpha watches intently. Shaking his head. I run my gun down the fearful man's chest to his leg. I turn my head to the Alpha. "48 hrs." I say quietly. The man shakes more.

His eyes toss wildly between me and his friend. I can see he's thinking. Weighing his options. The Alphas guns or his friend's life. I understand the struggle, but I'm running out of patience. I arch a brow and cock my gun. His friend starts to really panic.

I stand, wide legged, with my gun pointed at his friend's leg. Glaring at the Alpha.

I was about to pull the trigger when the Alpha shouts, "Alright!"

I raise my gun and his friend releases a very shaky breath. "Tell me." I demand.

"I can't tell you, but I can show you. These guys don't know anything. They just work for me. What I show you is way above their paychecks. You let me and them go and I'll show you where the armory is." His eyes stare at me. His tone is serious. He doesn't falter in his speech.

I walk over to him. "If you're lying...." I raise my gun to him.

"I'm not." His eyes don't move a muscle.

I walk over to the child on the floor. I pull out a knife from a holster on my thigh. I hold it up and look at the Alpha once more.

I squat down in front of the child and cut his bonds. "Free them." I order,

He gets up hesitantly and runs to the scared man and his partner on the pole. Untying the ropes. I stand and watch over the child as he frees the Alpha and his friend behind him.

The Alpha walks up to me rubbing his wrists. "Thank you." He gives me a tiny smile.

He turns to watch his friends leave the barn.

"You're welcome." I say cautiously.

He turns back to me. "I'm really sorry."

I look at him confused. He grabs my shoulders and smashes his head into mine and sends me to the ground.

Everything goes black.

****

I come to and I'm on the barn floor. Ian is standing over me. His arms crossed and a brow arched. I sit up holding my bleeding head. Wincing at the pain. I get up, shaky on my feet.

"Alexi?" Ian questions. "What happened?"

I sit in a chair. Holding my head fighting the headache throbbing in my brain. "They escaped."

He stands tall. "I can see that. How?"

I stand up and wipe my bleeding head with a towel. "That's none of your concern." I pull on my coat and holster my gun. He took all theirs, but left mine. I'm a little shocked considering the bullets it contains.

"Did you find the armory?" Ian asked.

"No. I don't think they have one. He tricked me. It won't happen twice." I growl.

"No. It won't. We did this your way, now we do it mine." He leans to my face.

"The Alphas mine, Ian. Don't lose sight of that." I snap.

"Clearly not for your mission. You want him for something else." The corner of his mouth lifts into a condescending smile.

I point to him. "He will die by my hand and mine alone. If you stand in my way, I will waste a bullet on you if I have to." I speak with pure conviction dripping off my tongue.

He smiles. "You're sexy when you talk like that."

I groan and head out the door. "Where you going?" Ian calls.

"I have an Alpha to hunt." I call back and walk into the night.

****

LUKE

As intrigued as I am about this wily red head, I can't help but notice, she's bat shit crazy.

Seeing the fear in Terry's eyes, I knew I had to do something and quick. I was basically thinking on my feet. One step at a time. First step was, get us free. The second, get us out and third, live.

To be honest, I'm shocked it worked. But now I have a problem. A big problem. Ian knows I'm back now. That's not good.

Ian loves a psycho battle. He knows me. What my weaknesses are. Him knowing I'm back in town and him being in charge of the Lycans now, my house and everyone in it are in big trouble.

Ian was a good kid. So was I, to an extent. Our falling out happened when he was recruited to a carjacking ring. He kept it from me. I found out when he was arrested. I told him my family could help him get his shit together. He just had to stay away from that element of this town. I guess criminal activity is a drug to some people because after bailing him out and setting him up, I found out he was meeting the Lycans behind my back. I demanded he choose the gang or me as a friend. He said a few choice words and ultimately destroyed our friendship.

Evidently, he's become leader in that time, but he'll always be that dumb kid to me. It hurt me to see how far my friend had fallen.

After that, I left. Joined the unit like my parents wanted. I felt for the longest time, that I just didn't do enough. I loved Ian like a brother and for years I felt I failed him, but it wasn't me. It was the glamor that surrounds a gang like the Lycans. Infamy, power, everything a wolf would crave.

Now, I sit in my packhouse. Wondering what the hell to do next as Bobby yells at me. He's been yelling for forty minutes and I haven't heard a damn thing.

I'm also sitting here thinking how close I was to her. How she looked like a goddess all dressed in black with those silver knuckles. I hated knocking her out. It killed me to leave her there. But we needed out. I'll think of something else.

Right now, I can sit and revel in the fact I had the fucking privilege to see her up close. To smell her again. To remember how my mouth watered watching her full lips yell at me. I think I may be a little masochistic because the whole time she was beating the shit out of me I was holding a semi in my jeans.

I remember my hands all itchy to grab those red curls and just yank them back while she screamed my name. I must be the sickest dude on the rock. She clearly hates my guts, but I want to lick every goddamn inch of her sun kissed skin.

The question is how? How do I get close enough to talk, but keep her far enough away so she doesn't kill me? It's like trying to become friends with a viper.

Bobby kicks my leg off the coffee table. "Are you fucking listening?" He yells.

I scrunch my brow. "No." I walk to the bar and grab a beer. Cracking it open and swigging it back.

"Damn it, Luke." He storms over to me. "You almost got us fucking killed, for what? For a fucking girls name?"

I shake my head. "No. We know some things." I tip my bottle back.

He throws his hands up. "What? What do we know?"

"We know who's running the Lycans. And I know what he's like. So, score one for us." I grab another bottle.

Trying to make sense of anything I'm saying, Bobby scrubs a hand down his face. "That doesn't mean shit. We don't know what their planning. How big they are. How they're operating. We don't know shit, Luke and if you had just done this properly, we'd have those answers."

I sigh. "Alright Bobby, I fucked up. I get it."

He points a finger at me. "No. You don't get to run from this. Who's the fucking girl?"

My jaw fell. Fuck.

"No one." I avoid eye contact.

He glares at me. "Bullshit. You're lying."

"No....I'm not." I down half my bottle.

He wags his finger at me. "Yes, you are. You interrogated her for her name. Why? If I'm to be your Beta, damn it, you need to trust me."

I set my beer down. "Ok. She may or may not be the one who jumped me. I've been trying to find and now I have. Turns out she's as crazy as I remember so case closed." I grab my bottle and head for the couch. I sink into it.

Bobby joins me. "That's it."

I nod. "Yep."

"You expect me to believe that?" He crosses his arms.

I roll my head to him. "It's the truth, Bobby."

He studies my face. "I still think your hiding something."

I shrug him off. I didn't lie totally. I did find her. She was the one who jumped me, but the case is definitely not closed.

Not by a long shot.