Complicated Love

by Harper Phoenix

  ‘Asshole, calm down,’ Jared tells me after I rip Howard a new one too. ‘My phone’s out of battery, and everyone else’s is probably the same. Get your head out of your arse and shut the fuck up,’ he tells me, and I know I’m being an asshole, but I don’t shut my mouth.

  ‘What if something had gone wrong? One of us could have been in fucking danger. No one to call for backup! No, because no one had half a fucking brain enough to bring a charger.’

  ‘We haven’t been home, have we, fuckwit,’ Jared says. He’s getting pissed now. ‘Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?’ I catch Maiya looking at me and do all I can to avoid eye contact.

  ‘Nothing,’ I grumble, walking away. I stand at the opposite side of the waiting room to everyone else. And I glare at Maiya when she moves to stand with me. I see hurt flash in her eyes, and I know I’ve put it there, and I hate myself for it, but I need to keep my feelings in check. So I’ll stay the fuck away. We’re not allowed in to visit Harrison, and that just pisses me off even more. He’s in intensive care, and for a hospital that deals with werewolves too, we know how bad he must be. He’s gone beyond the healing process, so needs all the help he can get.

  ***

  Two days later and Harrison opens his eyes. He doesn’t speak yet. But he opens them and looks around. The nurse comes for Jared and he goes in, no one else is allowed. Jared comes out happier than he’s been in days.

  We have done shifts at the hospital, making sure Harrison is safe and also at the compound, seeing to our kitsune guests. I’ve yet to get my turn, and I’m itching to dissect a few.

  I hadn’t really spoken to Maiya since the morning after I found her with Max. I avoided her completely. I’d moved into Harrison’s room and left her to her own devices. I knew she was safe around the clock and that’s what mattered. She has my blood, thanks to Zoe. Harrison being in the hospital means we can’t go home and we’re staying here much longer than anticipated. But it also means that we can make sure we’d cut the head off the snake, and no one else is going to come looking for Devon. And I want to make sure we had every last fucking one of them that hurt Maiya.

  So far, they are all squealing like fucking pigs going to slaughter. By the sounds of it, she was the top dog and answered to no one. She had offered them all a piece of some fucking land and a life where they could all do what they were best at with no repercussions. Hence the young girl that was in the house, tied up, in a similar sorry state that Maiya had been. We had kept an eye on her too. Turns out her parents were murdered the same night she went missing, and she had no other family. Devon has taken her under her wing, and our group has grown yet another human member.

  I’m sitting in the kitchen when Howard comes in through the back door, followed by a pissed off Brody.

  ‘Will you stop and fucking listen to me for a second,’ Brody says, clearly annoyed.

  ‘Nothing you say will make a shit of difference, so fuck off.’

  I stand, expecting to have to get in between these two again.

  ‘That’s where I think you’re wrong. If you just fucking listen to me.’

  By this point, Howard is passing me at the table, and Brody is close behind.

  ‘Get rid of him,’ Howard asks, looking at me. I step up in the gap and Howard walks through and up the stairs, leaving me with an agitated Brody. He doesn’t argue with me. Instead, he sits at the table. So I take my seat, crisis averted.

  ‘Why is he such a dick?’ he asks me. I laugh out loud.

  ‘He’s always been the same. I’ve told him to go and get his dick wet—he usually smiles… well, I say smiles, his face tends to crack a little when he’s had some pussy.’

  ‘Well, he isn’t getting the pussy he fucking wants, that’s for sure.’

  I lean back in my chair cross my arms and grin.

  ‘Aaah so now we get to the problem—you and him want the same chick?’

  ‘Hell no! He needs to choose someone who isn’t my sister!’

  My brows shoot up in amusement, and I can’t help but smile.

  ‘The girl that threatened to cut his balls off?’ I ask laughing. ‘Howard wants to tap her?’ Brody cringes, and I apologise. It’s his little sister after all.

  ‘Yeah, well, he can think again. It’s not only me that won’t fucking like it either. Max won’t have it.’ The mere mention of his name makes my skin prickle and the hair on my neck stand on end.

  ‘He’s a fucking pussy.’ I realise I’ve spoken out loud when his eyes shoot up to meet mine, and a small half smile creeps up on one side of his face. I see respect shining in his eyes.

  ‘Is that what all your pack thinks?’ he questions.

  I’m not going to answer for everyone because that’s only my opinion. But I have a feeling they probably all think that way. He seems like a decent enough kid, and I hope my instincts are right about him, but I won’t be stupid enough to fall into that trap. He could go back and tell his alpha.

  ‘Can’t speak for everyone, but that’s definitely my take.’

  He smiles then and nods. ‘Mine too, but the pack have his back, and I’ve got too much to lose if I challenged him.’

  ‘You think you have that in you? He’s a pretty decent fighter?’

  ‘You sound like you know what he’s capable of?’

  I look at him now and grin. But I say nothing. ‘It was you, wasn’t it? You whooped his ass?’

  Again, I stay silent. ‘I was sure it was Howard. That’s what I was asking him, but he won’t fucking listen to me. I’m only going to say this to you once, and then I won’t repeat it, and I won’t admit to it either.’

  I sit up straight, eager for this info. ‘I think he has a deal with the local Kitsune’s. We don’t have trouble like other packs do, and he lords around here like he’s a fucking king.’

  I rest my head back on my shoulders, thinking it over. ‘That’s why I was surprised when he let you come and especially when he let us act on my intel.’

  I think back to that night—when we went in. I had sensed something wasn’t right. I thought it was way too quiet. Like they’d been warned. Fuck, could he be right? I nodded, letting him know I can see where he’s coming from.

  ‘Anyway, I need to get back.’ He stands, and I do the same. He leaves through the same door he came through. I finish eating the sandwich I’d started before they came in, and then I ring Jared. Three rings and his usual answer greets me.

  ‘Am I due in the basement yet?’ I ask. ‘Kinda itching to get down there now.’

  ‘Yeah, you can come down with me in an hour or so.’

  ‘Sweet. I’ll be ready.’ I check the clock and decide I’ll go and freshen up for the occasion. My shoulder is much better now, and I have about ninety percent movement in it. Manageable.

  An hour later, I’m faced with a kitsune hanging from a chain in the ceiling. I smile as I enter, and the fucker emits a high-pitched wail, I haven’t even touched him yet. I lower him to the height of a punch bag. Fucking perfect. I beat on him for a few rounds until I break a sweat. Then I grab the smelling salts and wake the fucker up. He’s finding it hard to breathe and hanging like that all this time can’t be good for the rest of your body, so I slacken the chain on the wall and watch as he thumps to the concrete floor. He moans. I walk over and grab his hair.

  ‘Did you visit the UK recently?’ I ask. His eyes widen a fraction, and I smell his fear. I drink it in like a cocktail. He doesn’t answer, so I ask again. Only this time he answers.

  ‘Just kill me,’ he says. I pull a face and mock my disappointment.

  ‘Oh, now come on. Why would I do that? We’ve just started to have fun!’ His eyes close and I know he’s hoping for death. He’ll get it for sure, just not yet. Jared is in the next room with another that he’d strung from the ceiling this morning. I can’t hear what’s being said in there because the rooms are soundproofed.

  ‘I’ll ask again before I get creative and start making art out of your skin. I’ll start here,’
I point the blade of my knife at his pinkie toe, ‘and I’ll skin you bit by bit while you’re still alive. It’s real pretty. Artistic as fuck. You should see my room back home. Nice little pieces, all framed and shit, so like I said, I’ll ask again, ‘cause I’m nice an all.’ His eyes don’t leave my face, and I grin like I’m a fucking mental case. I’m bluffing, obviously, but he doesn’t need to know that I’m not a crazy skin-collecting mofo. I stare a little longer and then sigh like I’m disappointed to be asking again. ‘So, did you visit the UK recently?’ His eyes roll a little, so I slap his face to keep him with me. ‘Answer the question!’ He keeps quiet, so I stick the blade of my knife under his toenail and push it in slowly. He screams, and I grin. I push further and point the blade down and the handle up so his nail pops up and out of the nailbed. The nerves there cause a fucking lot of pain, so I jab the newly exposed area, and he wails again. It’s like music to my ears. I move onto his next toe, and he starts panting to the point that he’s nearly hyperventilating. I slide the blade under. It cuts like butter, and before I get to pulling the nail off again, he sputters something out.

  ‘Wait…wait… I’ll talk. I’ll talk.’

  I grin. ‘Okay… you have three seconds to answer me… one… two—’

  ‘Yes… yes, I was there,’ he shouts. My whole demeanour changes. Was he one of the ones to rape Maiya?

  ‘Did you rape Maiya?’

  He looks at me confused. ‘Who? he asks.

  ‘The blonde woman that was left for dead at the edge of our property. Did you have a part in that?’

  He has the fucking balls to snigger. I jab him in his gut with my knife. Just a small cut, but he feels it, and his smile drops. ‘Answer the question, and I’ll make this quick.’

  He grins. ‘Sucked cock real well she di—’ The rest of the word is cut off as the serrated blade cuts through the vocal cords and the garbled sound of his airways filling with blood takes precedent over any words he was about to speak. I thrust the knife in and out with such force that I almost decapitate him. I stab him in the heart, just for the hell of it. Bastard. I wipe the blade on an old rag and leave the room, walking to the next.

  I find Jared beating the fuck out of another guy dangling from his ankles. He looks tired and worn. I walk forward, I’m covered in arterial spray, and I know what that must look like to the poor bastard hanging upside down. I grin as his eyes take me in.

  ‘Finished in there,’ I tell Jared, tilting my head towards the other room. Jared doesn’t slow in his punches, but he acknowledges what I just said. I walk forward, and just for shits, I stick the knife in the kitsune’s side, just under the rib. When Jared’s next hit comes, the blade goes about another two inches in. He is already in a bad state, now though, he has a perforated lung, and it is slowly filling with blood, drowning him from the inside. He starts to cough it up, but it’s hard when gravity is against you. Jared looks to me with a frown on his face, he wasn’t done with his questions, but we have five more in other rooms. We will get what we need.

  ‘Did you visit the UK?’ I ask the kitsune. ‘Tell me, and I’ll kill you quickly. Don’t, and you will feel no end of pain before you die.’

  He nods closing his eyes.

  Last question. ‘Did you rape the girl?’

  ‘Which?’ he sputters.

  ‘Wrong answer, fucker. Should have been a straight no, doesn’t matter which!’ I slice his gut open, and his insides slide out from the weight. I promised a quick death, but he could bleed out. I wipe the blade clean and make to leave the room. I’m at the door when Jared stops me.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asks. I stop in my tracks and turn. ‘These fuckers hurt Maiya, and Devon, and put Harrison in the hospital.’

  ‘I know that, but what is wrong with you? You aren’t normally like this?’ He gestures to the guy and his guts on the floor.

  ‘Well, we can’t rely on Harrison right now, can we, so I thought I’d step up to the mark,’ I tell him, walking out and into the next room. I push open the door, and I’m so shocked by what I see I think my jaw hits the ground. What the fuck?

  ‘JARED!’ I yell, but I didn’t need to because he was only a step or two behind and he follows me into the room.

  ‘What?’ he asks.

  ‘What do you mean fucking what? You seeing this shit?’

  ‘Mmmhmm.’ He nods looking over to Maiya like it is no big deal.

  ‘That’s it? You’re okay with this?’

  He rolls his eyes. ‘I’ve never been okay with it, but it helped Devon. Figured it might do the same for Maiya.’

  ‘No,’ I tell him. ‘Get your stuff, Maiya, you’re leaving.’ She stood, stock still, for the entire conversation between Jared and me. Knife in hand and blood on her face. But the minute I tell her to leave, she suddenly comes to life.

  ‘You can’t tell me what to do. I haven’t seen you in days, and you think you can walk in and tell me what I can and can’t do?’

  ‘Not arguing, Maiya, get your shit. Now.’ The nightmares she already has are bad without adding to it.

  ‘I’ll leave you both to it,’ Jared says, taking a good look at the unconscious kitsune. He’s facing away from me, but he’s bleeding out, and I spot what I think is his dick on the floor near Maiya’s feet. I close my eyes against the pain I feel in my gut. Another one that’s tortured and raped her. I walk up, putting myself between him and her, and I stab him in the heart. His body bucks a little, then nothing. Maiya throws her knife down to the floor and runs from the room. Fuck. I wanted an end to it so she had no more reason to be there. I don’t know if I just made it fucking worse or better. How the fuck was I meant to know?

  ***

  It’s late, and I’ve been toying with the idea of whether I should go and talk to Maiya. I haven’t spoken to her properly since I found Max in the room, and I needed to suck it up and go and see her. Make sure she’s alright. I go upstairs, and the first thing I notice is the room is a fucking mess—she’s left a needle on the side table, and her clothes are strewn around on the bed—along with some of Zoe’s shit. Makeup. Hair shit. All over the fucking place. My gut twists up hard when realisation hits. They’ve gone out. Without telling me. Motherfucker. I dial Jared. He doesn’t answer. Fuck. I dial Howard. He does.

  ‘Where are the women?’ I ask before he even gets to speak.

  ‘With me.’

  ‘Real fucking helpful. Where?’

  ‘Some dive, a few blocks away from the compound.’ I start fucking shaking with anger. They’re in a club with Maiya!

  ‘You serious?’ I ask through gritted teeth.

  ‘As a heart attack, why?’

  I hang up and walk the few blocks. It’s not hard to pick up their scent. Maiya’s is ingrained on my brain. I find the place in about ten minutes because I run the whole way. I find Howard straight away.

  ‘Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were taking them out?’ I question. What the fuck had happened there, we did this shit together, always had.

  ‘Figured you needed a break and figured they needed a girls’ night.’

  ‘A girls’ night?’ I know it’s fucking selfish, but I was hoping she’d be in that room, missing me. Way the fuck wrong on that score. I’m scanning the room for her, and I find her, hand in hand with some guy, over near the bathroom. What the fuck is she thinking? I vaguely hear Howard telling me something, but I’m already in motion. I move through the crowd and take her by the elbow, turning her to face me.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asks slurring her words. Oh fucking great, she’s pissed up. Again. Just what she needs, to be making bad fucking decisions.

  ‘Come on, party is over,’ I tell her, and the douche holding her hand tries to pull her away. I grip his arm with my other hand and squeeze just hard enough that he knows I mean business.

  ‘Who are you, an ex? She’s moved on, get over it.’

  Who the fuck does this little pipsqueak think he is? Maiya’s eyes meet mine for a second, and I see i
ndecision. She isn’t sure what she wants, and I’m not letting her make a fucking mistake because she’s drunk.

  ‘Listen, Maiya, can we talk?’

  ‘Ignore him, come on, babe,’ the fucker says tugging on her arm towards the women’s bathroom. I let him lead the way. He doesn’t expect me to follow and as he starts to push her into a cubicle with his lips on hers and his hands roaming, I smack him around the head with an open palm. I don’t hurt him, not when Maiya is within range in a confined space. He pushes me and then crashes his mouth on hers. She isn’t expecting it, and the surprise causes her to squeal a little. Not as much as that fucker will squeal though. I drag him out with force now. Seeing her lips attached to someone else’s causes all sorts of stuff to go off inside my head, and all I see is a red mist. His head hits the sink as I launch him, and he’s out cold for a second. The fucker comes around fast though and starts to shake his head against the fuzzy feeling he must have. Blood pours from the gash in his head, and normally I would walk away—he’s human and drunk. He has zero chance of getting anywhere fighting me. But I want to hurt him until the image of his lips on Maiya is erased from my brain. Bastard. I hit him hard, and he goes down. Pissing himself as he loses all bodily control. He convulses a little bit, and I find I don’t give one fuck. He should have listened.

  ‘What the hell, Brad?’ Maiya squeals at me, and she starts to go to him. I grab her arm, and I drag her out through the bathroom door, thankful that no one else was in there to witness it. I pull her along and spot Howard. He sees me pulling a pissed off Maiya and rolls his eyes. I don’t stop to tell anyone where I’m taking her. Howard knows she’s with me, so he knows she’s okay. Will she be okay with me? I feel like bending her over and smacking her arse so hard it stays red for the foreseeable future. But aside from that, she’s safe. I don’t speak to her until we are about halfway back to the compound. She’s tottering along, on stupid fucking heels, that I know she didn’t bring with her. Then she tries to put her arm through mine. Not fucking happening. I pull away, and she calls me an asshole. ME?