Chapter 17

Talon

I called Shirley to ask about Kimble every other hour. She had eaten her lunch and gone back to sleep. In the evening, she got up and took a stroll in the garden under the watchful eyes of my Gamma warriors, then returned to my room and read some books. I ordered Shirley to give her dinner in my room. I wanted to join her, but Kenzie had given me a disturbing report about Liam and his allies. Reading it ate all the precious time I could have spent with her. When I was finally able to return, she was in bed. I quickly had my dinner and slipped in beside her, inhaling her scent, calming my wolf. I think she sensed my presence.

“Can I ask you a question?” she said in the darkness surrounding us. She was still wearing my shirt and my boxers, and my wolf was salivating, somersaulting inside me, coaxing me to touch her.

It was strange how he went from all rage and seething to being so calm and joyful. Lupin’s mood swings without her had reached an unhealthy level. He had become a danger to even my pack members. Kenzie was doing his best to keep me away from them. I was snapping at anyone and everyone after Kimble left. It was a challenge not to get into fights with other wolves. Still, during training sessions I may have harmed some wolves, sending them to the hospital.

The moonlight poured through the window, cascading over her contours, illuminating her skin that resembled delicate porcelain. Her pale blonde hair, splayed across the pillow, gleamed like a river of silk. I was captivated by her as if the very essence of night had distilled into this moment. I wanted to reach out to her, run my fingers over her smooth skin and fist her hair, but I restrained myself. Soon, I was going to do that and then some.

“Ask away,” I said, cradling my head on my arm.

“Where’s Aria?”

It was a question I’d expected. “She’s gone.”

She took a deep breath in and I felt her heart rate increase. Instead of asking the reason for Aria leaving, she asked, “How did you find me?”

“I have a wonderful IT team, Kimble,” I breathed. “They tracked every phone call made for you or with your name. That’s how Harry was caught. I expelled Aria from my pack.”

Her breath hitched and I wondered if she would turn to look at me, but she didn’t. Instead, she went silent. After a few minutes, her breath evened out. I continued to watch her till I couldn’t. Over the last ten days, sleep had been the last thing on my mind. Kenzie realized that I’d go insane without her and so did everything he could to find her.

Several days later, when we tracked Harry’s call to Aria, I wanted to rip Harry limb from limb. But Kenzie had already done the job for me. As for Aria, she had run away before I could confront her. I guess she had a solid network here. I was going to catch her and throw her and all those associated with her into my dungeons forever. Maybe kill them.

She sent Kimble to my enemy. Correction. To my unmated enemy, who was an Alpha. That filthy bastard wanted to marry my Kimble. Harry sang before Kenzie shredded him.

I tracked them to the viewpoint just outside his territory, and the rest is history. He told Kimble to run from me. Again. Lupin lost it. Hell, I lost it. I ran after her and picked her up as Kenzie and my wolves tackled Liam. Once she was safely sitting in my lap, I ordered my men to go back to my pack. I had clutched her tightly against my body, starved of her scent and feel, scared she would run away from me, scared that if she ran away, I would go moon crazy. Fuck, the feeling was like a thousand knives piercing through my soul. I didn’t want to experience it again.

The deal I made with her was to distract her from my plan.

When I woke up in the morning, I was in for a surprise. Kimble was sprawled all over my body. Her arms were curled around my chest, one leg was over my boner, and the other one resting beside my thigh. This sensation was… divine. Electricity jolted down my body, covering me in sweat, coating my insides in need so intense that I could die.

Was this the reason I’d slept so peacefully? I looked at the clock on the wall and it was 12 PM. When was the last time I’d slept so late?

Kimble had become my addiction long before I cared to admit it. She was a drug I couldn’t live without.

She shifted, her thigh rubbing my granite-hard cock. My imagination ran wild but I kept my arms stretched away from her. Afraid that she would wake up, I didn’t breathe. Afraid that I wouldn’t feel her body, I didn’t move.

She murmured something in her sleep and curled up on me, rubbing my penis, making it swell all the more. I was going to have the bluest balls in the history of werewolves today. Her smell was intoxicating. I never thought this day would arrive.

Suddenly, she jerked awake, gasping. She whipped her head toward me and I stared into those beautiful, round, baby blue eyes.

“OMG!” she said. “I told you, you can’t touch me!” She moved, pushing her hands against my chest. “What’s that poking my belly?” Then her mouth dropped. “Oh!” A beautiful blush spread to her neck and she immediately slid down, her hair spilling around her. “You pulled me onto you!” she accused, pulling her hair back, her gaze flitting to my tented boxers.

I cradled my arms behind my head and let her look at me. “I didn’t,” I replied as quietly as possible, hating the emptiness.

She scooted away from me. “You’re lying!”

I hated the space between us now. “I’m not.”

She got up and tied her hair in a messy bun. I could see her silhouette through my shirt as sunlight filled the room. Her beautiful, round breasts were perked up, her nipples grazing the fabric.

She shot a glare at me. “Oh please! I know people like you!”

I raised my eyebrow as anger bubbled inside me. “How many people do you know who are like me, Kimble?”

“Many.”

“Consider them dead.”

She drew in air sharply. “I don’t believe you!”

I pointed with my chin toward the ceiling where a camera was installed. “Got that installed for you yesterday. You can check the recording.” Even I wanted to check the recording. It was going to be my favorite reel of the day.

“Cool! I want to see it.” She got up and walked to the bathroom, and I couldn’t peel my gaze off her hips that swayed with every step.

I mind linked my IT chief, Larry, and asked him to send the recording to my phone. When she returned, I showed her the recording.

Sometime during the night, she had crawled toward me and climbed on. There was a point when she clung to me like a koala. Her face heated up with every second she watched. Moments later, she simply sprawled over me like I was her personal mattress.

“Th—this has never happened to me before,” she said in a breathy voice.

“It’s fine. I’m not judging you.”

Kimble was mine. She just didn’t know it. Yet.

While I went to the office and tried my level best to stay away from her, I ended up ordering clothes for her, which included ten pairs of bikinis. Time stretched on until 5 PM, because Kenzie insisted I stay there. Two of my spies had returned from Portland and had information about the Viking pack. It looked like the Alpha had built tall, strong walls that even a bird couldn’t fly inside around his territory.

The meeting went on for so long that my wolf got edgy. I checked my watch and it was fucking 5:30 PM.

“Are you in a hurry to leave?” Kenzie asked, his brows furrowing as soon as the spies left.

“No,” I lied, stretching my limbs casually to affirm my lie.

“Great, because we have to talk about the Moonlit Choosing Ritual.” He slid a file across my table. “That file contains information about Aria. She’s been fiddling with our funds.”

I clenched my teeth as I stared at the file. The bitch had run away with my money and I knew it. Well, she was gonna pay for it. Soon.

“What do you want to discuss about the ritual?” I asked, bristling.

“As you know, we’re hosting it. You have to choose a place to tie up the girls. And, most importantly, you’re taking part in it.”

I let out a rough exhale.

“You’ve been getting out of it for too many years now, Alpha Talon,” Kenzie grated. “I know Aria’s not there, but there will be seven girls at the Choosing, out of which three are daughters of our ally Alphas.”

I closed my eyes, waiting for Kenzie to finish, blocking out his words. However, he continued to go on and on. I couldn’t take it anymore and got up, which startled him, and walked out of the office. “Alpha Talon!”

I swung my jacket over my shoulder and strode out.

When I reached home, I saw Kimble in the garden, talking to one of the warriors. I recognized him. He was in the day patrol, and the fucker was flirting with Kimble.

Rage stained my vision red. My hands folded into tight fists.

There were other gardeners and Omegas watching them with curiosity. It was easy to see the lust in his eyes. He gave her two freshly cut roses and grazed her skin with his fingers. Suddenly, he groped her hips and pulled her to him. “Kimble—”

Before I knew it I was striding toward them, my eyes glued to his engorged cock, which I was about to dismember.

“Alpha!” he said, fear humming in his voice. “I—” He stepped away from Kimble who cringed. I stood in front of her, shielding her view from him. My fangs had slipped out, ready to pierce his fucking throat and kill him.

Suddenly, he spun and started running toward the fence. I jumped over the fence toward the driveway, where the lamplight spilled on the asphalt. I reached the side of a flower bed, from where I scooped a rock and hurtled it toward him, aiming at his head.

I closed the distance between us and, with a snarl, jumped high in the air, landing right behind him. I grabbed his collar and pulled him back. Kimble yelled my name. The tires of oncoming cars screeched as I locked eyes with the warrior, now on the ground, scrambling away. He was pale, and I loved pale at that moment. Because I was going to color him red.

“Alpha, I’m sorry!” he rasped. “I—I didn’t know.”

Heavy breaths tore from my chest as rage descended on me like a tempestuous sea. My fingers tightened around his throat. Like a drug, his fear invaded my senses. “Two things. First, you were fucking touching something that’s mine.”

“No, I swear, I didn’t know—”

“Second, this is the most important part, motherfucker.” I leaned close to his ear. “That woman who you touched and got your cock erect…?”

His lips quivered as I balled my hand into a fist.

“She is mine.”

With a snarl, I rose and my first blow hit his jaw. The next one hit his forehead. Then the temple. Jaw, throat, temple. One after the other. I landed a punch to his nose, shattering it, spilling a lot of blood. Blood coated my knuckles. His jaw broke and his teeth flew out. But I couldn’t control the madness that had descended on me.

I was fueled by thinking of his cock tenting in his pants when he touched her. And I kept hitting. Until he seized. Until he died.

I stopped when I calmed down. With labored breath, I snapped my eyes up to look at the spectators. None of them had the audacity to approach me. A low growl emanated from my chest—a warning that no one could mess with me. They couldn’t. They inclined their necks in pure submission, which was what my wolf liked.

Even if someone complained about the dead warrior, he wouldn’t dare to challenge my deed.

My clothes were soaked with his blood as I got up and walked to my bedroom, where I knew Kimble would be, shaking in fear.

She wasn’t. But she was disturbed. “Did you kill him?” she asked, her voice faint.

“I think so,” I replied as I leaned against the doorframe with my bruised knuckles, watching her flushed skin, impressed by her boldness.

She nodded, and I was sure she understood the repercussions of her flirting with anyone.

“This wasn’t the first time he did that with me,” she said quietly. “He—he groped me when I’d just arrived.”

I wanted to resurrect the fucker and kill him again.

Over the next few days, Kimble would tie her hand to the bedpost to stop rolling over on me, but I untied it every fucking time after she went off to sleep.

She watched the camera footage one day, feeling frustrated, and shouted at me. I just shrugged and said, “You asked me not to touch you. I touched the rope, not you.” A wolf could only try. Because how could I lose the opportunity of her sleeping on me? Call me sly. Who cares? I knew she wouldn’t get out of my bed, because of the deal. What she didn’t know was that the only freedoms she ever got were those I provided.

One day, when I returned in the evening, she was watching the video I sent. All her new dresses were lying scattered on the bed. She turned to look at me, her face morphing into anger. She lashed out at me. “Josh was so much better than you. He never tried to touch me!”

Jealousy seared my insides, charring my soul. “I know who Josh is, Kimble. Don’t make me kill him, but let me tell you this—it wasn’t your mother who sold you out to Madam Nella. It was Josh. And for just a few hundred dollars.”

“No!” she rasped. “That’s impossible!”

I smirked and sipped my whiskey, watching her struggle with the revelation. I was expecting her to brave it, but a tear escaped her eyes and I gripped my crystal tight, hating that I made her cry. “The Moonlit Choosing Ritual is in two days. Come with me to select a place for it.” I wanted to distract her and also let her see the place.

She didn’t react to me for a long time, mourning the loss of a friend she thought was true to her. I didn’t want to tell her about Josh’s betrayal when Kenzie fished out the information from Brute, but this time I acted out of jealousy. I promised myself I would be more careful next time. I gulped my whiskey and sat down in front of her. “He doesn’t deserve your grief.”

She took a ragged breath. “Yeah…” she said with a quivering chin. Wiping her tears, she got up. “I’ll be ready in a few.”

She picked up a pink dress and went to the bathroom to change into it. Soon this would be fixed. When she returned, I saw the pink dress hugged her body in all the right places. My wolf drooled. My chest rumbled with a dangerous growl, which came out as a… purr. Lupin wanted to come out and fuck her in his bestial form. The heck I would let him do that.

As we drove to the woods, I asked her, “What do you want on your eighteenth birthday?”

“Freedom.”

I chuckled because I knew she’d say that. “Do you remember that I took a raincheck on my condition?”

“Yes,” she replied, looking out at the woods.