Love At First Gear Ch 07 08

Hi everyone - a few weeks ago I uploaded Chapter 7, but it wasn't what I had intended to post. Long story short, the version of LAFG I'm sharing with you now is the third version of it.

The problem is I'm working from a really messy Scrivener file that has every version of LAFG in it, and when I came off my sleeping pills after recovering from almost losing a kidney I just edited and posted the two chapters in front of me without thinking about it. What I shared was an epilogue from the original LAFG and a flashback I was considering adding to LAFG. I've since decided to do away with the flashbacks but will eventually be releasing them as a separate, stand-alone novella or novel-length story.

HERE is the Chapter 7-8 I wanted to share, and Chapter 9 will be posted a little early. Thanks for your patience while I've been detoxing off a million kidney-support meds.

♡ Ava

PS: If you e-mailed me and received a copy of chapter 7 - I've updated and changed a few things, so you may want to re-read this version of it.

If you need a refresher,

here's Chapter 6.

SEVEN

"What was that about?" Ashleigh asked as Mack came back to the bed. Both of them had nearly slept through the hotel room phone ringing; uncharacteristic of both of them, but especially of Mack.

"Travis is sending someone to take us to the compound."

"The what?" Ashleigh sat up in the bed, frowning as Mack began to turn on the lights. "Why do we have to leave? I thought we could stay here until the truck arrived." She pouted a little, a pang of regret stabbing at Mack's heart.

"I know," he said, annoyed that hunters kept interrupting every romantic thing he tried to do for her. "The compound is safer, and I can help Travis. I need you to pack."

"But-" Ashleigh began, but Mack cut her off with a growl.

"If you want to stay with me you have to obey me when I tell you to run, hide, leave me behind. Do you understand?"

She nodded and without a word began collecting the few belongings she'd brought with her.

I don't care what he says,

she thought as she gathered her things,

I'll never leave him behind.

Mack was practically running around the hotel room, gathering his clothing and putting on the same dusty jeans he'd worn the day before when he carried her across the desert. He thought about the long day and night he'd spent trying to carry her to safety.

Maybe I didn't carry her far enough to keep her from the hunters.

Looking around for his belt, he remembered where it had been just a few hours before. He grinned as he thought about the belt wrapped tightly around Ashleigh's wrists, her moaning and writhing beneath him. He told himself he would have time to savor those memories later, maybe even recreate them if he was lucky. He located the belt wedged between the mattress and the headboard and pulled it free, then struggled to feed it back through the belt loops. He could feel very sexy when he took the belt off, and like a complete clown trying to wrestle it back through all the stupid loops on his jeans.

Ashleigh finally moved around him, gathering what little she had carried through the desert and stuffing it back into her bag. In the short time he had known her she usually refused to listen to him, take his word for anything, or in general behave in any of the ways he knew some lycans demanded of their human mates. He wasn't like that, but he couldn't ignore that the wolf inside of him was. Mack had noticed upon waking that he'd already shifted back into his human form - a new record for him. Something about Ashleigh had tamed him a bit but he noted with unease that the wolf side he'd always seen as separate from his human mind had seemingly grown silent. It wasn't normally so quiet he wondered if it had gone away or found a way to merge with his conscience. He felt more possessive of her than before, more protective, and more annoyed when she didn't obey.

I don't want to be like this with her,

he thought,

but I don't think she hates it, either.

His opinions about himself and ideas he had about her as an independent, educated, smart, and yet submissive woman warred with each other the more he thought about it.

So don't think about it,

he decided.

Instead, he passed the time until their ride arrived sitting in front of the living room window and watching the parking lot of the hotel. The moon waned, but was still nearly full and sparkled over the frosted windshields. Soon Ashleigh dragged over a chair to join him, occasionally interrupting the silence to ask him questions.

She leaned back a bit in the wooden dining chair. "Is Travis coming then?"

"No, he's sending two of my siblings to get us."

"Your siblings?" She hadn't known Mack long, but he hadn't spoken about his family, his blood-family or his found-family, very much at all.

"Yeah, Ernesto and Jana. We're not blood relatives, just brought together, or," he struggled to explain his complicated family, "adopted by Travis. You'll like them, but watch out for Jana."

She narrowed her eyes. "You didn't tell me you have a sister."

"Yeah, well, she stole my last two dates, so can you blame me?"

Ashleigh laughed. "I'm not into women," she fired back.

"That's what they said. Now they're married to each other and sometimes Jana joins them, if you catch my drift."

She giggled.

"So Jana kind of has her own, pack?" She was trying to understand his world and use the right words, but she couldn't fight the feeling that she was in over her head. Mack hadn't been exactly forthcoming with information, and she'd never knowingly met a lycan before. Meeting him had changed her life so much in just a few days that to think of it was staggering.

He shook his head. "No, Jana belongs to our pack, she's just," he struggled to find the right words, "I don't know what to call it."

Ashleigh was thoughtful for a moment. "Do they, like, know, about you guys?"

Again he shook his head. "As a general rule we don't tell humans until the night before the wedding."

"Wow, you really screwed that up," she teased him.

He nodded. "Yeah, well, I don't really agree with that, anyway. It seems mean to pop that on someone the night before and expect them to just accept it. Although maybe telling them after a day or two of knowing them isn't enough time," he added in a tone of self-deprecation. Ashleigh didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she let it go without comment.

She scanned the parking lot with him for a while before piping up with another question. "Do you only date within the pack then, usually, or...? I imagine maybe that would be weird..."

Mack sighed. He really didn't want to have to explain all the rules to her right now, but with Travis ordering the entire pack to come back to the compound he realized he had to speed things along. "Travis tells us not to shit where we eat," he began, "meaning, don't date pack members. We're all brothers, and one sister. Two of my brothers have kids, so there's that, and they each have a wife. Only one. They're both humans." He thought about his previous statement regarding Jana as he mentioned it.

"If you only have one sister I guess it's not hard to abide by the rules," Ashleigh replied.

He shrugged. "It certainly hasn't stopped Ilia and Soren from dating each other. I'm not sure Travis knows, though." Mack trailed off. "You better not say anything, just in case."

They sat in silence for a long time. Nothing moved except a dense freezing fog that crept through the distant mountains. A few clouds passed in front of stars that twinkled, and the moon moved along in the sky on its usual trajectory, disappearing and reappearing as the clouds drifted on unseen currents.

"What did you mean, in the truck, when you said I'm as good as marked?"

I was really hoping she'd forget about that

, Mack thought, his jaw tensing as he searched for an explanation.

"It's an old thing, we don't really do it anymore. Travis thinks it's barbaric. But not all lycans are like us. Travis demands that we behave ourselves and respect humans and their autonomy," he paused, "but if we ever encounter other lycans you can't expect them to treat you like I do. Not all of us are as progressive as Travis' pack."

Ashleigh waited, but when it seemed that Mack wasn't going to answer she asked again.

"So what does 'marked' mean, then?"

He sighed. "Us regular lycans, not alphas, can't turn turn humans by biting you. You need to understand that. That's not a thing. An alpha can, but there's almost no alphas left. So don't worry about that."

"Okay, and?" she prompted. Mack sighed.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Ashleigh swallowed, suddenly sensing danger ahead. "Yes," she decided, "I still want to know."

"I would make my mark on you by biting you and leaving a scar. In the packs that still do it I would have to do it in front of the pack, with my knot inside of you." He had to admit that her scent when she was afraid of him turned him on, and right now she was just a little bit afraid. Grinning, he reached out and stroked her chin, pressing his lips against hers and reveling in her reluctance which soon melted under the press of his tongue. She parted her lips for him, desire overcoming her as his tongue explored her mouth. His hands tugged at her jacket until her fear melted away again as it always did and she slid from her own chair into his lap. One of his hands found its way into her hair, grasping and gathering it into a bunch, then pulling until she broke the kiss with a whimper of disappointment.

"You're distracting me," he growled at her but grinned at her pout. "Get back in your own chair," he told her, adjusting himself as she reluctantly obeyed.

Silence fell between them for a little while before Ashleigh spoke again. "Do you ever mark your mates in private?"

Mack laughed sharply, making her jump. "Do you

want

me to mark you? It hurts,

a lot

. You'd better be damn sure, and not just about being bitten, but about being mine forever." Her scent swelled again and Mack found himself fighting the urge to pin her down on the carpet and have her again.

Ashleigh swallowed and tried to summon her courage. "But then other lycans would know I belong to you, right?"

He grunted.

"Then maybe it's not a bad idea," she continued.

Mack turned her request over and over in his mind. Of course the wolf chose that moment to make his presence known, jolting Mack with the ferocity of his return.

Yes, do it, right now,

was his entire opinion on the subject. But Mack knew that he couldn't do it, no matter what.

Haven't you figured it out yet,

came the wolf's voice, but Mack didn't have a clue what it meant by that. The wolf had started saying a lot of cryptic little things about Ashleigh, but it seemed uninterested in helping Mack understand what it meant.

"Travis would never forgive me," Mack told her, his gaze softening, "and I wouldn't, either. It is barbaric, and I don't want to hurt you." He could tell from the look on her face the conversation wasn't over.

She's going to keep bringing this up,

he thought.

I'd better come up with something else.

She'd almost slipped back into sleep again when the phone rang a second time, jolting her upright in her chair. Mack placed a calming hand on her shoulder, then stood to answer the phone. After a short exchange he motioned for her to follow him and the two exited the luxurious hotel room. She turned towards the elevator but he steered her towards the stairs instead. "This way there's exits, in case." She nodded and he realized she needed to learn a lot, fast, to stay safe with him.

The lobby was quiet other than the occasional shifting of melting ice cubes inside a large water dispenser on the desk. A fire, Mack guessed a gas fire due to the blue flames, licked at a manufactured-looking log inside an adobe clay fireplace. Talavera tiles and a split log mantle hung above it, and metal silhouettes of coyotes in various poses of howling and running rested atop the log. Comfortable-looking overstuffed furniture was arranged around it. Ashleigh stood looking wistfully at the fireplace, clearly wishing for more time to enjoy the hotel. Mack watched her for a moment, then stopped at the desk and announced they were checking out. Thankfully it was a different clerk and not the rude woman that had refused to check them in the day before.

The clerk looked up their room. "Leaving already, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker?" Mack faltered as the clerk referred to Ashleigh as Mrs. Tucker. Someday, maybe, he hoped and wondered, but for now he had to play along. He nodded. The clerk printed out a receipt for the room and all the room service they had ordered and they were once again on their way.

Ashleigh hesitated at the glass door but Mack strode confidently toward the white Land Rover that sat idling under the canopy. The door swung open and an athletic-looking woman with close-cropped pink hair grinned out at him. "Mack!" she exclaimed. "Jana!" whatever hard feelings he may have had about his previous girlfriends were obviously in the past as she jumped into his arms for a long-awaited hug.

As soon as he released her Jana turned to Ashleigh. "Wow," Jana exclaimed, "she's

pretty.

"

"Don't get any ideas," Mack grumbled at her as Jana took Ashleigh's bag and loaded it into the SUV. She held out a hand to help Ashleigh into the waiting vehicle. "Ladies first," she said with a wink.

The two pack-brothers sat side-by-side in the front, leaving Ashleigh and Jana to "girl talk" in the back. Mack and Ernesto were both men of few words, and soon the two sat listening to the two women chatting behind them rather than try to keep their own awkward conversation alive.

The trip passed in jovial conversation, and Mack was happy, although a little alarmed, that Ashleigh and Jana seemed to get along very well. After traveling on the freeway for what felt like hours, Ernesto steered the Defender onto an exit ramp and then onto a narrow highway. The landscape was mostly barren in the light of the moon, but as they climbed a hill scraggly pine trees began to appear on the horizon until they blotted out the line where the land met the sky. After another fifteen minutes had passed Ernesto nodded at Jana, who reached down and hit the talk button on the radio Ashleigh had only just noticed was clipped to her jacket.

"This is J-Dawg, do you read me? Over."

Ernesto stifled a laugh in the driver's seat. Mack shook his head before whispering harshly. "Quit fuckin' with him, Jana."

The radio blipped in response.

"This is Bear, that is not your handle, over."

Jana laughed. "This is Serpent, do you read me? Over."

"Loud and clear, Serpent. What's your status? Over."

"T-minus 5 minutes, over."

"Phoenix and Centurion will be waiting for you, over and out."

"He takes everything too seriously," Jana snorted, rolling her eyes at Ashleigh.

Ashleigh was quiet for a minute before she finally decided to ask, "Will I get a radio, ooorrr-?"

Jana grinned and reached into her pocket, pulling out one of the small devices and helping Ashleigh clip it to her coat. "Your radio handle is Mercury," Jana informed her.

"You don't get to pick your own names?" Ashleigh frowned.

Jana shook her head.

"It's from some books he really likes," Ernesto informed her. "By that guy in the grocery store books, you know, Jamie Sanderson."

Ashleigh frowned. She was pretty sure there was no author selling grocery store paperbacks named Jamie Sanderson, but didn't say so.

"So I'm part of the pack now?" Ashleigh asked hesitantly.

"Well, almost," Jana said. Mack turned a suspicious eye toward Jana.

"You have to participate in the pack orgy first-"

"Fuck off, Jana," Mack quipped.

Jana laughed again. "It was worth a shot."

Ashleigh couldn't help but grin. "I didn't say no."

⏾⋆.˚

Despite the early hour of the morning the pack greeted Ashleigh with breakfast and an overwhelming number of introductions. There would be time to learn everyone's names, Mack assured her, preferably when she'd had a full night of sleep that hadn't been interrupted several times by Mack's "morning" wood. He noted that Travis was absent from the table and wondered if it had something to do with the smoldering looks that passed between Jana and the newest pack member, a wolf from Iraq named Yosef.

Travis won't like that,

he thought, but kept his observations to himself. Eventually Mack made their excuses and took Ashleigh to find an empty bedroom. As Mack showed her around she realized that the house was definitely custom-built to house a pack of werewolves. There were a few guest rooms on the main floor but they would be staying in the basement in one of several bunk rooms with most of the rest of the pack.

It definitely wasn't where Mack wanted to stay. He would have preferred the hotel, first of all, then a borrowed truck, or a tent, or maybe just sleeping outside in the open. Instead he'd have to endure all the sounds of Everett and River's kids playing in the basement during the day and crying at night. He led Ashleigh down a staircase that descended from the common room into an open area in the basement, which was now a minefield of discarded toys that he and Ashleigh picked their way across to the hallway.

"That door on the end is a locker room-style bathroom," he told her. Privacy was at a minimum for guests in the compound, another reason he hated to be there. Normally during his visits home he'd just sleep in his truck, and it was unusual for Everett and River to be at the compound with all of their children. But with the truck gone and the new one still on the way, they'd have no choice except to sleep in the bunks for Ashleigh's sake. Mack assumed the hunters were the reason Travis ordered everyone back to the compound. While they would soon get in a truck and leave, the rest of the pack would stay until it was safe to go to their homes again.

If it ever is,

he thought, wondering how long the hunters might plague the pack this time.

Back in Alabama they'd bothered his family for years.

I won't let it go on that long,

he told himself as he led Ashleigh into a room and gestured at the bunks. "Make yourself comfortable," he told her. "I have to go check on Travis. Get some more sleep." He winked at her then left as she gratefully slid under the covers.

Soren, who was always in his wolf-form, was waiting at the end of the hallway when Mack emerged from the bunk room. "Travis needs to speak to you in his office," he murmured and Mack nodded. Some of the pack members were busy getting ready for work, but others were obviously on guard duty and nodded at him as he passed them on his way to the office.

The solid door of the office swung open to reveal Travis sitting at his desk having an apparently intense phone conversation. Jaxson sat in a corner and quietly spoke into a cell phone, and River was just hanging up a phone of his own. "Hey man," River whispered, "long time no see." Mack nodded at him as he sat in the chair opposite Travis.

He waited while Travis finished his phone conversation. A box of cigars rested open on Travis' desk, the alpha gesturing at it as Mack sat down. He shook his head. The smell of cigars was revolting enough to him and he couldn't imagine how bad they would taste, but he'd been around long enough to know when the cigars were out Travis was in rare form and he'd better not complain about the smell or anything else. Another unwelcome scent met his nose and he eyed the coffee cup on the alpha's desk suspiciously.

Coffee and whiskey,

Mack thought disdainfully,

day-drinking again. Great.

Just as Travis hung up, Jaxson, the youngest of his pack-brothers at sixteen, leaned over and said, "Hey pops, I'm out of these card thingies," as he held up a small stack of Rolodex cards. "Then you're done," Travis told him, taking the stack and working to fasten them back into the Rolodex as he spoke, "go get ready for school."