The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 If Looks Could Kill

(Chapter song ‘Cryin'’ by Aerosmith)

LUKE

"Are you fucking insane!" River yells then storms up to me. “You are certifiable! After everything! After everyone we've lost!”

He throws a finger in my face, I tick my jaw and hit his hand out of the way as I shove him back. "Back the fuck up!" I growl a warning as I shove him with my already puffed out chest.

Jayson slams a hand on my chest and pushes me back as he points to me. He arches a brow, tilts his head and shoots me a warning. He turns and shoves River back. “Fucking cool it!” He flicks his head between us.

He faces me and crosses his arms. "Luke, what's going on, man?"

I turn my back to him, scratch my head and try to figure out what the hell I'm doing. I can't tell them that I've been falling for a girl that tried to kill one of the most famous Alliance Alphas.

"Nothing." I grumble as I scrub a hand down my face and look up to the ceiling. This is all so confusing. I’d never do anything like this for a chick. I didn’t even think I was even capable of touching a Dragon. Not even for a drunken smash, much less anything else. But apparently, I’m a fucking masochist because here I am.

"You fucking tell us!" I turn and River pushes Jayson out of the way as he aggressively points a finger at me. He has murder in his eyes and he thinks he’s scaring me. All I’m doing is looking for the sweet spot to cave his face in.

I ball my fist and turn my head slightly. "I'll kill you if you don't back the fuck off me!" I clench my teeth, open and close my hand and crack my knuckles. My eyes never leave his as he glares.

Deacon grabs River's shirt and pulls him back off me, putting himself between him and me. "Dude, back off alright. Calm down a bit."

He gets in River’s face as I cross my arms, tilt my head and chew my cheek with a look that says fuck around and find out. River’s not stupid. I may be the smallest bulldog in the room, but I have a solid punch and zero fucks to give.

"Calm down?!" River pushes against Deacon, shooting eyes at me. "He’s dating a fucking psychopath and you want me to calm down?!"

Deacon holds him back as I watch River get his back up even more.

"We're not dating!” I yell then take a second to think.

Are we?

River glares. "Fine. You're sleeping with a lunatic. That better?"

Oh, he’s pushing buttons, I swear. I jut my chin out, breathe heavily through my nose and clench my fists even more.

“Luke, down!” Jayson barks as he points at me.

I let out a loud growl, releasing what I was holding, throw a fist out in front of me then rub my neck. I pace with a hand on my hip and look to the floor. I'm going to rip his throat out soon if he doesn't shut up.

I turn and pace back, glancing up to see Anna join us just to add more to the already tense situation. I’m sure her mouth will be louder than River’s. I brace myself for the biker chick to go off.

"River, this isn't helping."

I stop, my lips shrink and my eyes meet hers. She holds with me for a second then turns to River, placing a hand on his chest to try and calm him down.

He whips his head to her with a face of angered confusion. "She had a gun to your head, Anna!" He puts his first two fingers to his temple like a gun barrel and thumps them to make a point.

She rubs his chest slowly. "I know, River, but look at Luke. He's struggling with this just as much as we are."

I'm really surprised she's not as angry about this as her mate is considering she almost died.

She's right, though. I am struggling. Now that my friends know who Alexi is, I see the hate in their eyes. Normally, I would, but I can't. I just feel the same after what I've seen in her. I'm in a spot now where I can't hate her and I refuse to turn my back on her.

I turn back around, hold myself and hang my head. I can't look at them with the disgust plastered all over their faces.

Jayson walks up and stands behind me. “I'll ask again. What are you doing?" His tone was calm and quiet.

I shake my head, biting my lip. My eyes sting maybe from how emotional this all is or maybe it’s because I know in my gut Alexi doesn’t deserve any of it.

I face him then glance at the faces around the room. "I don't know.” I toss a hand out to the side. I raise a finger to my head and spin it as I walk past him. “My heads all fucked up.” I stop and turn back to Jayson. “I don't know what this is, ok. I just know that's not the Alexi I've seen. She's damaged. Damaged real bad. But I can fix it. I know I can. I just need time."

River sarcastically laughs as he flicks his head around the room. "You hear this bullshit? Luke, she's crazy! She's a fucking Torrent! You know. The murderers who wanted to kill us all? You can't possibly want to defend that garbage!"

His words push my wolf right over the edge. My eyes glow gold and I run at him, growling. Jayson grabs my waist. "I'll fucking kill you!! Don't you talk about her like that!!" I fought against Jayson hard. River's eyes glow blue as he pulls Anna behind him.

"Luke!!" Jayson yells, trying to pull me back.

"You've lost your damn mind!" River growls.

Deacon steps in front of me. "Luke! Man, look at yourself!" He pushes me back as he tries to break the target my wolf put on River.

“Get off me." I shove him back with a growl.

I shrug Jayson off, blow out a breath and push my wolf down. I walk to the wall and lean my hands on it, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. I don't want to hurt anyone, but my wolf isn't liking them talking about Alexi like she's her father.

"Luke." Jayson, once again, tries to talk me down from whatever this is. "You got to see how toxic this is man. She comes from a deep history of violence. She isn't safe."

I shake my head then snap around to face them all. "You think I don't fucking know that?! None of you see what I see! None of you know what I know! You don't see the beauty she has! You don’t know the person she is inside!" I hitch as my throat closes a little.

"You see Torrent, I see Alexi and she's hurt.” My brows stitch up and look to the floor. “She can't deal with her father's death and you know what? I can fucking relate.” I raise my heated eyes to them as I think of dad dying right now.

“I know what she's feeling. Like the world fucking hates you and all you want to do is numb the pain. So, you fight. You get wasted. You lash out. You get so blinded by your pain, that you couldn't care less about who you hurt. As long as it's a means to an end."

They all stare at me as I unleash what I very rarely let out. But I know her pain. I feel it and I’m not ready for it either.

My pack has also been dying and suffering and it's been twisting in my guts for years.

I flop my hands to my sides as I appeal to my friend's better natures. "Look. In Alexi's eye, her father loved her. What we saw, is not what she saw. She sees Anna as the murderer. Now, from what I've found out, Torrent never allowed Alexi to fight. She was his heir to the pack, so he kept her secluded. She lost her mother at four, so she spent her life being loved by a man who may have been a psychopath, but to her, he was a father devoted to his only daughter. He gave her the world and we ripped that from her. She's angry and devastated. I can stop her from becoming her father, but I need you to understand, she's not him."

My friends stood silent as I glance around them all.

"Please." I feel helpless here and it hurts.

River takes a deep breath and meets my eyes. "If anything happens to Anna, I will personally tear up Red Rock’s alliance papers and rip your throat out."

"If anything happens to Alexi." I close the gap between us. "They'll never find you." My voice was low, dark and serious. My stare burns holes into his brain.

Jayson scratches his temple as he scrunches his face. "Um, Riv. You can pretty much take that to the bank. Trust me." Jay knows my own history of violence.

River’s eyes look him over then meet mine again.

Anna breaks the contest of wills and finds my eyes. "Luke. You said she never fought?"

I grunt in response.

"Is it possible, she doesn't know who her father really is? How sick he was?" She tilts her head to me.

“That’s what I’m thinking. It explains the delusion she has of him.” I agree.

She places a hand on my shoulder and leans to me. "Then that's what you show her. You tell her the truth. Show her what the real Draco Torrent is like. If she's not her father, then she'll see him as the evil bastard we all do."

I hang my head. Do I really want to do that though? Destroy the image of her father? Anna's right. If Alexi truly doesn't know what her father was capable of, she may drop this insanity and let me help her. And for my own sanity, it would show me what I’m dealing with. If she’s a Dragon follower, she'll show me what she thinks of me and us.

I suck in my upper lid and nod.

She places her hand on my cheek. "We know this is hard for you. Clearly, you have feelings for her. We'll help you."

I shake my head. "No." I blink the sting in my eyes. "I need to do this myself."

Jayson grabs my shoulder and turns me to him. "Luke. She'll kill you."

"No. I think I'm the last person she wants to kill right now. I know she feels something too. I've seen it. She won't kill me. I've got this under control. You guys just get Anna safe where she can't get to her." I grab Jay's arm. "And get Sarah and your pup out. She's after you, too."

"I'm safe here. River has the best security." Anna crossed her arms.

Jayson looked her. "Can I bring Sarah and Chloe here?"

I arch a brow. "Chloe?"

"That's her name. Chloe." He beams.

"That's nice." I quickly smile.

River nods. "Yeah. Bring them here. I'll have a guest room made up."

I turn to River. "You triple the security. You lock this shit down. I'm warning you. She's damn good and right now, she doesn't give a fuck." I look to Jay and Anna. "I don't think she'd attack the house directly with a baby inside. She seemed pretty upset when the Lycans attacked me with children in the pack house. She must have a thing for babies, but don't take any chances."

River's brows shoot up. "Wait, you were attacked?"

I scratch my forehead. "Yeah. They blew my shit up with all of us still inside. That's another score I'll be settling soon. Right now, I need to find Alexi."

"Damn, bro. Why didn't you call us?" Jay placed his hand on my shoulder.

"It's my business." I shrug. "I'll deal with it."

River put his arm around Anna. "Ok, so where would a deranged Luna..."

I glare at him, clench my teeth and growl.

He puts his hands up in surrender as Anna slaps his arm with a groan and holds the bridge of her nose. "Ok! Sorry! Where would Alexi go?"

I sigh. "I don't know. When I say she's good, I mean the woman's a ghost. I've only been able to draw her out a couple of times. She doesn't take bait too well. She’s also harder than fuck to track.”

Jayson crossed his arms. "Then we find out more about her. Who's she been talking to? Somebody must know something."

"Ian." I fold my arms.

Jayson raises a brow. "Ian?""

I tick my head. "Ian Wolfstrike. Head of the Lycans and my ex best friend. He’s the one who blew up my house."

River points at me. "We are going to have a serious sit down about what Red Rock is producing."

"I'm cleaning it up, douche bag. Don't threaten me." I narrow my eyes. "The point is, Alexi was part of the Lycans when I met her. I'm not sure if she still is. The last time I talked with Ian, he seemed scared of her. So, if she's told him anything, I'll find out. The problem is I don't know where Ian is right now."

My phone rings, I pat down my leather and reach inside. I pull out my phone and swipe it open. "It's Swift."

I pick up and put it to my ear. "Swift? What's..." I really don't like what I hear on the other end. I hear crying. "Swift? What's wrong? Is it dad?"

"Luke. We're ok." She sobs.

Confused, I drop the phone to the middle of the circle and hit speaker. "Ok? Swift? Talk to me." Everyone stares at the phone intently listening to my sister cry.

"Luke... Whatever he says... Don't do it... LUKE! DON'T DO IT!" I hear her scream as someone takes the phone and hits her.

"SWIFT!! WHAT’S GOING ON?!" I yell to the phone.

There's a pause, then muffled cries in the background with a bunch of shuffling.

My eyes flick from Jay to River and back to the phone. "Swift!!!"

"Hello, Luke." The smug deep voice came from the speaker and my hand almost snapped my phone in half.

My jaw ticks and my lip curls. "Ian." I growl darkly. Jayson and River exchange glances.

"Where'd ya go, Luke? I miss you. We aren't done talking yet." He must have moved closer to Lucy because her whimpers got louder. "You know. Swift's really grown up. She's quite the hottie. I'm more into sexy, curly haired red heads, but a brunette? It could work."

"Don't you fucking touch her!!" I rumble my Alpha right into the speaker. "Ian, I'll fucking kill you!!"

"Promises, promises." His voice is cocky. "You really have a nice-looking family, Luke. Mommy, Daddy. We're all here. Waiting for you."

I'm shaking with rage and fear. "What do you want?" I snarl.

"You. Dead at my feet. But that'll happen later. What I really want, Old Friend, is your pack. Hand it over and your family lives."

There's silence as I think about his demand. I look at River who's shaking his head no and I look to Jay who's looking like he's weighing options.

"Luke! Don't!" Swift yells in the background as she's hit again.

"Okay!" I yell. I suck in a breath, close my eyes and shake my head. "I'll give you what you want." I squeeze my eyes then open them. I raise them to see River throw a hand up in disbelief and walk away. "You let my family go and you tell me everything you know about Alexi. Do that and my packs yours."

River is silently losing his mind, waving and glaring at me. I wave him down and scowl.

"Now, why would you be interested in Alexi Torrent?" He sounded genuinely curious.

"None of your business. Do we have a deal?" I wait for a response.

Silence.

"Ian!" I yell.

"Ok. Highway marker 1080 on 75. One hour. Screw me over and I'll kill every single person you know. Oh, and Luke? Come alone."

He hung up the phone and my rage boiled over. "FUCK!"

I throw my phone across the room and slam myself down on the couch. I hold my head because it feels like it's about to explode.

Deacon sat down beside me. "Luke. We need a plan, bud."

I pull my hands into a prayer pose on my nose and think.

I look at the guys. "You guys wanna go for a run?"

I arch my brow and they all blink back at me.