The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 If Looks Could Kill

(Chapter song ‘I Miss The Misery’ by Halestorm)

ALEXI

"Where is it?"

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I stare into his hazel eyes then connect my silver knuckles to his jaw.

He whines and pants as I lean down to his hanging head. “Where?!” I yell.

“Fuck…you…” He grits his bloody teeth as our eyes meet. I nod in response and walk away.

I feel a slight twinge of something in my gut whenever I deliver a blow to him. I believe it’s a side effect of Nash's magic. Seeing the man in front of me, there’s no way my mind was truthful. He’s half the man my father was. Why would I even entertain a single thought about him? As I walk around the floor, I dismiss the thoughts as I interrogate further.

“If you would like the pain to stop, you will tell me.” I side eye him as I pace in front of him.

His muscular chest heaves with labored breath. I glance at his friends and arch a brow. They stare at me and shake their heads. I nod and turn back to the Alpha.

Ian wants some sort of armory and I need the locations of the other Alliance Alphas. If I can break this Alpha then my mission will be that much closer to fruition.

"I don't know." He insists, quietly. He seems to be tiring as we have been at this for over an hour.

I grab my coat at my thigh and wipe the blood from my knuckles. "I see."

I press my lips together as I walk circles around the men, my hands clicking my knuckles together behind my back. "Since you do not have the answers I need, maybe one of these gentlemen will give them to me."

He lifts his head to me. His eyes fill with concern. His wounds are already healing. Good.

My knuckles are enough to deliver a more painful punch, but they don't sit long enough to scar the skin. Already, his prefect features are coming back.

"Tell me who you are?" He asks as he watches me walk.

"Why?" I stop and whip my head to him.

He thumps his head back on the pole. He's weak and seems desperate. "I just...I need to know."

I walk back over to him and enter his space. His scent surrounds me and it only angers me more. There are dozens of men in this building and this Alpha is the only one with the pleasing scent? This has to be some sort of trick.

With only mere inches of air between our noses, I tilt my head and study his features closely. "Where is the armory?" I ask softly. If violence won’t sway, maybe I have to use a different approach.

He looks down at me, locking my eyes again. "Tell me your name." He whispers.

As I hold my challenge, I notice how strong he holds his jaw. I will admit, it’s one of things I appreciate in a man.

We hold our stalemate a little longer then I spin around. "No. You will tell me where the armory is or I will systematically kill your friends right in front of you."

As I walk back to the table, I remove my coat and toss it on it. I turn back around and clean off my black, tight, long sleeve shirt and stuff my hands in the pockets of my black cargo pants.

I saunter up to him and I pull a bullet out of my pocket. I stop and hold it up to his face so he can get a good look. "Do you know what this is, Alpha?" I tilt my head as I wait for an answer.

He looks to the bullet then flicks his eyes to mine. "No." He mumbles then looks the bullet over.

I already knew the answer, but to see the curiosity and fear in his eyes, delivers a satisfying feeling in me. I feel the control I have in this moment. It’s almost…empowering.

I hold it on display between my forefinger and thumb to make sure he fully understands the trouble he’s in.

"Liquid. Silver. Nitrate. In a glass casing. Do you know what happens when a wolf's exposed to liquid silver directly to the bloodstream?" I ask. I don’t expect him to know. He doesn’t look like the type to open a book.

"Where did you get that?" His eyes glow gold and his teeth clench. I have to pause for a moment as I study his perfect cheeks and teeth. Even blood covered, I can still appreciate the man’s handsome face.

I ignore his question and move on.

I place the bullet back in my pocket. "The victim, if shot in say the lower leg, will still be alive for some time. 48 hours to be exact. Once the silver enters the veins, it pools. In the heart, as it were. After a certain amount builds, the heart explodes. Give me the answers I seek or each one of your friends will have 48 hours to live." I deliver my ultimatum as I tick my head.

He rolls his head back, wincing. He thumps the back of his head off the pole. Clearly, he's fighting with himself. He needs just a tiny bit more convincing, I think.

I walk to my coat and pull out my gun. Pulling out the clip, I show him the liquid bullets in it as I walk to his friend on the next pole. I put the clip back in and get close to the blonde man. I side eye the Alpha and he has a curious look on his face. It's almost like what I’m doing is offensive to him. I smirk a bit and continue.

As I create as little space as possible between me and the man. I see a little fear in his eyes as I smile at him and run my fingernail across his chiseled jawline. I lift his chin, look into his eyes and he fights his fear, making tiny sounds. He can feel my power and it scares him.

I lift my gun and place it against his cheek. His eyes immediately go to his Alpha as he struggles with his emotions.

The Alpha watches me intently as I terrify his friend. Honestly, these are quietest group of men I’ve ever come across. Interesting.

Let’s shake them up.

I run my gun down the fearful man's chest to his leg. He huffs a whine and I turn my head to the Alpha. "48 hrs." I say quietly. I see the man’s hair tremble as he tries hard to be strong.

His eyes toss wildly between me and his friend. I can see he's thinking, weighing his options.

The Alpha’s guns or his friend's life. I understand the struggle, but I'm running out of patience.

I arch a brow and the sound of my cocking gun fills the silence. His friend starts to really panic and sweat builds on his forehead.

The Alpha still remains silent.

Out of frustration, I push off the man and stand, wide legged, with my gun pointed at his friend's leg. I glare at the Alpha and shoot him a warning look. “The Armory.” I demand.

He presses his lips together.

“LUKE! TELL HER!” The black haired one behind him yells.

“LUKE!” The third one yells.

The man I’m threatening, growls out a last ditch effort of bravery as I prepare to fire.

I look to my gun, aim and was about to pull the trigger when the Alpha shouts, "Alright!"

I raise my gun and his friend releases a very loud, shaky breath.

"Tell me." I demand as I stride over to him.

"I can't tell you, but I can show you. These guys don't know anything. They just work for me. What I show you is way above their paychecks. You let me and them go and I'll show you where the armory is." His tone is serious and he doesn't falter in his speech.

I get close to him. "If you're lying..." I raise my gun and hold it in front of his nose.

"I'm not." His eyes lock with mine and he seems to be true to his word. He better be.

I walk over to the young man on the floor. I pull out a knife from a holster on my thigh. He flinches as I hold it up and look at the Alpha once more.

I squat down in front of him and cut his bonds. "Free them." I order.

He gets up hesitantly then runs to the scared man and his partner on the second pole. As he unties the ropes, I stand and watch over him, my gun at the ready should I need it. He frees the Alpha and his friend behind him.

The Alpha walks up to me, rubbing his wrists. "Thank you." He gives me a tiny smile.

He turns to watch his friends leave the barn.

"You're welcome." I say, cautiously. “The Armory.”

He turns back to me. "I'm really sorry."

“Pardon me?” I look at him with confusion.

Before I realize I’ve been had, he grabs my shoulders and smashes his head into mine.

I crumple to the ground and everything goes black.

****

When I come to, I'm on the barn floor.

Ian is standing over me, arms crossed and a brow arched.

I sit up holding my bleeding head, wincing at the pain. I get up, shaky on my feet and lean on the table.

"Alexi?" Ian questions. "What happened?"

I sit in a chair as I hold my head, fighting the headache throbbing in my brain. "They escaped."

He stands tall. "I can see that. How?"

I stand up and wipe my bleeding head with a towel. "That's none of your concern."

I pull on my coat and holster my gun. He took all theirs, but left mine. I'm a little shocked considering the bullets it contains.

"Did he tell you where the armory was?" Ian asked.

"No. I don't think they have one. He tricked me. It won't happen twice." I growl.

"No. It won't. We did this your way, now we do it mine." He leans to my face.

"The Alphas mine, Ian. Don't lose sight of that." I snap.

"Clearly, not for your mission. You want him for something else." The corner of his mouth lifts into a condescending smile.

I point to him. "He will die by my hand and mine alone. If you stand in my way, I will waste a bullet on you if I have to." I speak with pure conviction dripping off my tongue.

He smiles. "You're sexy when you talk like that."

I groan and head out the door.

"Where you going?" Ian calls.

"I have an Alpha to hunt." I call back and walk into the night.

****

LUKE

As intrigued as I am about this wily red head, I can't help but notice, she's bat shit crazy. I think my dream was telling me that.

Seeing her in action and seeing her reaction to Torrent killing me in my head, I think I can safely say she’s a Dragon.

This may turn out more complicated than what I wanted it to be, but that only means she needs more help than I realized. A Dragon and mixed up with the lycans?

Normally, I wouldn’t waste my time, but I saw something in her as she was threatening our lives. Something’s holding her back and I got to find out what that is.

It will have to be a fight for another day.

Seeing the fear in Terry's eyes, I knew I had to do something and quick. I was basically thinking on my feet. One step at a time. First step was, get us free. The second, get us out and third, live.

To be honest, I'm shocked it worked. But now I have a problem. A big problem. Ian knows I'm back and that's not good.

Ian loves a psycho battle. He knows me. He knows what my weaknesses are. Him knowing I'm back in town and him being in charge of the lycans, my house and everyone in it are in big trouble.

Ian was a good kid and so was I, to an extent. Not all of what he said was true. Ok, a lot of it was, but I was never evil.

Our falling out happened when he was recruited to a carjacking ring and he kept it from me. I only found out when he was arrested.

I told him my family could help him get his shit together. All he had to do was stay away from that element of this town.

I guess criminal activity is a drug to some people because after bailing him out and setting him up, I found out he was meeting the Lycans behind my back. I demanded he choose the gang or me as a friend. He said a few choice words and ultimately destroyed our friendship.

Evidently, he's become leader in that time, but he'll always be that dumb kid to me. It hurt me to see how far my friend had fallen.

After that, I left.

I joined the unit like my parents wanted. I felt for the longest time, that I just didn't do enough. I loved Ian like a brother and for years, I felt like I failed him, but it wasn't me. It was the glamor that surrounds a gang like the Lycans. Infamy and power. Everything a wolf would crave.

Now, I sit in my pack house wondering what the hell to do next as Bobby yells at me. He's been yelling for forty minutes and I haven't heard a damn thing.

I'm also sitting here thinking how close I was to her. I'm thinking about how she looked like a goddess all dressed in black with those silver knuckles. I hated knocking her out. It killed me to leave her there, but we needed out.

I'll think of something else.

Right now, I can sit and revel in the fact I had the fucking privilege to see her up close. To smell her again. To remember how my mouth watered watching her full, pouty lips yell at me. I think I may be a little masochistic because the whole time she was beating the shit out of me I was holding a semi in my jeans.

I remember my hands getting all itchy to grab those red curls and just yank them back while she screamed my name. I must be the sickest dude on the rock. She clearly hates my guts, but I want to lick every goddamn inch of her sun kissed skin.

The question is how? How do I get close enough to talk, but keep her far enough away so she doesn't kill me? It's like trying to become friends with a viper.

Bobby kicks my leg off the coffee table. "Are you fucking listening?" He yells.

"No." I scowl as I get off the couch and walk to the bar to grab a beer.

Bobby is on my ass as I open the bar fridge, grab a bottle and crack it open. I down half of it as he stops beside me.

"Damn it, Luke!" He grabs the beer, spilling it on my shirt.

“What the fuck, Bobby?!” I yell as I wipe the beer off my jacket.

"You almost got us fucking killed, for what? For a fucking girl’s name?" He slams the bottle down and points in my face.

"No. We know some things." I swat his hand away, grab my bottle and walk to the couch.

He throws his hands up as he follows me. "What? What do we know?"

"We know who's running the Lycans and I know what he's like. So, score one for us." I sit down and tip my bottle back.

Trying to make sense of anything I'm saying, Bobby scrubs a hand down his face. "That doesn't mean shit! We don't know what their planning. How big they are. How they're operating. We don't know shit, Luke! If you had just done this properly, we'd have those answers!"

"Alright Bobby, I fucked up. I get it." I sigh, drop my bottle to my thighs and shake my head.

He points a finger at me. "No. You don't get to run from this. Who's the fucking girl?"

My lips shrink as I blink at him. “Girl?”

That’s it. Play stupid.

He juts out his chin. “The girl. Who is she?” He grits.

"No one." I avoid eye contact.

He glares at me. "Bullshit. You're lying."

"No, I'm not." I down half my bottle.

He wags his finger at me. "Yes, you are. You interrogated her for her name. Why? If I'm to be your Beta, damn it, you need to trust me."

I set my beer down. "Ok. She may or may not be the one who jumped me. I've been trying to find her and now I have. Turns out she's as crazy as I remember so, case closed." I grab my bottle swig it back.

Bobby analyzes me. "That's it."

"Yep." I say popping the ‘p'.

"You expect me to believe that?" He crosses his arms. His face definitely looks like he doesn’t believe a word of my bullshit. I need to turn this around.

I roll my head to him. "It's the truth, Bobby."

He studies my face. "I still think you’re hiding something."

“Whatever, Bobby. Believe it or don't. I’m hitting the sack.” I wave him off, get up and head for the stairs.

I didn't lie totally. I did find her. She was the one who jumped me, but the case is definitely not closed.

Not by a long shot.