Dirty Looks (Dirt Track Dogs: The Second Lap Book 1) (10 page)

“They’re here,” she said. “We’ve been found.”

His face went deadly, his expression tightening to reveal a hardened fighter. Even his dirty looks at the bar hadn’t been any indication of the person she saw before her now. Her human had a deadly air about him.

He was exactly who she needed by her side. For now, and for the future. Her mate was capable and it pleased her animal greatly.

“Who’s here?” Waldo asked, scowling so hard his mouth actually looked flipped on its end.

Rider looked at them like they’d lost their minds. Rod stared after Sera and Kit, frowning hard.

“Mac, get Ragan out of here,” Lexington demanded.

He gave a furious nod. “Let’s go, girl.” He pulled her by the arm in the direction Seraphina had gone.

“Don’t got a clue what you’re going on about,” Rod muttered. “But hell, I’ll go too.” He shrugged and followed after the others. That left Barb, Sally, and Aaron. She needed to get Rider and Waldo out of the fray.

She glanced helplessly at Aaron, hoping he was catching her vibe.
Get the innocents out of our way
.

He gave her a nod, and turned to Rider. “Better take off your watch. Keep your knife though.”

Wait… he was bringing Rider in on this?

“You boys in some kind a trouble?” Waldo asked. “Shoulda known it. Y’all was always in trouble. Gahdamn it.” He stalked off toward the ticket office muttering and shaking his head.

“What the hell is this?” Rider demanded, unbuckling his utility watch and placing it on the back of Sally’s bike. Pulling a black bandana from his back pocket, he skillfully wrapped it around his forehead and tied it off. “Who are we fighting?”

“Assholes of epic proportions,” Sally muttered.

“There’s something you should know,” Aaron started, eyeing his friend, but he didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Where are they, where are they?” Barb shuffled from foot to foot, fists clenching and releasing with her adrenaline. “I’m gonna shift,” she warned. “My fox is going apeshit. Gonna shift, and be ready for ‘em, okay, Lex? Gotta do it. Can’t hold it in.”

Lexington took a breath to stop her, but it was too late. With only a pop of air to alert them, Barb transformed, her body becoming loose brown fur tinged in red. Her pointed ears flicked as she shook out her tail and bared her razor sharp teeth with a soft snarl.

Lexington glanced at Aaron, who looked nonplussed. Rider, however, had grown eyeballs ten times his normal size.

“What.
The
.
Fuck
?” It was barely a breath before flipping up at the end to something pitched high with shock. “She… she just turned into a… fuck, a…”

“A fox,” Sally said. “We can all do that. Take a deep breath and get over it, okay? And please, do it fast.”

Sally said please. It was an indication of how dire she deemed the situation.

Barb’s nose raised, sniffing the air, and then she let out a yip, circling around and scenting some more. Without warning, she bounded forward, forcing them to follow her. Aaron had already unsheathed his knife from the holder on his waist, and he led the way around the pit entrance to the back fences while Lexington followed.

“Come on, Rider Daley,” Sally murmured, taking off after Lexington. “You look scrappy, and we’re going to need some of that.”

“Or not,” Aaron called back.

Lexington couldn’t see up ahead to know what he was talking about, but when she caught up to him and Barb, it all made sense. Puzzle pieces clicking into place.

Three Dirt Track Dogs strolled toward them, going from lighthearted, carefree chatter to frowning in the time it took them to set eyes on Barb in her fox form. The alpha was one of them, and two others Lexington hadn’t met yet.

One sported a nearly shaved head and a pair of aviator sunglasses, and had a long stem of grass hanging out the side of his mouth while he chewed the end.

The other was severely scarred on one entire side of his face. It looked like he’d been in a fight with one asshole of a fire and survived. His mouth twisted grotesquely at the corner and the mottled burn marks streaked down his neck and disappeared beneath the collar of his t-shirt. If you’d seen him only in profile, you wouldn’t know the other side was any different. But even with his stark brutal scars, something about his eyes told Lexington he was safe. Safe as a shifter could be anyway.

She cut a glance at Barb. The fox was low to the ground, head down, eyes averted, showing the alpha his proper respect. Barb knew she’d fucked up, but not a single vixen could blame her. Kit had given the code word, put them on alert. They’d done what anyone else would do to protect their young.

But it wasn’t another fox Kit had scented. It wasn’t their past coming for them. It wasn’t a threat at all. It was these three wolves.

“Well, what the higgity hell is this?” The one with the sunglasses said as they came to a stop. “We heard some bikes were showin’ up at the track, so we hop in the truck and get our asses down here for a look… and find
this
instead. I’m thinking there’s an explanation worthy of a campfire retelling, but I still ain’t sure how you’ll get it out after Drake here chews your asses up.”

There was an awkward moment where no one knew what to say, and then Aaron sighed, holstering his knife.

“We thought you were someone else.”

“Yeah, human. Got that much. The question is who?” The male talked with a hint of amusement even though he seemed serious as hell.

Aaron’s eyes flicked to Lexington, then to Barb the fox.

“Blister,” he nodded to the scarred one, ignoring the question, and then to the alpha who hadn’t taken his eyes off Barb. “Drake.”

“Why is she shifted?” Drake gritted out, vibrating with the dominance of his wolf. “And in front of a human?”

“Motherfucker,” Rider muttered under his breath as he paced a tight circle, hands planted on his hips. “What is happening here?”

He looked pissed, and like he planned on ignoring them all until he got a handle on this whole transforming thing. Which… he was obviously attempting to explain away in his head while his boots ate up the dirt behind the fence. Lexington wondered what possible explanations he was coming up with. A weird reaction to something he’d eaten and now he was hallucinating? A psychotic break? Stress and lack of sleep had made him crack?

Humans were resourceful when faced with justifying the paranormal.

Drake stared hard at Lexington like she had the answers to Barb’s predicament and he planned on digging them out of her brain one by one until the scene before him made sense.

“There’s an explanation,” she started, but before she could find words, Waldo came running across the field lugging a shotgun and waving his hands like he was going to battle with a bear.

“Outta the way!” he roared, twelve hairs flapping in the wind as he rushed forward, expertly maneuvering around the ruts in the track. That was the only warning before he planted his feet and lined up a shot.

BOOM
.

The shot was a warning meant to get them all moving, and it did. Barb flinched, skittering left then right, looking for a place to hide. And that’s when the rest of them realized what Waldo was doing.

“Geet on outta here, ya mangy fox!”

But Barb had nowhere to go. She was surrounded by human legs that were shocked at the gunfire and trying to rally for a quick solution that wouldn’t end in a hit shifter.

A volley of NOs and WAITs and STOPs sounded off, but Waldo kept right on coming with his gun. In a panic, Rider threw himself on top of Barb’s fox, covering her body with his so Waldo wouldn’t shoot.

The rest of them breathed a sigh of relief as Waldo jogged over, scowling the whole way.

But Barb’s animal was in a tiff, clawing and scratching to get out from under Rider. He grit his teeth at her attack while his uncle regarded him like he’d lost his mind.

“You can’t just go around shooting animals whenever you feel like it,” Rider ground out.

“Sure as hell can if they on my property. Didn’t know you had such a tender heart in ya. You gonna just let it claw you up, son?”

Sunglasses whipped off his shirt and strutted forward. “We’ll take her outta here for ya, Waldo. Release her in the woods behind Drake’s house.”

“She’ll just find her way back. And she ain’t the first I’ve seen. There was one around back, with strange black markings.”

Ragan.

Sunglasses shot a look at Drake, and the alpha seemed to harden even more, glowering at Lexington.

“Nah. I’m betting you’ve scared the piss out of her by now.” Sunglasses nodded for Rider to move and he dropped his shirt over Barb, wrapping it around her wriggling body so she couldn’t panic-claw anymore. “You’ll thank me for this later,” he muttered. “Boy, will you thank me.”

Sunglasses lifted her into his arms and headed back toward the parking lot.

“Yeah, yeah,” Waldo muttered. “Fine. You do what you want with it. But I see any more wild animals around this track and I’m shooting first asking questions later.”

“That’s what you did this time,” Rider snapped, lumbering to a stand. Blood dripped down his arm, making a red map of his skin until it reached the destination of his fingertips.

Waldo grumbled and tossed his nephew the middle finger salute before chuffing off in the direction he came.

When he was out of earshot, Drake growled, “Find the others and meet at the club.” His eyes landed on Rider. “Humans too. We’re gonna sort this shit out before the whole damn town finds out what we are.”

He turned on his heel and stalked off.

Blister went to follow, giving Aaron’s shoulder a good-natured shove.

“Hey,” Aaron said, pitching his voice low. “Any chance you could keep this off my sister’s radar?”

Blister smiled, his scar keeping one side of his mouth straight. “Not a chance. My mate’s going to be thoroughly updated on your hijinks as soon as I see her.”

Aaron sighed. “Yeah, fine. We’ll catch up soon.”

Blister shook his head, looking exasperated. “Don’t make me come looking for you.” And then he trotted off to catch up with Drake and Sunglasses.

“Will Barb be alright?” Sally asked, sounding more than a little shaken. She cleared her throat, but it couldn’t erase the freaked look in her eyes.

“They’ll take care of her,” Aaron murmured, turning to meet Lexington’s gaze. “They won’t hurt her. I promise.”

“They’re good guys—” Rider added, and then stopped short. “Well, I guess I don’t know what the hell they are.”

Aaron glanced at his friend. “You’re fixin’ to get a crash course. And Rod too, I’m guessing.”

Rider swallowed hard, straightening his shoulders so he looked a little more badass. The action had the desired effect. “We’re going to need a lot more beer for this.”

Aaron nodded in full agreement. “Let’s go find the others.”

Lexington followed him, because she was still shaking and at this moment in time, he made the better leader. And because she had the distinct feeling she’d follow him just about anywhere anyways.

He was hers.

Chapter Ten

Lexington was bouncing along in Aaron’s truck for the second time, but this ride out to DTD’s property felt all different. She was pretty sure her and the girls had thoroughly fucked themselves out of any chance of becoming part of the pack. It seemed like fate was determined to leave them looking like irresponsible trouble-makers. Every time a dog was around, it was like the vixens were caught with their pants down.

Aaron maneuvered the truck across a small low-water bridge and Lexington could feel the tension wafting off of him. She turned to see he was ramrod stiff in his seat, jaw set and fingers gripping the wheel until they were white, where moments ago, he’d been the calm one, so sure things could work out with the wolves.

“Don’t usually take this road to the highway,” he rasped.

The truck slowed going over the small bridge and then he gunned the engine once they were across. Like he was running away from it.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked, hoping he would. And hoping whatever was bothering him wouldn’t break her heart.

Aaron was quiet for a long time, just staring out the windshield, but she knew he wasn’t ignoring her question. He was building up to something big.

With a deep breath, he said, “My parents died on that bridge.”

Aw, damn. It was worse than she thought. Her human was missing his parents. She could feel the sadness that filled him through their newly budding bond, but her mouth didn’t seem to work. She couldn’t think of the right thing to say, to make it better. And she really, really wanted to make it better.

“They tried to cross in a storm, when the water was above the bridge. Their car got swept into the creek and by the time the sheriff found them…” He shook his head slowly. “They were gone. Both of them, just like that. I didn’t get to say goodbye,” he said softly.

Tears pricked Lexington’s eyes but she had a feeling Aaron wouldn’t appreciate her crying for him, so she pushed them down until the back of her throat burned with them.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she whispered, but he was lost in the past, his brow furrowed with memories.

“I was an asshole afterward,” he muttered. “I couldn’t deal with being in this town, around all the people who knew them, all the people with the pity in their eyes. And Annie… I couldn’t look at Annie and see her sadness, that was bad enough. But it was… it was her strength that sent me running for so long. How shitty is that?” He shot a glance at Lexington and then back to the road.

Damn it, he was tearing her heart up with this. If there was one thing her human was not, it was shitty. He’d taken her on, with all her problems, with her six other foxes and their fragile situation, and went headlong into finding a way to help her.

He was amazing. Strong. Sure, he had years’ worth of scars. Like he said, life armor. But they were beautiful. And if he was still a work in progress, it was okay by her, because she was one too.

“Not shitty,” she choked out. “Grief makes people do things they would never do otherwise.”

“She was solid, kept things going smoothly at Red Cap. Took care of me when I was drunk off my ass trying to drink away the grief. She was a rock even though she was hurting too, and I just couldn’t
stand
it. I couldn’t stand that she could keep going when I was falling apart. So I left. Didn’t say goodbye to the guys, gave my sister some lame ass excuse about finding myself, and then got the hell outta dodge.” He turned the wheel taking them onto the highway. “Stayed gone for nine years. Took me nine years to get my shit together, and still… I’m working on it.”

“You did what you needed to do, Aaron. To get through a hard time.”

“I ran away.” He found her gaze and held it. “Something I’m never doing again. Running is for assholes without wheels.”

Lexington chewed her lip, because she didn’t exactly agree. She wasn’t black or white on this. She was steadfastly in the gray.

“Sometimes running is necessary.”

His forehead creased in a frown.

“For survival. Sometimes running is the only thing you can do.” Holding back the tears was getting harder, but she wouldn’t let them fall again. Not over her past.

“You and the vixens ran,” he whispered almost to himself, but she nodded anyway. “Tell me what happened.”

Lexington ran a shaking hand through her hair and let out a long breath.
Come on, fox. Let’s get this done with. Mate needs to know
.

“My time was coming up. Ragan had just given birth to Kit and she was a mess. She’d already been won a season prior, in a brutal battle between the male she was in love with and another.” Lexington cringed. Ragan’s story wasn’t hers to tell, but it was the catalyst that got the vixens moving. It was an important part of why they were here. “And like I said, they fight to the death. The one that lives wins the female. So she lost her love and was bred by his killer all in the same night.”

“Fuck,” Aaron muttered. He stared out the window with a fist over his mouth, like he didn’t trust himself to keep silent.

“She had a hard pregnancy. Her animal was so broken she wanted to give up. Me and the girls kept her going as best we could, and when Kit was born, things changed. She started caring about life again, started wanting to fight back. But the last straw was when they announced the next fight. I was to be the prize.”

The cab of the truck went hot with the rage rolling off Aaron, but Lexington pressed on.

“We knew it was only a matter of time before Barb and Seraphina and Sally were in the same situation. So we took Kit, packed what we could carry in my truck, and ran.” She recalled driving through Iowa with Barb, Sera, and Sally jammed in the bed of her truck with their meager things, while Kit slept in his car seat next to Ragan in the front.

But the story wasn’t over.

“We thought we were clear. Thought if we just left, that would be it. We’d be on our own and free of the skulk. But Ragan’s mate came looking for her. Hunted her down like prey. Beat her all to hell for leaving and taking his young with her. That was when we realized we needed a new plan. We needed another family group. Wolves, because they treat their females as equals, and love them better than they love themselves. We worked our asses off to buy a few bikes, found someone who knew a thing about dirt tracks, and set out to make ourselves valuable.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “I hope it wasn’t all for nothing.”

Aaron was silent as they carried on down the highway, nearing the DTD clubhouse. He was so rigid she wanted to reach out and touch him just to make sure he was still warm and breathing.

“What happened to Ragan’s bastard mate?” he growled.

“We… took care of him. And ran some more. Ran until we found Mac.”

Took care of him was really the best way of putting it. There was nothing left of him when their foxes were done.

“Good,” he rasped. “Good. Men like that don’t deserve to breathe air.”

Lexington nodded her agreement. The memory of Ragan, bloody and torn on the floor while baby Kit screamed from the little nest she’d made for him on the bed was something she’d never scrub from her mind.

But somehow, she felt lighter having aired all her sordid past. Aaron knew it all now. The entire reason she was here in Cedar Valley, and why the Dirt Track Dogs were so important to her.

Aaron reached across the bench seat and the hillbilly drink holder hole to where her hand was resting on the thread-worn upholstery. Tentatively he touched his fingertips to the back, almost like he was asking permission. But then he pulled away, yanking his hand back so fast she would have laughed had it not been so… disappointing.

Inside, her fox whimpered, and Lexington swallowed hard at the lump in her throat.

She stared at his profile as he shook his head. “Not right,” he muttered, and her heart took a dive to her feet.

“Not right? What’s not right?”

“Me, touching you right now. When I’m so angry. When I want to hurt things. It’s not right.”

“Oh.” She really wanted him to touch her. It seemed like every time he did, those ancient wounds from her past ached a little less.

“To think of how close I came to…” He shook his head, frustrated.

“To what?”

He met her eyes across the seat. “To never being here, in this truck with you. I think of all the ways things could have gone differently. What if you hadn’t run, hadn’t fought, hadn’t succeeded? You wouldn’t have ended up in Red Cap the same night I did. Wouldn’t have rode in my truck out to DTD. Wouldn’t have tried to walk back to town while ripping my heart out with your tears.” He clenched his jaw, but she got the feeling he had more to say. And with a
fuck-it
shake of his head, he let her have the rest. “We wouldn’t be bonding right now.”

Bonding
. So he knew what she’d been trying to ignore.

She held her breath for what he’d say next.

But he didn’t say anything. Instead, an odd calm swept over him. One she could see physically, wiping all the tension from his face, his neck, his shoulders. Even his white knuckle grip turned pink again, and his breath seeming to come easier.

His expression eased, like he’d just realized something amazing. “It’s the same for me,” he murmured under his breath, but she heard.

“What do you mean?”

“Fate,” he said, sounding awed. “It’s real. It’s a goddamn
thing
. That shit is
real
. Certain events, heartbreaks, trials… they sent me away from Cedar Valley. But certain things also brought me back. And that’s why I was sitting in the bar when you showed up.”

Fate. She believed in fate. Mostly that you could choose your own if you were real careful. She’d fought to be able to choose hers, but maybe he was right. Maybe their steps were ordered.

“There was someone else,” Aaron said carefully.

His words chilled her. But he said
was
. There
was
someone. Not
is
. Not currently. She clung to that, still raw from her confession and hearing about his loss.

She focused on the scenery outside her window. The trees were full and green. Teeming with life. She wanted the same for herself and the others. Life that was full and worth living. Was that so much to ask for? And she wanted it with Aaron.

“Back in Memphis,” he continued. “I never resolved things with her. It just… ended.”

Lexington took a deep breath and turned back to him, keeping her expression as neutral as possible. But Aaron was frowning hard like he’d expected more reaction from her. What exactly was he expecting? Inside, her fox was reeling in denial.

Mine, mine, mine. My human
.

She couldn’t afford to look weak right now, while they were minutes away from the club where one of her vixens was being held. She had to be strong. Had to find that backbone of steel she’d been growing ever since she’d led her vixens away from their dangerous skulk. She needed to end this conversation fast, before her heart and animal lost nerve.

“I understand,” she said quietly, but this only made his frown deeper, the lines on his brow creeping into his hairline.

Even though they were sparkly new, it was hard knowing her mate had loved another before her. She’d never felt romantic love for anyone else and wouldn’t ever. Her heart was meant for him, but him being human meant... it meant… he could give his to whomever he wanted. Maybe it would be her. Maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it would be the someone he spoke of now. Maybe he’d already given it away and that’s what he was trying to say.

She cleared her throat and pulled her gaze away to focus on the road. No time for this. No time for falling in love. Focus on the goal. Focus on the vixens.

She’d come here for them, and found Aaron along the way. He’d been a sweet distraction, when she wanted more. But it was time to put that aside.

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she stared ahead at the road and breathed in Aaron’s scent that filled the truck. She let it calm her a smidge. Things were bleak but they weren’t twenty story buildings crashing down in a heap of rubble.

A phantom smile worked its way up her lips.

She had everything she needed. She had her girls and Kit. Whether things worked out with the dogs or not, whether she mated or not, she always had them, and they always found a way over their hurdles.

Always.

Moto 101: When life gives you dirt, build a jump
.

Yes, she had everything she needed. She rubbed absently at the ache in her middle.

Except mine
, her fox whimpered.
Except him
.