When Worlds Collide Ch 04

Richard Graves stepped out of the limousine and walked over to the black SUV. He looked in the open doorway and frowned. Both men inside were dead. They had been dead a long time. Lacey's photograph was lying on one of the seats. He looked for a moment longer and then stepped around SUV inhaling deeply as he did so.

Dogs. His two operatives had been killed by dogs. Their scent was everywhere. He turned his head fractionally to the right as Sandro stepped up to him. "What packs are running in the area?" he asked tersely.

The blond vampire smiled. "Hanlon's pack has just moved into the area. The Lochlyn pack is on the other side of the city. Intelligence says they keep out of each others way."

Graves frown deepened. The Lochlyn pack wouldn't come over to this end of the city, therefore it had to be the Hanlon pack who had killed his operatives and made off with not only Lacey, but the cunt lawyer too. That created issues. Cullen was affiliated with the pack because of his bitch. Would he get involved in a war with them? If Cullen did, what was his best course of action to neutralise him? The obvious one was to take his bitch but that would just enrage Cullen. The word on the street was he was very protective of her.

He supposed he could just let Lacey go and find another woman. It would be the less stressful course of action to take. Many a vampire would probably do so but he didn't like being challenged. Lacey belonged to him. If the dogs were protecting her then one of them must want her. There was no other reason they would risk the pack on her behalf.

Graves most definitely was not going to be made a fool of by a pack of dogs. He could hear the whispers already. There was any number of his kind willing to have a laugh at his expense. They would literally howl with laughter at him losing his woman to a dog.

Letting Lacey go wasn't an option. Dealing with Cullen was going to be a problem, but not an insurmountable one. He was confident he could round up enough followers to meet any small army the other vampire could come up with. A plan was already beginning to take shape. If he got the word out he was coming for Cullen's bitch, then he would go on the defensive. Throw a few vampires his way and he would be caught up with them, leaving the field open for Richard to strike at the Weres.

He smiled. It would take a few days to get everything in place but that was a good thing because he would need the time to gather as much intelligence on the pack as possible so he could find their weak spots.

"Arrange discreet surveillance on the Hanlon pack in case they try and move Lacey before I'm ready to deal with them," he told Sandro before he headed back to his limousine.

___

Lacey walked beside Rafe as they made their way towards the medical building. Rhianna and Jen walked behind them chatting away about Jen's work. It was night time but the compound was very well lit. It had been a very long day and Lacey couldn't help feeling tired and tense. The three women had spent most of the day alone.

Caleb had returned and Demetri had disappeared once he was back. Apart from a brief moment he'd spent with Rhianna, Caleb had secluded himself in Jared's study along with Rafe and a lot of other men whom Rhianna had explained were Jared's betas, his most trusted people.

Rafe had finally shown up to take her to see Aaron, apologising for it taking him so long to do so. Lacey welcomed something different to do rather than sit around and talk or read a book to try and pass the time. There was a deep tension around the compound and the pack meeting hadn't even happened yet. Somehow everyone seemed to know something serious was about to happen.

Rafe smiled hello to Luke and asked if Aaron was up to visitors. The doctor said it would be fine so they headed to his room.

Aaron was lying on his back with his eyes closed when they entered the room. His blond hair was all mussed up and he looked very pale but his chest was rising and falling in a strong pattern.

Rhianna skipped in before everyone and dropped a kiss on his forehead. "Hey, stupid," she said lightly. "I hear you failed the 'how to dodge a bullet' class."

He smiled but didn't open his eyes. "Less of the stupid, Annie," he grumbled. "I'm hurting here." Aaron really wanted to open his eyes but the pain in his chest was excruciating and for some reason keeping his eyes closed seemed to alleviate it slightly. There were a number of scents teasing his nostrils and he smiled as he started picking out the individual scents.

"You should be thankful you are hurting, Aaron," she retorted. "It means you're not dead."

"Rafe, will you get your smartass sister out of here," Aaron laughed and then grimaced as a wave of pain overcame him. It hurt so badly when he laughed but the little red haired vampire always managed to amuse him. He had a lot of time for Rafe's sister. The fact she was a vampire didn't matter to him. It wasn't just because she was his best friend's sister either. Rhianna Armand was just a little bundle of fire and innocence which appealed to his more protective side.

"Get her out yourself," Rafe chuckled, relieved to see his friend looking much better than he had been earlier. When he had first come down to check on Aaron he had been so pale from the loss of blood that Rafe had felt a moment's fear that his friend would die despite the doc's encouraging words. He looked a hundred times better now, despite the thick bandaging and his obvious pain.

Aaron slowly opened his eyes and smiled at Rhianna and Rafe, his eyes flicking to the other side of Rafe where Lacey was standing. He thought he had scented her but he wasn't sure. His instincts were slightly dulled because of the pain. His smile broadened as he saw how close the beautiful blonde woman was standing to Rafe and how his friend's eyes kept flicking quickly to her as if checking she was still beside him. The connection between them was plain to see and he was over the moon that Rafe had found his mate. "Hey Lacey, glad to see you're in one piece," he smiled. "Rafe would have kicked my ass if I'd let anything happen to you."

Lacey smiled warmly at him, her beautiful face practically radiant as it shone with relief as she looked down at him. "Feelings mutual, Aaron. The being in one piece part, not the ass kicking part," she smiled back relieved to see he was doing okay.

Aaron was truly glad to see the blonde was okay. He had liked her the moment he met her. He frowned suddenly and inhaled deeply, his body stiffening slightly as his wolf gave a very low deep growl inside him. There was an overriding scent tickling his nose. It rocked through him like a tidal wave, triggering feelings he had never ever experienced before and for a moment he stared at Rhianna in shock. It was impossible! It couldn't be her! He'd been around Rafe's sister for months and he'd never felt anything like this before.

He shook his head as the overwhelming scent of strawberries crashed over him again, strawberries and vanilla. The scent was sweet, tantalising and oh so very perfect. He stiffened further and tried to see around Rafe and Lacey as he realised there was someone else just outside his room door. It was no mean feat trying to see around them because they were both so tall. "Come here," he suddenly growled low in his chest and Lacey stared at him in surprise.

Rafe looked down at Aaron with a concerned expression on his face and then slowly smiled, pulling Lacey to the side. The sudden tenseness of Aaron's body, the hot gleam that entered his friend's eyes was all he needed to see for him to realise what was happening. He chuckled lightly as his friend tried to dislocate his head from his shoulders in his haste to see around them.

Aaron's pale blue eyes locked with the stunningly beautiful woman who was hiding behind the other couple. His heart skipped a beat, his breath exploded from his body as she came into view and he struggled to push himself up into an awkward sitting position. "Come here," he growled again and the startled woman blinked at him in shock before she slowly walked further into the room.

Jen hadn't been able to see the man lying in the bed until Rafe and Lacey moved out of the way. She hadn't really intended on entering the room at all because she didn't know this Aaron character. She had only come down to the medical building when it became apparent everyone else was going there because she didn't want to be alone in the strange compound.

The moment she had heard Aaron's voice a little shiver had travelled down her spine and a warm heat had invaded her body. His voice had sounded so sexy, his sense of humour very appealing. Now she walked forward as if drawn to the source of that voice and she stared in stunned surprise at the beautiful man in the bed.

His blond hair was stunning, his handsome face etched with pain as he struggled to sit up. Light blue eyes bored into her with such intensity she sucked in a deep breath as her eyes quickly roamed over his big body, narrowing at the thick wads of bandaging around his naked chest.

She frowned at the obvious wounds to him, unaccountably concerned that he was in pain and feeling a need to order him to lie back down and stop moving about. The words were on the tip of her tongue and she had to fight to stop herself from uttering them. Her breath quickened as Aaron's intense gaze trapped hers and she found herself unable to look away from him.

"Closer," Aaron commanded his voice almost hypnotic and Jen found herself obeying him, stepping up to the side of the bed with a slightly dazed look in her eyes. Aaron inhaled deeply again and then smiled a wondrous smile which quite literally took her breath away. "Mine," he growled possessively reaching out and pulling Jen onto the bed beside him.

Rhianna and Rafe burst out laughing at the dark haired woman's startled squeak as she sprawled across the injured man.

Lacey stared at them all with a puzzled expression on her face. "What's so funny?" she asked as she watched her friend try and struggle up into a sitting position. Aaron was staring at Jen so strangely and her friend seemed to be at a loss as to what to do. It was obvious Jen was trying hard not to hurt the big blond man with her movements.

"Only the pack's worst lothario being felled by a woman," Rafe laughed as he watched his friend succumb to the woman on his bed. "Jen is Aaron's mate," he clarified when Lacey still looked at him with a confused expression.

Lacey blinked in surprise and heard her friend give a startled gasp at Rafe's words. Rhianna just laughed harder. Lacey stared from Aaron to Jen and slowly started to smile as she saw the perplexed expression on her friend's face. Jen seemed totally stunned as she gazed down at Aaron. Lacey could practically see her mind whirling as she tried to understand what was happening to her. She had felt the same the first time she had looked up at Rafe's beautiful face, so she could understand her friend's confusion.

"Jen," Aaron said softly, his hands reaching up to brush her long black hair back from her face. Such a perfect name for such a beautiful woman. His mate. He was stunned by her beauty, intoxicated by her scent. He had thought he would never meet that one perfect woman who was meant to be his forever. It had taken so long, so many long years of searching endlessly for her. But it had been worth the wait. She was perfection.

Jen could only stare into the beautiful blue eyes of the gorgeous blond man in the bed and try to stop her heart from thumping so loudly in her chest. He was looking at her with such a warm, loving expression on his face and she found herself automatically responding to him on an instinctual level. "I must be hurting you," she stammered in confusion, trying to right herself on the bed again but his arms banded around her and halted her attempts to move.

"You're worth every little bit of pain I'm feeling," he said softly. "Lie with me, Jen. Just for a little while." The pain was excruciating but he couldn't let her go. She was his mate and she belonged with him. He could scent her confusion, knew he should be giving her some time to adjust to him. After all, he was a complete stranger to her but in the back of his mind was the thought that he had almost died the night before. If he had died then she would have been alone with no one to protect her. No one to love her as she deserved to be loved. He couldn't let her go no matter how much it hurt him.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Rhianna laughed. "We can stop by and see Aaron tomorrow." She leaned down and gave Aaron a quick kiss on his forehead but he barely registered her, his eyes glued to the beautiful woman's face before him.

"Come on, Lacey," Rafe chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist. "The two of them won't even notice we're gone."

"Jen?" Lacey asked eyeing her friend carefully. She wanted to make sure her friend was comfortable staying with Aaron alone. Not that she didn't trust the blond man and would be unhappy if he really did think Jen was his mate. She liked Aaron a lot and his easy humour would be a direct counter balance for Jen's way too serious side. Her friend worked way too hard and didn't take the time to relax. She couldn't imagine Aaron putting up with that, which was a good thing.

Jen turned her head away from those mesmerising light blue eyes and looked back at her friend. Her face was still slightly stunned but there was a flash of excitement in her eyes. "I know the way back to the house," she told Lacey. "I'll be fine here."

"I won't let anything happen to her," Aaron growled confidently and Lacey couldn't help laughing.

"I'm more worried about you, Aaron," she remarked dryly. "You have no idea what you've just let yourself in for. Jen will be bossing you about before you have time to blink."

His handsome face split with a huge smile and he winked at her. "Now, that sounds like it could be fun," he teased, running a hand lightly down Jen's back and smiling wider when he felt her body tremble slightly against his. So, his mate had a dominant streak in her, did she? He felt his heart kick up at beat at the thought of it. That would make life very interesting.

"Okay, we're out of here," Rafe laughed pulling Lacey with him. "You behave!" he said sternly to Aaron. "You've still got a lot of healing to do and Jen isn't going anywhere."

Jen watched the others file out of the room leaving her alone with Aaron. His handsome face was lined with pain and she sat up and slid from the bed. He must have been in some discomfort because he let her go this time with barely a murmur of disagreement, though his eyes were tracking her every movement. "Lie down, Aaron," she said firmly as her thoughts whirled furiously inside her head. "There's no point in doing any further damage to your body."

Her reaction to Aaron was confusing her. His pain was wrenching at her heart and she couldn't understand how his injuries could matter so much to her, why she suddenly wanted to go looking for Richard Graves and try to give him a taste of his own medicine. Rafe had said she was Aaron's mate, like Lacey was his. The thought terrified her even as she pushed lightly against Aaron's shoulder to get him to lie back against the pillows.

He grunted and gritted his teeth as she helped ease him back down onto the pillows. "Don't go, Jen," he whispered as he closed his eyes against the pain until it finally settled. He could scent her nervousness; feel her confusion and he was afraid she would run from him if he didn't stop her. The very thought of her leaving him sent another wave of pain crashing through his damaged body and it had nothing to do with his injuries. She couldn't leave him, not ever. He wouldn't survive if she ever left him.

"I'll sit right here," she answered gently, pulling up a chair and sitting beside him. Her hand rested on his arm lightly, stroking soothingly as she watched his face with anxious eyes. He was in so much pain and it was bringing out her protective instincts. Up until now she had used those instincts solely on Lacey. No one had ever gotten through her self imposed barriers except for her best friend. She had always successfully kept herself cut off from everyone else in her life. It was her means of self protection

She stared at Aaron and bit her bottom lip tensely. His eyes were still closed but she could sense the tenseness of his big body as he rode out his pain. The man before her was quite literally stripping aside every single one of her carefully constructed barriers and he didn't even have to work at it. He just had to lie there and look vulnerable and she had no protection against him at all. "So, I'm being claimed by a wolf?" she sighed wearily. "That figures."

His amazing eyes opened at her slightly disgruntled tone and he reached a large hand out to engulf hers. "Don't you feel it too, Jen?" he asked quietly. He tried to keep the urgency out of his tone, his need for her to accept him at the bare minimum, so he wouldn't frighten her away. If she ran he wouldn't be able to find her for days, not until his body had healed enough.

"I don't know what 'it' is, Aaron," she sighed again, frowning in confusion and dropping her gaze from his. "All I do know is you have to be the most gorgeous man I've ever seen and despite the fact I should be running for the hills after learning about werewolves and vampires, I seem to be more concerned about you being in pain than I am about running out of here shrieking."

She knew her reaction towards him wasn't normal. She had barely known the man for five minutes and had been concerned about Lacey's weird reaction to Rafe only a few hours earlier. But looking down at Aaron lying on the hospital bed she suddenly kind of understood what her friend had been trying to tell her about her reaction to Rafe, because she felt it too as she looked down at the injured man. Aaron just felt right.

"You feel it too," he said with a satisfied smile, his eyes flickering over her face intently, drinking in every single detail of the most beautiful woman's face to ever walk the planet. His body was literally tingling to have her so close, her wonderful strawberry scent filling the room and making his body harden with a fierce need that he was in no fit shape to do anything about.

Jen nodded slowly. "I feel something. I'm not too sure what it is and it's completely crazy to feel it when I barely know you, but there is something there. Is this weird recognition thing something like love at first sight?" she asked quietly.

Aaron smiled at her, hearing her breath hitch in her throat and stifling down a groan at the way his body automatically reacted to her. "I suppose you could say it's something like that," he breathed. "For wolves it most definitely is. If their mates are human then it may take a little while longer for them to make the full connection but they instinctively know deep down that they belong to their mate."

Jen looked at him intently for a long moment as she tried to get her head around everything. She couldn't honestly say she was in love with Aaron but she was so incredibly drawn to him. At the moment her feelings were more on the protective side because he was hurt but she did find him incredibly attractive too. The sound of his voice sent shivers down her spine and she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss him. Her body was reacting to his touch and she could still feel the impression of his hard length pressing against her when she had lain on the bed.

She smiled slightly as she looked at him. She could either fight this strange attraction or give in to it and see what happened. Rhianna had said Millie had tried to fight her attraction to Jared but it hadn't worked. If she tried to fight her attraction to Aaron then she just knew he would come looking for her which would only cause him more injury. He believed she was his mate and despite his easy humour and light tone she just knew there was another man deep within him. The kind of man that would not easily give up on what he felt belonged to him. He had the same underlying intensity about him as Jared and Rafe had.