Fang Chronicles: Amy's Story Read online

  He was home in minutes. His burden felt lighter than he thought possible for a human. She smelled bad, the tang of narcotic drugs in her system was noticeable, but underneath that smell was another he hadn’t noticed in the alley. His breath caught. He had not smelled blood that electrifying in centuries. Not since Victoria.

  In that moment, Marcus almost killed her. He wasn’t sure if he could have this child in his house. She might be the death of him.

  ***

  Amy roused to discover she was lying in a soft bed with the faint glow of a night lamp shining. A stunning young woman used a warm washcloth that smelled of soap to clean her aching face. She winced at the blood on the cloth as the woman rinsed it, knowing it had come from her cheek.

  The woman smiled at her. “It’s about time you rejoined the living. I was getting worried. I think it’s the drugs more that the blow to the face. However, I’m not a doctor.”

  “What drugs?” she asked in a scratchy voice that didn’t sound like hers. Flashes of the scene in the alley were running through her mind and fear surfaced.

  “No need to worry, they’ll soon be out of your system. We can connect you with a good drug abuse center. The Master will take care of everything and you’ll be a new person.”

  The Master? A drug abuse center? Amy kept these thoughts to herself. The events of the night continued to filter into her brain. Two thoughts hit her at once. A man tried to rape her. And, she hoped it wasn’t too late to call Brian before he hit the panic button and had the entire police department searching for her.

  “May I use your phone?” Amy asked, struggling to control her rising dread.

  “All our phones are located on a lower floor. I can have someone called for you. Do you have family that will worry or are you trying to reach a dealer?”

  Amy realized how she must appear. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m a reporter. The friend, I need you to call, is a police detective. I don’t want a city-wide alarm sounded because he hasn’t heard from me.” In spite of her weak and shaky voice, Amy felt more like herself with every minute that ticked by. Her eyes narrowed. “What happened to the guy that attacked me?” He had to be the killer of the young, nameless prostitutes? Why was she rescued when those other poor girls suffered? Were the drugs in their system because he injected them?

  The journalist in her slammed the fog from her brain and began writing the story in her head. It took her a moment to realize the woman standing over her had a look of complete horror on her face. Amy actually glanced over her shoulder, to the other side of the room, before she realized the woman was staring at her and she was the cause of the woman’s fear.

  The next moment, the door was thrown open and two men came in. Amy could see the hypodermic needle in the hand of one of them. The other man was her beautiful rescuer, but he moved so fast, Amy couldn’t keep up with what was happening. This time, his eyes were brown and not the amber she remembered. He held her as the other man jammed the needle into her arm. Her last thought wasn’t fear, it was, not again.

  Chapter 4

  Ivan paced the carpeted living room. “Why is she here?”

  Marcus shot him a furious glare. “I thought she was a young drug addicted prostitute and might need some help.” It was one thing to kill in the moment. It was entirely another to go up to the room and kill the woman now. He should have done it in the alley.

  “Do you want me to take care of her?”

  He knew Ivan would do it. They had hunted together on many occasions, but neither of them was a blood thirsty animal, and killing for the sake of killing had lost any appeal it might once have had. “I’ll do it, but I need you to remove the body. Don’t let the other pack members feed off her. I guess I’m getting sentimental in my old age, but it’s really not her fault she has to die. Making it painless is the least we can do.”

  Ivan nodded.

  Marcus knew his clan was more civilized than ever before, but they were still part animal and often needed the taste of a kill. It helped to keep them under control when it was important. “We’ll head to the ranch after this merger’s finished.” Once in Texas they could hunt game. The Pack was in need and it could become dangerous very quickly.

  Ivan acknowledged the decision as Marcus began a slow walk up the stairs. When he opened the door, Alba was sitting next to the woman.

  “She’s a very beautiful. I too thought she was a child. It’s sad that her life will be cut short. I must be getting soft and old to be thinking this way. I wasn’t in favor of becoming civilized, but you were right and we had to find a way to exist in modern times. Now, I grieve for a young woman I don’t even know.”

  Marcus looked at Alba. She was one of his best killing machines. She always fought as a mother would to protect her cubs. Besides Ivan, he wanted Alba at his back if the shit hit the fan.

  “It’s my fault. I should have killed her in the alley.”

  “Take her back, Marcus. I’ll watch over her until she’s found. We don’t need her blood on our hands.”

  Marcus’ disturbed gaze settled on the woman lying on the bed. “It isn’t safe. She’s seen Ivan, you, and me, plus this room.”

  Alba growled. It wasn’t the first time he was the focus of her anger and it wouldn’t be the last. The biggest surprise was that Alba stood in front of the woman, positioning her body as a shield. This was outright rebellion and Marcus knew he was in for a fight. Not a fight of words, but one of blood.

  He attacked and Alba was thrown across the room. She was up and on him before he could blink. She was now a wolf. Even with clothing tripping and slowing her, she managed to rake his face and arm with her claws. His fangs pulled out a chunk of fur and flesh before he threw her against the wall again.

  Ivan raced into the room, his voice loud with rage. “Stop Alba, are you out of your mind? Oh shit, Marcus can’t you smell it? She’s pregnant again.”

  The fight went out of Marcus. Shame filled him. He should have scented the pregnancy. “Damn it Alba, are you okay?” Blood dripped from his face onto his shirt and the floor but was nothing an hour wouldn’t cure.

  Alba was in just as bad, if not worse shape, but she wasn’t letting up.

  “Fuck you, Marcus. You are not killing this girl!”

  Marcus turned and glared at Ivan. Ivan just stared back. They both knew they had lost. A new cub was being born to the Pack and momma wolf would get her way. Pack children were rare and one hadn’t been born in over fifty years.

  Marcus spoke to Ivan, “Take the woman back to the alley and keep watch until someone finds her. Tell the Pack to prepare the house for departure. I’ll finish the merger tomorrow and we’ll leave immediately after.”

  Alba answered, “I’ll protect the woman until she’s found and safe.”

  One hour later, Alba hid behind a dumpster, in wolf form, until a couple of prostitutes notified the authorities. The woman was beat up. It would look like a client got a little rough and she passed out from drugs.

  As the ambulance pulled away, Alba grinned. She felt the life inside her, actually two lives. She wouldn’t tell the boys for a while. She hated the city and would insist on giving birth at the ranch.

  Alba knew she became unreasonable when pregnant although it had been over one hundred years since her last childbirth. She usually became bloodthirsty and wanted to fight everyone and anyone, but for some reason this woman brought out her mothering instinct. The woman would live. As long as their secret was safe, Alba knew she had made the best decision. She hadn’t told anyone that she dreamed of this woman. It took time for her to understand the meaning of her dreams. But she had figured them out and specifically, how this woman fit into their secret lives. She was special and her life would be forever intertwined with theirs. Alba would need to think some more about it, but this had been coming for a long time. Now that the woman was here things would change for the best.

  Alba let out a sigh, and placed her hand on her stomach. It was a relief to have her pregnancy out
in the open. Worrying about Ivan’s reaction when he found out exhausted her. She knew there would be anger but also knew he would make room in his heart and eventually forgive her.

  She needed to be on the ranch. Her hormones were becoming too unpredictable. To stay in control, it was best that she keep away from humans. The threat she posed while carrying put her pack at risk. She also wanted to see her four sons together. The boys were grown and they needed to start families of their own.

  It was important to the Clan that they have children. Unfortunately, her two new ones would give the boys the excuse they needed to delay a family. She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to worry about it. As much as she loved carrying a child, she realized her yearning for family togetherness was brought on by the pregnancy. She really hated this shit.

  Chapter 5

  Amy glared at her friend Brian. If he didn’t stop yelling, she was cutting him out of her non-existent will. She’d had it. He didn’t even care that the drugs were barely out of her system. He didn’t care that her face still hurt. Oh no, he was more interested in pounding her head with his words.

  “Enough, Brian. If you don’t stop, I swear, I’ll have the hospital remove you.”

  “Try! You are a stupid, idiotic, fluff-for-brains female.” He scowled down at her. “Shit! I don’t know why I even bother.”

  As he stormed from the room, Amy knew he would be back and that she deserved the long lecture. He loved her like a sister, and as with any sibling, his anger would cool. It just wasn’t going to happen while the evidence of the assault on her face stared back at him. Once she healed, she would apologize and invite his wife and him over for his favorite dinner.

  Amy’s mind reviewed the events of the past twenty-four hours. Her head might be groggy, but she remembered bits and pieces. The one thing that stood out was the perfect profile of her rescuer. Mesmerizing was the only way she could truly describe him. His face was sculptured like a God’s. His eyes a soft brown, she knew she must have imagined their amber glow the first time she’d seen them. Why had he taken her to a place where she was injected with more drugs and then dumped her back in the same alley?

  She told the police about none of this. She let them think she was drugged and knocked out. The rape kit they did showed nothing. With hours missing, Amy hadn’t been certain. So, she allowed the invasive procedure. She wanted to be sure.

  The only marks showing her struggles to live were on her face. A tremor rippled through her. She didn’t know if her attacker was dead or alive but knew she could identify him. Oh God! What if he came after her?

  She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked. She vaguely remembered his body flying through the air. Could he have survived? She knew it wasn’t good Karma, but she hoped he was dead. She suspected he was the killer of the young women. But how had her savior lifted, let alone tossed, a two hundred pound body across the alley?

  Prostitutes were assaulted every day. Did some drop-dead gorgeous man rescue them too? She knew this wasn’t true.

  Amy left the hospital with a medium sized plastic bag in hand. Brian had returned and brought her requested items from her apartment. The plastic bag contained a few things provided by a woman’s crisis advocate. The police took custody of the clothes she had been wearing when she was attacked. After Amy got home, she stayed in her small apartment and typed on her laptop. When she was in her writing groove, she rarely knew what was going on around her.

  She finally came up for air and turned on her favorite celebrity news show. She could watch the evening news, but when she was writing a serious article, she enjoyed the gossip fluff more. She started to flip the channel as a hard news story broke, then her eyes narrowed on the screen at the photo. “Breaking news: A merger between ICon Industries and Flex, Inc. ICon’s latest takeover is complete. It happened faster than their usual acquisitions. Few details have been released. Owner and CEO, Marcus Lincoln, one of the country’s most eligible bachelors, is unavailable for comment.”

  Amy’s heart skipped a beat at the grainy photo. He was the man in the alley, the one who saved her.

  The news story continued, “Candid photos are rare. While, Mr. Lincoln is portrayed as a playboy, he is seldom seen in public and behaves more like Howard Hughes. In his rare appearances, he has a different beauty on his arm, whose identity always remains a mystery. This female reporter loves nothing better than a puzzle, and Marcus Lincoln is an enigma.”

  Floored, Amy froze the picture on the screen and focused on his incredible face. What would Marcus Lincoln be doing in a dark alley? He didn’t sound like someone that would even be caught dead on the South Side of the city. Not that she was ungrateful, but she had questions that needed to be answered.

  ***

  It took a week for the bruises to fade. The daytime makeup hid the majority of the damage that was left. Amy felt good as she marched into Henry’s office. Brian might still be furious at the risk she took, but Henry was ecstatic.

  “Your story’s gone viral, Amy. This type of work is exactly what we want. Your career’s on the rise.”

  “Thanks, all it took was almost getting raped and killed, but anything for a good story.”

  “That’s the attitude. So what are you working on now?” Her words went right over Henry’s head.

  She shook her finger at him. “Henry...” He didn’t expect an answer, but he tried every time. She always played her stories close to the chest. That was one of the lovely things about being an independent journalist…she wrote on spec and didn’t discuss her next project.

  “I promise it will be good. Maybe more in depth than this one, but it’ll be a few weeks before you have it. I’ll keep in touch. You know my price has gone up.”

  “If it’s as good as or better than this one, you’ll deserve the increase.”

  After she left the office, she decided to drive by Marcus’ residence. It was just outside the city. When she arrived at the address Goggle had for him, she faced a six-foot brick wall and iron gates. As a security man approached her, she rolled down her window. It was amazing how the rich lived. A forest of trees hid the home from the road.

  “May I help you, Miss?”

  “I’m wondering if Mr. Lincoln is available. I don’t have an appointment, but I think if you tell him I’m here he’ll speak with me. Tell him Amy Cox from the alley is here.”

  “Mr. Lincoln is not in residence at this time and I’m unable to give his current location.”

  “Can you get a message to him?”

  “Yes, I will let his people know you came calling.”

  Came calling, it seemed such a funny, old-fashioned way of speaking. The other phrase that got her was “his people.” Proof the rich didn’t live like the rest of the world. Amy’s disappointment was tempered. She knew it wouldn’t be easy. However, the guard told her plenty with his choice of words, “Not in residence and unable to give his current location.”

  The Internet was a wonderful tool, and she would have the information soon. Mr. Lincoln wouldn’t stay hidden from her for long. Unfortunately, her recorder had been missing from the hidden pocket in her shorts so immediate answers weren’t available but she knew who had them. Mr. Playboy would soon discover; she didn’t play.

  Chapter 6

  Marcus reached for the ringing phone and frowned at the caller ID. They always left a few members of the pack behind as protection. He had a bad feeling. “Yes.”

  “Sir, a Miss Amy Cox showed up at the city estate and asked to see you. When I informed her you were not in residence, she ordered me to relay a message.” After a pause and no response from his boss, he went on, “Tell him Amy Cox from the alley was here.”

  “Thank you, Conner.” Marcus’s fingers tightened on the phone. A crack echoed through the room. Having read her article, he knew what she left out and that she was aware of more than they thought. It tormented him that he should have killed her in the alley but didn’t. Now because of acceding to Alba’s wishes, they were all at
risk.

  Alba trotted into the room on four legs. Marcus knew she felt his emotions and had to wonder at his anger. His gaze met her soulful one as she rested her head on his knee. She came to soothe him, she was always like this when she carried a baby. Her last two months would be spent as a wolf. It was her choice and it was how she preferred to give birth. As a wolf, her pregnancy was shorter. It never affected the cub, and Marcus understood her reason for taking this form to bring her offspring into the world. He also knew Alba would learn about Amy soon enough. Conner was Alba’s son. With a sigh, he absently stroked her head. “Amy Cox just left the city house. She knows I was with her in the alley.”

  Alba growled.

  “Don’t get your back up. I’m not going after her. We’ll find a way to keep her quiet and safe. You made your stand and we’ll deal with it.” She growled again and he chuckled. “Yes, in a nonviolent way, at least as far as dealing with Miss Cox is concerned.”

  The growl was quieter this time and she padded from the room as he reached for the cracked phone, thankful it still worked. “I want it in an hour...Yes, every detail...I mean from Miss Cox’s birth weight forward.”

  ***

  Marcus glowered at the reports. It hadn’t taken one hour but a week, and at last he had the information he needed. As Ivan entered his office, he lifted his gaze. Thank the powers, Ivan no longer had that desperate, wild-eyed appearance. Being on the ranch took the savagery out of them, calming them. It allowed the Pack to run, hunt, and fuck like good wolves. They had stayed away too long this last time. A mistake he wouldn’t make again.

  “She just landed at the Phoenix Airport. She has a room in the city and will probably be here tomorrow.” Ivan didn’t need to give a name.

  Marcus knew she was coming. He had peered over her shoulder, invisible to her, when she arranged the flight. The woman was a wealth of surprises. She had sensed him in the small apartment with her. She’d stopped and looked around feeling the uneasiness at his presence, a presence she shouldn’t have recognized. Good thing she hadn’t figured out it was a who, not what, that made her apprehensive. He’d shuddered at the thought of her reaction if she realized he searched her apartment, and could describe the color of every pair of panties in the top drawer of her dresser. She was staid on the outside, with sexy thongs hidden beneath ugly suits.