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Chapter Fourteen

Fox

I’m unsure what shade of white he is right now but seeing how he’s nearly translucent and we’ve barely touched him has me wondering just how long he’s going to last.

“You’ve been fucking with her for a while now, though,” I retort, ignoring how he’s trying to bait me or one of my brothers to end his life sooner. “And yes, you would smell her on me since she’s my fated mate.” His eyes nearly pop out of my head as I nod. “Yeah, that’s right. Fated , motherfucker. So, I think I’m gonna play with you for a little bit until I’ve worked it out of my system.”

“Can we help?” Chaos questions, smirking at me.

“Don’t see why not,” I reply. “I mean, y’all’s mates are with mine so there’s no way you could know he wouldn’t pose a threat to them or your pups.”

I mean, for all I know, Vivi could be expecting already since we haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since cementing our bond. I haven’t noticed her scent changing, but regardless, my own pup or pups could’ve been in extreme danger from this crackpot.

“Vivi could be expecting too,” Popeye muses, plucking the thoughts from my head as he continues staring straight at Carter. “I mean, I know it’s early days since y’all completed your mate bond, but if you’re anything like these two,” he continues, pointing to Stealth and Chaos, “it won’t take long at all.”

“There’s probably something you should know about us,” Stealth says, as if he and Carter are getting to know each other over a few beers. “The first thing is, we’re a family through thick and thin. We may be dysfunctional as fuck at times, but most families are. That being said, we protect our family from any and all threats. You heard what I did to someone who threatened the welfare of my mate, but what they didn’t tell you is, every single fucker who was involved was treated the same fucking way as the instigator. No one survived long enough to tell that particular tale. In fact, we wiped out that whole scumbag club. Second of all, not only were you targeting a fated mate, but you were after our president’s ol’ lady and fated mate. That’s a death sentence, Carter, on both counts.”

“I don’t see anything particularly redeeming about him,” Chaos adds. “I mean, right now, our mates are being watched over by our prospects, they’ve had their good weekend getaway spoiled, and where are we? Here dealing with trash, plain and simple.”

“Maybe his mother should’ve swallowed,” Popeye says. “Isn’t he the alpha’s son or some shit?”

“He is, but I sure don’t get that vibe off of him,” I reply. “Speaking of, where is Daddy Dearest?” I ask Carter, who has now pissed himself.

Because Carter may have brought his father with him and that’ll mean more cleanup. After all, we don’t leave a job done half-assed.

“Let me look into that really quick,” Popeye suggests, going over to where his laptop is set up on the table. Stealth hands him the wallet he slipped from Carter’s back pocket, and I watch as Popeye works his magic on his keyboard, his fingers flying. “Uh huh. Hmm. Okay,” he mutters, which is driving me fucking nuts.

“Popeye,” I bellow, hating this stalling shit he does sometimes when he finds something intriguing. “Get to the fucking point!”

“His father is in town with him, in fact, he paid for the hotel they’re booked into and staying in, Pres,” Popeye replies, his eyes never looking away from his monitor’s screen. “Damn, y’all some stingy fuckers, not tipping your waitress. Not cool, asshole. Not cool at all. Okay, got it,” he states, jotting down some information before ripping off a piece of paper from the pad of paper he always carries.

“Go get him,” I instruct, handing the information to Stealth. “As for you,” I tell Carter, “we’ll give you a few more love taps to remind you of just exactly who the fuck you’re messing with while we wait for your daddy to get here.”

“Ogre, you’re with me,” Stealth says to our club’s road captain. “Attila, you too.”

“Guess that means we need to get our licks in while we wait, huh, Pres?” Lobo asks. He’s one of our newer patches, but definitely a capable brother.

We’re not a huge club, which is fine with me. I suppose if we need to, we can add more members eventually, but I’d rather keep it small, so we don’t lose the family vibe. Still, if a shifter wants to prospect, we’ll put them through their paces.

“Absolutely. Just make sure you don’t hit anything vital, so he doesn’t bleed out before we’re ready to end this,” I decree.

While we wait for Stealth and Ogre to return, I pull out my phone to text Vivi.

Me: Hey, babe. Still here dealing with things, but we’ll be back. What time’s the dinner tonight?

Vivi: We’re meeting around 7:30, do you think you’ll be done by then?

Me: Definitely. Why don’t y’all get some rest. You especially since we’re gonna have a long night.

Vivi: We are?

Me: I remember promises of naked gratitude, babe.

Vivi: You’re such a biker…lol.

Me: All day, every day. Later, Vivi.

Vivi: Okay, Fox.

“That look on your face says you’ve been texting Vivi,” Chaos says, moving close to me while keeping an eye on the brothers.

Carter is definitely looking worse for the wear at this point. Each limb has long, shallow gashes, and his shirt is in shreds, as are the jeans he was wearing. Even his feet didn’t escape unscathed. And while I’m somewhat inured to the various ways my brothers torture anyone who threatens our club or livelihood, I wince when I see Lobo pour salt on his gaping wounds. Then, Popeye adds insult to injury when he takes the bottle of rubbing alcohol and uses the spray bottle to cover Carter’s body.

“Yeah. They don’t have the dinner until around seven thirty tonight, so I told her to take a nap,” I reply. “I figure it won’t take long to finish this up once the alpha gets here.”

“Same. I’ll go up and talk to Warren to see if he can reach out to anyone from his old pack and make sure there’ll be no blowback on the club. If the alpha has gone rogue, they may just replace him, and everything will be copacetic.”

“I’ll make sure they don’t go too far,” Chaos promises as I head back upstairs.

“Warren, anyone you trust from your old pack that you can reach out to and see what’s going on? We found out your old alpha is in town as well,” I say as I sit next to Warren at the bar and signal Teeny for a beer.

“Yeah, I can call the beta. He was my brother-in-law. Well, maybe he still is? Hell, I don’t really know to be honest. It was my mate’s brother,” he replies, pulling out a phone.

I listen in on his conversation and realize that the alpha went rogue, so the beta is now the designated alpha since no one else wanted to challenge him for the position. He relays that information and I head back downstairs to see that while I’ve been conversing with Warren, Stealth and Ogre have returned with the alpha.

“So, y’all figured you’d just come to Texas and settle in Zephyr Hills?” I ask the dethroned alpha.

“You can’t treat me like this! I’m an alpha from a well-known pack in the Pacific Northwest!” the alpha bellows, trying to push his alpha power through the room. I can feel it, it’s a tickle sensation but I’m sorry to say, he’s got nothing, power-wise on any of us at all.

“I can and am treating you and your son like this,” I sneer, my own alpha powers coating the room. Even my own brothers, who are alphas in their own rights, are fighting the pull to submit right now.

It’s good to show everyone who’s boss once in a while , my wolf decrees.

“You know that while it’s perfectly fine for a shifter to choose a mate, you do not fuck with fated mates,” I state, my tone conversational. “Y’all fucked with the wrong females, because Angie also happens to be a mate to one of my brothers. Not to mention, but your son terrified my mate to the point she left her home and her only living relative. You may have been an alpha for your pack, but you’re not a god, for fuck’s sake! We’re your judges, jury, and executioners, Alpha Dawson. And that’s the last time you’ll hear that title, so you should revel in it because you’re not long for this side of the fucking grass.”

With a nod to Stealth and Chaos, I let them do their thing until both males are practically unconscious, gaping, bleeding wounds covering their bodies. When I’m positive that we’ll get nothing else from them, I move closer, allow my claws on both hands to extend through the nail beds and as my hands swipe across each of their throats, ripping through their jugulars. As they choke on their blood, I say, “You shoulda made better choices. Both of you. Your mistakes cost you your lives. Enjoy Hell.”

Despite my best efforts, I still manage to get coated in blood from the tip of my boots to the edge of my hairline. I strip down, thankful that I remembered to hang my cut on the hooks we have on the wall coming down the stairs, grab my boots since I’ll be able to clean them, and head up to my suite. I’ll miss those jeans, but it’s a small price to pay to ensure my Vivi breathes easy from here on out.

You have like, ten more pairs of that brand of jeans, my wolf jeers at me. You buy them in bulk, remember?

I really need to remember to cut my link to him when I’m doing my yearly shopping. We may be bonded, but sometimes, he’s a pain in my damn ass.

One hot shower later and I’m getting dressed in a fresh Henley, another pair of jeans, and my freshly cleaned boots. Thank the goddess for prospects, because I had to make sure the bathroom was cleaned up from the bloodbath it was after my stay in the stall.

“Time to get back to the girls,” Stealth says as I hit the common room. He and Chaos are both showered as well and apparently, just waiting on me.

“Yeah, good idea.”

“Everything worked out okay?” Warren asks. He hastily puts his hands up and says, “I know I can’t know the particulars, but you’re sure Vivi and Angie are in no danger from here on out, right?”

“They’re golden, Warren. We’ll see you guys tomorrow. Got a hot date with a beautiful mate at a Mexican restaurant.”

“Enjoy, Fox. And thanks for being the mate my daughter needed. Next to my own, she’s the most precious thing in my life. I know it might not have seemed like it with the deal the alpha put in place, but she truly is the reason I stayed after my mate died.”

“No worries, I know you were only obeying an alpha’s direct command, Warren,” I reply.

“Let’s ride,” Stealth says. “Need to make sure my mate is okay.”

I snicker then state, “Don’t have to say that twice, Brother.”