A Mate for the Alpha and His Brothers (2 page)

Amory’s lips split into a grin, and he was glad no one could see him. He wouldn’t mind at all if she undressed. She had an abundance of strength and spirit inside that slender body. A body that he anticipated would look very nice indeed unclothed.

Nelson coughed, and Nahum replied, “Maybe remove your boots, ma’am.” She did so, and he realized they’d had high heels. She was even smaller than he’d thought. She picked up the dagger, tenderly placing it back in the fabric bag and said, “I’m holding you responsible for looking after my things. I don’t want anything stolen.”

“No, ma’am,” said Nelson.

Nahum looked at the camera and said, “Shall I bring her to you, sir?”

“Yes, thank you. And ask Brayden to bring us some coffee, please.”

He couldn’t wait to see this woman up closer. How had she known to come to him? And who the fuck was she anyway?

* * * *

LC Parker, known to everyone, including her own family, as Elsie, had understood that coming here to the panther headquarters was a huge risk. But since she’d determined to return the dagger to its rightful owners, instead of helping her brother give it to the man the gang called The Fixer, her life wasn’t worth shit anyway.

Actually her life hadn’t been worth shit for quite a while. Not for over a year since her mother had finally died from the cancer that had slowly and painfully sucked the last little bit of life out of her. Elsie straightened her shoulders. She wasn’t going to think about that anymore. Her mother had moved on and was out of pain now. It was up to Elsie to save herself since JJ was likely to get them both killed the way he was acting lately.

She was led down a hallway of regular offices. She could have been in any office building in the city, instead of in the building she knew housed a pack of shape-shifting panthers. She ought to be scared witless. She was a human, and not a very big, strong, or brave one at that. Any of these men could snap her in half like a carrot stick, and likely chew her up and swallow her down like a carrot stick as well.

But they were her only hope. However, she wasn’t stupid. As soon as the Alpha promised to return the dagger to the person who owned it, she was out of here. Not just out of the panthers’ building, but out of town, and out of Ohio as well. She didn’t know where she was going, and she had no money to buy a bus ticket. The few dollars she’d managed to save she’d need for food.

There was a diner on the outskirts of town where trucks stopped. She aimed to beg a ride with one of the truck drivers and go wherever they went. As far as possible from here. She wasn’t naïve. She knew some of them would expect sex in return for the ride, but surely one among them would be a family man who’d help her. Or a gay man who wasn’t interested in females. That would work.

Her guide, the security guard, a big man in a black uniform, and the twin of the one who’d stayed back in the entry foyer, knocked on an open door. This must be the Alpha’s office. It was a big room but not at all luxurious. The man she supposed was the Alpha sat behind a large desk, but it was littered with piles of papers. In front of it were three plain wooden straight-backed chairs. At the other end of the room two sofas faced each other with a coffee table between them.

Her escort stopped and waited in silence until the Alpha waved him in. He handed the dagger to the Alpha but made no attempt to sit in the straight-backed chairs, so she didn’t either, although her knees were a little wobbly with fear. Being at the mercy of people she didn’t know was terrifying. But the alternative was worse, so she straightened her shoulders, raised her chin, and looked at the Alpha.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“LC Parker, sir.”

“Why are you here, LC?”

That surprised her. He definitely said LC, not Elsie. Almost no one picked up on that tiny distinction.

“To return the dagger. You know that. You were watching and listening on the TV.”

He shot her a fierce look from gray eyes under heavy, dark brown eyebrows.
Oops.
She ought not to have answered him like that. She’d been out of society for too long and needed to reclaim her manners really quickly.

Elsie felt the presence of someone behind her and spun around. It was a man carrying a coffeepot and a pile of disposable cups. He put the coffeepot on top of one of the shorter stacks of paper on the desk and set the cups beside it before going over to the far wall and leaning against it, his arms crossed over his chest.

The security guard nodded at the Alpha and left.

“Sit down and pour yourself some coffee then tell me the full story, from the beginning.”

Elsie had to tense her muscles so her hand didn’t shake when she poured the coffees. She poured three, one for each of them, handing the Alpha his, and walking across the room to give the new man his, before sitting down and taking her own.

It was black, but she didn’t mind. Cream and sugar were luxuries her household couldn’t always afford, and this was nice coffee, a good quality blend, not instant.

“My brother, who is much younger than me…um…came across the dagger. His friends wanted to give it to a person they know who pays for such items, but I wanted it to be returned to the person who owns it, so I brought it to you.”

“How do you know about me?”

The scary, fierce look was back on his face. Elsie refused to be cowed. “I play chess. I used to belong to a chess club.”

The Alpha spoke very slowly, as if he was dredging the information up from the bottom of his memory. “Someone at your club lost their travel chess set.”

“That’s right. Your company returned it to him.”

“That was several months ago.”

“Yes, about three months ago. I had to leave the club just after that.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t able to pay my membership fees. They gave me an extra six months free because—Well, they did, but I still couldn’t pay.” Because her mother had died, and she hadn’t had a paying job for twelve months as her mother had needed her. But the neighborhood they lived in now didn’t look good on a resume. Especially one that had only intermittent work for the past five years because she’d always put her care for her mother higher than her need to keep her job.

And I don’t regret that at all. I will cherish the memories of Mom and me spending time together on her better days.

“Getting back to this dagger. Your brother stole it.”

“No, he didn’t.” Her response was instant and heartfelt, although possibly not one hundred percent accurate.

“He might have been the look-out person or something, but not the actual thief. He doesn’t want to join the gang and end up in jail. It’s just that in our neighborhood, well…” Elsie ran out of words.

How would these people have any concept at all of the grinding poverty in the neighborhood where they lived now? Before her mom had gotten sick, they hadn’t been rich, but they had been surrounded by good, hard-working people and kids who went to school. But her mom’s illness had drained every cent of the family’s savings, and then gradually they’d sold everything they could, even the car. Finally they’d moved into the cheapest apartment they could find. Her brother, so much younger than her, had suffered the most.

Even on the days when he went to school, she didn’t think he learned much. Some of the teachers didn’t care what the students did or even if they went to class. Others cared, but spent most of their time trying to maintain discipline. Elsie didn’t think very many of the teachers managed to instill much learning in the students. After a while, her brother had simply avoided school.

She really couldn’t blame him.

The Alpha gave a hand signal to the other man, who left the room, closing the door behind him. The Alpha poured them both a second cup of coffee, leaned back in his chair, and said, “Why don’t you begin at the beginning and tell me why a young woman would arrive at a shape-shifter enclave on foot, with spare clothing hidden inside a coat.”

Elsie sighed. “It’s a very long story. Five years long.”

For the first time, the man smiled. “Do you think you could cut it down and tell me in five hours?”

Elsie’s breath caught in her throat. When he smiled, he was amazing. His eyes sparkled, the creases on his forehead smoothed out, and he looked like what he was, an exceptionally handsome man.

“I’ll aim for five minutes. My mother had cancer. It was much too late to operate when it was discovered. It was already in her spine. She quit her job and had chemotherapy and took pills, but like I said, it was much too late. She got a lot sicker quite quickly, so I left my job and took on part-time work so I could be with her and help her.”

“You said your brother is much younger. Was he working?”

“He was twelve. He’s seventeen now and still in school. When he goes. We had to move into a cheaper apartment, and the schools in the district aren’t…aren’t…well, I’m sure you can guess.”

He nodded, and she took a mouthful of coffee, bracing herself to continue.

“He said he has to be seen with one of the gangs to be safe. I expect it’s the truth. Like I said, it’s not a nice neighborhood. He’s resisted joining, but he has to cooperate with them. The gang has started working with a man called The Fixer. He tells them what to steal and which houses to go to and steal it. He’s even given one of the older boys a car so they can travel anywhere around town.”

“How did you learn about the dagger?”

“The person who’d ordered it changed their mind, and The Fixer hasn’t paid for it yet. The gang left it with JJ, and he’s supposed to hand it over when the time comes. I begged him not to. He’ll end up in jail for sure. The Fixer doesn’t care. He laughs at the boys when they go into danger. I’ve told JJ to leave town, to go away, and he wants to, yet he won’t.”

“So you’re going to run away instead? Will JJ follow you?”

“I don’t know. I’m planning to go to another state and get a job and then send for him. I have to do it fast though. The rent on the apartment is only paid for another month. That was all the money I could get. No one wants to hire a woman with no reference.”

Elsie realized she sounded bitter. She wasn’t. Her mother couldn’t help getting sick, and JJ couldn’t help only being a boy still. She was the adult. It was up to her to find a job and make a new start for herself and JJ. And she’d do it, too.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“There’s a diner where the trucks stop about five miles from here. I’m going to walk there and find a truck driver who wants a passenger. I’ll go wherever he’s going.”

The Alpha jumped to his feet, gray eyes blazing. “No you will not.”

Brayden Willard was standing outside his brother’s door watching and waiting. It was still early, too damn early really, but his brother was a fucking workaholic, and he and Favian were determined to take some of the load off him. At least there were two of them so they could take it in turns. Right now, likely Favian was still tucked up in his bed asleep, although, to be fair, Favian had stayed up late last night, so now it was his shift.

The sound of his brother’s voice roaring, “
no
,” galvanized Brayden into action. He shouldered the door open, coming through it low and fast, ready to disarm the woman or take the bullet meant for the Alpha. Every panther swore to protect his Alpha with his life, if necessary, and Brayden had meant that vow when he made it. He just hadn’t expected the danger to come out of nowhere from an itty-bitty human female.

He skidded to a stop in front of Amory’s desk. There were no weapons anywhere. Amory was standing, glaring at the woman, but she was still seated in her chair, hunched against the back of it, putting as much space between her and the Alpha as she could.

“What’s wrong?” Brayden asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. Why didn’t you open the door instead of smashing it?”

“I didn’t smash it.” Brayden turned and looked at the door to Amory’s office. It was hanging drunkenly off the top hinge.

“Okay, maybe I did. Don’t worry. I’ll fix it. Why did you yell out if nothing’s wrong?”

Brayden looked from his brother to the woman. Her blue eyes were huge and round, and she was staring at them both as if they were crazy. Frankly, he couldn’t blame her.

The Alpha dropped back into his chair and rubbed his hands through his hair. Brayden noticed the few strands of gray in it seemed to have multiplied. His brother wasn’t old—he wouldn’t be forty until next year—but the occasional, rare gray thread in his dark brown hair had become a noticeable sprinkling of salt among the pepper. That had happened in this past twelve months and was just another sign that it was time Amory handed more of the everyday tasks over to him and Favian.

“I’m sorry for startling you, Brayden. Close the door and sit down.”

Brayden lifted the door back into place. It wasn’t precisely closed, but it would block out most of the sound of their conversation, so that was good enough until he could get Favian to help him glue it back together. Likely it’d need new hinges as well. Too bad. It was better than risking the Alpha’s life.

“LC Parker, this is my brother, Brayden Willard. Brayden, LC.”

Brayden shook her hand and sat down beside her, moving the chair another inch or two away from hers so she didn’t feel crowded. He hoped she wasn’t going to be embarrassed, but it had sounded like his brother had used the initials LC, rather than the name Elsie. Were women even called Elsie anymore? That was a very old name. But she fascinated him. Why the hell was she here anyway? So he risked annoying his brother and embarrassing the woman and said, “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. Is that Elsie or the letters, L and C?”

“Both. My legal name is LC, named for my father Lewis Clyde, but I’m always called by the feminine name Elsie.”

“Gotcha.” Although why some man would give his daughter a male name boggled his mind. Why not call her Louise instead of Lewis? Some people were strange.

“LC—Elsie is planning to grab a ride with any truck driver heading out of town. I don’t consider this a good idea.”