by Leilani Love
“John? What are you doing here? Where’s Robert?” Damien asked, as he noticed the lead singer sitting at the bar.
Kassandra had felt something off when he was watching her but at the time he appeared more curious than dangerous. The way he carried himself now was different, gone was the casual playboy and in his place was a man filled with a deep hatred. John’s lips curved up in a smirk as he looked from Damien to Kassandra. When he lifted his glass to his lips, Kassandra spotted a gun under his jacket.
“Wow Damien, a girl that lasted longer than one night. Have you slept with all the females in town, or did you finally find your mate?” John asked as his eyes roamed her body.
Damien growled and she felt him tense. The office door opened, and Robert stumbled out, hands tied in front of him, followed by the band’s drummer, Nathan. They’d worked Robert over pretty bad, judging from his black eye and cut lip. Damien’s anger was so intense. Kassandra was amazed he managed to hold himself back.
“Wow, Damien, since you abandoned your pack, I have to be honest—I wasn’t sure how you’d react to seeing your friend this way.” John’s lips curved in a sneer. “Yes, I know exactly who you are. The wolf who abandoned his pack and hid behind the vampires. I almost feel bad that I sent the guys to get Robert’s mate and bring her here to join us.”
How on earth does John know what Damien is?
Robert growled and lunged at John, only to have Nathan bash him in the back of the head with the butt of his shotgun. Damien lunged managing to reach Robert just before his head hit the table.
“What do you want?” Kassandra demanded as she helped Damien put Robert in a chair. A lump was forming on the back of Robert’s head, and blood was flowing freely. Despite the severity of the injury, Kassandra knew that Robert’s wolf should start to heal him quickly.
“I’ve been waiting for years to get the order to kill you and all your little wolf friends,” John said. “Do you have any idea how disgusting it was to watch all those females fall for your stupid wolf charm? Finally, we’ve been told you have your mother’s book and you’re going to bring it to me.”
Why does he want Damien’s mother’s journal? How does he even know Damien has it?
“What book?” Damien asked.
John chuckled and took another swig of his beer. The room went silent as he left the bar and sauntered over to Kassandra. “Who are you?” John asked her. He pinched her chin, forcing her to look him directly in his eyes. Somewhere nearby a chair crashed and a gun clicked. Her heart racing, she wanted to look at Damien, to reassure him that she was okay, but instead she kept her eyes on John.
“No one important,” Kassandra said, fighting the impulse to look at Damien. “Damien was on his way to drop me off at my hotel before Robert’s wife called. If I knew you were here waiting, I would have asked him to drop me off first. Now I’m stuck trying to figure out what the hell I need to do to get out of this stupid bar.” Kassandra kept her voice steady and tried to appear bored, despite the overwhelming urge to shift and see how these humans did fighting against a dragon.
John took a step closer to her, and Kassandra tried to reach out to Damien through their shared connection to tell him not to react.
“I was going to have Damien call his sister to bring us the book,” said John, “but with you here, maybe I’ll just take you with me so we can have some alone time…” As John let his voice trail off, he ran his finger down her cheek, causing Damien to growl. John grinned.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Kassandra said, trying to sound frightened. Before she could protest, two men entered the bar, dragging Alyssa with them.
Alyssa cried out in distress, and broke free from the men. She cupped Robert’s cheek, asking if he was okay. Kassandra met Damien’s eyes over the couple and tried to let him know she was fine. It was vital that these guys continued to think she was just a human.
CHAPTER 25
Damien wanted nothing more than to rip John and his friends to shreds. His nails had lengthened, and he was holding the beast within him back by sheer force of will. The only thing keeping him from losing control was the gun pointed at Alyssa. That, and Kassandra. His mate was a skilled liar and John and his band of cronies didn’t seem to suspect that she was anything other than human. They would need to find a way to use that little secret to their advantage. His mate was a warrior, and he had no doubt whatever game she was playing at would help them in the end.
It was interesting to watch them dismiss Kassandra. John was the closest to her and he kept his eyes on Damien and Robert. Alyssa had a gun on her, but not because they felt she was a threat but it was the easiest way to control them. Looking around, the entire band was here plus two men he had never seen before. “Why the hell do you want my mother’s journal?”
As much as he needed a plan, he also needed to know why they were here. There was the occasional human who knew about the supernatural world that co-existed with theirs, but only the Orion Hunters made it a mission to hunt them down. The band had been playing at his bar since the day he opened it. Damien felt like the biggest fool, he thought he was avoiding the war and instead he brought it to his friends.
“You’re arrogant. I bet you haven’t even looked through her journal. Your mother is one of the strongest seers to ever exist. It’s a shame she lowered herself to marry your father, and turned her back on her people. Makes sense her kids would turn their backs on her.” John made a tsking sound and shook his head.
Damien tried to follow what John was saying. An occasional human knew about the supernatural world, but only the Orion Hunters made it their mission to hunt them down. And the fact that John referred to his mother in the present tense shocked him. “I didn’t give up on my mother. She died in a fire when my sister’s mate decided he didn’t want to share power with anyone.”
John let out a chilling laugh. “It’s amazing how little you know. Not one thing you said was correct. You’ve buried your head in the sand for so long, you have no idea what’s going on and I have no time to explain it to you. Time to call your sister.”
With that, John reached into his jacket pocket and tossed Damien a cell phone.
“What in the world would make you think I’d be willing to call her?” Damien asked as he caught the phone with one hand.
The click of two guns cocking against Robert’s and Alyssa’s heads echoed in the room. A low growl came from Robert as his body tensed. Robert looked like he was ready to pounce on the line-backer looking guard standing behind Alyssa.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Do you really think you can get to your mate before he blows a hole in her pretty little head?” John taunted as the guy behind Alyssa sent Robert a challenging look.
Damien sighed. He couldn’t risk anything happening to Alyssa, so he reluctantly dialed Hope’s number. “Hey Hope, what are you doing?”
“Damien, whose phone are you using?” Hope asked.
“Oh, just the girl who came over the other night. She left her phone in my truck when I dropped her off and I forgot mine. Hey, I was wondering if I could pick up Mom’s journal.” Damien prayed Hope wouldn’t mention anything about Kassandra being his mate or a dragon.
“So you ruined it with her and stole her phone huh?” Hope replied on a sigh.
“Come on, you and I both know she was just to pass the time. If true love and mates exist like you always tell me, then I would have known the moment I saw her. Besides with what happened to you…” He was trying his best to sound dismissive as he watched John.
After a long pause he heard his sister sigh, “True, what a pity I liked her. She made a nice breakfast. I’m not home, I had to run an errand,” Hope said. “But the journal is at my house in my office.”
“All right, thanks, I’ll swing by and pick it up.” He hung up and looked at John. “Let them go. I’ll take you to my sister’s house, then you and your friends can go on your merry way.”
With a chuckle, John nodded at the two unkn
own guys. “Take Robert back in the office and tie him to the chair. Keep his pretty little wife out here.” John looked at Kassandra as if debating what to do. “When you’re done, you guys can take her upstairs. Since she’s not important, we don’t need to keep her around. No witnesses.”
Damien let out a loud growl and pounced on John. He heard a loud, distant scream before something slammed into the back of his head and his world went black.
***
Kassandra screamed when John pointed his gun at Damien, but it was the drummer behind Robert who hit him in the back of the head. Alyssa let out a shriek and was held tight by her guard as Kassandra quickly went to Damien’s side. Despite knowing it would take more than a hit to the back of the head to kill him, she couldn’t deny the relief she felt when she saw his chest rising and falling.
“Oh my god, you killed him!” she yelled as she fell to her knees, checking Damien’s head wound. Despite freely flowing blood, she could feel the wound getting smaller. She yelped as a guard yanked her up.
“Quit wasting time, go tie up Robert in the office,” John said to his men. He pointed his Glock at Alyssa, narrowing his eyes. “Tie her up too, but keep her out here. Just a reminder to her mate that if he moves, she’ll be shot and killed before he can save her.”
The drummer grabbed Robert, pulling him to his feet. As he stood up Robert growled, baring his teeth to the drummer as they lengthened. Kassandra was surprised to see his body get bigger as he put his face into the drummers, “Before this day is over, I will kill you for touching her.”
The drummer snickered as the guard from the door dragged him back to the office to tie him up. The drummer grabbed Alyssa’s hands and tied them together. When he finished, Alyssa leaned forward and spat in his face. Kassandra winced as the sound of his hand smacking Alyssa across the face echoed off the walls. For a heartbeat, Kassandra felt her entire body tense, ready to pounce on the drummer only slightly relaxing when Alyssa finally turned her head to look him in the eye and very coldly announced, “Touch me again and it won’t be my husband you have to worry about killing you.”
His hand came up again as if to smack her only to have John loudly yell, “Enough!”
A low moan caught Kassandra’s attention, and she looked down to see Damien move. “Tie her legs to the chair, then you two carry him outside and put him in the car.” John started to follow them out, pausing when he got to the door. “Do not leave either of them alone and if either one of them tries to escape shoot her in the stomach.”
She watched helplessly as two men half-dragged Damien outside. The drummer finished tying up Alyssa and stood over her. “Give me any more problems and your mate will pay for it.”
Alyssa’s eyes narrowed and from the little Kassandra knew of her, she could tell it was killing her to keep her mouth shut. A minute later the door opened, and the two men gave her a lecherous smile. One of them grabbed her and started to drag her upstairs.
“Leave her alone!” Alyssa screamed as one of the men lunged for Kassandra. She kicked and screamed, but the man easily tossed her over his shoulder, and carried her upstairs.
CHAPTER 26
The hardest thing Damien ever had to do was pretend to be still semi-unconscious as the men dumped him in Robert’s truck and bound his hands. John started the engine, and Damien heard him tell the men that if they didn’t hear from him in an hour, to kill everyone. Damien moaned, keeping up the pretense of being weaker than he was. Whatever he was going to do, had to be soon. He also had to trust his mate and friend to be skilled enough to take any opening they saw.
“I would’ve thought that, being a wolf, you’d be harder to knock out, but apparently either you’re weak or the wolves aren’t as strong as we thought,” John said. “If you try anything and escape, your friends will be dead before you could even get back there, so play nice.”
“How long have you known what I am?” Damien asked his curiosity getting the better of him.
“I have always known what you are. A wolf who doesn’t fight and hides instead. Pretending to be human while letting a vampire protect you.” John shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “I wanted to gut you the moment I met you. I’ve been waiting years for this moment, and I’m going to enjoy every last second of torture.”
Damien felt like a fool. After doing everything to stay out of the war, he’d invited it to his doorstep. Giving himself a mental shake, he decided now wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity. Instead he needed to figure out how to save himself so he could get back to the others. Kassandra was a trained fighter and he had to have faith that she would be able to help his friends. Or at the very least, keep them all safe until he got back.
The truck pulled up to Hope’s house and Damien breathed a sigh of relief. Hope’s car wasn’t in the driveway. John stopped the car, jumped out, and forced Damien onto the driveway.
“Before you decide to do something heroic, you should ask yourself what are the chances of you killing me before I put a round right through your heart,” John said, the barrel of his pistol against Damien’s side. “Don’t forget if I don’t call the bar in an hour, your friends are dead.”
White-hot anger flashed through Damien as John pushed him to the front door and he fought to contain it. If I do something stupid now, I might jeopardize Alyssa and Kassandra’s lives. He took the keys out of his pocket and jiggled the lock. “Hope, you home?” he called as they entered the house.
The gun pressed harder into his side, and Damien silently sniffed the air. Hope’s smell was strong, considering she’d said she was out running errands. His wolf listened intently and he let out a long, slow breath when he didn’t hear any movement in the house.
“Where’s your sister’s office?” John demanded as he shoved him farther into the house, closing the door.
“Down the hall, past the kitchen,” Damien replied keeping his eyes open for an opportunity to make his move. The sound of their footsteps echoed off the hardwood floors as they walked down the hallway.
“We both know you’re going to kill me, so care to tell me what’s in my mother’s journal that you’ve waited all these years for?” Damien asked when he spotted his mother’s journal sitting on the desk.
John moved from his side to take a look and gave Damien a sinister smile. “You weren’t at all curious about what your mother wrote in it, were you? Somewhere hidden in these pages I bet your mother left a small clue on how to find her.”
A soft cough sounded from somewhere outside the office, and John turned. Damien jumped at the opportunity and jammed his elbow into John’s stomach, hard enough to knock the wind from him. Damien then turned, using the momentum to land a hook right on John’s jaw.
John staggered back and raised the gun. With a loud growl, Damien pounced on John, just as the gun exploded. Damien felt a burning on the side of his right arm, and knew he’d been hit.
John and Damien hit the ground with Damien on top but before he could pin or even punch him, he felt John’s leg on his shoulder pushing him onto his back. John was quicker than he anticipated and quickly crawled up on top of him, throwing an elbow that connected with his jaw hard enough that for a moment Damien found himself seeing stars.
For a split second, Damien was afraid he was going to be knocked out before he could help those back at the bar. Before his world went black, Damien heard a loud thump, and saw Hope standing over them holding a ten-inch wooden wolf bookend.
“We need to tie him up and get back to the bar,” he said.
CHAPTER 27
Alyssa cried out, telling the guards to stop as Kassandra hit the guard’s back who was currently carrying her up the stairs. Once Kassandra was alone with them, she knew she could easily take them down. After she took them down, she could sneak down and take care of the one guarding Alyssa. A slow torture was deserved for holding a gun to a pregnant woman, but first she would need to make sure Robert was free.
The guard holding Kassandra tossed her onto the bed
and she whimpered as she tried to crawl to the other side of the bed. He grabbed her ankle, and when she got close enough, she swung her right leg back and connected with his jaw. The guard stumbled, and the other guard rushed into the room.
A wicked smile played on Kassandra’s lips and when the other guard lunged for her, she used both legs to shove him so hard he bounced off the doorframe and crumpled to the floor. Now, all that was left was knocking out both men before one of them downstairs got curious about all the noise.
She stood up as the first guard came at her again. Kassandra quickly hit him with a jab punch combo before grabbing him by the back of his head, bringing his head down to connect with her knee as it came up. When he stumbled Kassandra knew she had to knock him out quickly as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
Swinging her right hand in a fast hard hook, she hit him hard in the temple. When he crumbled to the floor, she turned to face the other guard. It took him a moment to get up and Kassandra didn’t waste any time in attacking him.
Kassandra ducked when he swung at her before landing a hit to his ribs. These men were well trained, but she was better. Her dragon made her fast and strong. The fact that she had been training for a majority of her life was also a plus. With a fast round house kick, the guard fell and she jumped around his back. Wrapping an arm around the guard’s neck, she applied pressure to the carotid artery and cut off the blood flow to his brain. As he struggled in her arms Kassandra heard him gasp as he slammed her back against the wall trying to loosen her hold.
The guard’s hand came up and began to scratch at her face. She ducked, but holding him like this limited her movement. He tried to punch at her and she felt it glance off the side of her head. His second punch was weaker as he went to his knees. When he finally fell to the ground she was panting hard as she stood up.