First Love (5 page)

              “You’re one of us, you know how we’re wired.  I lost my mate,” he said.

              “How long ago?” she asked.

              “Not that it matters, but it’s been about twenty years,” he said.

              Lisa laughed, “You would have been, what?  Eight or nine?”

              He let out a small growl and said, “The amount of time doesn’t matter and my age didn’t matter.  The first part of the mating ceremony had been completed.  I was tied to her for eternity.”

              “The ceremony could not have been consummated, so why haven’t you gone to your pack’s mage and had the spell broken?” she asked as her stomach sank. 

              “She was my mate,” he said simply.

              “She’s dead, Jared.  Do you honestly think she would want you to have to live like you are?” Lisa asked.

              “You’re just like everyone else.  No one understands.  I knew the second I met her that we were mates.  We were only four then.  When our parents’ wanted us to go ahead and go through the first part of the ceremony when we were six in order to join our packs it felt so right.  She was my other half,” he said slowly.

              “You were a child, you couldn’t know that,” she said while shaking her head in disbelief.

              “I know it to this day,” he said.  Meeting her eyes he added, “Just because she’s gone doesn’t change the fact that she was my other half.  I still can’t touch a female who isn’t related to me without getting physically ill.”

              “That is part of the spell, you realize that, don’t you?” she asked.

              “It’s a fitting punishment for not protecting her,” he said coldly.

              “You were a child and you need to move on, Jared.  If you met her on the street today you probably wouldn’t even recognize her,” she said without any pity.

              “Says the woman who was walking home in three inch heels because Conner made out with her.  I’m told he’s a talented bed-mate.  It makes me curious why you didn’t want him,” he said, abruptly changing the subject.

              “Considering you know what I am, I’ll be honest.  He’s a weak alpha.  I don’t do weak—literally,” she said simply.

              “Well, at least that isn’t a total lie,” he muttered.

              “If you are going to take offense every time I don’t tell the truth, then we are going to have problems.  I’ve been running for too long to even know what the truth is anymore, let alone be completely honest with anyone,” she lashed out.

              Jared laughed and said, “It seems we’re both damaged goods then.”

              “What made you come get me?”  Lisa asked after a few minutes of silence.

              Jared shrugged and said, “Conner called Jackson.  I have rarely seen that boy move as fast as he was going for that door.  I was guessing the last thing you needed this evening was a randy teenager.”

              “Good call,” she said with a smile.

Chapter 5

              Jared gripped his father’s hand hard as they walked through the smoldering Brokefang complex.  They hadn’t planned to stop and see Kalvin Brokefang today, but the dark smoke that rose from the top of the hill where the family homes were nestled rose like death itself from the complex.

              David Maurison called his pack as he pulled the car to a stop just outside of the demolished gate.  He picked his young son up and carried him as he made his way up the hill.  When they were at the top he set Jared down and took his hand.

              “Don’t let go of my hand, Jared.  Whoever did this could still be here,” he said in a tight voice.

              The smell of smoked meat burned through Jared’s nose.  His eyes watered as they walked.  David faltered as they approached the main house.

              “Son, I want you to close your eyes and keep them closed.  If you even try to peek there will be hell to pay, do you understand me?” he said.

              “Yes, Papa,” Jared said quietly and closed his eyes. 

              David picked his son up and carried him through the complex slowly.  He cringed as he saw body parts littering the walk-way.  His own stomach threatened to rebel as he realized what the smell of smoked meat inevitably was. 

              There, piled in front of the main house, was a pile of charred bodies.  The man on top had been through hell before his death.  Every finger but the one bearing his insignia ring had been cut off, along with his ears and nose.  His manhood had even been cut from him and David only hoped it was after they had gouged out his eyes. 

              Most of the women who were older than ten in the pile had no clothes, so he could only imagine the hell they had been through before they were granted death.  His old friend Branson probably welcomed torture after watching his family tortured in such a way. 

              Looking at the pile his eyes fell on a little girl around his son’s age.  His stomach dropped as he stepped closer.  Her face was too badly burned to be recognizable, but here she was with the main family.  Shaking his head he turned and carried his son back to the car. 

              He met his pack-mates along the trial and he gave them a simple order, “Bury them and honor them.  The Brokefang clan was the strongest among us.”

              Once in the car Jared’s small little eyes watched his father with concern.  He finally asked, “Where’s Tamika?”

              Reaching over he patted his son on the shoulder and said, “She’s gone, son.  I’m sorry.”

              David was well aware of how attached to the girl his son was.  He knew it from the time they could walk.  Given time they would have loved each other.  Given time they would have become the strongest alpha pair in history.  Unfortunately, time was something little Tamika would never have. 

              David would give Jared as much time as he needed and then he would break the mating spell. 

###

              Lisa rolled into the bar around eight the next morning.  She started cleaning from the night before and was washing the bar-top when a well-built red-red sauntered up to the bar.  He slid onto one of the stools. 

              She eyed him with her hands on her hips for a moment before she said, “The bar is closed until three this afternoon.”

              “I know.  There’s someone I need to speak to and he works here,” he said.

              “Well, I’m it for the next hour,” she said.

              “I can wait,” the man replied.

              “Fine, but don’t you get my counter dirty,” she huffed and kept cleaning.

              Jared knew the second he stepped into the bar that something was wrong.  Lisa’s heart beat like a filly trying to win a race.  He walked up front immediately, appraising her from head to toe as he approached her.  He was relieved to see she wasn’t injured in any way.

              He eyed the man at the bar and a feeling déjà vu bit at him, but he pushed it away.  He was more concerned about Lisa because her heart rate was not slowing down.  He gripped her arm and pulled her to the back room. 

              “What is wrong?” he demanded.

              “Nothing is wrong,” she said in a tight voice.

              “Did that man do something to you?” he pushed.

              “No,” she said and pushed past him.

              Jared grabbed her arm which forced her to partially turn to face him and he said, “Lisa, I promised you my protection.  If he hurt you, I need you to be honest about it.”

              “My past is my business, Jared.  I believe he’s here to talk to you, so get it over with and get him the hell out of my bar,” she said.  Pulling her arm out of his grip she went back to work.

              Jared sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration.  He was starting to understand why some of his mated friends drank.  He took a deep breath and walked back out into the bar and slid into the stool beside the man.

              He held out his hand and said, “Hey, there, I’m Jared.  I hear you want to talk to me.”

              The man eyed his hand like it carried the plague and then looked over at Lisa, who was cleaning again, and said, “Can we get some privacy here?”

              “Sure, you know where the door is,” she replied with barely capped anger in her voice.

              He then turned to Jared and said, “If she stays, she’ll know your secret, mutt.”

              “She already knows my secret, so say your peace, human,” he replied in a voice that would make most men cry for their mommies.

              “I’m sure you know me, but you might not know my name.  It’s Bryan and I think it’s high time we declared a truce,” he said.

              “A truce?” Jared asked while somehow managing not to sound confused.

              “You’ve killed more than twice as many people as were even in the Brokefang pack.  I understand you needed revenge, but genocide is not the answer,” he said.

              “Your people killed the Brokefang clan?” he asked casually.  It was hard to force himself to be calm because Lisa’s pulse sped up at the mention of the killings.  She knew who had done it.

              Bryan paled as he realized his mistake.  All of the local hunters had assumed that the pack leaders had order the hit on their people, but it was becoming very clear very quickly that was not the case.  He swallowed hard as he saw the fury building behind Jared’s clear blue eyes.

              “We have paid the price for our mistake,” he said softly, averting his gaze.

              “My mate was burned beyond recognition.  I’m sorry, but whatever has been done to your people is not near enough.  All I can tell you is that whoever has done it has not been of the five remaining packs, the council never approved such a thing,” he said.

              When Bryan let out a sigh of relief he added, “Don’t worry.  I will see the problem corrected and get permission.  No one slaughters one of the packs and gets away with it.”

              Bryan scrambled out of the chair away from him and muttered, “We’re finished here,” as he rushed for the door. 

              Jared eyed Lisa and asked, “You are supposed to meet Dean today, right?”

              “Yes, whenever I can fit it in,” she replied guardedly.

              “Put your apron away.  You are fitting it in now,” he ordered her.

              “You are not my boss, Jared,” she said and kept cleaning.

              Jared did not argue with her, instead he walked around the counter and threw her over his shoulder.  His arm fit snugly under her knees and he couldn’t help but enjoy her scent.  He almost wanted to rub his face into her hip just to get a better smell of the sweet cherry smell that lingered under her bath of perfume.

She called Jared every word in the book and punched him hard in the lower back.  He grunted when she hit him hard enough to leave a bruise between his ribs.  Lance walked in just as he was carrying her out.  He met Jared’s eyes and did not say a word.

“Lance, you coward!  Get back here and make him put me down!” she yelled at him.

“No can do, baby girl.  I know my betters and don’t mess with them,” he said with his hands up.

“Be quiet,” Jared hissed.

“Put. Me. Down!” she growled back at him as she struggled in his grip.

Jared dropped her in the passenger seat of his car and locked her in.  Walking around the car, he unlocked the door and sat down beside her.  She glared at him and he glared right back at her.

“Don’t you dare look at me like that, Lisa.  I should hauling your ass in front of the council right now.  How many did you kill?” he asked.

“I have no idea what you mean,” she said with wide innocent eyes, but her pulse rate told another story.

“Damn it, Lisa,” he growled as he reached over and pulled her out of her seat.  Jared silently thanked the universe that she wore so many clothes so he didn’t have to touch her skin as he held her up in front of him.  Her breasts smashed against his face as he smacked her backside as hard as he possibly could across the backside before pushing her back into the steering wheel.

“You could have started a war between the hunters and the packs, so tell me the damn truth, Lisa.  How many?” he said with the hardest push he’d ever done behind the words.

“One hundred and two,” she whispered. 

Lisa refused to look him in the eye as silent tears left a trail down her face.  Jared took a moment to process what she said.  Sweet, assertive Lisa was a murderer.  The council would not see it that way.  If the hunters had truly harmed one of her pack members they would call it justifiable, but Jared just couldn’t.  At the same time he could not push her away.

“It stops now,” he said flatly.

“They owe me a blood debt,” she said.

“Which it sounds like has been paid many times over,” he countered.

“If it was your family or your mate, would it ever be paid?” she asked him.

“I would hope so,” he said softly.

Jared pushed her back into her seat and put the car into drive.  It took them twenty minutes to make it to Dean’s office.  The silence that stretched through the car felt like nails on a chalk board.  He couldn’t find it in him to comfort her as much as he couldn’t condemn her.

“You are not going in with me,” she said.

Sighing Jared rubbed his forehead and then said, “You’re right.  I have a feeling that there are going to be some things said in your counselling sessions that I just plainly don’t want to know about.  I will be right here when you’re done.  I expect you to come right back out here to me.”

Lisa slammed the door behind her as she walked into the office.  Dean was just walking a client out when he saw her.  He motioned her to come on back into the office.  She flung herself down on the couch like an angry teenager.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with concern.

“How dare he manhandle me!  I am an alpha in my own right and he just pushes me around like I’m required to bend to his will.  Damn him all to hell,” she vented.

“Let me apologize for my brother,” he said slowly.

“Conner is a skirt chaser if there ever was one, but he would not presume to throw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in my own bar,” she snapped.

“Jared, then?” he asked.

“How did you know?”

“He’s the only alpha I know who would be able to manhandle you,” he said with a mischievous smile.  “You know my brother told me you thanked him quite publicly yesterday for making you come see me.  Which makes me think it’s not that Jared is forcing you to do something you don’t want to do as much as the reason he’s doing it.  Am I right?”

“I really hate you sometimes, you know that?” she countered.

“It’s part of the job description.  Tell me what he did,” he said with interest.

The deep red blush filled her cheeks spoke volumes as she calmly said, “He spanked me and then made me come here.  Just like I was a little child.”

“He should not have violated your personal space, but I’ve known Jared since we were children.  He would have to have had a very good reason for laying hands on a woman.  What did you do, Lisa?”  he asked gently.

“I have your complete confidence?  What I say does not leave this room, right?” she asked.

“It is interpack law that I cannot say a word about my counselling sessions with any wolves,” he assured her.

Sighing she got up and paced as she asked, “Dean, could you tell me what you would think would happen if any one of the packs was attacked.  If the members were tortured and then slaughtered, but the alpha was left.  What would he or she do?”

Dean considered the question for less than a moment before he said, “He would slaughter all those responsible.”

She sat down and took a deep breath as she met his eyes and said, “My name is Tamika Lisa Brokefang.”

“I take it you prefaced that with your question to prepare me?” he asked.