The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 If Looks Could Kill

(Chapter song ‘If Darkness Had A Son' by Metallica)

LUKE

I've been punching my way through Lycans and Dragons in this whole damn town for days. I’m searching for anyone who can tell me what Alexi is up to and where she might be. My knuckles are actually bruised and gunpowder residue is staining my hand. No one can say I’m not determined to find this woman.

I had a few leads, but they all came up empty. Like I said, the woman's a ghost. Torrent taught her well, but not well enough.

"WHERE IS SHE?!!" I growl fiercely, delivering a brutal punch to the Dragon I have tied up in a chair in the middle of the old Lycan hole. He cries in agony as his blood sprays from his lips and adds the growing puddle on the concrete floor.

He can barely breath. His platinum hair is a rusty pink with blood and his face is broken and cut up. I've been knocking him senseless for two days. Damn Dragons just don’t know when to give up. That’s OK. I’m enjoying myself at this point. I’m sure if I wasn’t retired, I’d be court marshaled for the treatment I’m giving these wastes of skin.

His head hangs off his shoulders and bloody drool hangs from his lip like a string. His breath is labored and I stand over him with my arms crossed as I watch his shoulders rise and fall. He better talk. He’s on his last leg.

After more silence, I grab his hair, lift his head and pull back a fist. Before I bring more pain, he utters a word I can barely hear.

"Nash…"

"What?" I lean down to his swollen, bloody face. "What was that?" I tilt my ear to his mouth in a sarcastic fashion. I win, asshole.

"Nash." He chokes.

I turn my head and glare into his one working red eye. "Who's Nash?" I hold his chin to steady his head.

His eye flutters as he fights consciousness. "Princess... Lover..." He stutters as more bloody drool comes out.

I suck in my top lip, reach under the back of my jacket, pull out my gun, and jam the barrel into his cheek.

"Make sense!" I demand as I shake his head. It’s really just a rag-doll head at this point.

"... Highway 12... 30 minutes... He'll tell you." He coughs.

I let go of his hair, stand up and shove my gun in the back of my jeans. I stare at him a little longer in case there’s something else he wants to get off his chest. Satisfied that he’s done talking, I walk away. "Thanks"

I leave him tied to the chair in the empty warehouse. I’m sure someone will come along and free him, if not, oh well.

I cross the warehouse lot and jump in my dad's truck.

Nash.

‘Princess… Lover…’

An ex? This could be more enjoyable than I thought. My wolf spins at the idea of beating the guy who fed Alexi her delusions…and touched the body that I staked a claim on.

Yeah, I said it. Knowing another douche touched her has my insides burning. Knowing he’s a Dragon has my insides want to explode.

He better tell me where Alexi is. I’m determined to stop her. As weird as it sounds, my dad is still hanging on and I want him to see me rescue her before he…

I don’t know why. I really feel he needs to see her.

I turn onto highway 12 and check the time. 30 minutes. In the dark, my tires kick up a dust cloud as I speed up the two lane country road.

I was about to give up after seeing nothing but fields until a single light caught my attention. As I get closer, I realize it’s a house. A single one story house in the middle of nowhere.

I slow right down and pull over across the street. My tires crunch on the gravel until I fully brake. I turn the truck off and sit in my seat, staring at the simple white house. A far cry from the luxury of the Harbinger. It must kill him to live like that. His living conditions are the least of his problems now.

I throw the door open, get out and slam it shut.

Wakey, wakey.

As I strut across the road and step onto the path to the door, the door opens slowly. I stop and hang my balled fists at my side. My brows furrow as my eyes meet red ones. His white hair is pulled back in a man bun. God, I hate that shit.

He leans on the door frame with a smirk. He’s wearing an open white shirt and white pants. His tanned skin is covered in the weird tattoos except the one on his forearm that's the Dragons tag. What is he? Some sort of monk?

He crosses his thick arms and raises a brow smugly. Typical of these assholes. "Hello, Alpha."

I internally cringe at the stupid accent these guys have. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s annoying as fuck. I stuff my hands in my pockets as I eye him up and down. "Nice pajamas." I quip.

He chews his cheek at my obvious insult. "How can I help you?"

I cross my arms and lift my chin. "You can start by telling me what I need to know, then I'll decide whether to kill you or not."

He chuckles at my threat and shakes his head. “You can’t threaten me, Alpha. If you have questions, you should know by now, we Dragons will only tell you the truth.”

“Yeah, right.” I scoff and take a step closer. I connect with his eyes. “Where's Alexi?”

He pushes off the frame and tosses his arms out to the side. "I don't know. I haven't seen the princess in some time. She wasn't too pleased I couldn't erase you from her mind." He crosses his arms and eyes me.

I narrow my eyes in confusion. "What do mean erase? Like a mind wipe? Are you like a magician or something?"

He chuckles and looks out into the dark yard for a moment then back at me. “I was. A long time ago. A gift from the Emperor. I’ve since lost the power, but manage to perform small miracles with incantations and potions.”

“Emperor.” I bite my lip and my lip threatens to curl. “You people just don’t get how fucking sick you sound. But…” I look to the ground and back up. “Say I believe you. Why would she want her mind wiped.”

He looks me over before taking the two steps down to me. “For some reason I can’t understand, the princess’ mind has developed an attachment to you. She needed me to erase you to accomplish the rise of the legacy her father built. She means to take her rightful place, Alpha. You…” He tilts his head. “Do not belong there.”

An attachment to me, huh? That’s interesting.

I scratch my temple. “Yeah? We'll just see about that.” I stand up to him. He’s taller, but those ones are my favorite to bring down. "Where would she go?"

He puts his finger to his lips and taps it like he’s thinking. "I'm not entirely sure.” He places his hands on his hips. “Depending on what she’s accomplished, she could be anywhere.”

He studies my face and gives me creepy Warlock vibes.

"We stopped her." I say low. “She didn’t accomplish anything.”

He smiles a smile that turns my stomach. The righteous attitude from these guys always makes me question why we even let them talk.

He lifts his chin. “You can’t stop her, Alpha.” He snorts. “She’s the reigning Queen. You've only delayed the inevitable. She will fulfill her quest for revenge, then when she’s ready, she will sit on her father’s throne and we will worship her just as we did Draco.”

I groan and let out a heated breath through my nostrils as I rub my forehead. I’m so sick of his cultist shit. Before I completely lose it, I drop my hand. "Ok, so what? She's got a new plan?"

He nods. "Possibly. She certainly won’t be giving up just because you got in the way. We Dragons don’t function like that.”

“Yeah, I know.” I grumble and look to the ground. I have lots of questions, but one that’s really been burning me is one I have to ask now. "Those liquid bullets she has… Where did she get them?”

A smirk grows on his lips. “That’s the question, isn’t it, Alpha?”

My brows come together. “What’s that mean?”

He steps up to me. “Beneath the surface of loyalty, always lives a pit of venomous snakes. Alliance Alphas are no different.”

“Can you be any more cryptic?” I scowl.

“Yes... I can.” He laughs and turns away.

“Hey! What’s that mean?” I bark.

He turns his head to me before walking up the steps. “It means, Alpha. You need to dig a little deeper into your so-called Alliance.” He grins then walks up the steps.

I pause to think about what he’s getting at. “The bullets. Is there cure?”

He stops at the door, turns and leans on the frame. “Nothing short of a complete blood transfusion and even then, it’s not 100 percent. No… More than likely, you Alphas would die before the first pint was extracted.” He smirks.

My fingers itch to pull my gun and land a bullet in his skull. “I’ll ask one more time. Where did she get them?”

He chews his lip. “I’m not one for helping the Alliance, but I’m not looking to die today. So, I’ll…throw you a bone. Look up Alliance Labs. You'd be surprised to know what’s growing in your own backyard.”

“Backyard. You mean Red Rock.” I raise a brow.

He ticks his brow, but doesn’t respond.

I eye him with distrust. "We don't have any labs here."

He huffs a laugh. "Alpha. You have no idea how much has gone on right under your nose. Starting with your parents.” His red eyes lock with mine.

My lips fall. “My parents? What are you talking about?”

“Find the lab, Alpha. I’m sure your shock would be entertaining. I wish I could see it.” He says with smug sarcasm.

“Ok. Since you know so much. What kind of lab?” I analyze his body language. The man’s a rock. It’s impressive or he really believes the bullshit he’s selling.

"Weapons. Biological and mechanical. They perform experiments there. Very unethical ones of the human kind.”

“What?” My brows shoot up. Did he just say they experiment on people?

His face changes. It almost looks like he cares. “They've done so for many years. Doesn’t Red Rock have the highest missing persons numbers?"

“Yeah, but…” I rub my nape.

He arches a brow and my eyes lock with his.

My people? My fucking pack?!!

"How does Alexi know about it?" I'm almost afraid of the answer.

Again, he pauses like he shouldn’t tell me. “Once you find the answer, you'll know. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

I need to cut this off before I don’t give a shit. But one more thing. “Why here?"

He casually motions a hand to me. "Red Rock is perfect. No one takes this place seriously and the criminal element is just the cover the Alliance needs to hide secrets. Everyone is so focused on the rats, they aren’t seeing what lies in the refuse.”

I scratch my head. He hurt my brain with that last statement, but he does have a point.

"Alexi. She knows where it is?" I look into his red eyes.

He nods. "She does."

I look at the ground.

"Your Alliance, my dear Alpha. It’s not what it seems.” He says quietly. “A message we spent years trying to tell you.”

Yeah. We all know how Dragons spread messages. Through blood and screams.

I roll my eye to him. "Where is it?"

"I don't know. But I do know who you can ask.” He smiles.

“Who?” I squint as I cross my arms.

“Your friend…in White Rock. I believe his name is… River? He knows.” He states.

“River knows about this?” I arch a brow and question.

He nods. “Again. The snakes slither. You can either slither with them or kill them. The choice is yours.”

“Fucking riddles.” I growl.

“Good night, Alpha. If I see Alexi, I’ll be sure to mention you stopped by. But that’s it. I’m sure you have more on your plate than the Queen of the Dragons.” He steps into the house. “Find the truth. Maybe…it will bring you clarity as to why Alexi must do what she’s doing.”

"I will" I growl and watch him walk into his house and shuts the door.

I spin around and stride to the truck. My mind is filled with all kinds of confusion. I came here looking for a location on Alexi and leave with my parents and River mixed up in some secret lab bullshit that’s experimenting on my pack? What the fuck is going on?

My gut tells me Nash is right that if I figure out what this lab is, I’ll figure out why Alexi is the way she is. I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that there’s more to Alexi than just being sheltered from her lunatic father. There has to be a more deep seeded reason she wants to all of sudden want to murder us all.

When I think about River knowing…Seeing his fucking smile knowing there’s a fucking secret weapons lab under my town taking my people…My wolf wants blood and I’m going to feed it to him.

I get in the truck and slam the door. I look to the house and go over the entire exchange. I had to stop thinking as I turned on the truck. Nash’s words hurt my brain too much and I have an Alpha to beat the shit out of.

I need answers.