The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 If Looks Could Kill

(Chapter song ‘Darkside' by Neoni)

ALEXI

It's quiet.

My victory is close. I can almost taste it.

The camp is dark except for a few outdoor lights. Everyone is tucked in bed after the days training.

Standing on top of the dorm building, I disable the alarm and pick the lock of the roof door, letting myself in. I walk down the stairs to the floor Anna Riker's room is on.

I cautiously walk down the hall like a wolf stalking its prey. Years of stealth training from my father are proving useful now.

I turn down a hall and hear voices. I plant myself against the wall with my gun drawn. I slow my breathing as the voices approach.

The two girls were laughing and giggling. They walk past the hall I was in without even a glance. Once past, I blow out a breath. I look down the hall and continue to look at the numbers on the doors. After several, I find it. Room 401. I look up and down the hall again and pick the lock.

I open the door and slip in silently. Shutting the door behind me, I raise my gun. I search around the room. She's not here. Which means she's in the Alpha building. I holster my weapon and slip out of the room again.

I head back to the stairs, descending them to the first floor. As I avoid the cameras, I pull my hood taught.

Once outside, I duck behind the buildings. I silently skulk to the Alpha building. Picking the lock to a service door, I sneak in, walk down a hallway and I see her. She's reading a file as she walks towards me.

My father is shining down on me. Even he can taste it. She’s doesn’t even look up giving me the element of surprise.

My rage fills my head. I need her blood now.

I take big strides toward her and she finally sees me coming for her in a fury filled flash. I back hand her in the head with the but end of my gun and her papers fly around the hallway.

She falters on her feet and glares at me with a look of shock on her face. She strikes back, but she's no match for my anger. I throw punch after punch at her and she blocks some of them. She's good, I'll give her that.

Grabbing at my shoulders, she grabs my hood and I throw my leg up kicking her in the side. She bounces her head off the wall, falls to the floor and rolls to her hands and knees. I grab her hair and pull her up, letting her kneel before me. She's dazed and scared. A look I've wanted to see on her smug face for over a year.

I pull out my gun and squat in front of her. Her gold eyes stare at me then flick down to my gun.

I pull out the clip and check it. "Anna Riker." I push the clip back in and remove my hood completely. "We are going to have a little talk." I aim the gun between her eyes as I raise a brow to her.

Her bloodied face stares at me with confusion and anger. Her mouth small and eyes wide as she stares down the barrel of my weapon in her face.

****

LUKE

After I left the bar, I sped as fast as I could to Caledon.

"Please, Alexi. Don't anything stupid." I say to myself as the highway speeds by in a blur.

Caledon is an hour away from Red Rock. I just hope I'm not too late.

I drive as fast as I can. I've tried calling the camp several times, but no one's answering.

Giving up, I dial Jayson.

After calling him twice, he picks up. "Luke? What the hell? It's after midnight."

"Shut up!" I yell at him through the SUVs radio.

"Are you driving?" He mumbles.

"JAYSON! SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" I yell louder. "Anna's in danger!"

I'm trying hard to concentrate on the road, but my fear of what Alexi could do is making it hard.

I speed and cut off cars on the 5 lane highway with horns blaring at me like I’d even give a shit.

"Anna? What are you..."

"Baby... who is it?" Sarah asks in the background.

"ANNA'S IN DANGER! RIGHT FUCKING NOW! GET YOUR ASS IN THE CAR NOW!" I scream at the speakers.

"Ok. I'm coming. Where?" I can hear him get out of bed as Sarah asks him more questions.

"At the camp." I bark.

"Ok. I'll meet you there." He hangs up.

My knuckles are white on the steering wheel and I press the gas pedal to the floor. Thank God traffic is thinning as I get past Falcon Ridge and head to Caledon like a fucking missile.

I hit the wheel with the palm of my hand. "Come on." I grit to myself. Urging my SUV to go faster.

"Please baby. Don't be stupid."

****

ALEXI

"Do you have a father, Anna?" I ask running my fingers slowly across the top of the barrel of my silver 9mm hand gun.

"Who are you?" She mumbles as she holds her bleeding head.

"Answer the question?! " I hit her cheek with my gun. A yelp escapes her lips as she falls to the left with a hand on the floor for support.

She's knocked over, but sits back up with a cut under her eye.

I grab the back of her hair and pull her head up so she can see the anger in my eyes. "Do you have a father?"

"Yes." She winces as she grasps at my arm.

I let her go. "Do you love him?"

"What? No. We haven't talked in years. What the hell is this about?" She's completely confused.

"Mm..." I nod. "Well, I had a father. I loved him so much." I stand and walk around her in a circle. Study her pathetic form kneeling before my feet. She’s right where she should be, but killing an Alpha doesn’t warrant mercy. I've given her too much already. "Do you know the first man a little girl will ever love is her father? Did you know?"

She’s faltering on her knees. "What do you want?"

I turn and squat in front of her again. "What every loving daughter wants. To see their father's murderer pay." I glare at her.

I can see in her eyes. She's putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Torrent."

I tick my head and smirk at her. "You, Alpha, will suffer greatly for the death of my father." I grab her by the hair and pull her to her feet. I jam the gun in her back. "Move." I push her towards the door. “You'll be put to death the way you should be. You’re execution will serve as a lesson to all Alliance murderers…”

"Alexi! Stop!"

****

LUKE

The tires of my SUV squeal as I enter the parking lot to the camp.

I barely come to a stop when I slam it in park. Shutting off the engine, I jump out, leaving the car door open and running toward the dorms.

One of Anna's Alphas was heading up the path. I skid to a stop, grabbing his arms in a panic. "Hey. Hey. Hey... Where's Alpha Riker?"

"Her office." He points toward the Alpha building in confusion.

I let him go. "Thanks." I run as fast as I can to the Alpha building. I bust through the door and run down the halls. I turn the corner towards Anna’s office and skid to a stop.

My jaw falls when I see Anna bloody and Alexi with a gun. As hot as it is seeing her armed, this is a total nightmare.

"Alexi! Stop!" I brace myself on the wall, lean on my knee and desperately try to catch my breath.

Alexi grabs Anna and holds her gun under Anna's chin. "Leave, Luke." Her face is so twisted it's scary.

I shake my head. "Alexi, please. Don't do this."

"I must!" She yells. "The Alpha must pay for my father's murder."

"I never murdered your sick fuck of a father!" Anna chokes, fighting Alexi's hold.

Alexi pushed on Anna's back. "Shut Up!!"

I step closer, putting my palms together in a praying, pleading manner. "Alexi. I know it hurts. It hurts so bad. This won't bring him back. Please. This isn't you. This isn't the girl I made love to. Let her go."

Her eyes moved wildly like she was fighting my words. "NO! Luke. You have a father. You don't understand. My father was taken from me. My life was taken from me. The only thing I have left is seeing the life drain from this Alpha’s body."

I have my hands up in surrender as I step closer. "What about me, Alexi? You have me."

Her chin juts out as she shakes her head. "Get back." She grits with a low growl. She shoves the barrel into Anna's chin and Anna winces, trying not to panic.

I stepped closer. "No. Alexi, please. I know this seems right, but it’s so wrong, baby. This won’t solve anything. I promise you that.”

Her breath hitches as her eyes well. "You can’t promise me that. I will kill you, Luke. Get back!" A tear falls from her eye.

"Baby, you won't kill me. I know you won't. Let Anna go." I spoke softly to her.

Anna's eyes flick quickly between Alexi and me.

"Let her go." I quietly appeal and hold put my hand to her.

She stops walking and looks to my hand as her eyes become wetter.

"LUKE!"

I turned quickly and throw up a hand up to Jayson as he runs to me. I throw a finger up to Alexi with a warning look to say don’t do anything dumb.

"Jay. Stay back!" I turn to him and he stops. His face fills with confusion as he assesses the situation.

“Luke?” He questions.

“I got this.” I reassure him.

I turn back to Alexi. “Baby. Drop the gun.” I say low.

She glances at Jayson, then me. “NO!”

She throws Anna at me and runs for the other exit.

Anna hits my chest with a thud and a whimper and I hold her while I watch the exit door close.

"Fuck!" I growl as I hand Anna to Jayson and run after Alexi.

I run out the door and look around. "ALEXI!!"

The training field is dark and silent. Alexi is gone. I run to the trees and sniff. I catch her scent and book it through the trunks. My nose is working overtime as I follow her through the trees. “ALEXI!”

I leap over logs and boulders and push my way through dense brush. My wolf growls and helps me track.

I turn down a path and follow the flowers to a street. I stop on the sidewalk and take a deep breath in, in all directions. I catch her going north and sprint in the direction. I follow her across another street to a building across from the camp. Then her scent abruptly cuts off.

I stop and walk all around the area. I sniff everything around. She’s gone. I watch a car drive by with some motorcycles behind it.

My face turns whiney and I turn around in defeat. “DAMN IT!”

She jumped on my bike.

****

ALEXI

I ran as fast as I could. My heart was aching as I leapt over logs and ran through brush. My face was heated as I cried through the woods. I wanted to stop and grieve for my failure, but I heard Luke. He was tracking me and I had to get out. I ran to where I had parked his bike and rode it to my hideout.

After I sobbed for my father. Cried for my weakness. Mourned for my broken soul.

I was so close, but seeing Luke plead with me. Hearing his words, broke my walls. This man wants me, but the man I love wants my revenge. I'm being torn in two and it’s excruciating.

I can't feel like him. I'm incapable of giving him what he wants. My heart is not as important as the vengeance I crave.

But seeing his face pained me. Seeing his eyes as they looked beyond my dark heart, made my knees want to buckle underneath me. He wants to see me in a different light. He wants a version of me I cannot provide. I'm a Torrent and I always will be.

With my mission so close to fruition, I cannot let Luke in. He will ruin me. Ruin my goals.

I will kill Riker if it's the last thing I do. Luke may have gotten into in my head this time, but he won't anymore. If I'm to succeed, I need to start thinking like the one person who I know always won his battles.

I need to start thinking like my father.

****

After abandoning my mission temporarily and returning to Red Rock, I stopped to deliver Luke's bike and wallet back to him at the pack house. I refuse to have this between us. I shouldn’t have taken it in the first place. It only made me a bigger target for him and was a stupid move.

Before I leave the property, I pause to look at its progress. It's almost repaired now.

As I leave, I vow to never see him again if I can help it. My heart stings at the thought. I still don't know what all these feelings mean, but I mean to get rid of them again.

I call Nash and tell him I need his most potent spell. He tells me he'll try, but its highly likely I’ll be stuck with these feelings.

By the time I get to Nash, he's prepared and waiting for me.

I walk in and he sees the pain in my face. "Princess. You are hurting. Is it your father?"

I nod not saying that is not all my father that pains me.

"You need to forget him?" He asks

I shake my head. "No. The Alpha. He's deep in my spirit and I want him out. It hurts too much."

Nash sighs. "Alexi, like I told you on the phone. This has even less of a chance. The first two times, he wasn't seeded. Now he is. You may have to deal with these feelings instead of hiding from them."

"I want him gone now, Nash!" My frustrations are showing. The stress of Luke is infecting me. Corrupting my thoughts. If I don't get him out of my mind, I'll have to kill him.

Sitting on Nash's white fur rug, he starts his incantation.

The smoke surrounds my body and enters my mind.

This time is different though. It's like I'm a third party observing myself from behind.

I'm surround by smoke when Luke walks out toward me. I watch as he starts to dissolve in the black smoke. But then he returns to his former form, still walking to me. His face is determined to haunt me.

"Leave me!" I yell.

He starts to dissolve once again, but reforms still stalking ever closer.

"Leave me!!" I yell louder.

He lowers his head slightly and gives me a menacing look. "No." He growls in response.

"How do I get you out of my mind?" I cry in defeat.

He moves with unnatural speed to my image.

My image has a gun and slowly raises to his chest. He grabs the barrel and pushes it into him. He turns his head to my observing eyes. "Kill me."

The smoke thickens around us.

"KILL ME!!" He yells.

I'm thrown out of my vision by the power of his voice. I’m shocked and shaken by it when Nash wakes me. My cheeks are wet and my heart is racing as I try to discern reality from fantasy.

"Alexi. Did it work?" Nash searches my face.

I choke with pain in my eyes. "No."

He hugs me. "The Alpha is deep within you, Alexi. This is too much for my power. You can't come to me again. You can no longer look to hide from your heart. The natural world is a method of balance. I can only tip the scales so much before it pushes back. Alexi, I'm afraid, just like your father, you need to accept your fate."

He held my face and looked into my eyes with the love of a friend. "You need to forget him yourself. I can't help you short of being a distraction for you. Once you free yourself, you'll find your true calling."

“You think so?” I hitch.

“Yes. Once you do that. Free yourself from this Alliance Alpha, your mission will be easier and your rightful place in this world will be shown.” He smiles.

“What place is that?” I ask.

“That’s up to you to decide, princess.” He leans to me kisses my forehead.

I look to my vision. Luke wanted me to kill him knowing I couldn’t. Why does he taunt me so? How can I complete my vengeance when he's in my mind? In my heart? The place in which my father still holds strong. Could Luke be trying to push my father out? If that’s the case, then I must have the courage to do what I must. I must pull that trigger.

I get dressed and leave Nash. Walking back to the city, I decide that I need something else. Something that will take care of the Alpha and end my suffering.

There must be something in the lab I can use.