When they were in the hall leading to the front of the house he pulled her to him gently. When she started to protest, he kissed her. He didn't kiss her hard or even with as much pa.s.sion as he wanted, but simply brushed his mouth over hers.

His body screamed for him to take her. His wolf, nearly at the breaking point, seemed to claw at him from the inside out. Gordon was careful this time to keep it slow. He didn't want to frighten her and he didn't want her to knee him again. He moved to take another taste of her mouth when he felt her stiffen. He didn't let her go as much as moved her behind him.

"Paddy, what the f.u.c.k are you doing here?" she practically snarled at the man in front of him. "You're not supposed to be within five miles of me and the kids. Get out before I call the-"

Paddy roared at her when she came around Gordon to get to the other wolf. It was all Gordon could do not to shift and take the man. He had his scent now and he'd pay for upsetting Alexis.

"It's time you left. Now." Gordon let a little of his humanity go to let the other wolf see that he meant business. He knew that this was the man who'd hurt his mate and also the man who was terrorizing the children and it was now his job to protect them as much as he could.

The whimpering startled him for just a second. Before he could stop her Alexis was out from behind him and making her way to the sound. The man, Paddy, didn't move a muscle, but stood smiling at him. He smiled like he knew something that Gordon didn't.

"You the wolf who sprayed himself all over my future mate? You'd better stay the h.e.l.l away from what's mine, little cub. I'm going to take what should have been mine in the first place and you are inconsequential to my plan. The other one was a waste of my time." Paddy nodded toward where Alexis went without looking at her. "The scrawny one didn't tell me about this beauty before I f.u.c.ked her. Had I seen her first, you'd be minus a bed buddy. And now that you've marked her it's every man for himself when it comes to claiming her."

He moved quickly and had Alexis in his arms before Gordon knew his intent. When Paddy stilled her struggles with a hand around her throat she looked at him with tears in her eyes. His wolf roared. Gordon felt the change coming. His beast wanted to kill.

"Let my mate go and I'll let you live long enough to apologize to her before I tear your throat out." Gordon felt his body respond to his mate's terror. His wolf moved along his skin and tore at him. "This is between you and me now. Let Alexis go."

Paddy licked her throat to her cheek. "Hum, delicious. I can't want to have this sweet thing beneath me, screaming out my name. Do you know what I did to her sister? Do you have any idea what it felt like to kill her? You'd do well to remember I've tasted human blood in terror, little boy, and I'll have no trouble killing her just so you can't have her. Leave her to me and I'll be the one who lets you live."

The sound of a door slamming had them all freeze. Paddy jerked once as if he'd been hit. Then he leapt toward the door as a shot rang out and Gordon could see where blood was stained on his shoulder. With a snarl toward something in the doorway, Paddy Booth shifted and leapt through the front door that was open.

"Find the kids and stay with them." Gordon looked to the door where the wolf had gone. "I'm so sorry about this." And he shifted. The last thing he heard before going through the still open door was someone screaming.

Chapter 6.

Alexis paced. And when she wasn't pacing she was trying to comfort Darcy. The girl wouldn't let her touch her. Alexis glared at the people sitting on her couch and continued to pace.

"He'll be fine. I swear. He knows what he's doing." Alexis stopped and stared at Connor, Gordon's twin in every way. "He's been sc.r.a.pping with me since we were pups."

"Oh he'd better be all right. Because when he gets back here, I'm going to murder him." She started to pace again. "What the h.e.l.l was he thinking running after Paddy like that? Does he think he's invincible? No, he is not. Stupid, moronic idiot should be...he should be caged or tied up outside so he can...what the h.e.l.l are you laughing at?"

She turned on Dallas so quickly that he backed up in the seat. "Nothing. Well, except you sound just like CJ. She hated that Austin thought he was going to live forever too."

"So it's a wolf thing, this inability to be smart. I see." She didn't, but doubted she would ever tell them that. "I don't understand how your race has made it this far if this is how you handle situations."

"I don't think this is the time to be-" Austin stopped talking and stood up. His body looked as tight as a strung bow. When both Dallas and CJ stood, Alexis knew that something had happened to Gordon.

"You know something. What is it?" The hair on her arm stood when the baying began. It was just beyond her house, but it sounded like it was in the room with her. The sound at the front of the house startled them all and Darcy began to whimper. Alexis went to her immediately while the others made their way to the door.

Darcy knew something, or felt it. She'd been sitting in this corner since Alexis had managed to get the small handgun away from her. Where she'd gotten it was anyone's guess, but she was going to find out. She'd shot her father and had probably saved all their lives.

Alexis tried to calm her, but there wasn't any anything to do. She had to leave her alone to prevent her from hurting either one of them. She was struggling against even the smallest of comforts and Alexis was terrified that she was going to harm herself. When CJ came back into her living room Alexis stood and nearly fell over when Austin came in carrying a large wolf. All h.e.l.l broke loose.

"Stop that," Dallas snapped at Darcy. The keening stopped immediately. Alexis might have been mad, but there were the boys who'd been awakened up from all the noise of the gun shot. She started to go to them when Connor said he had them and led them from the room. The wolf was laid on the floor near the fireplace.

"That's not...that's not Paddy. Who..." She suddenly knew. "It's Gordon, isn't it?"

Alexis' hands began to burn and she put them behind her. She knew that at least one person in the room knew what was happening to her and maybe others, but she tried her best to hide it. Darcy was in no shape to tell on her. She looked up at CJ when she made her way to Gordon and was stopped by Phil.

"Will you do it?" She looked at the vampire and shook her head. "You can, can't you? You can save his life. I can hear his heart beating, Alexis, and it's slowing. He's been hurt helping you."

"What do you mean she can help him?" Austin turned to her, as did Dallas when Austin continued to ask. "Tell me what the h.e.l.l he's talking about. What can you do to help my brother?"

"I can't do it. Please, you have to understand that...please don't make me do this. I've had to start over so many times." She felt the tears stream down her face. "Please, Phil, you can't want me to do this again."

She wasn't sure how he'd found out she could heal. She really didn't care at this point. But helping this man, this wolf, was going to change things forever. Too many people, all of them could get her into so much trouble knowing she could do this.

"You have to, love. And no one here will condemn you. I'm not sure what you are, but you're not wholly human, are you?" She shook her head at Phil's question. "I thought not. Help him, Alexis, and if something happens to you, if anyone in here betrays you, I swear to you I will set it right."

She knew he was not only telling her he would protect her, but also warning the others. She looked down at the man on the floor. He was dying. She could hear his heart as well as anyone of them in the room. She dropped to her knees next to him and started rubbing her hands on her thighs.

"You'll have to tell my aunts that I've...that I took ill. I want you all to be gone when I'm through here. And I don't ever want to see any of you again. You've no idea what...it doesn't matter. If Paddy finds out, if he even guesses that this is what I can do, then there will be no stopping him. You understand?" She looked up at the people standing there.

"You save his life and we'll do whatever it takes to protect you. Whatever." She nodded at Austin. She didn't really believe him, she'd been made promises before and look where it had...she nodded again.

"Someone will need to make sure that he rests when you take him home. He'll be weak and tired for a bit, but he'll live." She looked down at the wolf and put her hands near his bloodied fur. "You people had better be true to your word. I don't want to run again. The children need me too much."

The pain ripped through her as soon as she touched him. She could feel each of his bites, each tear in his skin, and each place that the fur had been ripped from his body. She knew the exact location of the teeth marks that Paddy had given him, the depth of each bite, and even when the other wolf had shaken his head to inflict more pain. Alexis knew that she'd cried out; there was no hope for it. She hurt. She hurt as badly as the wolf and knew that it was going to get worse, much worse.

Closing her eyes, she let her curse roll over her. It rolled from her into him, sealing the open gashes and mending the smaller ones. She had learned to breathe slowly when she did this or else the power would wear her out too quickly and the person would still need her help. She moved along his body. Each and every wound was sealed before she moved on to another place. The process was slow and draining to her, but she knew that as soon as she finished he'd be fine.

Exhaustion weighed on her when she opened her eyes. She had no idea how long she'd been helping him, only that she didn't have the strength to do much more than nod slightly at the gla.s.s of orange juice someone held out to her. She tried to speak and before she could form words someone picked her up and then blackness engulfed her.

Austin looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. She'd saved Gordon. He didn't know how yet, but he planned to find out. He glanced at his mate as she pulled the blankets down off the bed in the room that one of the aunts had led them to. He was startled when Phil laid Gordon, in human form now, down on the other side of Alexis on the big bed.

"She has to mate with him now. If not, then she'll run." Phil covered Gordon up as he continued. "Please don't ask me what she is. First of all, I don't have a definite answer, and secondly...secondly, I don't think I believe it myself."

"You knew she could heal him. How?" Austin asked him. "What did you feel that none of us did? There had to be something that tipped you off."

"Something, yes. Let's take this downstairs. She'll be out for several days, her aunt said. The more...damage, the longer it takes for her to come back from it. They can't believe she did this again. They said she only does it for those she loves." Phil moved out of the room and they had no choice but to follow.

CJ stopped him just beyond the door. "She saved his life because he's her mate, didn't she? Even now she doesn't realize that she had no choice but to love him. Oh Austin, what happens to them all now? Do you know what she is?"

Austin looked back at the couple on the bed. "No. No, I don't know, but Phil does and if he is this nervous, it can't be good. No, I don't know what she is, but I plan to find out. She's a member of this pack now and we'll all protect her." He pulled his mate to him. "She saved his life. He was dying and she saved his life."

"I know, love. Whatever she is, she's very powerful. And yes, we'll all protect her."

The living room was nearly empty when they entered. Austin felt at home here. Not as much as he did at his own home, but he could easily see his brother living here with Alexis. Connor was sitting on the floor next to were Darcy was still hiding and when Austin started toward him a small shake of his brother's head had him going toward the couch instead. He had never seen anyone as terrified in his life as that little girl. He wondered what had happened to this family and how they were going to help them.

"Alexis is very private so what I'm going to tell you is something I don't believe she's ever shared with anyone but family." Glad sat on the couch as Jessie served sandwiches around. She took one off the tray as she continued. "Alexis and Judith weren't true sisters. Not by blood at any rate. Judith was Daniel's child and Alexis was Caroline's. The two of them, Daniel and Caroline, met when the girls were just about three. They married a few months later, Caroline and Daniel, not the girls. Both girls, head over heels in love with having a family, settled right in."

Jessie sat and picked up the tale. "When Daniel was away on business he had his brother, Donald, keep an eye on the house for his family. Donald had a son named Patrick Booth from an affair he'd had with a married woman. Sordid affair, it was, and the boy, Paddy he goes by now, became surly and resentful when he realized how happy the girls were. Don't know why, but he hadn't ever met Alexis as an adult or things might have been a bit different. She was away at school when she turned fifteen. She is as smart as they come, our Alexis, and she'd been offered all kinds of scholarships to go to all them fancy schools. But Paddy had his sights set on marrying up Judith when she turned seventeen and there was no stopping him. We both thought he was off his rocker, but then no one would listen to us."

"Wait, how are you related to her then? Why wouldn't you keep an eye on them if the boy was so bad?" Austin flushed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Oh it's all right. I was Caroline's aunt and Gladys here was Daniel's. We sort of became family when the two of them married." Jessie laughed. "Our family tree doesn't quite go in a circle, but it's pretty close. I guess you can say we formed our own pack."

Austin nodded. He was never sure what to do when someone outside mentioned his race. He wasn't ashamed of what he was, but he was fearful of others. He didn't remember a time when they had to outright hide what they were from humans, but he knew what could happen.

"Jessie, dear, do get on with it. The poor man is being polite and not telling you to get to the flipping point." Gladys grinned at him. "She dithers at times. It's sometimes difficult to keep her on point."

Austin felt his lips twitch. He was having a hard time keeping a straight face. But as soon as Phil snickered he laughed as well. These two women may not be related, but they sure knew one another well enough. He had no doubt that they would eventually get to the point, but it would take a trip through the wood on the way to the mall on the other side of the state to get there.

"Oh yes. Well," Jessie began with a snort to Gladys. "Alexis is a foundling. Do they use that term anymore? Oh well, she was a motherless child...oh, I do like that better. Motherless. Well, at the time she was found she was, but Judith certainly never made her-" With a short nudge from Gladys, she moved on. "She was a beautiful child. And so good. We never told anyone, of course, just took her in and kept her. I was living with my Caroline at the time. We knew from the start she was different, but never really cared. Then later, Caroline met Daniel and it didn't seem to matter anymore."

"How?" Phil asked from his position at the fireplace. "What made you think she was different? Did she do anything...was she able to do anything that set her apart?"

"Well of course she did. What do you think I just said?" Jessie turned to Gladys and frowned. "Is there something wrong with the way I'm telling this story, Glad dear? Or is he, you know?" Jessie twirled her finger at her head to indicate that she thought Phil was crazy. The vamp growled, but was ignored.

"No, he's not, but you certainly must be. What did Alexis tell us about him? She said to behave around him because he's a..." Gladys lowered her voice, but they could all hear. "He's a vampire, remember?"

"Good heavens," Phil snapped. Austin laughed because the expression on Phil's face was priceless. Before he could get control of himself Gladys whipped out a string of what appeared to be garlic and held it in front of him.

"I may be old, but I can certainly whip your a.s.s if you think of having your way with me while you suck my neck, young man." Gladys looked so fierce that Austin pulled a pillow from the side of the couch and shoved it in his mouth. She looked like she could take on just about anything and come out on top.

Phil took the garlic from the older woman and tossed it across the room. "Let me guess, you've read about me in some s.m.u.t book and now you think you have all the answers on how to keep me at bay. Well, ladies, I'm too old to be screwed with and I enjoy a very good garlic spaghetti sauce every now and then as much as the next person. Now, would you please tell us what made Alexis different from any other baby?"

"She was outside when we found her. Out in a basket with nothing more than a little bitty sleeper on her." Phil looked ready to explode before Gladys hurried on. "It was in the middle of winter. It was minus fifteen degrees out and she was laying there all warm and snuggly in her little basket. She'd been there long enough that the snow had no prints in it and there weren't nary a thing around her."

"The note, dear, tell him about the note," Jessie chimed in quickly. "It said that she was going to be hunted for her abilities and that she needed to be cared for and the person who loved her would be richly rewarded."

"Hunted how? I mean, it's not really telling you much, is it?" CJ frowned when neither woman answered her. "Surely it said more than that. h.e.l.l, I'm hunted now. There's that stupid guy who wants me to buy the property next to his so we can keep the unmentionables out. He looks for me every time he sees my car. What a moron."

"He wants to keep your panties from being exposed? Whatever for?" Jessie looked over at Glad before she continued. "I swear, every day people get more and more strange. Anyway, we came here. It was a lovely trip, wasn't it?"

Glad rolled her eyes and then she nudged Jessie again. "You're losing them again. Focus. They want to know where we came from. Isn't that right?"

"Yes," Austin said. "Where did you find Alexis? I'm sure if there had been anything in the paper I would have remembered. And what did the police say when you told them?"

"Oh my, as I said, we didn't tell anyone. That would have...they would have taken her, you see. So Caroline and I simply raised her as our own. She was such a good baby and a wonderful child. Very smart too. Then when Judith got married and then divorced and moved here from the Yellowstone area, we went with her. She was trying to hide out from that b.a.s.t.a.r.d of an ex-husband of hers. He was a bully, but it wasn't until he...well, changed that we knew how much." Jessie looked around the room as she continued. "Then after he killed our Judith and the poor homeless children needed more than...we're not exactly young chicks any more, so Alexis dropped everything and came to help. She gave up so much, the poor dear."

"What did she give up?" They all turned to the doorway where Gordon stood. Austin didn't expect to see him for a few days yet and was very happy to have him up and about. Gordon brushed off any attempts of helping him as he made his way to the couch. He did lean slightly more on his twin when he simply shouldered him, but he sat down. He asked again.

"Oh my, she had a wonderful job. She was a chemical engineer. She worked at the s.p.a.ce shindig." Jessie frowned. "No, that's not quite right. Is it?"

Glad shook her head. "No you old fool. It's s.p.a.ce shuttle. Why do you take those memory pills if they don't work? You should do crossword puzzles or that Sudoku thingy. Keeps my mind sharp. Then there's the s.e.x. I enjoy that too."

"Poo on them. Besides, I keep forgetting to take them. s.p.a.ce shuttle, that's it. She worked at the s.p.a.ce shuttle. And then she stayed. What s.e.x? With who? Never mind. I'm betting it's Wilbur Norris, that delivery guy who works down at the post office. He's cute. Then she bought this house and had it fixed up. She'd been making her scents forever at her old home and she continued them here. Opening that nice little shop has given us a place to play and to make a little money for ourselves."

Austin shook his head. He was going to need a score card to keep up with this family or, at the very least, to take notes. He wasn't sure what was being said, but thought he'd get with his family after they got home and compare notes. He looked around the room as one of the aunts began talking again.

"I doubt she'd miss us if we didn't get under her feet in the lab." Gladys turned to Gordon. "You know that she's given you a part of herself. And now that you have it what do you plan to do to protect out little girl? Because now that she's given away her secret there will be a bigger chance of dumb a.s.s Paddy finding out."

"Paddy will be back, won't he?" Gladys nodded at Gordon's question. "And when he does he'll not be so easily chased off and he'll come more prepared. He'll need to be put down, Austin, and we both know it."

"Oh my, yes. He needs to be put out of all our misery. And when you do." Jessie leaned forward and Austin found himself leaning forward with everyone else in the room. "You need to cut his b.a.l.l.s off and feed them to him."

Austin sat back and looked around the room. He wasn't sure who was more shocked by her statement. They all looked stunned. When she stood up all the men did as well, and she grinned.

"Oh my, how lovely. I'm going to fix us a late night snack. Would you gentlemen please go out and round us up a deer? You do do that, don't you?" Jessie smiled. "Or perhaps you could go to the local market and get some steaks. It may be much quicker for us. Those sandwiches sure didn't last all that long."

With that, she went into the kitchen. Austin looked over at the stunned expression on Gordon's face, thrilled beyond words to see him sitting there. Austin grinned when he looked at him.

"Think of all the fun you're going to have when you and Alexis mate and become a couple. The fun will never stop."

Gordon groaned and Austin started laughing. Life for this couple may out do the one that he and CJ had. Especially when they figured out what the girl sleeping upstairs was.

Chapter 7.

Gordon watched her sleep. It had been two days since she'd healed him and she'd only moved in the big bed when he'd lay down with her. At first she would move away from him, then about halfway through the first night she would lay close. Early this morning she was spread across him like she belonged there.

He looked down at the tiny pink scar on his leg. It should have still been an open wound. He could heal quickly, much quicker than a human could, but a break in his leg and the tears he knew had been there would have taken days to heal not minutes. Looking back at Alexis he wondered at what Phil had told him.

"She's told me she's not wholly human. I think that in order to figure her out...and please don't get p.i.s.sy until you hear me out, I'm going to need to taste her blood. I won't need a great deal. A small drop will do me."

"What will that mean for you and her then? Will you be privy to our conversations?" As a mated pair of wolves they would be able to speak through their minds through a telepathic link. But a vamp could do that as well. He didn't want anyone to know their thoughts. Not ever.

"She and I would have a link, but the one between the two of you would be just that, between you and her. She isn't going to have to know if you don't want her to. I can never let her know that I'm there, just in the back of her mind." Phil began pacing then he turned back to him. "You should tell her, or I can, but we can keep it from her if you'd like."

"No. If we decide to do this then she'll know. I don't want her to ever mistrust me and that stinks of lying. No." He watched as his brothers came into the room. They had information and it didn't look like good news.

"Patrick Booth paid someone to convert him about two years ago," Dallas said as he handed him a file. "He's also a vampire. Which explains a great deal."

Phil spoke up then. "That does explain some, but there's more. He's been converted by a rogue vampire, someone that has been changing without permission. I thought... well, I had thought that Booth was something more than wolf when I smelled him on Alexis the first time I met her. You should know, Gordon, that he has beaten the children on occasion and once he hit Gladys. I've seen firsthand what he's done to the little boy Tim. Alexis nearly killed him then. I have a suspicion that he may have a clue as to what his sister-in-law can do."

Gordon looked at her again as he took off his shirt. He wasn't sure when she'd wake, but he needed to touch her. Needed to be with her. Crawling into bed with her, he smiled when she moved closer to him then wrapped her arm around his waist. He had a feeling that when she woke she wasn't going to be so easy to be with. She was going to be one p.i.s.sed off woman.

He lay there for some time thinking. He'd read the note that had been with her when she'd been found. It wasn't very helpful in figuring her out, but he could smell the person who'd written it. The writer's scent was as much a part of the paper as the woman lying in his arms was to him. And they were related.

Gordon wondered, not for the first time, what she was. Phil had hinted that she was something special. He already knew that. Gordon thought maybe the vamp already knew but was almost afraid to tell anyone for fear of being wrong. What on earth could make him think that he wasn't sure, but he could almost smell the fear. When she stirred he tightened his arm around her, fearful that she was pulling away.