I motioned toward one of my enforcers. "Get her down and do as I promised. Prepare her body. Find out if she has any family who wants her remains. If not, we'll include her in our mourning ceremony." Not a ceremony I was looking forward to. Many of our wolves also perished in the battle. I hated losing any Wolf, but the events of today needed to happen.
I waited until they removed her body from the room. And then focused on the remaining two men. The taller one had dirty blonde hair and glared at me in the same fashion as the female had. But he didn't have that rare special spark of loyalty she had. Still, he would be the more difficult one between the two to break.
Getting right in his face, I made sure he paid attention and fully understood my words. "I'll give you one chance-and one chance only-to tell me what I want to know. How can I find her? Where would she go? She couldn't have just disappeared. I have wolves combing through the woods, and there's no trace of her. Surely, a juvenile shewolf couldn't evade seasoned enforcers without a plan and assistance. So what was it?"
His eyes glanced over at the newly empty chains where the dead female had hung. His body shuddered hard, and then he returned his gaze to me, glaring hatefully. He spat on my face. "Go to hell!"
I nodded. So that's how it was going to be. Okay. He couldn't say I didn't warn him. I slowly wiped the spittle from my cheek with my sleeve and extracted a lovely eight-inch blade from the holster on my hip. The razor-sharp steel could cut through flesh like it was butter. His body tensed as he readied himself for whatever I threw at him next.
I chuckled darkly. No amount of preparation would ready him for what I was going to do.
It had already been a long day. I was tired and wanted to wrap this up sooner rather than later. And there was one part of the anatomy that spoke much more significantly to males than any other.
Without any word of warning, I grabbed his cock and sliced it off at the root.
His howl was deafening.
Blood gushed from the wound. I nodded over my shoulder to the healer I knew was waiting. The healer stepped forward and applied a patch that would keep the male from bleeding out until I finished.
I glanced at the third man. His mouth hung open in horror.
Oh yes, he would be ripe for the picking by the time I finished.
Kneeling down to get better positioning for my next task, I glanced to an enforcer on my right.
"Grab his knee and lift," I instructed calmly as if I was telling him something so mundane as to 'open the door' and not emasculating a man.Even my men squirmed and blanched. A few cleared their throats, working to keep their dinners in their stomachs and not spewed out onto the cold cement floor. They were always queasy when the torture moved to a man's groin-which was exactly why I did it. To keep them all in line. I wanted them to never forget what I was capable of. To never even entertain the mere thought of trying to fuck me over.
The man was now writhing in pain and shrieked, "Safehouse!" Tears streamed down his cheeks. He gulped air, but not enough to steady the erratic pace of his heart.
"She...she would have gone there!"
I sliced into the top of his scrotum. "Where is the safe house located?"
"I don't know!" He screamed shrilly. His body convulsed. Blood poured from between his legs.
I sighed. He was telling me the truth. It was time to move on to the next one.
With a snap of my wrist, I completed the task. His severed ballsac fell to the ground. The healer wouldn't intervene this time. The male would bleed out in minutes. His body jerked as he lost consciousness, chin falling to his chest. A few more twitches and he slumped against the stocks holding him. Nothing, no movement at all, just deadweight.I stood to my feet and wiped the blade on my dark cargo pants. Oh well, I was going to discard the garment anyway. Stepping in front of the last male, I drawled "Do I need to repeat the question?"
I had no doubt he was more than willing to talk. Hopefully, he knew something. It would be unfortunate for him if he didn't.
"N-no..." he stuttered, shaking almost as if violently as the other one. "The s-safehouse is a m-mile north." He panted, trying to catch his breath.I waited patiently.
"There is a t-tunnel...that leads from the Alpha's kitchen."
Oh! Now it all made sense. That was why I couldn't follow her scent, and why my wolves hadn't been able to track her in the forest. I smiled. Clever little mouse. She had dropped underground.
But not clever enough. She belonged to me.
And no matter what it took, I would find her.
Hopefully, the fire had died out. I didn't relish the idea of digging through piles of rubble to locate the entrance to the tunnel.
After a few more questions and answers, I had everything I needed. Perfect. I grunted to Dagger, "Finish him, quickly, and get ready to go."
A few hours later, we found the safehouse.
I'd hoped to catch her unaware.
I was disappointed. She wasn't there.
My nostrils flared, taking in the scents in the air. Sweet but also a little exotic, orchid, jasmine, and cinnamon. I inhaled deeply, shuddering, as I let out the breath. My Wolf was anxious, pacing in my head.
As I looked around at the underground bunker, I had to admit, the Alpha's plan was well thought out. Perfectly hidden in a part of the mountain I never would have suspected.
Abruptly, my Beta, Everard, swore, "Shit!"
Damn it! What now?
He called over his shoulder, "You're not going to like this."
I made my way through the mass of wolves, digging for clues in every corner. When I reached Ever, I looked over his shoulder. He was kneeling next to an open-latched door, revealing a large compartment under the floor.He'd already dumped out one of the large black bags, hidden inside, and scattered the contents on the rough-hewn wooden floorboards. There were the usual items, food, clothing. And cash. A hell of a lot of cash.
Enough to keep someone hidden and flush for an extended period of time.
My irritation flared higher. No, this wasn't looking good.
But that wasn't what he was holding in his hand, examining so intently.
He was holding identification, driver's license, social security card, and even a birth certificate. I peered at the photo on the driver's license. Ironically enough, it was the woman I had just killed.Before he died, the third Wolf confirmed the deceased shewolf's name so we could try to find her family. She'd been the Beta's mate. The problem was, her name didn't match the name on the documents in front of me.
That could only mean one thing.
The bug-out bags weren't random or interchangeable. Each had been prepared for a specific Wolf and held a fake identity, a fresh start.
I was no longer looking for Hycinth Diamonte. And fuck me sideways, I didn't know who I was looking for now. I had no idea what identity she was using.
"These are really good," Ever muttered, turning the driver's license over and examining the quality of the fake. He held it up to the light. "It even has the hologram."
Fucking fantastic.
He dropped the document onto the pile of items and looked back down into the hole. "She's not alone. There's enough room to indicate two bags are missing."
"I know," I growled through my teeth. "A male."
I'd caught his scent-their combined scent-when I'd come in the room. My Wolf tremored hard inside, raging against my skin confines. He wanted to get out. I pushed him back.
I straightened my spine. Okay. If it was a game the little mouse wanted to play, I was all for it.
Let's play.
**Three Years Later**Hycinth (age 18)"Lucky..." I groaned, sounding a bit too close to a whine for my preference. I cleared my throat and began again, edging my voice with firmness, "Luca Diamonte, you need to pull yourself together. We have clients in less than an hour." A muffled voice came from behind the bathroom door, "Patience, Cinn."Growling under my breath, I turned on my heel and paced into our small kitchen. Coffee was clearly necessary today. I placed the single-use pod inside the Keurig and settled my favorite mug-white with black polka dots and a startling orange and red chrysanthemum flower- on the little stand. I set the machine to brew. Two minutes later, my coffee was ready, and Lucky wandered into the kitchen. I gathered the mug and climbed onto a tall stool next to the granite island.Dressed in his usual attire of dark jeans and a T-shirt, he smelled fresh and clean. The scent of his shower gel hit my nose, spicy and aromatic. I breathed in the familiar smell, m
Careful attention was required today. Both tattoos we were working on today were complex with a lot of intricate shading. Complete focus was required for the quality of work we'd become known for.It was the reason we were able to afford our tattoo shop and the loft we lived in above it. After doing a sleeve and chest work for the President of the Grimm Motorcycle Club a year ago, word had spread quickly, and bikers from several states made appointments for custom artwork.I'd always loved to draw. My first job after we'd fled was with a local tattoo parlor. With an ID in hand that said I was eighteen, I certainly hadn't looked it, not with the fresh face and innocence of my true fifteen-year-old self at the time. The owner had been suspicious, but after some trial sketches, he liked my work enough to hire me anyway. I smiled at the irony-I wasn't legally old enough to get a tattoo, but there I was, madly writing in permanent ink on the flesh of every type of client under the sun.Of
Tommy ignored him and continued, "So, the Club is having a little party on Saturday night. Any chance I could convince you to join us? I promise to show you a really good time," he said seductively, his voice low and deep, and suggestively grabbed his crotch for emphasis as if I wasn't already clear on his meaning.Luca snapped, "I swear, you better not have a boner over there...or I'ma throw you out on your ass."Tommy laughed, "Don't worry, I'll keep it in my pants...for now." Tommy was a badass on his own merit, the Grimm MC's Sgt. at Arms, respected and feared. But all humans could sense Luca's animalistic danger. They didn't know what made him different, but they felt the predator inside, and no one provoked him. It was probably another reason we'd garnered so much respect from the surrounding motorcycle clubs.Without warning, an unmistakable smell hit my nose-Wolf!One I didn't recognize!Terror crashed through me. My spine went rigid. Lucky had also caught the scent and was sn
LEANDER'S POVTEXT: We got her. ETA 4hrs.When the text came in almost fours hours ago, I'd stared down at my phone in disbelief. Three long years of searching had gone by, and I was beginning to think I'd never find her. My little mouse had been clever in hiding herself, indeed.But not clever enough.Now she was mine.My brain spun, anticipation lighting up every cell in my body. She would be there any minute. Finally!I wondered what she looked like now. I'd only had one fleeting glimpse of her as she hid behind her father in the middle of the chaos, fire, and hatred burning in equal measures. Heart shaped face and pert nose, strawberry blonde hair whipping about, caught up in the rushing wind of the flames. And those eyes-deep blue with iridescent flecks like a mountain lake whispering the reflection of the moon.That one glance had been seared into my brain.So innocent.So young.But she wasn't a juvenile anymore. By now, she'd shifted, and was a fully matured shewolf.No longer
"Shit!" breathed Ever."Motherfucking bitch!" The eyes of his Dagger's Wolf glowed black, menacing. He raised his hand to smack her."Do it and lose the arm!" I snarled fiercely, my body now vibrating with fury.How dare he raise a hand to her?I wasn't playing. If he hit her, I had no doubt I would remove his limb from his body. As it was, it took everything in me to hold my Wolf back from shifting and ripping out his throat.Again, Dagger's shocked expression met my feral one. He put his hand down, but the fury didn't leave his features.The little mouse bounced lightly on her toes like a boxer, eyes darting all around, calculating her next move. Even my father sat forward in surprise as he watched her.I wasn't sure what to say to calm her down, so I focused on Dagger again, looking at the claw marks on his face and blood on his shirt. His nose also looked a bit distorted. "What the fuck happened to you?"Tension rolled through his large frame. His jaw twitched as he spoke through
HycinthThe feeling of being in his arms overwhelmed me, shocked my senses, rattled my brain and made a funny flicker of excitement run up and down my spine, right into my core.I hated it. I hated what he did to me, what the bond did to me. Because I hated him.And the feeling of his obvious desire, stiff and hard and shockingly bigger than I wanted to consider, pressing against my belly, was enough to make my Wolf wantonly moan. Her thoughts were clear. Want him. Want our mate. She was ready to go belly up or ass-up or whatever position he might want us in. All of them were good to her.She'd been slowly dying, suffocating, without the love and family of a pack. She needed no coaxing. She was happy to let him lead. She flourished and came alive under his dominance.I, on the other hand, hated him.I tried to remind her that it was his fault we had no family and pack. He'd destroyed our mother and father...with his bare hands. And he'd demolished everything else until there was nothi
"Your art," he explained and admitted, "along with a little luck. While visiting the Alpha in Vegas, I was shocked to find a painting on his wall. It was a stunning portrait of a beautiful Wolf. But it wasn't the subject of the painting that surprised me so much. It was the familiarity with which it was drawn. So very similar to the ones in your book. And when I looked closer, I knew for certain it was yours. The signature was not your name, but the initials were-HD. The letters weren't obvious at first. They seamlessly blended in the swirls of the background forest, but they were there, and they matched the exact way you wrote them in your book. From there, it was simple to backtrack to your location."I ground my teeth together, hating that he discovered me as a result of my own foolishness. Never, should I have allowed my artwork in a gallery. And I certainly shouldn't have included my real initials-how dumb could I be?"I held out my hand. "It's mine. I want it back.""In time..."
Damn that bastard! And damn the Moon for this damn bond! Dammit! None of this would be happening if fate hadn't somehow decided this Alpha with violent tendencies and a short fuse, was supposed to be my mate. I wouldn't be feeling so hot under the collar right about now. And images of writhing naked beneath his perfect and sculpted body, while he thrust again and again, wouldn't be saturating my mind. I shivered.Leander licked his lips like he planned to make a meal out of me when we were done chatting, and continued, "However, a Claiming Ceremony between an Alpha and his rightful Luna is different."My sweating increased. How much more graphic was he going to get? To my utter horror, the answer to that question was a shitload more. And he was so lovely and considerate to describe the events in first-person. Of course, he couldn't recount the details as though speaking about any old Alpha and Luna. Oh, no, the Alpha who positively oozed sexuality in front of me, had to keep using wor
"I killed him," I mumbled before rolling the pages and turning around to the next page. The silence was thick when I told Leander who I had killed. Meeting with his eyes, I quickly added, "He wasn't a good guy, someone told me that he once saw him with Sydney and secondly he had molested quite a few women around the pack. I wasn't comfortable in living with a rapist and my motherly instincts were acting up, therefore, the need to kill.""You created a whole mess." He sighed and then shook his head in disappointment. His eyes lowered to the next image of a young, teenage boy. "What about him?""No, I didn't kill him!" I said, speaking the truth.Over the past hour, we had gone through different deaths that happened in the pack under Cade's ruling while I was living there. I managed to find most of the men I had killed out of anger and spite but the rest murders weren't on me."Are you sure?""He's a young, teenage boy. I wouldn't kill him and he didn’t know anything about Sydney's whe
Leander's office at the building was larger than I had thought. He really changed a lot in his pack in my absence. Most of the furniture and the walls in his office were a shade of wooden brown. The color scheme was enticing for me. It gave me a sense that only work went down here and nothing more."You can sign here." He said, slipping the papers forward while standing on the other end of the desk.I grabbed a pen off the thick wooden table and quickly spread my ink over the papers. Once the ink was dry, my title in this pack was going to be changed. Just as I finished signing, I raised my head to glance at Leander who seemed a bit distraught at what I had forced him to do."I'm your mate. You should've thought about this long ago and you shouldn't have kept a female as your Beta." I stared at him in disbelief.He nodded his head, "And I apologized for that, Hycinth." He spoke while slipping the papers back to him as he had enough for me, at least for one day.It was the next mornin
Bury his dick?!I swallowed hard while Leander caught my gaze. He slipped a hand behind my hair, tracing his fingers across my lower neck till desire fueled itself inside me.Leaning forward, he placed his lips on mine, a gentle kiss that lasted for long. Our tongues fought and our breaths became uneven. My heart thumped hard in my chest while he pushed me further back till the wall was pressed against my back.I pressed my eyes shut, exploring his mouth while he did the same. There was something different in the kiss -it was much more passionate and true than it had ever been.Leander kissed me with need as if he had been craving for my mouth for a very long time. I didn't hold back. I ran my hands down his muscular body, feeling every inch of his skin as he towered over me.I curled my fingers around the elastic of his pants, reaching further, wanting what I always needed. The electricity was there, it wasn't yet gone.Breathing heavily, I broke the kiss and our lips parted for a mo
I reached home by a cab and poured a drink for myself while leaning over the counter. I kept my legs closed for a whole year, I barely made contact with men unless I was killing them, I never found anyone attractive as I was devoted to Leander and now, after learning that he clearly wasn't, I was devastated.My head whipped around at the sound of shoes thumping down the stairs. Looking up, I found Gwen coming toward me."How did the shopping go? Did you have fun?" She asked, stepping inside the kitchen. Her eyes wandered to the glass I held in my hand and she let out a long breath, "It didn't go well?""It was okay," I turned around and pressed my back against the counter. "Until I learned that Leander appointed a young female Beta and he had been working with her all this time.""I suppose you're talking about Melissa, "I nodded my head, "Do you know her?" My throat burned as I took another sip of the drink while wondering about that female Leander had been cozying up to.Gwen hesit
Why did he bring me here? That was the sole question running in my head. All my years in this town, I had never been invited to a pack meeting, even after being marked by Leander.I quietly followed him inside the office and studied everyone. Some of the faces were familiar while the others weren't. Usually, high-ranking wolves were only requested to come to the pack meetings, the others were left behind.My memory sharpened when I thought about Ever. I have never seen him ever since Leander brought me back in the pack. What really happened to him?! He was among the pack members I no longer saw in Leander's house hold. Where did he go?!'I forgot to ask Grace about everyone who used to take about me when I was unconscious. Though dumbfounded, I crouched over an empty seat and sat down while Leander fled to the corner where a man approached him and then a woman. The unfamiliar woman was the only woman in the meeting apart from me.I tried to recall who she was or if I had seen her be
I wasted Leander's precious time by taking my time to choose a perfect dress. Well, I didn't care about the dress but I did care about taking my sweet revenge on him after last night's mishaps. Only if he had let me finish, I wouldn't have been here and he wouldn't have to put everything on hold just to cater to me."I look fat in this," I said, running my hands through my belly and legs. It was a short red dress that made my stomach look like I had been surviving on junk food over the past year.Leander groaned and leaned back in the dressing room."Can you just pick anything? Fast? Please?" He asked, for the third time in a row. He had been dying to leave the mall after spending two hours here, with me.I was hell-bent on making his life miserable after he tried to make mine. Unzipping the dress, I let it fall over the carpet before I walked out and grabbed another one while completely ignoring what he had just told me.He stared at me in disbelief, lips parted open and eyes wide wh
The next morning I woke up with an agonizing headache. I silently lifted myself off the bed without wasting another second. The daylight returned, a gentle breeze rustled through the trees outside of the window. I turned my head around to seek Leander, assuming he would be on the bed, next to me but he wasn't.I blinked a few times, adjusting my vision. Where did he go? Walking over to the door, I tried opening it but failed. It was still locked.Did he jump out of the window?"Looking for me?" I heard his morning voice, behind me.Turning around, I found Leander walking out of the washroom with only a towel tied around his bits. The rest of him was bare and the memory of last night was still soaking in. I hadn't forgotten the terrible thing he had done with me."No," I laughed out before folding my hands across my chest. "Why would you think that? Lol. I'm only trying to get out of here." I said, pressing my back against the locked door.And it was true. I wanted to run from this roo
Ropes.They were fastened around my wrists before I could even blink. I had only kissed him for a few minutes, if not seconds and he didn't waste any time restraining me to the bed. How did I not even know? When I lowered my eyes to my body, I found it unclothed, bared. Only then, I grunted out of embarrassment. What had I done?My eyes wandered back to Leander who stood nearby the bed, his eyes upon me, taking in everything he had missed for over an year. "Let me out of these ropes, Leander.""Now, why would I do that?" He rubbed his jaw and wandered while my head sizzled."This is not a joke." I smiled, sarcastically before tugging on my hands again, hoping the ropes were done loosely but to my surprise, they weren't. Every time I pulled my hands, they only dug deeper into my skin. "We can talk once you remove these ropes." I continued, saying anything to get myself free.There were a dozen of possibilities running through my head of what all Leander could do with me as I was on the
While holding the warm coffee in one hand, I switched off the engine and stepped out of the car. The car key dangled between my other bunch of keys, settling perfectly in as it was made for me to ride and use.Maybe I could take residence here for a bit.I walked across the driveway to reach the main entrance to the house. In front of the large carved wooden door, I found Leander standing, idle, his expression stiff and his eyes red in anger."Leander," I stepped up from the stairs and reached him. In order to get inside, I had to get past through him and it was going to be hard. "It's just been a couple of hours more. You really didn't have to budge me with all those calls and messages." I said, my voice exhausted out from the day I had spent."I told you something...""To be back-I'm back. I didn't run. You should be happy about that rather than all gloomy." I wavered my hand around his face and that only furthered the anger within him."I told you to be back by evening," He said, l