Untamed Force (Force of Nature Series) (5 page)

“Phil? Where are we?” The smell of death
was strong. And some of it wasn’t very old. Phil walked to the large backhoe
and then pointed to the hole beside it. Connor was almost afraid to walk to it.

It was about ten feet deep and nearly
half filled with bodies. Not only adults, although that was bad enough, but
children as well. And not all of them looked as if they’d been there all that
long.

“The driver is the alpha’s brother. He’s
to bring the dead out here and drop them in the hole when they’re murdered. The
brother feels he has nothing left and only helps his brother because he
provides him with drugs to forget.” Phil’s voice was soft, but Connor could
hear him. “Sterling killed his mate some years ago because she wouldn’t submit
to him. So he raped her and then killed her. As punishment to his brother for
mating with a cold bitch he’d made him bury her and their unborn child.”

“And the others? Surely they all weren’t
killed by the same man.”

Phil shook his head.

“Then what killed them? Who did this?”

“Mostly starvation. Some suicide. Harvey,
the brother, makes the rounds once or twice a week to gather them up. He doesn’t
think he can take it much longer. There are a few there that…they aren’t all
from this pack. This morning, Sterling attacked a pack of fifty looking for
Georgia and her cubs.”

Connor took pictures. He couldn’t send
these, afraid that someone else, CJ or Alexis, would see them. He put his phone
away and moved to Phil. He was making a decision that he thought would get his
ass chewed out by his brother, but he needed something, anything to take before
the board.

“Snatch the brother, the driver. Take
him to one of your hidey holes, something that has a steel lining. We need
someone to confirm this. Also…Christ, I can’t believe I’m asking you this,
please don’t let Holly see this. I’m begging you. I know she’s seen a lot of
death, but this…please?”

Keeping secrets between mates was
forbidden. But Phil, as a very powerful vamp, was able to do things that no
other could. He didn’t hesitate to ask him to do this because he loved his
sister and didn’t want something like this, something so heinous, to spoil her
pregnancy. Phil looked ready to say no, but then seemed to change his mind. Connor
was suddenly very afraid he’d done something equally as stupid to have Phil
keep quiet.

“I’ll do it, but you owe me. I need
something from you that I…it’s about Dallas. Stacy is his mate, but she isn’t
going to allow him to mate with her. She finds herself to be unworthy. I want
you to make him so jealous that he takes her.”

Connor agreed. He knew that she loved
his brother and knew that he was going through some very rough times trying to
figure out what was happening. He knew from Alexis that Stacy wasn’t having a
very easy time of it either. He wanted them both to be happy.

Connor sat as far away from the pit as
he could after Phil left. He knew he’d only be gone a few minutes, but it
seemed an eternity. When he returned he was smiling. It wasn’t “a great job” or
“howdy” kind of smile, but one that said “you’re fucked.”

“You’re in such deep shit right now. Austin
wants me to bring you straight to him. I’d be prepared to have my ass kicked if
I were you.”

“If he kicks my ass hard enough, I won’t
be able to return the favor you asked of me.”

Phil frowned.

“And if Stacy waits much longer, I’m
going to sic Dallas on you.”

When they landed—no other way to term
what they were doing when flying like they were through the air—Austin was
waiting. Phil stepped between the two of them and started to explain. “You
should see the pictures that Connor has before you decide to kill him. It might
make what we’ve done seem less stupid.”

Austin growled. “I seriously doubt it. But
come inside. If I have to kick both your asses, I don’t want anyone to see.”

Connor didn’t think he’d be able to kick
them both, but he knew his brother well enough to know that he’d try. CJ came
out on the porch just as they stepped up on it. She looked upset. He asked her
why and she cried as she told him.

“There was a pack attack this morning. Ten
wolves killed and twenty more injured. The council is now in our living room.”

Austin turned to him. “This have
anything to do with the wolf in the cell Phil brought back?”

Connor nodded.

“Am I going to get my ass in deep
because of it?”

Connor shook his head. “They’ll probably
reward you for finding it. I’m sorry, Austin, but there was no other way.”

Austin nodded and they all went inside. The
council of five was sitting around the table and their mom was feeding them. It
was going to be a long day.

Chapter 4

The all-call was sounded about ten
minutes ago and Stacy was not sure if she should go or stay away. She did not
feel a part of Austin’s pack, though it was not his fault, but she was not sure
what to do. She decided to go, but to stay back in the event she was not
needed.

The pack met once a month during the
moon phase. She had never missed a meeting, but seldom ran with them. She was
afraid someone would attack because she was not like them. Today, she knew that
something had happened.

Austin started off by talking about the
woman and her children. He told them that she wasn’t safe where she’d been and
he was asking that no one told where she was. Stacy knew that most of the pack
would rather die than to disappoint him. Then he started talking about where
she had come from.

“The alpha from where this woman had
been attacked, attacked a smaller pack this morning. He killed more than half
the males and took several of their females, some of them small yet. His name
is Rich Sterling. If anyone sees a strange alpha on the grounds, contact
someone in this house immediately. We will not allow him to do what he has done
to another.”

“Should we double the patrols around the
grounds?” someone shouted from the back of the crowd. “What of our own
families? Should we do something more to keep them out of harm’s way?”

“I don’t think so, but if you would feel
safer for them to be put some place, bring them here. I have plenty of room and
if we run low on room, we can bunk up some of the others until this is over.” Austin
conferred with his brother Connor. “Tighter patrols as well as more of you on a
shift will be a good idea. Connor said he’d put up a list to see who wants to
help out. I don’t foresee him coming here so fast, but he will come.”

Stacy waited for Austin to announce that
she was Sterling’s daughter and tensed every time he spoke. When she felt
someone come near her, she thought they were there to take her to the front to
be stoned.

“Hi.” Connor stood next to her, but didn’t
touch. “I was wondering if you could help me with something. I want to see what
you can tell me about Sterling. Do you know if he has any bolt holes, maybe a
stash hidden somewhere? Anything you know could help us.”

“I have not been there in many years. He
might have something now that I would not be aware of.” She moved forward and
sniffed him. “I know that scent. You have been to see him.”

She started to run, but he grabbed her
arm. “No. I’ve been to the compound, but I didn’t go near him. And for the
record, I think the guy needs to be hung by his nuts and left there to die.” She
didn’t move and he let go of her arm. “I have your uncle, Harvey. Do you
remember him?”

She nodded. “I thought…I had heard he
was dead. That after his family died he killed himself as well.”

“No, but he’s close. Did you know that
Sterling killed his family? Murdered his mate while she was still carrying?” Stacy
looked away. “Stacy, we need your help and no one here is going to harm you.”

She decided to ignore the first part and
to only answer what she had to of the second. “So the rumors were true. I had
heard that my father had—”

“Don’t call him that. He’s not your
father. Your sire maybe, but never your father.” He gentled his voice then. “You
were saying that Sterling had done something, what was it?”

She nodded, too overwhelmed with
gratitude to say more. After a few minutes, she was able to continue. “I had
heard that he had wanted my uncle’s mate. And when he found out that she was
breeding he went a little mad. He is said to have raped her and then gave her
to anyone who would have her. She died giving birth to a stillborn. My uncle
was to bury her with the others.”

“But he didn’t, did he? Where is she? Do
you know?”

She nodded.

“Your uncle visits her, I would imagine.”

“He does, or so I heard, until his…I was
to say until his death, but… You say you have him? Does he need anything, sir?
I have little, but I could give him what I have if it would help to keep him
safe.”

“He’s safe and no harm will come to him.
Will you see if you can talk to him? It would help us a great deal if we knew
what we were going against.”

She did not think it would do any good,
but she told him she would try.

“Thank you Stacy. You’ve no idea how
much this is going to help.”

She went with him to the prison. They
also had cells below ground in the event that a vampire were to come on the
property and needed to be secured. Her uncle was in one of these cells. Connor
told her it was so that the alpha could not contact him.

He looked so old, her uncle did. He was
also very thin. She knew that at one time he had been a robust man, but now he
was a shell of the person she once knew. He looked at her when she and Connor
came to the cell door. “Do you know who I am?”

He didn’t answer, but turned back to
staring at the floor.

“I am your niece, Stacy O’Brien. My
mother was—”

“He killed her too.” She nodded and he
continued without looking up. “My Mary too, and our babe. He said that she led
him on and she hadn’t. I knew my mate loved me.”

“Yes, she did. She was so proud to be
having your cub. She told me that she hoped for a son.” Stacy felt Connor move
back and the door was suddenly opened. She stepped in the room. “How have you
been, Uncle Harvey?”

“I’d like to know if they could get me
something. Do you think someone could bring me something to ease the memories?”

She knew he’d been on drugs; his entire
body smelled of them.

“It’d be nice not to remember so much.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Uncle, do you
know anything about what happened this morning? When Rich attacked the other
pack?” She saw him stiffen.

“He made me go even though I’ve no will
to live. I didn’t hurt anyone, hoping that he’d…he has killed so many since my
Mary. But he didn’t.” He looked up at her again. “Do you think I could have
something to ease my memories, love? They hurt all the time.”

Her heart broke for the man. He was
barely there and she wanted to cradle him into her arms. When she moved forward
Connor pulled her back with a shake of his head. “Scent,” he whispered and let
her go.

He did not want her to smell like him in
case someone recognized it. She nodded and kneeled down to speak to her uncle. The
tears in her eyes fell and she barely noticed them. “Are you telling me that
Sterling led the attack this morning on those people?” He nodded. “But why? What
did they do to him?”

“He wants to have her die by his hand. He
won’t allow anyone to leave without him saying its fine. No one ever leaves. Then
I must do clean up for them. I have several holes that I’ve had to cover.” He
leaned back, took out a small notebook, and handed it out to her. Connor took
it. “I had to draw a map so I wouldn’t dig in the same place twice. So many
dead.”

She watched Connor thumb through the
notebook and felt his anger as he gave it back to her. Then her uncle spoke
again and the hair on her arms stood up.

“He’s going to come for you too when he
realizes I didn’t kill you when I should have. I couldn’t do it so I took you
to another pack. They were to raise you as their own, but they didn’t, did
they?”

“I survived. I survived because of you.”

He nodded then closed his eyes. “I would
like something for the memories, please. Do you think someone could bring it to
me soon?”

~~~

Dallas watched Connor and Stacy walk
away together. He couldn’t leave Austin’s side, but he wanted to. He wanted to
hunt his brother down and beat the shit out of him. His wolf agreed with him. He
looked at Austin when he called the meeting to an end. He was off the platform
before Austin could tell him to go.

He found them coming out of the cells. He
didn’t even ask, but hit Connor as hard as he could, knocking him back several
feet. Connor was up in a second and coming at him. Stacy stepped between them
at the last second and he hit her instead.

“Mother fuck, look what you’ve done. Christ,
you’ve killed her.” Connor tried to knock him away when he reached for her. “Leave
her alone and I’ll take her—”

“Touch her and you’ll die.” He knew his
wolf had surfaced; his voice was rougher for it and his eyes had turned. “She’s
mine.”