Fangs of Anarchy: Forbidden Alpha (Part 4) In the Zone: A Werewolf Vampire Shifter Romance (3 page)

Chapter Seventeen

A tongue on her nipple roused Claire from the best sleep
she’d ever had. She stretched upward, meeting the hot slashes, moaning at how
lovely it was to wake up like this.

“Evening, Claire,” Irish said against her breast.

“Hmmm. Oh, keep doing that,” she murmured back, instantly on
fire.

Irish’s tongue stopped moving. “But I can’t. Know why I
can’t?”

“Why?” she all but whined.

He slid up along her body, still as naked as he’d been when
he’d brought her to this amazing bed. “Because we have some talking to do.”

Claire reached between them, finding his cock. She began a
slow stroke. “Can’t we talk afterward?”

He chuckled, moving out of her reach. “Oh, no. No more of
your dark sex magic, Librarian.
But
I’ll tell you
what. You give me information, and for every piece you feed me, I’ll give you
something.”

She lifted her head to find him staring down at her,
amusement in his eyes. “What’s that
something
?”

“I promise it will involve my mouth somewhere on your body.”
To prove that, he cupped her breast and dragged his mouth over it. “Do we have
a deal?”

Claire gripped his shoulders and clenched her teeth. “Fine.
Deal. Ask away.”

“Why are you here in the Zone, Claire?
And
remember, I need you to answer truthfully. None of your fancy words or turns of
phrase to try and trip me up.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Who someone?”

Claire held up a finger between them. “Wait. I fed you a
piece of information. You owe me a mouth on a body part.” She grinned with
satisfaction, sinking deeper into the delicious sheets.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Name your part.”

“My lips. The least you could do before interrogating me is
kiss me.”

Cupping her cheek, he chuckled before planting his mouth on
hers. His tongue slipped between her lips, stoking a new fire. She wrapped her
arms around his neck, easing him closer, but Irish pulled away. “Now, now. We
had a deal. Who are you looking for here in the Zone, Claire?”

She had to tell him. She just had to tell him carefully. “A
man named Angus Sweeten.”

His eyebrow rose and then he smiled. “Name your body part.”

She sighed with happiness, but this conversation, this
subject, was too serious for them to play this game right now. Irish just
didn’t know how serious. “I’m just going to tell you everything. But I need you
to be sitting up, and I need you to promise you won’t lose your temper.”

He leaned back against the sheets on his elbow, his black
eyes concerned. “Now I’m really worried.”

“Please trust me. Please?” she implored, plumping up the
white pillows and patting them as an indication he should use them to lean
against
.

Irish sat up, resting against the pillows. “I trust you.”

She scooted upward herself, leaning in to place a kiss on
his lips. “Thank you. And no yelling, okay?”

Irish lifted his chin, but nodded his consent.

Her fingers trembled and her mouth went dry, so she took a
deep breath and just went for it. “Angus Sweeten sells paranormal girls to
rich, mostly
human
men. Like a
trafficker. At least I
think
he’s the
person doing it.”

Irish’s eyes narrowed, but he gripped her hand. “And you
know this how?”

Okay, here came the lie part, but for
right now, she had no choice.
Not if she wanted to protect everyone
involved. Claire forced herself to look Irish right in the eye, mentally
crossing her fingers to ward off the bad mojo connected with lying. “Gannon.”

His jaw swung open before he snapped it shut, his lips
turning to a thin line. “Gannon? Explain.”

Claire inhaled a breath and let it out, her stomach tight
with tension. “The night Gannon was killed, I found out he was selling young
paranormals
to this man Angus Sweeten for a lot of money.
This man Angus lives somewhere here in the Zone. I think in that building you
found me at today.” It was the closest lead she had, and finding that lead had
cost her almost all the cash she had left.

No one even wanted to speak Angus
Sweeten’s
name, much less tell her where to find him. It was as though this Angus was on
par with the devil himself the way he evoked so much fear.

But
money talked, and thankfully,
she’d taken some from the savings she kept under her mattress, money the
government and her council had no idea existed, for just such an occasion.
And still
, the information she’d finally managed to wrench
out of a homeless demon was minimal, and in her opinion, sketchy.

Claire watched the disgust fall over Irish’s expression,
followed swiftly by rage. “And Gannon told you that himself? That he was selling
children?”

More lies.
But
really, only a
little one in the scheme of things. However, for the moment, until she had
proof, she had to protect everyone involved. “No, he didn’t tell me directly. I
caught him talking to someone that night at Boomers. I heard him making a deal.”
God forgive her, another lie.

“
Who
?” he asked
between clenched teeth.

“I don’t know who he was telling. He was on the phone with
someone.” Okay, yet another fabrication.
But still
,
close enough to the truth to sit well with her until she could figure this out.

“That son of a goddamn bitch,”
Irish
sneered, his eyes fierce and dark.

She let her words sit with him, let him digest them before
she said, “That’s why I didn’t tell you. Because this is pack business, and in
order to prove Gannon deserved to end up dead, I have to find this Angus
Sweeten and some record of what he’s doing.”

Irish’s arms visibly shook, but she was quick to soothe. “Please
just listen, Irish. I had to come here. I had to find out what he
’s done
. Oh God,” she whimpered in horror, so relieved to
finally be able to say it
out loud
. “Innocent
children, Irish… Babies, they’re just babies!” She knew her voice was rising in
her hysteria. The memory so fresh, she could still taste Gannon’s blood on her
tongue.

Irish pulled her close and squeezed her tight. “Say it,
Claire. Get it all out,” he urged, low and raspy.

Another sob ripped through her. “If you knew…” Her voice
hitched on a croak, her heart crashed remembering that night and what she’d
heard. What she’d
seen
. “If…If you
heard what I heard that night from that piece of shit’s mouth! I couldn’t…I
want to crawl out of my skin from the constant barrage of those ugly, ugly
words, pounding in my brain. I hear them over and over even now. He had to die.
He had to die
,” she said on a sob.

Irish reacted, gripping her shaking hands together, swiping
at the hot tears falling to her lap. “You don’t have to justify, Claire. If you
believe nothing else, you have to believe that I know what you did that night
was right. I knew it before I knew any of this.”

Claire instantly sat up straight, wiping her face in angry
impatience. She couldn’t afford to indulge in the horrors that night had
wrought now. “That’s all I know. I know it’s not much. I know it wasn’t a lot
to go on, but all I had was a name. The name Gannon said—” She halted, trying
to keep her story straight. “When he was on the phone.”

Now his eyes grew suspicious, planting a lump of fear in her
throat.
Please, please, please don’t let
him ask…

“Wait. If Gannon was selling girls to this fuck, did he try
to sell one of ours? No one I can think of is missing, are they? Jesus Christ,
Claire!” he shouted. “This isn’t just pack business!”

She blew out a breath and shook her head. “No! He didn’t
sell anyone from town. I don’t know where the girls were coming from, and I
have no idea how he was getting his hands on them. I just know he was selling
them, essentially into slavery, for a profit.”

Irish ran his hand through his hair, his expression stunned.
“And that’s why you killed him?”

Her eyes fell to the sheets. “That’s why he’s dead, yes.”

Irish caught her off guard when he pulled her to him again,
crushing her in his embrace. “Jesus, Claire. Jesus Christ. I would have killed
the pig, too. I never want to hear another word of guilt out of you, because I
damn well would have ripped his black heart out.”

Well, that was sort of what happened. Yet she remained
silent on the details. “No specifics on that night until I find the proof I
need, okay? Let’s keep the deal about what you don’t know can’t hurt you. Now,
if your council
is
anything like mine, they’d want
solid evidence Gannon was up to his eyeballs in this, Irish.
And
this isn’t clan business. You know it, I know it.” Okay, well it mostly wasn’t
clan business…

Irish pulled back, his eyes hot again with more rage. “
Courtland
? Is he involved, too?”

“I don’t know. I never got any further than where I was
earlier today when you found me. I think
,
if my
sources are correct, Angus Sweeten lives in that building.”

“And you were just going to blow on in there and skip
through his things until you found your proof? Are you insane?”

She put a hand on her hip. “You know, hold up there,
vampire. I’m superhuman, too. I can take care of myself.”

“Like you did in the alleyway? Wasn’t that me,
headlocking
you?”

Claire rolled her eyes, sliding from the bed in search of
her backpack. “Oh, please. I was just planning my escape, which involved
gouging your eyeballs out until you revealed yourself.”

“And you didn’t think to bring anyone with you? Claire,
you’re not an idiot. What the hell were you thinking?”

Locating her backpack, she pulled her last pair of clean
underwear from it. “Who would I bring with me, Irish? The Dogs run our pack.
They’re the only muscle in town. Was I going to risk telling one of them what I
knew only to find out they’re involved, too? How could you possibly expect me
to trust them after what you told me about Courtland and how much pleasure he
takes in causing pain?”

Irish launched off the bed, his long legs striding across
the length of the thickly carpeted floor. “You should have brought
me
, Claire!”

“I was trying to protect you! You can’t get involved in pack
business unless it involves one of your own and we don’t know that it involves
vampires. We don’t know
who
it involves at this point. That’s why I’m here—to find out!” she shouted back.

He drove his legs into his jeans, his face a mask of anger. “If
it involves children, it damn well involves me, and I don’t give a shit if
they’re werewolves or vampires or goddamn fairies!” he roared.

Throwing her sweater over her head, she clenched her fists
to keep her fingers from trembling. Irish angry was a palpable thing. “Look, we
both know how strict our councils are about us mingling. I’d like to talk to
the genius who masterminded throwing us all together. The point
is,
you and me? We’re not supposed to be involved at all.
Under
any
circumstances. If I’d asked
you to come with me, you would have. I know that.
But
it’s too dangerous, and I won’t put you or Hadley in any danger of retribution.
So you can yell about how foolish I am all day long, but I’d do it again,
because I was the only hope of finding any proof.”

“And how did you plan to do that? Were you going to storm
Sweeten’s
castle all stealth ninja warrior werewolf and
beat it out of him?”

She grabbed her sneakers, shaking one pink one at him. “Don’t
think I didn’t think of that. But actually, I was going to take a less
dangerous, far more critical thinking approach and simply rifle through his
stuff!”

He snarled at her. Literally snarled and flashed his fangs. “Get
your things together.”

Claire crossed her arms over her chest. “Excuse me?”

“I said get dressed, get your things together. We’re going
back to Rock Cove, Claire. Now. And I swear, if you give me an ounce of sass
about it, I’ll make you regret it.”

“The hell I’m going back now! I have a name. That name needs
to be investigated, Irish! If Courtland finds out I was involved, I need to
have something to prove what happened that night was justified—that Gannon
deserved
to die. My life is on the line
here. I’m not leaving the Zone without proof.”

He waved a finger at her, his face hard. “The hell you’re
not. I’ll call Mathias and get him involved. Believe me, if it happens in the
Zone, he knows about it. You would have known that if you’d told me about this
crazy scheme. I have connections, Claire. I’ll make sure this is handled
somehow, but the hell you’re staying here alone in the Zone without me.”

“And where’s this Mathias?”

“He’s traveling, but he’s a mere text away. Finish getting
dressed.”

Claire pulled on her dirty jeans and shook her head. “Nope.
I’m staying. I need proof and I need it fast. Mathias might not be fast enough.”

Irish jerked his shirt over his head, forcing it down his
chest with angry hands. “We have two choices here, Claire. You let me see what
Mathias can find out, or I stay here with you because I’m petrified you’ll end
up dead. If Courtland finds out I’m here with you, well you know what’ll happen
then.”

Oh, there she went, getting all
melty
again. That Irish was petrified for her safety softened her. She knew he was
right. She knew it was dangerous for her to stay here alone, but she also knew
what would happen when all of the truth came out.
And
it would. It had to for the safety of everyone involved, for
their
sanity, and she wanted to be prepared for it.