by C Y Jones
Creepy Alpha drives a huge all black Hummer. It’s sitting right out front waiting on us, like a vessel of doom. It’s souped up and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was bomb and bullet proof. Surprising me, creepy Alpha opens the passenger door like some sort of proper gentleman and assists me in stepping over the high lift of the car. Unlike a gentleman and more like the demeaning arsehole I painted him as, he cops a feel and gives my arse a firm squeeze which sends me scrambling into the passenger seat.
The ride is quiet, and creepy Alpha doesn’t say a word, not even when we’re well away from city limits. It’s not like I want to make conversation with the wanker, but I would like to know where the hell he was taking me. Not able to keep silent any longer I huff, “where the fuck are we going?”
“You have quite the mouth on you, little wolf.”
“That’s not an answer to my question,” I retort.
“No, it’s an observation.”
“Well,” I ask, raising my brow as I fold my arms in front of me which I quickly learn was a mistake when the movement lifts my breasts higher and creepy Alpha zones right in on them.
“We’re going to dinner, and then I will take you to meet my pack,” he finally answers before turning his attention back to the road.
“That’s not a full answer,” I press.
“It’s the only answer you’re getting,” he replies, and I turn my head to stare out the window. If he won’t tell me where he’s taking me then I’ll make sure I pay close attention to where we’re going, just in case I need to make it back on my own. That one ride where Kassie left me stranded at the mall taught me a valuable lesson.
We drive for hours, and more than once I wonder if I’m being wolfnapped. Has he already made his decision and decided to keep me? Will April and my mates be able to find me? My mind is running away from me, fueling my panic, and I wanted nothing more but to chase after it and hightail it the hell out of here.
“What are you thinking, little wolf?” He asks and I stare at him like he lost his mind.
“So it’s ok for you to ask me questions?” I snarl.
“You’re mine, I can do whatever the fuck I want,” he answers coldly.
“I’m not yours,” I growl loud enough to shake the windows.
“That’s where you’re wrong, little wolf. I own you; mind, body, and soul. As soon as you get that through your thick skull, the better things will be.”
“So what? I’m supposed to lay on my back and let you take me away from my mates. The three wolves who really do own me,” I sneer. “You’re a crook, an overgrown bully who thinks he can own anything he wants by any means possible. I will never be yours, and as soon as you get that through your thick skull, the better.
There’s no warning before he strikes and slaps me hard enough for me to taste blood. I can feel it dripping down my lip and onto my collarbone and shirt.
“I warned you about that mouth of yours, little wolf. Now look what you made me do. I told you I didn’t want to ruin your pretty face, but you just had to keep pushing me.”
What the fuck? He’s just as insane as my father, and far more dangerous like I thought. Unless challenged, no male wolf should put their hands on a female ever.
“Fuck you,” I spit out before turning my attention back to the window.
“Oh, you’ll be doing plenty of that real soon. By the way, my name is Axil.”
“I didn’t ask,” I mutter.
“I thought you should know the name you’ll be screaming tonight.”
That will never happen. I don’t care if I have to burn his dick off, he’ll never touch me. No one will ever touch me without permission again, I think as I try to figure out a way to escape.
8
Mekka
Aspen may have cut off our connection, but I can still feel her. Her emotions are so strong they can still call on me from many miles away. She’s terrified as fuck right now, and I wonder what the hell is going on over there? Glancing over at Logan’s face, I can tell he can feel the same thing I am.
“Sending my brother away without a way to communicate was a mistake,” he says suddenly, jumping up from the chair he was sitting on.
“I agree,” I tell him, and April looks over at us exasperated. This is an ongoing argument for us, but she doesn’t feel Aspen the way we do, so she can’t truly understand what we’re going through.
“We’ve been through this already. That old pack of yours is Fort Knox right now. We got lucky sneaking Ethan in, but since then security has been tripled. You’re better off breaking into the Pentagon than there. The last thing Aspen wants is one of you dead.”
“So what’s the rest of your plan? Because sitting here doing nothing is not working for us,” I growl. April said she couldn’t tell us the rest of her plan until Ethan left so that Aspen’s dad couldn’t torture the information out of him, and we didn’t argue because it made sense. As soon as Ethan left, she disappeared for the whole day and didn’t come back until late that night without a word about where she’s been, and still she has yet to tell us anything. My wolf is on edge, and Aspen’s feelings isn’t making things easier. It’s in our nature to protect our mate, our pack, and the ones we love. Sitting on our ass isn’t working well for him either.
“The plan has become more complicated,” she says cryptically.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Logan shouts.
Rolling her eyes at his outburst, she takes a seat in the sitting area and we follow. She looks nervous all of a sudden which scares the shit out of me. I’ve seen April face down angry wolves twice her size and vengeful mages, so for her to be ruffled means whatever she found out must be bad.
“Yesterday, I went to see a friend of mine whose coven lives in this area. It would seem that Aspen’s father is involved in some shady shit.”
“What kind of shady shit?” I question.
“Have you ever heard of ecstasy for supernaturals?” She asks.
“What? There's no such thing,” I scuff, raising my brow. “There's not a drug out there strong enough to get a supernatural high. Fairy wine is the closest thing I can think of.”
“Well, there is and it’s a very lucrative business, and Aspen’s father is right in the center of it,” she explains.
“Hold up,” Logan says, holding up his hand. “You’re going to have to start from the beginning because I’m confused as fuck.”
“The Alpha in the Bloodmoon pack was able to develop a drug strong enough to get even the strongest of supernaturals high within seconds. It’s like heroin, cocaine, ‘shrooms, and crystal meth all rolled into one.”
“How?” Logan questions, looking just as confused as me. “Is he making high concentrations of fairy wine or something?”
“No, he’s doing something much worse,” she replies as her face twists in disgust. “The main ingredient he uses is the essence of supernaturals. Of course he has to bleed them dry, killing them first to make the transfer, so basically it’s their powers and strength that makes you high. He has different colored pills for different supes. Brown for wolves, blue for fae, purple for mages, pink for succubus, and red for vampires. Humans who gets their hands on the drug temporarily have the abilities of whatever pill they took for a couple of hours.”
“Holy shit,” I murmur as the color drains from my face.
“How is Aspen’s father involved?” Logan questions.
“He’s working for Axil Bloodmoon, the Alpha of pack that developed the drug.”
“Fuck,” I growl. “Working how? To what extent?” I ask. I think I know the answer, and if what I’m thinking is true, then Aspen is in far more danger than I thought.
“Not only is his pack dealing the drug, he’s also turning over members of his own pack as ingredients,” she answers softly.
My ears start ringing. I mean, I had guessed, but something deep inside wanted to be wrong. Aspen’s dad is a True Alpha. It’s his duty to look after his pack, those that are weaker than him, but instead
he’s shucked his responsibilities and transformed into the devil himself. I hate to think what this knowledge would do to Aspen. Does she know? Did her father take her just to make a profit? The type of drug he could make from her powers alone is mindblowing.
“We need to get her out of there ASAP,” Logans says with a panicked look. Probably coming to the same conclusion me.
“My plan was to try to sneak her out. I went out and gathered all the supplies needed to do so, but that was before the added security. I should have counted in Aspen’s father would add extra security after Ethan easily infiltrated his pack. Plus my friend also told me that Axil is here. He said he never comes out in the open unless something is wrong or something sparks his interest enough to leave his pack.”
“Then why is he here now?” I frown. “Oh shit, Aspen,” Logan and I mutter at the same time.
“Yes, my friend’s inside source said that Aspen’s dad owed the Bloodmoon Alpha a shit load of money and he's giving Aspen to him to be his mate to pay off that debt. She’s been promised to him since she was a young pup when her father knew for sure she was a True Alpha.”
“More reason why we need to get her away. Who cares that he’s here,” I retort.
“Axil Bloodmoon isn’t the sort you want to fuck with,” April says, trying to reason with me. Sure I’ve heard of him. He’s a fucking legend in the bad way. Only death, rape, and violence surround him, so I don’t find it a hard stretch he would develop such a drug. If there was anyone more evil than the devil, he would be it. He’s the poster boy for evil shit, but my mate is tangled in the middle of this, and she means more to me than my own life.
“We can’t go into this blind. This is bigger than just breaking Aspen out. We’re going to need more information,” April says.
“And how are we suppose to attain this information?” I question.
“With a drop of Logan’s blood, I can do a spell to safely contact Ethan that can’t be intercepted. I can only do the spell once, so we’re going to have to make it count.”
“And then what? I don’t see you getting a whole lot of info off one message?” I ask, trying to figure out what April is planning.
“No, but if the twins were to switch places we could keep moving information in and out,” she explains, and I look at her like she’s lost her mind.
“I thought you said it was too dangerous to try to sneak in. That the security is too tight. What you’re proposing doesn’t make sense,” I tell her.
“I have a magical item that can make one person invisible for them to sneak onto pack grounds. It’s not strong enough to take more than one person, so that is why we can’t just sneak Aspen off. We can get a message out to Ethan letting him know to be ready to switch with Logan. Besides their eye color, they’re practically identical. We’ll gather information and when the time is right, we'll get Aspen out and shut down Bloodmoon’s Washington connection.”
“We’re still going to need help,” Logan chimes it. “Aspen’s dad cut Ethan’s connection to the pack as soon as he got his hands on him. Aspen has shut off our connection to her, and I’m sure her connection to the pack has been severed as well. We’re going to have to tell Alpha about this, and probably the Council too. I’m sure they’ll want to know a whole bunch of supernaturals are being murdered for a drug that gives humans superpowers.”
“I agree with you about telling your Alpha, but we can’t inform the Council of anything without solid proof. Once we shut down the connection here, we’ll have the proof we need to hand over to the Council, and they’ll be able to handle it from there.”
“How did this go from saving Aspen to trying to take down an evil drug corporation?” I ask incredulously. I know it’s a selfish thought, but April’s plan is putting us way over our heads.
“Would you really leave Aspen’s old pack to their fate knowing what you know? All those innocent wolves who lost their loved ones, not knowing it’s their own Alpha that’s been taking them from them?” She replies.
Fuck, she had me and she knows it. As much as I want to be, I’m not that fucking selfish or cruel. Looking her dead in the eye, I nod in agreement and so does Logan. We came here for Aspen, but April is right. We have to help.
Ethan
My jailors have deemed I’m not stupid enough to try to escape, so they have given me permission to go as I please as long as I stay on pack lands close to the main house, plus since Aspen isn’t here, they’ve assigned Trevor as my shadow. He’s actually an alright wolf and has been doing his best to distract me from Aspen being gone. I saw who she left with, so his efforts are wasted. Fucking Axil Bloodmoon. No wonder Aspen was terrified, I would be too in her paws. Nothing good is ever said about him. Misery and pain surround him. People even go as far to say he’s immortal, because even the devil is scared to let him into his realm. His whole pack are nothing but sadists, and treat their female wolves like shit. I need to figure out how to get a message out to April, Mekka, and my brother. We can’t stay here any longer if Axil Bloodmoon has his eye on Aspen.
When we’re in a clearing a bit away from the house, I turn to Trevor and ask, “how did Aspen’s dad get involved with someone like Axil Bloodmoon?”
“I really don’t know a lot to answer that question. I’m pretty low on the totem pole here. I was surprised when I got assigned as Aspen’s guard. What I do know is that Alpha has been getting involved in some real shady shit. Since the pack came under his control, we’ve been losing money and Alpha’s way of solving that problem was to get involved with Axil.”
“So, how does Aspen fit in all this?” I ask curious.
“My father used to be one of Alpha’s Omegas before he killed him. The Omegas that work in the main house are treated like shit and are practically invisible, so my father overheard a lot of private conversations. He said the pack was in debt. Alpha has always been a cocky fuck. Never listening to any of the advice his father would try to drill into him. I grew up with him, and not once did I ever see him take his responsibilities of being the next Alpha seriously. Once he became in charge of the pack, he took everything his father taught him and threw it out the window, thinking he knew what’s best for the pack. Basically, it's his fault the pack went into debt in the first place. He made a bunch of bad investments and had his paws in too many cookie jars. He thought he was working the shady fucks he was dealing with, when in truth they were more experienced from playing the game longer and were working him. When trying to clean up his mess, he borrowed money from Axil, and when the time came for Axil to collect, he couldn’t pay it back, so he offered up the only thing of value he had left,” Trevor explains, and I curse Aspen’s father to high hell. “I don’t know what kind of business they’re doing, but my gut is telling me it’s bad news. Wolves around here have been going missing, and Alpha doesn’t seem to care to find out why.”
“Why hasn’t anyone said anything about a bunch of wolves missing? Especially if they think your Alpha isn’t doing everything he can to locate them. Something serious like this, someone could have went to the Wolf Council.”
“Like I said, only Alpha’s inner circle of Betas knows what’s really going on. The wolves that are taken always live on the outskirts of our territory. Lower wolves that no one cares about. No one would believe them if they went to the Council complaining about the Alpha. They’d probably get killed for their trouble. They’re scared.”
I could see his point. Our community, as beautiful as it is, only cares about power and strength. Lower wolves don’t really have a say. It all depends on where you are in the pecking order. It’s been like that for us since birth. Survival of the fittest and all that. It’s the mentality of our other halves, our animal side. Even in the womb we’re fighting to survive, and only the strong do. Out of a litter of five, me and my brother were the only ones to survive.
“Do you think your Alpha is behind the disappearances?” I ask in a low voice. Who knows who could be around and wolves have excellent hearing.
“Why don’t you just leave? Take your mate and find another pack.” Aspen told me Trevor has a mate, one of the reasons why he changed his tune about her father.
“We can’t. Alpha won’t grant any transfers or requests to leave. You, your brother, and your father were the last ones to ever leave the pack.”
I suck in a breath feeling sorry for the guy. I hated my father at the time, especially after my brother found out he lied to us about Aspen to get us to leave her behind, but now I’m glad he did it. Who knows where we would be if we would have stayed here. Aspen’s father would have never let us mate with Aspen and probably would have killed us after we marked her.
“We’re coming up with a plan to get out of here. You and your mate should come with us. Our Alpha will welcome you into our pack.”
“The Alpha whose daughter betrayed him and his pack,” he says, raising his brow and I wince.
“Kassie is her own wolf, you should not hold that against our Alpha. Look at Aspen, she’s nothing like her father.” I watch him as he thinks about what I said, I could tell exactly when he finally reached a decision.
“Alright, you have a deal. My mate and I have been staying in the guards homes close to the main house since I’m currently assigned to guard Aspen. When I go home today, I’ll tell her to discreetly pack her things, and be ready to leave at a moment's notice. She’s been restless and on edge ever since the disappearances of the wolves first started.”
“She won’t say anything will she?” I question. Trevor has turned out to be alright, but I never met his mate. I have no clue where her loyalties lie. She could sell us out to keep herself safe.
Growling, Trevor says, “my mate is loyal to me. She will not say anything.”
Nodding, I start to strip. My wolf is dying to go for a run. He’s been cooped up far too long. Following after me, Trevor also strips and we both take off into the woods.