Alpha Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel (33 page)

The other man didn’t flinch at his words. Without looking at him he adjusted an intricate beaded necklace on a mannequin bust. “I had nothing to do with the poisonings. Don’t let your baseless jealousy get in the way of your common sense.”

“Jealousy?”

Now Matt looked at him, his dark eyes far too knowing for Connor’s taste. “I’m not saying you’re jealous of
me
. You love Ana but you’re unwilling to tell her. This anger you have with me is misplaced and I think it’s something you’re already aware of.”

Connor’s throat seized. He wanted to argue with Matt. Walk away from him. Maybe punch him. But his curiosity got the better of him. “How do you know I haven’t told her I love her?”

Matt shrugged but avoided answering directly. “Don’t let old fears and insecurities get in the way of your happiness.”

Insecurities?
Connor started to scoff but held back. It disturbed him that the other man could read him so well. They’d only interacted a few times yet Matt seemed to understand him better than most of his pack. “How do you … ?” He caught himself before he finished. He wasn’t going to admit anything to this stranger.

But Matt didn’t let him off easily. “Call it an educated guess. I know you left Ana before—I’ve seen it in my dreams. I don’t know
why
you left, but I’ve seen the way you look at her—like she’s the best birthday present you’ve ever received—so you must have had a damn good reason to go. And you act jealous for no reason so I know you’re not. Not truly. You’re insecure about
something
. My guess is it has something to do with the reason you left the first time.”

Connor frowned as he digested Matt’s words. He was having a hard time remembering why he’d even come to the store, when one of the dream catchers hanging from the ceiling swayed against a vent. “Just stay out of Ana’s dreams,” he muttered before stalking from the store.

Liam wasn’t at the truck yet so he called Ana. It had been only a couple hours but he already missed her voice.

She picked up on the second ring. “Hey.”

Suddenly he felt like an inexperienced, tongue-tied cub working up the courage to talk to the girl he liked. Except Ana was no girl. She was all woman. His woman. “Hey.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you— Is it done?”

“I don’t want to talk about that.” He hated that she even knew where he’d gone that morning.

“Then why are you calling?”

“I just wanted to check on you.”
And to hear your voice.

“Well, I’m fine.” Her voice was clipped, distant.

“What’s wrong?”

“You mean other than the fact that you went off to kill some humans this morning despite knowing it could hurt the entire pack? And the fact that you won’t even talk to me about it?” Now there was no distance. Just boiling anger.

“Damn it, Ana. I’m your Alpha and I’m doing this to protect you. These are my decisions to make. Mine alone.”

“So you just want me to fall in line and agree with everything you do?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, you’re sure as hell not denying it,” she shot back.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. How had this even started? He’d just wanted to check on her, hear her voice. “Why are we fighting, Ana?”

Her frustrated sigh filled the line. “Because you won’t open up to me about anything and I’m sick of it. You and your brother just make decisions, and you don’t include me when you meet with the males of your pack. I’m your
mate.
I thought you said we were supposed to be a team. When you first got here you told everyone that if you weren’t around they were supposed to come to me. How can anyone believe that when you don’t even include me in your stupid meetings! After last night I realized I can’t live like this. I can’t be mated to someone who won’t even talk to me.”

Her words pierced him straight in the chest because they were true. He hadn’t even thought to include her. He just wanted to protect her. Keep her safe. “Ana—”

“I’m not finished! I only asked you once when you first arrived, and I think I’ve been pretty damn patient about waiting for you to come to me on your own. Especially considering your stupid demand that I become your bondmate, without giving me any reason to trust you. We’re mated now, I’ve let you into my bed and I’ve given all of myself that I possibly can based on what you’ve given me. Why did you leave all those years ago? And how do I know I can trust you not to leave again? Did you mate with someone else? Did she die? Did you break up? Am I your second choice? Is that what you’re too afraid to tell me?” Her voice shook at the last question.

He hadn’t wanted to do this now. Or ever. He’d known it was inevitable but he’d still been hoping to avoid this. “I didn’t mate with anyone else! It’s always been you, Ana. I wanted you fifty years ago, so much it scared me. I went to your father and asked him for permission to take you as my mate. He told me no and that if I mated with you anyway he’d kick you out of your pack forever. That you’d
never
be able to see your sisters, mother or cousins again.” Once the confession started, the words just poured from him.

“Liar! My father knew how much I cared for you. He saw how much your leaving tore me up. For all I know you really were just a coward and didn’t want the commitment of a mate. If you wanted some stupid, gullible mate maybe you should have chosen someone else instead.”

“Maybe I should have!” As soon as the words escaped, he wanted to cut out his own tongue. He didn’t mean it. “Ana, I—”

She hung up on him.

“Shit,” he muttered. Connor hit his speed dial but it went straight to her voice mail. He tried again. Voice mail again.

He banged his fist against the steering column. He loved Ana. Why the hell had he said that? After all she’d been through and all she meant to him, hurting her was the last thing he ever wanted to do. He projected to his brother.
Liam, whatever you’re doing, you better get back to the truck. We’ve gotta get back to the ranch now.

It was time to set things straight between himself and Ana once and for all. If he had to face her rejection, he’d deal with it. He loved the stubborn she-wolf and she needed to know.

Liam hurried down the sidewalk toward December’s store. After her brush-off on the phone yesterday he wasn’t sure he’d get the best reception but he didn’t care. Those sick humans had targeted that woman because she’d dated a shifter. Technically he and December weren’t even dating but she’d been seen out in public with him. And someone had attacked her in her own home. Someone obviously knew that she meant something to him, even if he meant nothing to her. After what Katarina had said about those men using her to trap her ex-boyfriend, he figured this might be completely about him or hurting his pack. December could just be a pawn in all this—whatever
this
was. After her assault the other night it was obvious she’d landed on someone’s radar.

As he entered the store her subtle jasmine scent wrapped around him. The place was empty, though. Frowning, he strode through the store, past the cash register and into the back room. Boxes of opened books filled a couple shelves, and shipping boxes and materials sat on a table in the middle of the room. The back door was slightly ajar.

He knew he was acting stalkerish by rushing into her storeroom unannounced and uninvited. He didn’t care. Nudging the back door open with his foot, he peered out. When he saw December tossing a garbage bag into the green Dumpster, he nearly sagged against the doorframe.

Not wanting to freak her out, he inched back, but froze when he spotted a hooded man peering out from behind the Dumpster. December’s back was turned to him as she walked toward the store.

Thinking it might be a homeless man, he waited. But when the man slowly crept out from behind the Dumpster with a gleaming knife in hand, Liam shoved the door open.

“Liam,” December gasped.

She held a startled hand to her throat, but he rushed past her. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t getting away this time.

Still holding the knife, the guy straightened when he spotted Liam. He started to charge, then thought better of it. Turning, the guy ran a few feet, but Liam didn’t give him a chance. With lightning speed he crossed the distance and tackled him to the ground. The knife clattered next to his head.

The man howled in pain as Liam shoved him face-first onto the dirty asphalt. “Get off me.”

Liam dug his knee into the man’s back and kept his wrists securely behind his back. The man struggled but it was useless. “What the hell are you doing behind this lady’s store with a knife?”

“Fuck you,” he gasped out.

Aware of December behind him, he half turned. “Grab some packing tape.” When she disappeared inside, he slammed the guy’s head against the asphalt. “Answer the question or I kill you now.”

“You’re a fucking animal.”

“You got that right,” he growled, fighting back his inner wolf. “Now, what are you doing here?” Still holding his wrists, he increased pressure on one of the guy’s thumbs, bending it back at an excruciating angle.

He howled in pain again. “Shit, man. I was just following orders.”

“Taggart’s?” He bent his thumb back farther.

“Who—? No, man. I was just supposed to grab this bitch.”

At the word
bitch
, Liam snapped his thumb. He’d only meant to scare him, but this guy wanted to hurt December.

The man screamed again as December ran back outside, carrying a roll of thick tape. Her blue eyes were bright and frightened as she handed it to him. “Liam, what’s going on?”

“Go back inside and call your brother.”

She stared at him hard. “Liam, your eyes are … What’s wrong with your eyes?” Her voice quavered.

He cursed under his breath and turned away from her. “Call your brother!”

He heard her shoes pound against the ground as she practically sprinted back inside. She was probably more terrified of him than the guy on the ground. He knew what his eyes looked like when he was angry. Right now he was fighting the change. He’d barely managed to leash it. The only thing keeping him in human form was December. He never wanted to scare or hurt her. Unfortunately his dark eyes were likely completely black now, with not a fleck of white showing. He probably looked like a fucking demon to her.

Beneath him the man still cried and whined about his broken thumb. Liam needed to get information out of him before the cops got there. After binding his wrists, he pulled out the guy’s wallet. When he tugged the license out, a business card and a couple pictures fell out.

Liam grabbed the guy’s hoodie and yanked it back. That’s when he saw the swastika tattoo on his neck. “So you just hate everyone, don’t you?”

“Man, what do you want to know?”

“For starters, why the hell were you here with a knife? Who told you to take this woman?”

“He’ll kill me if I tell you.”

Liam snorted as he flipped over the driver’s license and read the man’s name and address. “I’ll kill you, Mr. William Braun. And everyone you’ve ever met. Got kids? A wife? You want that blood on your hands?” He’d never kill any innocent women and kids, but if this guy thought he was a mindless killer the power of that fear would get him the answers he wanted. And he didn’t have time to waste.

“Adler. Edward Adler. He’s the leader of our local group.”

Liam grasped his other thumb and twisted. “And that would be?”

“Antiparanormal League. APL.”

Liam paused. “That’s a real thing? It’s not even clever.”

“Whatever, man. Just kill me now. When Adler finds out I gave him up, I’m dead. Fucking
dead
.”

“Why is he after December? She’s the sheriff’s sister.”
And more important, my mate
. If someone went after her again, a broken thumb would be the least of his worries.

“He wants anyone connected to shifters or vamps taken. I don’t know his plans, man. He takes orders from someone else. That much I do know.”

Liam filed that bit of information away. “You know two guys named Felix Carr and Bennett Harrison?”

He squirmed against the ground, so Liam dug his knee in harder. “Yeah, I know those crazy assholes. They were supposed to do some bag-and-grab work for Adler with some chick but they disobeyed his orders. Didn’t bring her in like they were supposed to.”

“And why is that?” Liam already knew the answer but he wanted to see how honest this guy would be.

“They’re part of the same group as me but we don’t run in the same circles, if you get what I’m saying. I’m no rapist. Adler never should have recruited them in the first place. They don’t care about our cause …” He trailed off as if he realized who he was talking to.

“So you’re not a rapist—you just deliver innocent women to a bunch of crazy radicals. What do you think your boss Adler would have done to her? What the hell’s the matter with you? You’ve got two daughters.”

When he stiffened, Liam plucked one of the fallen pictures from the ground. Two young girls with curly blond hair cheesed it up for the camera. He shoved it in his face. “I’m assuming these are yours. Adler’s never going to find out about our conversation as long as the cops don’t find out either. You got me?”

William nodded, rubbing his face against the ground.

“Say it,” he growled. “I don’t care what you tell them. Tell them you wanted to rob her or whatever, but if you tell them the name of your boss, I will come back and kill you. I’ve got your name and your scent. I’ll
never
forget it either.”

“I won’t say a word. I swear.”

Another thought settled in his mind. Sirens blared loudly in the distance. Liam’s heart rate sped up. “Were you the one who broke into her house?”

He shook his head again. “No. That was Chuck. He’s … dead. He was supposed to get her and that old Indian woman but he failed. I don’t know for sure, but I think Adler killed him for his failures.”

When two cop cars zoomed into the back alley, Liam stood and backed away from the guy.

Sheriff McIntyre jumped from one of the vehicles and rushed toward them. “What the hell’s going on?”