Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

EDOUARD

“ I can think of a few things.” I’d barely said the words before Blanche started pulling on Romain’s worn jacket, practically tearing the material with her nails.

“No!” She said, but Dad just cocked his head.

“No?”

“That’s what I said. We are leaving.” With one hand around Romain’s shoulder, she pushed against the bodyguards, who wouldn't budge.

“Just a minute,” said Dad. “Monsieur Perrera, how much is exactly the debt Ms. Lefèbvre has created?”

Manuel didn’t hesitate. “Thirteen thousand euros and ninety-five cents,” he lied, making us all three chuckle. My eyes were still on Romain, who now looked deflated. His dark gaze stared at his feet, and he’d lost his earlier bravado as he let himself be manhandled by that worthless mother of his.

“Pay up, Blanche,” Dad said. “Or take the deal my son is proposing.”

Now that made Romain look up, mouth gaping before he finally managed, “The deal?” He blinked, the earlier glow of panic filled in those dark eyes slowly being replaced by a fierce glare that burned right at my face. With a hum I inhaled that anger, cradling it to my chest, from where more blood pumped south. This, whatever disaster was on the verge of unfolding, made my dick hard and impatient to play. I winked at him, and he glowered, fisting his hands. “I’m not a deal!” He snarled. “I came here to?—”

“You came here to make a deal, so that’s exactly what you are.” Manuel cut him off, his voice cool. He gave me one short, examining look. I don’t know what it is he saw, but he continued regardless, digging Romain’s grave further. “Unless you want to settle the bill here and now? No? Don’t have the money?” His smirk widened. “Then you stay.”

“Stay? No, this is…you can’t be serious.” The look in Romain’s eyes turned pleading. “Edouard, I’m sure we can work something out? We know each other from school, right? I can get more clients in, get you the money soon. I promise.” He shifted back to where his useless mom was no longer holding him. “Mom?”

But Blanche was looking at her feet. “We won’t have the money,” she mumbled.

“Of course we will,” Romain whispered, stubbornly. Deliciously. “I will find it.”

“And just exactly how many cars do you need to wash to be paid fourteen thousand euros?” I asked. Manuel snickered on my side. My veins warmed with pleasure, with excitement of what was to come.

“Son, remember how you always wanted to have a pet?” Dad asked me. His voice was quiet, though the words were loud enough for the others to hear. My cock felt sticky where the head pressed against my briefs, hot and so fucking hard. Romain froze, his eyes meeting mine once more. They were void of pride, void of anger. Instead, they were filled with aversion, fear and something else. Was it desire? He shook his head and dipped his gaze, ripping the moment away.

“You can’t be serious,” Blanche breathed.

“I think this is a very serious matter,” Dad said. “You have wasted a lot of money. Now, let’s get on with it, I’m a busy man.”

“I’m sorry, Romain.” She said. “J e suis désolée, mon coeur. ” She nodded at the bodyguard, and he opened the door for her. That was it? She was just leaving him here, knowing that he was given to me? I couldn’t believe her utter failure as a mother. I couldn’t believe my fucking luck.

Still, Romain wasn’t ready to accept his fate. “No!” He shouted, lunging for her, for them, for anyone. He clawed and fought and swore, but he was no match for the trained fighters working for the Beaumonts. I watched the show as they beat him, then tied him up until he was brought to me like the innocent gift he was.

“Thank you,” I told them, ignoring the panting, hissing sounds of pain and defeat Romain made. He looked exhausted, beaten. “Take him to my room.”

I t’s a hot summer night when we gather together for the Wicked Chase. How I’ve loved partaking in this concept, yet another twisted initiative from the most depraved brotherhood I’ve ever heard of.

I’ve been a good boy for most of the time during these hunts through the forest, aside from my own appetite to fuck and get sucked off. What can I say? I’m a healthy son of a bitch, and being close to Romain for the past year at this preppy college definitely wasn’t easy. To see him everywhere after he vanished from my life two years earlier, to hear his rumbling laughter, catch the twinkle in those dark eyes, find him chatting with his new mates? It took all my patience not to jump him, collar him, and bring him back to my den. Fucking Dad… I know why he did it, but that doesn’t make this less frustrating. Still, knowing myself, everything will be forgotten and forgiven once Romain is by my side once more, and my family knows. We’re too close to keep fighting for too long, our lives and love too intertwined.

Being a student for once was fun, but knowing the price was the ultimate reason why I was here. After I obtained the BAC, my high school diploma, at 18, I didn’t continue my studies, but joined Dad and the business, so I already have a few years in the workfield. Exchanging that for Saint-Laurent Boarding College for boys sure was interesting. Becoming a member of the fucked up, privileged brotherhood called the Alpha Fraternarii was a bit of a shocker, but turned out to be a good one, considering that I have more in common than I thought with this group of ultra-rich guys. We all love a good party, and though I don’t really get their fetish with masks, I am absolutely down for the cloaks and the sex. Lots and lots of it.

Romain knows I’m here. The first few times when we crossed paths in Monterrey Castle, he was too shocked to move. He’d just stand there, frozen to the ground, with those dark, heavily lashed eyes on me and his lips parted. He’d watch me in the canteen, where I sat in the middle with my bros, pretending I didn’t see him. Sometimes he’d wait for me, hidden in a corner, when I’d leave my dorm in the morning, only to follow me around for a while, thinking I didn’t notice, subconsciously falling back into his natural submissive nature without a blink.

Sweet.

Yes, he has grown more mature, his body stronger and fit from god knows what sport—he’s not on the football team, I would have known—less like the cute street rat he looked like when we were teenagers.

Halfway through the year he started putting up a fight too. He stopped following me and ignored me in the canteen, and I needed to check in with the dean to be sure that he wouldn’t drop out of school just because I had made my magical appearance. I mean, for him to be so close to obtaining that degree… it would have been a shame. I spoke of him with my newly found brothers of the Alpha Fraternarii, and they were surprisingly supportive for such a sadistic lot.

Still, it’s not enough. And while the Wicked Chase seemed the perfect outcome, after three times, my patience has now run out. Playtime is over. I want my man back.

And he knows it…Romain. He knows the type of man I am. Knows what I fucking need .

Control. Dominance. Sexual power.

The question is, does he realise it’s me who’s coming for him tonight? And has he decided to come out and play?

“Ready?” Silver Mask gives me a crooked smile while adjusting the hood tighter around his face. A single blond strand of hair escapes and he wipes it back with the roped knot he’s holding.

I smile in return, take a final drag from my cigarette, then flick it onto the ground, making sure to kill the remaining flame with the heel of my shoe. “Yeah. Let’s get this party started.”

From behind, a few more guys come walking through the shrubs, a tip of their head and a predatory grin the only greeting while we wait for it to begin. Butterflies flutter though my stomach. Tonight’s chase is the climax of my school year at Saint-Laurent.

Someone clasps a firm arm around my shoulder and squeezes. “And? Still wondering if he has taken the bait and shown up tonight?” Alexandre asks with a crooked smile. He’s another brother, a tall, blonde haired, annoying dude with whom I’ve gotten pretty close over the past months. I don’t reply, instead keep my stare at the darkened trees around us, ignoring his chuckle of amusement. It’s nearly midnight.

A little further, on the open space, I hear the low drawl from Elder Jacques as he welcomes the four participants for tonight’s chase.

“Olivier saw this at the reception and wanted me to give it to you.” Alexandre’s dark eyes dance with devilish delight, and he lets out a muffled cackle when I snatch the golden mask up out of his hands. I nearly forgot to put that thing on, the moron I am. “I guess our bad boy is a little more nervous than he makes out to be?”

He might be right, but it’s not his place to mock me, friend or not. My hand curls around his throat in a whoosh, and I snarl when his eyes widen in shock. Sliding the mask over my head with my free hand, I jut toward the open space. “Be careful, if not the deal’s off.”

“Fuck you,” Alexandre squeaks. I laugh, then let go of his neck. He coughs and spits on the ground as he swears on a ragged breath. “I should have warned him not to come here tonight.”

“Oh, don’t worry, brother.” I fix his collar and finish with a pat on his shoulder, then give him my brightest of smiles. “I will treat your precious boytoy really well.”

A slow, calculated smile appears on his lips. Yeah, he wants that. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I like the dude this much. Alexandre is as depraved as I am.

Next to us, Bronze Mask and Copper Mask appear. I don’t know who they are. We shake hands and allow the air to fill with a salacious excitement.

“Is the old man ready with his pep talk?” I grumble. I want to go now .

Ma?l and Arsène appear through the bushes, the cousins chatting in hushed voices. They watch me slowly losing my shit, not caring enough to include me in their conversation when Alexandre greets his best friend with a smile. He asks Arsène where Robin, his chosen one and a grumpy motherfucker is.

“He’ll join in later. He’s not very…mobile, at the moment.” Arsène wiggles his brows, and both Ma?l and Alexandre chuckle at that, knowingly.

I snort. “Whatever, weirdo?—”

“Exactly. Anyway, it’s time,” Arsène cuts me off with a shrug. “That’s what we’ve come to tell you. All four masks, you walk toward Father Jacques in one line. Silver Mask, you go first, then Bronze Mask, Copper Mask, and then you, Golden Mask.”

“No talking. Check your prey out, scare them with your eyes.” Ma?l laughs at his own words, then lets out a squeak when his cousin gives him a push in his side.

“ Allez-y. ” Alexandre says.

As much as I’d like to deny it, I actually really like these guys. Never thought that the son of a drug lord could get on with preppy kids, but here we are. Then again, this college is not the definition of a respectable institute. On paper, yes, but behind the scenes it’s every bit as filthy and dubious as any criminal organisation.

Closing the line, I turn over my shoulder and look at the three other brothers who have previously all participated at the Wicked Chase. Tonight they only get to watch, since they have already claimed their chosen ones–our most unconventional way of match-making.

“Go and get him, bad boy,” one of them calls out. They all laugh.

Fuck them. I flip them off. Besides, the show is about to start, and our line of glittering masks is moving forward, soon making our way over a narrow, pitch-dark trail through the bushes. Aside from myself, these brothers are all new to tonight’s chase. Hungry to play with their random prey—since it’s my turn tonight to win and claim—and scare the living shit out of ignorant students who came out tonight, thinking they could really become part of the privileged. Pathetic losers. One by one my brothers will be given permission to replace their random targets by their chosen ones. And that’s, ladies and gentlemen, when the Wicked Chase becomes really interesting.

In the open space, four participants are waiting for us, side by side. They carry a similar black cloak, but where we, brothers of the Alpha Fraternarii, carry a glorious mask, theirs is plain. Soft, but black.

“By now you know that this chase will last for two hours,” Elder Jacques tells them. “But remember, participants, you’ve all been carefully selected. And tonight you have a choice. That’s why for each and every one of you, we have left a small gift. Perhaps you wish to choose your gift, rather than the brother chasing you? The choice is yours.” He watches us arrive and take position across our prey, then gives us a leery smile. That’s right. My brothers and I decided to change up the celebration after the Chase this time. “Right, brothers?” Not waiting for our nod of acknowledgment, he turns his gaze back to the participants. “The choice is yours. But remember: there’s only one, true way you can alter your future and be the person you wish to be.”

By joining the Alpha Fraternarii, I finish the sentence in my head.

My gaze slides forward, where I’m instantly met by a fierce glare that has my heart thundering in my chest. Fuck yessss…he’s here. Romain. He came. I can’t believe it.

And he recognized me in less than three seconds.

“ J’aurai d? savoir, ” he mouths on a snarl, the accusation hot and true. He’s right. He should have known. Should have known that I’d be the one hunting him tonight. After all, he had it coming from the moment we crossed paths here in Monterrey Castle all those months ago. There’s only so much patience I have. And while it was fun to play with my random prey during the previous games, the knowledge that it is him who came out tonight, him who accepted the invitation, makes me feel fucking exctatic.

After tonight, I’ll have him back where he belongs.

Blowing him a kiss, I nip at my lower lip, enjoying how he glowers as he watches the movement intently. He can’t ignore me, despite his fury. Ohh, if only there was light, it would shine over the lovely way his cheeks catch fire.

“We can give you the tools,” Elder Jacques continues, but I ignore his words, my every being solely focused on Romain. Like me, most of his face is obscured. But those kissable lips are very visible despite the way they are pursed into a tight line. He hasn’t closed the upper two buttons of his school shirt, and it’s almost pathetic the way I’m salivating at the sight of the tiniest sliver of pale skin.

I can’t wait to cut it open with the point of my knife…taste him again, like I did before. His resistance, his blood, his release.

Mine.

The bells start chiming and even Elder Jacques shuts up. Finally. There’s tension in the air, the other participants fidgeting as they’re waiting for instructions. Romain stares me down with balled hands.

Mine.

I casually dig my hand out of my pocket to show him the knife. His eyes turn to slits and the tight line of his lips curls down in disapproval. But I don’t miss the way his shoulders deflate.

Yes, petit amour, that’s for you. It will hurt, but I promise you, I will make you feel better really soon.