The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 If Looks Could Kill

(Chapter song ‘If Looks Could Kill’ by Heart)

LUKE

I shoot up to a sit in bed, breathing rapidly as a thin sheen of sweat covers my body.

I had a dream Torrent was alive. I fought him desperately, but I was outnumbered by Lycans. In the end, Torrent grabs me by the head and threatens to kill me. That part wasn’t abnormal. I’ve seen him grab plenty of guys like that, but what was really weird? There was a girl there.

She stood in the middle of the street like she was a observing me. I didn’t like the judgment in her eyes. It pissed me off. Who the fuck is she to look at me like that?

She was the one in the middle of a pack war, looking hot as fuck, wearing a bed sheet. I should be the critical one.

I fought Torrent off and ran to her. Her fiery curls framed her face which was filled with anger. Her green eyes glow and I stop. With confusion, I look her over then look back at Torrent who’s rising to his feet.

He's the psycho bitch and she’s mad at me? What the fuck?

With the full moon behind her head, she shoots me this look that felt like it punched through my chest. If looks could kill, I’d be fucking dead. What the hell is her problem?

I’m so distracted by this damaged chick, that I didn’t realize Torrent was behind me. He grabs me around the neck and tries to snap it.

"Help me!" I scream at her as I reach out.

She just crosses her arms, stands there and smiles. Although, it was the hottest smile I’ve ever seen, I’ve never wanted to punch one off so bad.

“Fuck you!” I growl as Torrent snaps my neck.

I grab at my neck as I look around in a panic. I'm in my room and I blow out a breath of relief. I draw my knees up, putting my head in my hands. I whine out breaths as I try to calm down. I still feel pissed about her watching me die, but the raging hard on I have tells me there’s more to this than what I think.

Leaning over to my nightstand, I grab my phone. It’s 3am and I need a stiff fucking drink.

Throwing the blankets off, I grab some sweats and head downstairs.

The pack house is dark except for some lights in the dining hall for safety. Everyone should be sleeping so, I’ll just drink this boner down and go back to bed.

I head to the bar and grab the fullest bottle of whiskey I could find. Her green eyes hit my brain as I grab a shot glass and slam them both on the bar top. Still slightly shaking from my dream, I unscrew the cap and swig it back. I almost curl my lip as I pour a double shot and think about her face as Torrent ended me. I shoot the shot back with the determination to wipe that look off her face. I absorb the burning liquid as I wipe my lips with the back of my hand and pour another one.

"Rough night?" I look up and Terry's walking in. He flicks the lights of the common room on and I squint from the sudden brightness of the room.

I lean on the bar with the bottle in one hand. "You could say that." I send the shot down my throat and pour another one.

He approaches the bar and stops on the other side. "Wanna talk about it?" His brow raises as he folds his arms.

The last thing I want him to know is that a chick managed to bust my frame and piss me off. Even if it was just a dream, I’m not a pussy.

I suck in my top lip and screw the cap back on. "Not really. Why you getting in so late?"

"Just had some intel come in." He took the bottle from me and swigged a mouthful. "About the Lycans." He says through his burning throat.

I lean my arms on the bar. "You found them."

He nods. "A Porsche was stolen from downtown. GPS tracking had it track to a location an hour outside of town, in the middle of the woods. Flyers came back with the hide out location." He took another drink.

"What's the plan?" I ask as I raise a brow.

He ticks his head. "Don't have one. At least, not yet."

"Any ID on the Porsche thief" I take the bottle from him, drop another glass in front of him and pour.

He shakes his head. "Nope. But whoever it was, didn't stay long. We tracked the Porsche to a house thirty minutes west of here, but when we got our flyers there, it was gone. We found it in a ditch shortly after that. No fingerprints, no evidence. We don't even know how they took it. This isn't your average criminal."

He raises his shot and I raise mine. We both drink them back and slam the glasses back down.

I suck my liver back down my throat as I bounce my fingertips together. "Anything on the necklace?"

He looks at me as he pours another shot. "One thing. It's rare. So rare, there's only one. You'll never guess who had it made."

I stitch my brows together. “Who?”

He grabs his glass. “Draco Torrent.” He shoots it back.

I stand straight as my lips shrink and my eyes fill with concern.

He pushes his glass to me, waves it off and I take it, putting it in the sink behind the bar. "Whoever you pulled that off of either stole it from Torrent or was very close to him. Either way. This has Dragon written all over it."

I nod slowly. "Ok. See what else you can find out. Keep it quiet."

"Ok. I'm calling a meeting tomorrow at 9. We'll figure a game plan then." He taps the bar. "Get some sleep."

Get some sleep. Not fucking likely. The fiery red head is either a thief or a Dragon. Not something I should want to get my stick wet in, but for some reason all I want to do is find her and teach her a thing or two.

I’m starting to think I’m suicidal at this point.

****

At 9am, I'm sitting at the conference table with a steaming cup of coffee. I don't really drink the stuff, but the dream last night kept me awake for the rest of the night and I need the caffeine.

I rest my elbow on the table with my head on my fingertips as Terry goes over what he found.

Gavin, Bobby and Evan are sitting around the table listening intently and I’m focused on the gorgeous outline of her tits in the sheet.

"We'll set up teams here and here. Come at them from both sides..." Terry points to a map on a monitor on the wall.

My brain leaves my pants and I sit up. "Is that the best plan of action?"

My gut is telling me she’s there and the last thing I want is a bunch of security guys getting to her before I have a chance to get my hands on that ass…for…questioning.

Terry arches a brow. "You have a better plan?"

"Yeah. We go in. Just us. Take them by surprise." I motion a hand to him, lean back and cross my arms.

"Are you insane?" Bobby drops his arm on the table to me. "That's suicide."

"No, we can get a better lay of the land if the place isn't crawling with storm troopers. Take them out systematically instead of barreling in, guns blazing." I look at him.

Gavin eyes me. "We could be outnumbered, you realize this."

"Yeah, but that's never stopped me before." I smirk.

Terry scratches his forehead. "You're the Alpha.” He sighs as he shakes his head in defeat. “Are you sure this is how you want to play it? It carries a huge risk."

I lean on the table and look around the room. "If we take out as many as we can, then the backup will have an easier clean up. What we don't want is these guys flying the coup before we kill them. You send in the army, I guarantee half will run before you even hit the door."

Terry sits down, leans back and tosses a hand to me. "You're call."

I sit up and hit the table. "That's what we do. We leave tonight." I stand and head for the door.

Evan jogs up beside me. "Awesome, Alpha. I like it. Um...We're just going to like walk in the front door?"

"No." I stop and turn to him. "You're not going. You're too young for a fight like this." I turn back and continue walking.

"But I can fight." Evan protests.

"Don't care. I won't be responsible if you die. You stay." I walk into the dining hall for another coffee.

"Luke..." He argues to my back.

I get that he sees this as an opportunity to show off for me, but I won’t be able to take care of my own ass if I have to babysit his.

"Evan, no! Now, leave me alone." I glare at him.

He hangs his head. "Yes, Alpha."

I watch him leave and I almost feel for him. I was that kid before and it does suck, but I have my reasons. My target needs my full attention. He'll only get in the way.

Yeah, I'm crazy. Sure. Having backup is a hundred percent better, but if I can get to her before my pack does, maybe I can pull her out of whatever she's mixed-up in.

I know we can do this. I'm sure of it.

****

Around midnight, we roll up on the barn. It's surrounded by the black forest and the building is dark except for a single light. It’s old, missing a few boards and screams criminal hideout. I don’t know how we missed it.

We climb out of Gavin's truck and crouch up to the barn. I look around then up. I see a loft door open on the second floor.

I motion to the guys to follow and we silently scale the wall. I can hear the faint sounds of voices as we reach the window and climb in.

The loft is the size of a large hallway with sporadic stacks of hay bales in the corners. We quietly crawl to the edge that over looks the barn floor. A single light hangs over the middle of it.

As I peer over the edge, I internally blow out a breath of satisfaction. 10 lycans all sit and stand around a table in the middle of the floor. 10s not really that bad to try and grab the girl.

They’re taking about robberies and other shit I couldn’t care less about. I’m too busy scanning the area for red curls. Not seeing any, I’m disappointed.

Shit, I think, and start mapping out plan B. Mainly, backing out before I get my ass handed to me for no reason. It’s not that we couldn’t take them, it’s that I really don’t think we can and I don’t want to risk it.

I was about to suggest linking the back up when Gavin taps my arm.

"What's that?"

I look to where he's pointing and see a shadowed figure crawl through one of the ground floor windows. It sticks to the wall then ducks behind one of the hay bales. The shadow peeks out and the light hits his face.

"That son of a bitch. It's Evan." I grit quietly as I fist sticks of hay under my palms. “I'll fucking kill him!”

Terry turns to me. "What do we do?" He whispers.

I search the barn and look down. “Let me think."

I watch Evan duck behind another set of hay bales.

I press my lips together and shake my head. I crawl backwards and stand in the dark. He better fucking appreciate this.

The guys join my side as I stare at the edge of the loft.

"Ok. You guys go that way." I point to the stairs and plant a foot back behind me.

Bobby looks at me. "What are you going to do?"

I glance at him and tick my head. "Well, I'm...just gonna..." With that, I burst into a run to the loft edge and jump off it.

I fall to the first floor, pulling and cocking my gun halfway down.

My thick, heavy, black boots thud on the table top, I crouch my knees to stabilize the landing and freeze.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Lycans in chairs practically fall out of them and the ones standing, posture to kill as they surround me.

My fingers adjust the grip they have on my gun that's resting at my thigh. I slowly straighten my knees as dust and dirt clouds up around my boots. Looking down at the table, I calm my heart and grow my smirk.

They all stare at me as a deep Alpha growl escapes my chest. I slowly raise my eyes and float my head around the group. "Hey, boys. How's it going?"

“GET ‘EM!”

One tries to grab my legs and I jump off the table.

I fire a shot across the room and they scatter.

I rush another guy, sending both of us falling into three more. I grab one by the shirt with two hands and head butt him.

Grabbing another, I hit him square in the face with the butt end of my gun then fire three more shots at three running at me, clipping one in the shoulder.

One shoots at me as I jump across the table and run for the hay bales, but I'm clotheslined and hit the floor. My air is knocked out and my hand hits hard enough that I lose my gun somewhere.

As I cough my air back, I feel hands grab my leather jacket and pick me up. I grab the forearms as my back is slammed on the table. He wraps his fingers around my throat as searing pain runs up my spine to my eyes and I try to blink it out as I wince.

When my vision comes back to the dim light of the barn, my eyes are met with the dark eyes of the guy holding me down by my neck. He stares at me as his wolf claws dig into my skin. I struggle and choke against his grip. I punch at his arm, which seems to be seen as cute, the way he’s smiling at me.

My eyes widen as he raises a fist and I try to stop him. Just as he was about to deliver his strike, Gavin, Terry and Bobby start fighting through the mess. They came down the stairs, guns firing a hail of bullets as they rush the fight.

They graze the arm of the guy holding me and he’s thrown to the floor. I sit up, grab my throat and let out hoarse coughs. I pull my fingers off my neck and see blood. Now, I'm fucking pissed.

Rolling off the table to my feet, I was about to rejoin the fight when someone grabs me by the back of my hair. My back hits a chest, an arm wraps around me and I feel the cold steel of a gun barrel hit under my chin.

“Easy now, Alpha.” He grits in my ear. My eyes flick to the voice as my hands slowly raise to chest level.

The fight slows down as the shift in power is felt.

My eyes meet Gavin’s and I can tell he’s cursing my name in ways that would make even me blush. I tick my head with a little smile and a shrug. Oops.

I feel the lycans breath on my neck as he shoves the gun into my chin. "Just the man we need to talk to." He looks at my guys. "If there's silver in this gun, I'd drop those right now."

My guys look at each other then look to me and all I can do is close my eyes.