The Alpha Brothers Broken Mate

The Girl With The Tattoo

The rain was bouncing off my windshield as I sat patiently waiting for the lights to change to green. I had been enjoying a relaxed evening with Belinda when I got the call from my brother about a job needing done tonight. I was pissed at him, but I knew he was still working on another case we had been given a week ago. Belinda wasn’t my girlfriend, but she was certainly a nice way to spend an evening…and night….and often the morning with too. She had offered to stay at my apartment and keep my bed warm till I returned, but I had never left a woman in my apartment while I was at work yet, I certainly wasn’t about to start now. That was too close to a commitment, before I knew it, she would have her own drawer and closet, no way could I handle that s**t.

My brother had given me five pieces of information about this job. Female, long red hair, works at Gerry’s Bar, had a snake and rose tattoo and where I was to take her. That was it. When I asked him for more information, he said he didn’t have it. The client conducted their business over an encrypted private number and refused to give more details. In a way, I preferred it like this. The less I knew about the target the better, the last thing I needed was to get emotionally involved. I just wanted to do the job, get paid and be able to stop round at Belinda’s apartment on the way home. Perfect.

This was not my ideal way of making money, if I could choose how to spend my life it would not be working as a bounty hunter and private investigator. I would be happier back with my pack, where life was simpler. My brother and I had been forced to leave our wolf pack after our father, who was alpha, was killed by his beta Jenson. They had at one time been best friends, no one knows what caused the rift, but it came down to a challenge and Jenson won. It was a shock to everyone, especially Zac and me. Our father was the strongest wolf of the Atwood pack. Our mother pledged her allegiance to Jenson, but Zac and I refused. Our sentence was death by silver bullet at the next full moon. We had decided to take our chance and escape, become homeless rogues. That was six years ago, now here we are muscle for hire, living in the human world. To the average human, we are just two tall, well-built guys with an angry scowl. No one knows what we are, that our wolf senses are what we use to our advantage on every case. That suits us fine, the less people that know we are wolves the better.

My phone started ringing and I clicked accept on the dashboard to talk on loudspeaker.

“Dylan, please tell me you are on your way to the drop off point with the special delivery?”

“I haven’t even reached Gerry’s Bar yet bro, I am not f*****g Superman. I had to drive halfway across the city remember”.

Zac sighed. Annoying fucker.

“Fine, let me know when you have found her. If you need me to join you, just call. If not, I will be at home trying to catch up on rest”.

“How did it go with the stakeout tonight? Find anything worthwhile out about the Serpents? Do you think they have anything to do with the murders?”

“Well, they sure look like they could murder someone, they’re scary fuckers. I followed them to a lock-up bout ten kilometres outside the city. I didn’t get too close; the facility is surrounded by barbed wire fencing and most likely alarmed. There is something going on there, we just need to wait an opportunity to break in and investigate”.

“Sounds like a plan. That’s me just outside Gerry’s, will call you soon”.

Zac went to speak again but I had already cut him off. He hated when I did that, I couldn’t help bit smirk as I got out the car and crossed the wet street to Gerry’s Bar.

When I stepped inside. the sound of loud rock music and liquor hit me senses all at once. Being a wolf, my hearing was ten times better then a human, as well as my sense of smell. All assets to have when required, sadly being in a loud, smoky biker bar wasn’t one of those times.

I made my way over to the bar area. Straight away a caught a glimpse of long crimson hair, like the colour of fresh strawberries. I sidled my way through crowds of drunk men and woman until I spotted a stool towards the end of the bar. I took my jacket off and hung it on a hook beside the bar. My jacket was soaked after only just crossing the street. I took my seat and watched the red head as she moved up and down the bar. She was wearing a black low-cut blouse and a pair of denim cut offs, which certainly showed off her long, tanned legs perfectly. She wasn’t skinny, she had a round ass and large breasts, but she was in proportion and carried off the curvaceous look well. I tried to stop my eyes wandering up and down her body as she gracefully moved from customer to customer, smiling and winking at them as she went.

I suddenly realised she was walking towards me. I sat up straighter on my stool for some strange reason. Why was I trying to impress her? I was going to be bundling her into the trunk of my car soon.

“Hey there Mr Dark and Broody, what can I getcha?”

My mouth went dry, what the hell was wrong with me? She had big beautiful brown eyes that were blinking at me right now waiting on a response. Her full lips were quirked up into a sexy smile. Say something Dylan…anything!

“Hey, I will have some of whatever that red stuff is on the top shelf there”. I hoped this plan worked, by choosing something on the high shelf she would have to stretch up and then I could check for the tattoo on her waist. That was the plan in theory anyway.

She chuckled. “You want a glass of raspberry syrup?”

Fuck.

“Yeah, I like it in my vodka, lots of ice. Make it a double please. And take one for yourself too”.

“Thanks, but I only eat syrup on my pancakes. One vodka and syrup coming up Mr Not So Dark and Broody”. She laughed and shook her head as she moved towards the shelf where the syrup was sitting. As she went on tip toes to reach the bottle, I caught a glimpse of her torso. I tried not to focus on the creamy, silken look to her skin and instead looked for the tattoo. Bingo! I caught only the bottom part, but it was a snake tattoo.

I suddenly felt anxious and on edge, a big part of me had kind of hoped she wasn’t my target. As I watched her pour my drink and chat happily to the other customers, I felt sick to my stomach. Never in the last six years had I ever had any doubts about completing a job until now. What was it this girl had done? Who would want her so badly they would pay to have her kidnapped? I had an uneasy feeling as she walked towards me carrying the vodka and syrup concoction. She smiled at me brightly as she sat the drink down. “I hope it is sweet enough for you, let me know if you need more syrup”.

“Uh, thanks, I am sure it will be just fine. How late is this place open?”

“We close around 1am, but I wouldn’t advice you drink till closing. All that syrup is bad for your teeth, plus it will keep you up all night”. She chuckled again and winked at me.

I couldn’t help but huff out a laugh, which was a rare occurrence for me. “Who says I don’t want to be up all night?” I winked back at her. Stop flirting Dylan, get your head in the game. She’s your target for f**k’s sake!

The red head licked her lips nervously, her brown eyes went wide for a moment before smiling at me one more time and turning to walk back up the bar again. She kept stealing glances at me and smiling again. If only this was a normal night in a bar, I would be welcoming her sexy looks and smiles and giving them back tenfold. Sadly, I could not allow myself to reciprocate her flirty gestures, I had already gotten in too deep already.

I downed the horrible sugary concoction, I never wanted to taste raspberry syrup again…especially not in my vodka. I placed a twenty dollar note on the bar and stood to get my coat. When I turned around the red head was leaning on the bar smiling at me again. “Leaving so soon?”

I smiled back as I shrugged on my jacket. “Yeah, unfortunately I am working. Need to keep a clear head”.

The red head looked sad; this was not helping ease my conscience one bit. “Sorry, you are having to leave. It was nice to have a handsome face to look at. Come back soon, I will be sure to stock up on extra syrup”. She gave me a playful grin and raised one eyebrow.

“Sure, I’ll definitely see you soon. Thanks”, If only she knew how soon, I felt nauseous at the thought. “What’s your name?”

Her face fell and she looked away, had I said something wrong?

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. It’s too personal. I will see you around”. I nodded at her and made my way through the bar again straight for the exit. I needed out of here. I did not even look back at the beautiful red head for fear of abandoning the job altogether. How was I supposed to snatch this woman and drop her off at an abandoned building outside of town? Not knowing what would become of her. Who wants her so badly they are willing to pay fifty thousand dollars for her? The simple answer was I couldn’t.

I ran over to my car and called Zac. He sounded half asleep but at least he answered.

“Hey, did you find her?”

“Of course, I found her, that’s not why I am calling though”. I rested my head back against the seat and closed my eyes in frustration.

“Why the f**k are you calling me then? I am trying to get some sleep Dylan, I said call me if you need me, nothing more”.

“I can’t kidnap her Zac”.

Silence.

“What do you mean you can’t kidnap her? That is what we are getting f*****g paid for Dylan. Snatch her after work, bind her wrists and ankles, put a gag over her mouth and drop her off at the location you were given. What is so f*****g hard about that?”

“She’s sweet, kind and beautiful. We mostly help the good guys take down the bad guys, right? She is an innocent. I do not like this one bit. What if the guy that paid us is a f*****g stalker? We must turn down the job Zac. I can’t do this. Not to her, she does not deserve this”.

“You have only known her half an hour Dylan, what the f**k? Just because she has a hot ass and a sexy smile, doesn’t mean we should refuse the job. I get it, she’s pretty and you feel bad. But the money has been wired and I have no details, no contact number of the client to let them know the deal is off. Do you understand Dylan? We couldn’t back out even if we wanted to. I'm sorry”.

“Sure, you are, well you can come and finish it then, because I can’t do it”.

“I am in bed Dylan, for f**k’s sake. This is your job, not mine. I have been working my ass off while you bang Belinda. You owe me bro”.

He was right, I did. “Fine, I will do it. Only because we can’t stop the transaction with the money. But if I get a bad feeling when I take her to that abandoned building, I will kill the client and take her back with me to the city. I won’t leave her with a psychopath that could rape her and gouge out her pretty eyes”.

“You watch too much Criminal Minds asshole, just do the job. Call me when it’s done. And don’t for…”. The line went dead, purely because I was done listening to my big brother’s lectures for one night. I had to cut him off, again.

It was nearly half one in the morning. The red head still hadn’t come out of the bar doors yet. I gave another yawn and caught a flash of red in my peripheral vision. It was her, locking up as she chatted to some of her work colleagues. She gave them both a hug before turning and sauntering off along the street.

I started my engine and decided to wait a few minutes before driving past her. I was quite happy with the view I had of her ass anyway. I started to lose sight of her, I knew I had to pursue her before I lost her altogether. Why did that thought make my stomach lurch?

I drove slowly, keeping my distance as best I could. I could see her just up ahead. Next time I looked for her she was gone. As if she had completely vanished into thin aor.

I pulled my car in and sprinted across the street to where I had last saw her. I began sniffing around. I could still smell her mouth-watering scent. She smelled like apples, cinnamon and honeysuckle. It was the most beautiful scent ever, my wolf agreed as he howled for me to follow it.

Just as I made my way over to a dark alleyway, which I sincerely hoped she hadn’t gone down alone, especially this late. An arm shot round my neck, I could feel the cool sensation of a blade against my throat.

“If you make one false move I will slit your throat, now tell me who the hell you are and why are you following me?”