Axel Read online

  Axel

  Ashton Grove M.C.

  Jessica Coulter Smith

  Copyright © 2015 by Jessica Coulter Smith

  All rights reserved.

  Thank you for downloading this eBook. Please do not share it with your friends. This book may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, with the exception of quotes used in reviews.

  Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Chapter One

  Axel crept around the side of the house, Ghost on his tail and the other three fanned out. They’d done a little recon two nights ago, and while Axel wasn’t sure they were prepared to make a move yet, he knew the young girls inside couldn’t wait any longer. His fists clenched as he thought about the horrors they’d faced. Ghost had taken out the guards at the foot of the drive while Whisper had taken out the ones by the house. From what Axel could see through the window, there was another guard on the main level of the house and the girls were being kept in the basement. He’d be willing to bet there was another guard down there. His heart pounded as he contemplated their next move.

  Axel pushed the comm unit in his ear. “I want Whisper and Crimson at the back door. Ghost and I will take the front. Viper, you’re on lookout.”

  Viper’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Copy that.”

  Axel waited for his men to get into position and then he kicked in the front door, his Glock 9 pointed straight ahead. The guard on the main level was momentarily startled, dropping the donut he’d been stuffing into his fat face, and reached for the gun tucked into his pants. Axel smiled. “Don’t even think about it, asshole.”

  Crimson and Whisper stormed into the room, weapons at the ready. Axel’s nape pricked and he wondered where the boss man had gotten off to. No way he hadn’t heard the noise of the front door crashing in. He didn’t have to wait for long.

  The barrel of a shotgun pressed against the base of his skull and Axel raised his hands.

  “Drop your weapons. All of you,” the man said from behind him.

  Axel watched the other gunman and his men. Crimson’s eye twitched, which meant he was about to seriously lose his shit. Axel saw Crimson’s gun raise and he dropped to the ground just as a round was fired into the asshole with the shotgun, blood spraying him as the body fell. He felt the thud of the body hitting the floor, but didn’t take his eyes off Crimson. The guard swung toward Crimson, poised for a fight, but Axel leapt to his feet and tackled him from behind, knocking the gun from his hand.

  Axel grabbed the guard’s head in both hands and slammed it against the hardwood floor several times. Venom rolled through his veins as he thought of those helpless females down below. “Thieving bastard! Stealing women off the streets.”

  He bounced the man’s head off the floor a few more times. Bones crunched and blood pooled on the wood surface before Axel stopped, his hands stained red. His chest heaved with panted breaths as he rose to his feet, picking up the discarded gun and tucking it into the back of his pants. With a nod of his head, he led the way down the stairs and into the basement while wiping the blood off his hands and onto his jeans.

  The door stood ajar with only the whimpers of women to be heard in the darkness below. Axel was no fool and knew they would be protected. He motioned for Whisper to join him and they entered the room together, weapons trained straight ahead. It was so dark in the room that a human wouldn’t be able to see his hand in front of his face, but with his feline sight, Axel caught the movement of women in cages and a shadowy figure in the corner moving toward them silently and quickly. He fired, but the person didn’t slow down. Before Axel could get off another round, a body much smaller than his slammed him to the ground. The air rushed from his lungs and he gasped for breath as Whisper tried to pull the attacker away.

  Whisper jerked the figure back, a knife held to his throat, as Axel stood and flicked on the light. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. It wasn’t a man in Whisper’s arms, but an average sized female. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she stared at him with such hatred that he fought not to take a step backward. Hostility poured off her in waves as she struggled against the arm holding her.

  “What should I do with her?” Whisper asked.

  “She was helping them sell these women, probably helped lure them into the trap, I don’t give a fuck what you do with her. Just keep her the hell away from me.” Axel’s M.C. wasn’t into hurting women, but he would be willing to make an exception this time. Anyone willing to sell women should be taken out, and in the most painful of ways.

  Whisper gave him a sinister smile before dragging the blade of his knife across her throat and tossing the body to the ground as she gurgled her last breath. Axel focused on the women in cages, feeling disgust for the men and woman they had killed as each caged female cowered. He looked over his shoulder as Crimson joined them.

  “We need to find the key to these cages.” Axel looked at his brothers. “Then we need to get them to the safety of the clubhouse while we figure this shit out.”

  Crimson dangled a key in front of Axel’s face. “Already on it.”

  Axel snatched it from his grasp and began unlocking cages. Six total, with six women who looked terrified of them. Each bedraggled and bruised. As the cage doors swung open, they faced another dilemma. None of the women looked like they were going to go with Axel and his brothers willingly, but he didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t very well call in the old ladies. It was his job as Sergeant at Arms to make sure they were safe, not put them in harm’s way.

  He walked up to each cage, peering in as he thought of a way to extract the women without harming them further. When he came to the last cage, he saw a woman with matted, golden hair which trailed down her back and shoulders. Her wide, frightened, blue eyes assessing him; his inner beast perked up. Mine! The cat inside yowled and Axel fought to keep the beast at bay. He didn’t know why his cat wanted to claim the woman, but it was the first time he’d had such a reaction to anyone.

  The young woman’s nostrils flared and she jerked her gaze toward him. A tremor raked her body, but she slowly rose to her feet, her naked body riddled with bruises. The sight made him want to kill those sorry excuses for men all over again, and at the same time, he wanted to draw her closer, wrap his arms around her and shield her from harm.

  What the fuck?

  As she drew near, he allowed himself to take in her scent, hoping she didn’t fear him as the others did. Under the scent of pain and sweat was sweet honeysuckle. His cat purred and rubbed against him, wanting to get closer. Those guileless blue eyes of hers called to him. She stopped a foot away, placed her hand on his chest, then leaned in close and—sniffed him? His eyebrows shot up at the unexpected move and he leaned down to sniff along her hair and neck. Shifter!

  “Where are your people?” he asked.

  “I don’t have any.”

  Ours! The cat insisted again. Like fuck, Axel growled back at the pesky feline.

  Crimson moved closer. “You’re not afraid of Axel? Of us?”

  She shook her head. “I know another shifter would never harm me, not like these men did. They tried to make me shift, but I refused, so they beat me. They wanted to video my transformation so they could sell me for a higher price.”

  “Bastards,” Crimson muttered. His gaze skittered over to the fallen woman. “And bitch.”

  “She was the worst one of all,” the young woman said. “She selected each of us and helped with the abuse. S
he threatened us. Told us if we didn’t pose for the cameras or dance naked for her videos that she’d let her men have some fun before she sold us.”

  Something in Axel’s gut clenched. “Did they…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the words. Just the thought of such horror was enough to turn his stomach.

  She shook her head. “Not that it would have made much difference considering they were selling us to brothels. You saved us from that fate, but I have to wonder what you want in return. Nothing in life is ever free.”

  “This is,” Whisper said.

  “Do you think you can convince them to come with us? We have an SUV waiting at the end of the drive. It might be a little cramped since we didn’t realize how many of you there would be.” Axel glanced at the other women and found them watching the exchange with interest. “I know there are M.C.s out there who harm women, but we aren’t one of them. We have an agreement with the wolf pack in Ashton Grove that any women who are rescued will be given a place to live and can join the pack if they wish.”

  The woman looked at the others before swinging her gaze back toward Axel. “They’re human. Because of me, they know what shifters are, but I don’t know that they would want to live with a bunch of them. Especially some horny wolves.”

  Axel couldn’t help but smile at her description of the canines. “The alpha is a good, honorable man. He would see that they were taken care of. You, too, if you wish to go with them.”

  For some reason, his beast didn’t like the idea of her moving in with the wolf pack, surrounded by all of those eligible wolves. They’d even picked up some other shifters along the way, like the tiger, Cain. If Axel’s beast was ready to claim this small woman, he would imagine others would be lining up for the chance as well. His cat slashed at him with its claws, showing its displeasure at the thought.

  She placed a hand on her hip. “And where else would I go?”

  With me. The puma inside of him was pacing as he stared down at the small woman. Axel couldn’t explain his need to take care of this small female, but he felt it like a punch to the gut. Maybe watching Viper pair off with his new mate had fucked with his head. It wasn’t like Axel couldn’t have any woman he wanted with just a crook of his finger. Hell, he could have several at one time, and all it would take was a simple smile. Why would he want to fuck that all to hell by claiming a woman as his own?

  “We’ll get the lot of you back to the clubhouse,” Ghost said. “Then figure things out from there. If y’all want to go to the pack, we’ll call the alpha and set it up. If you want to return to your families, we’ll help make that happen.”

  The woman looked up at Axel and he nodded. “Whatever you need, we’ll take care of it. As of this moment, you’re free.”

  She gave him a saucy smile and stuck her hand out. “I’m Amelia. Amelia Jaurez.”

  Juarez? He shook her hand and sniffed at her again. “What exactly do you shift into?”

  “I took after my dad. He’s an olingo.”

  Axel’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “A what?”

  “Olingo. We originate from South America and are similar to kinkajous.”

  “That’s the cat-like ferret looking thing that likes trees, right?”

  She gave him a disgruntled look.

  He lifted his hands. “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend.”

  “I guess the easiest way to show you would just be to shift.”

  The words were no sooner out of her mouth than her body shimmered, contorted, and then began to sprout thick, brown fur. When her transformation was complete, she’d turned into a small mammal about fifteen inches long with a tail longer than her body. There was a band of yellow fur around her neck and darker rings around her tail. He had to admit, she was pretty darn cute.

  She let out a series of chucking sounds and sniffed around his boot. Axel crouched down and held his hand out to her. She sniffed and then licked his fingers. With a smile, he stroked her dense fur before encouraging her to shift back.

  “That has to be cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Whisper said, earning a baleful glare from Amelia.

  “Call me cute again and see if I don’t bite off something important next time I shift.” She folded her arms over her breasts and then looked down at her body before meeting Axel’s gaze again. A flush crept up her legs, across her belly and breasts, and then settled in her cheeks. “I don’t suppose you have some extra clothes, do you?”

  “Sorry, sweetheart. We didn’t bring a shopping bag with us.” Crimson smirked at her. “You should be used to being naked though, what with you being a shifter and all.”

  She pursed her lips. “And are you? Used to being naked? Because you look pretty well clothed to me right now.”

  Crimson shrugged. “If you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask.”

  “You’re not helping our situation,” Axel said, looking from Crimson to the other women and back again. “See if you can rein yourself in a bit. These women have been abused and you’re strutting around like a peacock about to get his cock sucked.”

  Crimson arched a brow. “I don’t know. Do peacocks get their cocks sucked? Seems like it would painful to me.”

  Axel shoved him out of disgust then looked back at Amelia. “I’m going to contact Viper and ask him to bring the SUV closer in. I can’t do anything about the clothing situation, but I can have him contact the alpha and have some clothes ready for you at the clubhouse. I’m afraid that’s the best I can do right now.”

  Amelia nodded and moved away to speak with the other women.

  Axel pushed the comm unit in his ear. “Viper, we need the cage brought in a little closer. We have six wounded birds in need of rescue.”

  “Copy that. On my way.”

  Amelia had gathered the women and they were slowly making their way up the stairs. Some were moving like scared mice while others were favoring arms or legs. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a doc ready to check them out, but Axel was concerned that they wouldn’t let anyone near them. Especially a male.

  Once everyone was loaded into the SUV, Crimson took over driving while Axel, Whisper, and Viper climbed onto their bikes and headed back toward the clubhouse. It was an hour long drive and Axel worried about the mental state of the women in the SUV behind him. Viper rode at his side with Whisper bringing up the rear. At the clubhouse, the alpha’s SUV was already in the parking lot. A worried Autumn, the alpha’s mate, stood on the front porch, a tote bag clutched in her hand. When the SUV came to a halt, she hurried out to the vehicle, ignoring the bikers around her.

  Amelia was the first to pop out of the car and Autumn reached into the bag and pulled out something, pressing it into Amelia’s hands. The little shifter smiled her thanks and then pulled a knit dress over her head. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but at least the women would be clothed enough for the next leg of their journey. The M.C. wasn’t set up to handle an influx of women who weren’t there for pleasure, so if they didn’t go with Autumn and her husband, Gabriel, Axel didn’t have a clue what would happen.

  It didn’t take long to get the women dressed and inside the clubhouse, even though they looked wary. Amelia took a seat with the others and Axel fought the urge to go to her, to stand by her side. His beast rubbed along the edges of his mind, wanting him to get closer to Amelia. He didn’t know what the hell was wrong with his cat.

  Keep her, the beast rumbled in his head. Ours.

  Like fucking hell! Axel growled at his beast. No way in hell was Amelia their mate. Axel had made it thirty years without claiming a woman, and he intended to go a lot longer. The best thing about the M.C. was the easy pussy, and he wasn’t ready to give that up just yet. Having an old lady was the fastest way to neuter a man, and Axel wasn’t about to get snipped.

  Gabriel clapped his hands in front of the group. “I realize most of you are human and may wish to return to your families. However, my pack will be happy to take you in if you should decide
to stay in Ashton Grove. We have an apartment building, a dorm of sorts for women, which is fully furnished. You would each get your own living quarters, and until you’re ready to go back into society and get jobs, the pack would take care of your living expenses.”

  “Why would you take us in?”

  Axel looked at the redhead before returning his gaze to Gabriel.

  “Because it is my hope that you will be a match for one of the males in my pack. I know you’re aware of shapeshifters, but what you may not know is that each of us has a destined mate out there somewhere. My pack is largely male, and while that may sound frightening to you after your ordeal, I can assure you that none of them would lay a hand on you in anger. If you should pair up with one of my males, you will be taken care of and loved the rest of your life.”

  Another hand went up. “What if we don’t pair up with anyone?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “That’s entirely up to you. I won’t kick you out of the pack just because you don’t want to be someone’s mate.”

  Autumn stepped forward. “While the pack is largely male, as Gabriel said, we do have quite a few females, so you wouldn’t be alone in the apartments. There are plenty of women for you to make friends with. Some are shifters, but we have several humans in the pack as well, humans who were raised around shifters. I know it’s a lot to take in, but we only have your best interests at heart.”

  “And if we want to go home?” another asked.

  Autumn took Gabriel’s hand and smiled at the women. “Then we’ll see you safely home. There are several in the pack who have chosen to work with any woman the M.C. rescues and brings to us. Now, whether they help you assimilate to pack life, or help you get home, the choice is yours. Simply tell us what you want, what you need, and we’ll see that it happens.”

  Axel felt Amelia looking at him before she turned her eyes back toward the front. “And what if we don’t wish to go home or to join the pack?”

  “Then you would be on your own,” Gabriel said. “If you’re worried about the pack, I can assure you, we’re a good bunch. We do a lot of activities together: barbeques, picnics, the women sometimes get together for a spa day.”