Chase's POVThese woods had become thicker over the years but I had Louis' scent and shot through the dense trees like a bullet.Behind me, Ron's feet pounded, also in pursuit.“Louis! You can't run forever!” My roar rang loudly, scaring away birds that had taken refuge in the small forest.It was laughable that he thought he could outrun us.He was a few paces ahead of us, and at the sound of my voice, he did something foolish. Running at full speed, surrounded by enormous trees, he cast a hurried glance behind to catch sight of us but instead, stumbled over a raised root and went crashing into a birch tree that sent him crumbling to the ground.“Pathetic,” Ron muttered and yanked him up from the dirt by his collar. “He's unconscious.”“Not for long.” Without remorse or reservation, I drew my hand back and struck him hard across the face. Twice.He came to with a start, yelling—“It wasn’t me!”My gaze was ice cold as I regarded him. “I haven’t asked you anything yet, Louis. But since
Maya's POVMy dress was perfect.I went shopping with Genny in the afternoon to find a dress for tomorrow's party. The party was formal and almost like a ball so I knew I wanted something long.It had taken us hours but when I finally spotted my dress, I had known. I kid you not, I had actually gasped.It was a floor-length maroon number with a corseted top and a daring slit that made my leg look mouth-watering.I had woken up in an empty bed so at first, I was slightly miffed at Chase but while I was shopping, the irritation melted away and by the time I found my dress, I was excited to see his reaction to me in it.I was back in our room—yes, 'our'! All my things were here now— waiting for Chase to come home. I had no idea where he went to— I hadn't seen Ron or Henry either— and although I could have just asked him, I didn’t want him to know I had gone shopping. I wanted him to be stunned speechless tomorrow. And okay, maybe I also wanted him to think I was mad at him for leaving so
Maya's POV“What the heck is Greene playing at?”Henry's question hung in the air along with the many other not-so-rhetorical questions that had been thrown out since we convened in Chase's study.Chase and I were together on the couch, Henry was swivelling behind the desk— which earned him occasional glares from Chase— and Ron was pacing dizzying circles around the room.“Ron, you'll wear a hole in the carpet.” I joked.“I'll buy a new one if that happens.” He replied without pause.“Hear me out!” Henry exclaimed, springing out of his chair. “What if he put it off because of what happened yesterday? His spy got caught and he knows we'll suspect him so he brings up a bullshit excuse and postpones the whole thing so that he has time to rebuild his front and avoid getting caught. Maybe even recruit another spy or two.” As he spoke, his gestures became exaggerated and when he was done, he waited expectantly for a response.“That’s highly unlikely.” Chase sighed. “Louis said that Greene h
Maya's POVI chatted with a member in the living room while waiting for Henry. I missed having Genny and Faith under the same roof with me. I had made more friends here but I still needed a daily dose of Faith's snarkiness and Genny's kindness. With Christian back, I had been giving them some space for family time but I was starting to regret that decision.Henry returned shortly after with a bulging rucksack and gestured at me to follow him.“Where are we going?” I asked as we left the house.“The garage.”I wanted to ask why we needed to go there but that was another place I hadn't gotten to see yet, so I kept my mouth shut. We walked several feet away from the house and I frowned. “The garage isn’t attached to the house?”“Nope.” He smirked. “It was at first but given the amount of cars we kept collecting, we eventually broke it down and built a new one away from the house. Right here.”My jaw dropped to the ground. The building in front of us was massive. If I hadn't known it was
Maya's POVWe tried two more tapes just to be sure and we were right. The view was either blocked by a wall, a vase, et cetera. Displayed on the TV now was a shadowy view of what appeared to be a shelf.“With the first two, I thought it was that way because he was new to the whole spy thing or had hidden it too quickly.” I squinted at the black-and-white screen. “But he did it intentionally.”Thus, only the audio aspect was useful. “Why on earth would he do that?”Henry ran a hand through his hair. “Who knows? Guilt? Maybe he knew what he was doing was bad enough so blocking the lenses was his way of atoning by maintaining some sense of privacy.”“He could have just bugged everywhere with listening devices instead.”“True but I guess we'll never know.” Henry shrugged. His eyes held a faraway look and I remembered that unlike me, he had known Louis better.I didn't ask how he was dealing with the loss or if they had been close. How could I? How did one handle such a situation?So I sat
Maya's POVI yawned and sunk deeper into the warm cloud of pillows, the scent of forest rain surrounded me and I hummed in satisfaction. That scent belonged to my mate.Wait.Pillows? Chase?I woke up with a start and nearly launched myself out of bed when a warm hand on my waist stopped me.“Where do you think you're going?” Chase a small tug and drew me into his arms.“I don't get it.” Another jaw-breaking yawn tore through me as I pulled back to see his face. It was fresh and alert— and devilishly handsome as usual of course— I assumed he had been up for a while.“You’ve showered?” I side-tracked but waved the question off when his lips twitched with humour. “Never mind that. How did I get here? Last I remembered, I was in the garage with Henry, going through Louis' recordings.” But now I was in our bed under an insanely soft duvet. I felt half tempted to go back to sleep. I peeked under the duvet to see that I was now in more comfortable clothes AKA Chase's T-shirt.Chase stroked
I got ready in minutes then with my hand in his, Chase led us to a towering oak door. I studied the cobwebs hanging from the sides and the dusty knob.“No one has been here in a while?” My question sounded more like a statement as I peered up Chase to see his mouth set in a hard line.I traced a thumb over his wrist and felt his pulse race. “Let's go back.”He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them with resolve.“No.” Without hesitation this time, he inserted the key, turned the knob and we entered Aubrey’s part of the house.I don’t know what I expected to see or feel as I entered but it was certainly not this heavy feeling as I glanced at the soft feminine decor that looked like it had been chosen with attentiveness by Aubrey herself.Beside me, tension emanated from Chase as he walked us through the corridor in silence. When stopped at a picture frame on the wall, I heard Chase inhale sharply as if seeing Aubrey, even in a photograph, brought back the pain of her loss.I studi
Maya's POVChase wouldn’t let me into the archive room so I returned to our room and he joined me moments later with a pile of folders in his hands.I reached out to collect them but he held on with a grim expression.“These can’t leave this room.”“Yes, Alpha.” I drawled, my hands still extended“I'm serious, Maya.” Chase frowned.“So am I. I'll be careful.” When his sceptical frown didn't lift, my hands fell to my sides as I sighed. “I promise.”He reluctantly released the folders and I took it triumphantly over to the desk.“The staff in Aubrey's wing consisted of how many people?” I asked as I flipped open the first folder. It contained information on Theo– Theodora Franchez.“The housekeeper and two cleaners.”Closing Theo's folder, I stowed everything away in the drawer and turned to Chase“No cook?” I asked. I remember seeing a kitchen during our mini-tour.“There was but Aub mostly made her own meals. The few times she chose not to, the cook assigned to her wing worked from th
Chase’s POVWith a hand on Maya’s waist, I led her back to the ballroom. “What was that about?”“Long story.” She sighed. “I’ll tell you when we get home. Why did you come looking for me?”I eyed her. “With the amount of time you took, you might have drowned in the toilet— ow!” I laced my fingers through hers to stop her from elbowing me again. “I was worried. You took so long and I tried to reach you but you’ve put up that darn wall again. You need to stop doing that.”My alarm had grown as everyone went far with dinner but Maya still didn’t return. I would have come to find her since but Ron managed to slightly ease my worry by assuring me that if she was in trouble, she would have reached out to me. So, I had waited until dinner neared its end and empty glasses were being replaced with wine to make a toast to the night’s success. That was when my patient snapped.Maya grimaced guiltily. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t want you to feel me getting worked up and come find me.”I sighed. “Okay,
Maya's POVI scented her before I saw her.“Did you and Kylan plan this? You both are making this night way too long for me.” I sighed and turned to face Lily who watching me like a hawk watching a stray chick. So damn theatrical. Both of them should work at the opera.The overwhelming smell of alcohol drew my attention away from Lily to the other female present and I frowned.“You!” I pointed, flabbergasted.Lily smirked. “Nice work, Sloane. For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to show but here she is.”‘Sloane’ was the female that had bumped into me and spilt her drink down my back. Her staggering flushed state had made me think she was drunk but seeing her coherent and standing beside Lily made me realize that her drunken act was only a ploy to get me here.“Well played, Lily, I’m here now. What do you want?” I asked and stalked to the mirror to survey how bad my dress was.A look passed between Lily and Sloane before Sloane brushed passed me with a scornful sneer to exit the re
Maya’s POVThe night went on with no further incident and soon we were called to sit for dinner. As Chase and I moved to our designated spot, where Ron was already seated— thankfully he had ditched the shades— a server bumped into me but Chase pulled me out of the way before anything could spill on me. I couldn’t relish his smooth safe though because seconds later someone else bumped into me from behind.Cold wetness seeped through the back of my dress and spread everywhere. I felt mortified.“You have got to be kidding.” I gasped and swivelled around.“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry.” A drunk female brunette that looked oddly familiar hiccupped. Her face was red and the glass whose former content now decorated me hung loosely from her hand. “I’m sorry, it was an accident.” She muttered again and staggered away while I simmered in annoyance.People around cast furtive glances my way and I rolled my eyes in irritation. Suddenly, warmth and the scent of my mate encased me as Chase placed
Maya’s POVWe turned to see the blue-eyed devil dressed in a navy blue tuxedo with a smirk gracing his lips.From the corner of my eye, I caught Ron emerge from the crowd to watch our interaction through narrowed eyes.“Greene,” Chase acknowledged him with a cold barely there smile. “I can’t say I’m glad that I made it either.”“You were able to address the sudden problem that arose then?”“Regrettably, yes.”“Ah.” Kylan nodded. “Ever efficient.” Disgust rolled off Chase in waves. Kylan then turned to me. “And who may this be?”I stiffened. All the while he spoke, I had kept my gaze on the ground but as he asked, he met his gaze with a thousand hells of hatred burning from mine.I knew he would not recognize my scent as it was now intermingled with Chase’s since we mated but I had no doubt he would recognize my face.Kylan didn’t disappoint. His eyes rounded as recognition filled them and he staggered back and then forward as he attempted to reach for me. I say attempted because his h
Chapter 99Maya's POV.Ron dislodged from his killing machine and joined us.“How does your hair still look good after that ride?” The jealousy in my voice could be heard from a mile away.“It’s in the genes.” He shrugged and reached into his pocket. I thought of how gorgeous Genny effortlessly was and nodded. It really was in the genes.My gaze caught on the object Ron pulled out. “Ron, no.”“What? It ties the look together.” He said, happily donning his new accessory despite my protests.“You do not need that.” I shook my head at him.“He likes to look as unapproachable as possible at these kinds of events.” Chase explained without prompt, his eyes taking down every detail of our surroundings.I looked Ron up and down sceptically. “And you settled on wearing a pair of sunglasses indoors to achieve that? At night time for that matter?”“Why not?” Ron shrugged. “Nightcrawlers get away with it.I facepalmed, knowing fully well who he was referring to. “Ron, their vampires. Of course, t
Maya's POVReaching for my phone on the bedside table, my gaze fell on the bed and heat crept up my cheeks as images of Chase and me from earlier flashed in my mind. Moments ago, we were there being all wild and dirty but now, as we got ready, silence enveloped the room as we stayed stuck in our thought bubbles.I was glad that Chase was coming with me because despite my insistence on attending the party, now that the minutes to show time were counting down, my bravado was gone and all that I felt was dread.Failing to conceal my anxiety, I drew in a shaky breath and Chase’s eyes instantly snapped my way, meeting my gaze in the mirror.“Are you okay?” Worry laced his question.“Mhmm.” No, I think I might vomit.“I heard that.” He smiled wryly and came up behind me.“Oh.” Redness bloomed on my cheeks and neck. “I forgot I had gotten rid of the wall between us.”Chase laid a feather-light kiss on my exposed shoulder. “I’m glad you did.”“So am I.” I smiled, leaning into him.“Feeling be
Chase’s POVWhen Maya had walked out on me earlier, I had no idea she had left to go shopping. And worse, she was with another male.When Gen told me that Maya was with Ashton, it had rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t like how close they seemed to have gotten, and neither did I like the way the Shadow looked at her.On entering the boutique, I was directed to a dressing room where I found Ashton lounging crossed-legged on a sofa with a glass of wine in hand. I looked from him to the closed curtain which I knew my mate was probably currently mostly naked behind as she tried on clothes.My jaw clenched as I saw the mini walkway. The scene made my blood boil, maybe because he was getting to see the side of Maya which I was currently deprived of.I knew that he had sensed the second I walked into this room but he took his sweet time turning to acknowledge me.“Glad you could make it.” He greeted without festivity.“Yeah, so am I.” The muscle in my jaw popped. “Thanks for keeping Maya comp
Maya’s POVI had a score to settle.On my way out of the pack house, I bumped into Ron and he let it slip that one other person was aware of this date change, as well as Chase’s desire to keep me in the dark about it.Guess who it was?“Genevieve fucking Tyuv!” Ashton lazily opened the front door before I could knock and I stormed into their living room with righteous anger.My target looked up from the rug where she was scrubbing at a damp spot. “I’ll assume you’re cursing because you can’t remember my middle name.”“No, I’m cursing because you knew about the Blood Moon Party and didn’t tell me!”“Oh,” She winced and dropped her rag. “That.”“Yes. That.” I snapped. “How could you? We were together yesterday and you didn’t think to bring up the fact that the party was in a day— which is today! Or the part where my headstrong mate decided Drakor won’t be present!”“The headstrong mate that you missed.” She muttered.“Genny!” I huffed in annoyance.“Fine! It was because Chase said not t
Maya's POVI was angrily shoving on my sneakers when my room door was pushed open to reveal none other than my mate.“Hey.” Chase greeted as he hesitantly stepped into the room.“Hi.” I breathed. I had no idea what emotions were displayed on my face but he remained standing on the other side of the room, studying me with as much caution as I did him.In my head, my wolf urged me to go to him. We missed his touch, his scent, everything about him. I missed him so much that I wanted to bury myself in his very essence and not come back up.I remained where I was though. Thoughts of his absence and the party warred with my desire to be held.Still, my mouth went ahead of my brain and spilt words before I could call them back.“I missed you last night.”The smile that slowly broke across his face was wide and breathtaking. Ethereal. Was it possible that he got more handsome from when I saw him last?My heart beat loudly in my ears as he made his way towards me with a glint in his eyes, only