Chapter 12

Talon

With her smell on my clothes, on my bed, and now in my bathroom, my wolf was at ease. I slept well through the night.

That day, after I put Harry in his place for touching what was mine, she had run away like a doe, scared of the wolves. It was good because she didn’t know she was actually a lamb in the den of wolves. I was sure that this incident would have become the talk of the pack. Who cared? As long as Lupin was satisfied. He was the one who growled at Harry and demanded blood and his head on a spike. I gave him blood.

After she had run away, I wanted to chase her for some twisted reason, but I chose not to. How could I, the strongest Alpha in North America, go to a lowly human and calm her? Ridiculous. What I did was enough.

I hadn’t seen her after that day. I was working on my restraint, looking after my business and my pack, and focusing on Aria. However, the need to shift to release the tension building up in me was enormous.

That night, when I couldn’t sleep, I let my wolf out to run through the forest. He ran for fifteen minutes and went to sit in the garden, to look at Kimble. It was absolutely shocking when Kimble came to the window and stared at him. I think she was fascinated by Lupin. My chest swelled with pride and a low rumble of approval emanated from my chest.

The next day, in the morning, after I returned from the training session with my warriors, I smelled her scent in my room. Usually, after training intensively, I attack the breakfast table, but I found my feet rushing upstairs to my room. She was about to leave when I opened the door.

When Kimble slammed into me, I steadied her with my hands, but it took every ounce of self-control in me to not jump on and rut her till she screamed my name. Lupin was wagging his tail inside me like a lost puppy. The fact that she still wasn’t eighteen stopped me like an icy shower. And also the fact she was human. She could never handle my voracious needs. Nonsense thoughts again.

Werewolves smell their mates when they turn eighteen. In my twenty-eight years, I hadn’t smelled my mate, which was a relief because I liked to remain focused on my work.

However, after finishing the day’s work, I was on edge and snapping at everyone. Kenzie came into my room and said, “You need to get away as soon as possible. Spend some time on the things we need to get done. You’re behaving like a randy teenager! You’re infatuated by Kimble, and you can’t have any kind of relationship with her. If the werewolf community find out about your indulgences, they’ll ostracize you. I hope you understand the gravity of the situation.”

I clenched my teeth as I rested my head on the back of my office chair. There was no explanation as to why her touch, her scent, and her body were so intoxicating that I forgot to breathe whenever I was close to her. She was like a fire that needed to be snuffed out before I got burned. And so was my obsession with her.

Memories of her squeezing her way out of my room flooded back. The reason I threw all my clothes on the floor was because I wanted her to fold them. I fucking wanted to be wrapped in her scent so I could appease my wolf, so that I could sleep well. For two nights, I had slept pretty well with Aria in my arms.

“Kenzie, don’t fucking bother me,” I snapped. “And she has a name!”

“I’m not bothering you!” he snapped back. “I’m reminding you of your position. Once you invade the Viking pack and take over, you’ll become a force to be reckoned with. No one will challenge your supreme status. And you’re obsessing over a human?” He leaned forward. “Talon, you’re stepping into dangerous territory. The gossip mill is abuzz with how you treat that human girl. Some pack members asked me about your relationship with Aria. If the Alpha couple has problems in their relationship, you know it will affect the pack. And for fuck’s sake, you have the largest pack, with over two thousand members. What are you even thinking?”

Kenzie was right. It was time to tamp down my feelings, for my pack’s sake. I couldn’t risk obsessing over a human who wasn’t my mate. Mate? What a ridiculous notion! Surely, the Moon Goddess couldn’t pair me up with a weak, pathetic human from a lowly community and who I’d had to buy.

Taking a deep breath of determination, I conceded. “You’re right, Kenzie. This is just an obsession.” Then I changed the topic. “Tell me about Liam. That motherfucker is a pain in my ass!”

Kenzie chuckled. “Happy that you’re back on track.” He slipped me a folder. “These are Liam’s activities. He’s in talks with some of our ally Alphas to leave you and join him.”

“Fuck the bastard!” I growled.

We went on to discuss more important matters, and even though Kimble was in my mind, I made a deliberate effort to push her back, but not without me getting pushed to the edge of insanity. Where was she? What was she doing? Had she eaten anything?

When I returned to my room, I found Aria all dressed up.

She came to me and kissed me. “Alpha Talon, Fiona’s throwing a party for us tonight. I know you’re very busy, but it would mean a lot to me if you would accompany me.”

Aria and Fiona were good friends. Fiona’s husband was an important pack member with a good business. Even though I was in no mood to go, I didn’t refuse her. “Let me get ready,” I offered.

Pushing down Lupin’s need to see Kimble again, I went to take a bath. Her smell was too strong there. I clenched my teeth as my cock swelled. Before I could make sense of what I was doing, I grasped my cock and fisted it. Imagining how her red lips would look around my cock. I leaned with one hand on the tile in front of me as hot water cascaded down my back. “Kim… Kim… Kim…” Fuck, I should have thought of Aria, but I couldn’t. The need to thrust inside Kimble was as urgent as my need to breathe.

I increased my pace, and in three measured strokes, I erupted. My cum ejaculated in ropes, spraying on the tiles in front of me. In order not to roar, I stuffed my mouth with my fist and bit it hard. Fuck.

The orgasm was so hard that I sagged against the wall, wondering whether I’d reached the end of my life and my career. That one girl would be my death if I didn’t stop myself.

“Alpha Talon,” Aria called, sounding worried. “Do you need something?”

Shit. I think she knew that I came in the bathroom. “No,” I replied. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

While I was getting ready, I had this urge to look at Kimble’s room from my balcony. Fuck. I sounded like a peeping Tom. But I controlled my stupid urges and went to the party with Aria.

This was normal. A party with Aria and her friends. Pushing Kimble to the back of my mind, I danced and had tons of booze. Did it help me think less about her? No. And my fucker wolf didn’t even get inebriated.

My edginess returned. Aria twined her arms around my neck. “What’s bothering you?” she asked, her breath laced with mint and liquor.

“Nothing,” I replied, placing my hands on her arms.

She turned around and pressed her ass against me. She swayed it right over my cock. Just like before, I should have caught her and taken her to a room somewhere and fucked her senseless. And, to my horror, my fucking cock didn’t answer her booty call.

My wolf was going crazy, wanting to come out. It was like he was growing feral and wild with each passing minute. Removing her hand, I grunted, “Not now, Aria. I have work to do.”

So, unable to handle it anymore, I snuck out of the party and gave Lupin my skin. He broke free like a bird caged for centuries and ran through the forest like a hurricane to reach the back of the servants’ quarters. I growled at him and scolded him, urging him to go back to the party. But as he waited there, something was amiss. Her scent had faded.

‘Go back, Lupin,’ I said, sensing his deathly intent. ‘Let me come out.’

Lupin peeled his lips back and snarled. He was like a dangerous predator on the verge of losing it.

‘Lupin, she must have gone to the restaurant. Don’t do anything. Let me out.’ I had to coax him for a long time before he gave me back my skin.

After that, chaos ensued.

As I rushed back to my room, I opened my mind link and snarled at Kenzie, ‘Kimble is missing. Find her!’

Kenzie didn’t have the balls to argue with me because of the wrath I was feeling. It was palpable through our bond. ‘I’ll send our warriors to find her,’ he said and shut the connection.

Blistering, smoky rage burned through me. I paced my room like a caged mountain lion who wanted to break free and kill anyone in his way.

Aria came back around midnight with a pouty face. “Where did you go, Alpha Talon? You’ve never done that before.”

Calming my wolf, who was engulfed in a tempest of fury, was becoming so difficult that I ignored her. She winced when I inadvertently glared at her, my eyes blazing like infernos.

“Alpha Talon, why are you so angry?” she asked, face etched with fear and concern.

Through my clenched teeth, I said, “Kimble is missing!” My biceps bulged, rippling taut as steel cables, ready to unleash destruction. It was then that I realized my claws had slipped out.

“Missing, as in?” she asked with wide eyes.

“My wolves are looking for her, so I can’t say whether she’s run away or dead!”

Aria swallowed as she sat on the bed, her body taut with tension. “There’s something I’d like to say,” she said in a soft voice.

I snapped my head at her. “What?”

She pursed her lips and lowered her head. “Forgive me, Alpha Talon, but the other day, when she was folding your clothes, she said she wanted to run away rather than do such menial jobs.”

I froze, my mind going numb. She ran away because of me. Rage replaced guilt and then it came back with greater force. “So you think she’s run away?”

Aria took a deep breath. “I know that girl’s impulsive, but I don’t think she’d be foolish enough to run away. After all, the security of the Alpha compound is very tight. I feel that she’s been a thankless teenager. She should’ve realized that you paid three million dollars to save her from a hellhole. I’ve always tried to explain to her how nice you’ve been. If she has any brains at all, she’ll come back.”

In the hollow of my chest, a maelstrom of emotions churned, ranging from betrayal to desperation to an unrelenting need to get to her and get her back.

“You should forget about somebody as selfish as her, Alpha Talon,” Aria continued. “Three million dollars is nothing to you.” She stood and placed her hands on my chest. “Please calm down. Let me get you some coffee. It’ll help.” Snaking her arms to my neck, she lightly brushed it with her fingers. “It’s nothing, okay? Though I don’t think she’s run away or gone missing, you mustn’t spend your energy and emotions on her. Please, Alpha Talon. I don’t like seeing you so riled up. Why don’t you focus on our wedding instead?”

Our gazes locked and I felt… nothing. My rage was still the same, but my mind was messier. I stepped back from her, putting distance between us. I didn’t like what she said. Suddenly I spun and jumped from the balcony, landing on all fours on the ground below.

I tipped my head up and let out a piercing, deafening howl that reverberated through the moonlit silence. Kenzie and the others were still searching for her. I loped toward the forest, digging earth with my sharp claws, leaving deep scars in my wake. The forest around me shrank, quivering under the weight of my seething rage. It took Kimble escaping for me to realize her absence was like a gaping wound. And in my frenzied quest to find her, I became a whirlwind of vengeance.

For ten fucking days, we searched but still couldn’t find her.