Chapter 12

All About Chief

He wasn't a bad guy, not really. Everyone wanted to paint him in shades of black, but he was just a regular vampire. It wasn't his fault he had inherited the power, strength, and ability to lead. They were just upset because that meant they would be forced to do things his way. His spineless brother, Hunter, okay, he wasn't so spineless anymore, had stolen his mates. If Laurel were at his side, he would be ruling half the world by now. Rain would have been the cherry on top, so sweet.

While he had considered Joey, she simply didn't have the power Laurel did, nor would she ever. Such a disappointment! He thought if he messed with her, and doing that was so much fun, that Laurel would come to save her. Rain and Hunter had come out to play, but Laurel had stayed home. You would think that it would be no problem to get to her with both her protectors gone, but you would be wrong. They had a powerful spell around the property and when he had attempted to enter, it had sent him flying back thirty feet into an electric pole. A human would have been killed, even a weaker supernatural might have been. Oh, hell, it had hurt. It was just one more thing on his long list of grievances against Hunter, Rain, Laurel, and now white wolves in general because he blamed Laurel's whole family for being against him.

They would pay, they would all pay. He had the means to cause unlimited problems for each and every white wolf he came across. Joey had managed to slip through his fingers a few times, but her luck would run out. She only had the one mate and she had none of Laurel's vampire powers. His phone rang and he smiled in anticipation. He had sent three mercenaries after Joey. He preferred his own wolves, but his numbers had been depleted.

"Chief," he answered with a growl impatient to hear the good news. The long silence on the other end didn't bode well. Then he heard them fighting over who had to talk to him. It made him grateful that they hadn't been paid yet. He always added the rider paid upon successful completion of job when he dealt with the so called professionals. Experience had been an efficient teacher.

"Talk already!" Chief ordered.

"They got away, but none of us was captured," the voice said. As if he cared if they were caught. Morons, he had to deal with morons. At least his own would fight to the death, which was the reason he had few left.

"We'll give it another try, but only if you pay us a little advance," said another voice.

"When hell freezes over!" he said as he hung up.

At least he had caused the white wolves and the council a small aggravation. It might be the last one Joey would receive from him. Word was Naqi was taking her back to Wilde and that was beyond his reach. He didn't care, she wasn't that much fun to play with. Now he would find another and another after that. Maybe in time he would find one as strong as Laurel that he could force to be with him. With a strong mate at his side, the world wouldn't stand a chance.

Chief knew he was going to have to go into hiding. That damn council member Damon McDougal, and his trained pup, Cage McDougal, were hunting him. Now that they'd added Will Woods that damned bitch that he swore had bigger balls than any male he knew, and threw in Rain's brother, Dare, not to mention several strong witches, he was outmanned and outgunned. He who fights and runs away and all that.

He planned to take his toys and hide out until he got the chance to cause more problems without taking a risk or find a white wolf worthy of his superior ass. It really wasn't fair that they had ganged up on him like they had. Meanwhile he had lots of things to concentrate on. He was moving his operations west. Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado today, the rest of the country tomorrow.

Blood drug sales were up through the roof, but his losses in Kansas City, both money and personnel, had hurt. Now he had to rebuild his business with just four small clubs to start off with. He was opening a new club in Tulsa this weekend, but he intended to keep the drugs, the sex slaves, and himself, away from it until it was well established.

As he sat there, he was reminiscing about all things that had gone right before things had gone so wrong. He had gotten Mr. Super Stud Trent hooked on the blood drugs using one of his classier whores to slip the drugs in his drink. Fool was so ramped up over the sex, he didn't suspect a thing. Typical wolf which was why he used vampires for anything that required higher thinking. Wolves were fine for muscle and physical shit, but when brains were needed, they let you down.

The old farmhouse had been great for blood wolves and prisoners. Once Conrad had escaped, he had pulled out all useful prisoners moving them to his auction house in Mexico. It was the best location and the authorities there could be relied on to look the other way or even help out for the right price. Since he had hated losing that farmhouse, he owed Conrad one for that. He was a fair guy so maybe he'd call it even for the time he had kept Conrad in prison. Chief was actually a great guy and why so many assholes thought he wasn't, was beyond him. They were just jealous because he was strong and had the best leadership skills.

Laurel didn't know him, or she would have chosen him, Rain would have too. This was all his ungrateful brother's fault. He didn't appreciate the way Chief had raised him, given him a job, and helped him by making all the decisions that Hunter wasn't strong enough or smart enough to make. His brother was just envious, that was all. Only one brother could lead, and Hunter was eaten up with jealousy because Chief was that brother. It was lonely at the top when you were envied by all those below. Anger shot through him, and his hands slammed onto his desk. The sound of wood cracking filled the room. Another inferior desk that broke in two from a hit of his fists.

He needed to hit something that would scream so he went to the basement where his slaves were kept. Nivea, ah yes, she suffered so beautifully. She would hold off screaming as long as she could. Such a brave little thing, so pretty and shy. The lovely bruises he would give her would turn the most delightful shades of blue, purple, and eventually the greens and yellows were so intriguing. He didn't think he could ever bear to part with her. It was a good thing he had her little brother to insure she couldn't leave. He walked a little faster as he anticipated his fun.

XXXX

Damon sat back in his office chair. He hated being called into work when Marissa was so near going into labor. He looked across the desk at Trent who sat unrestrained, his face tight with anger. Will stood leaning against the wall looking bored, but he knew she listened to every word. Dare stood on the other side looking anything, but bored. They were all angry, but they had no one to use their anger on.

"He just disappeared into thin air. He must have had an escape route, or he wasn't there when we raided the club," Damon said sighing heavily.

"I want a team to go after him with," Trent demanded.

Damon lifted his brow at Trent. "You're in no position to make demands. We saved your ass, you should be grateful. If you had been under the influence of the blood much longer, we'd have had to put you down."

Trent turned red from a combination of anger at his situation and embarrassment at having been slipped blood drugs by a beautiful female. He should have been more careful, but really, few males were. Males always wanted to fuck so why would you suspect a female would drug you? He was even more ready to screw than the average male and until now, he had never had a female drug him. She'd been so beautiful, classy, and sexy. Nivea had turned him on like no female had ever before and while he wanted so desperately to hate her, he just couldn't. If he was honest, he wanted her still.

It wasn't her fault Chief enslaved her. He must have something he held over her head to get her to do these things for him. Trent wanted to free her and kill that bastard Chief. It was all he lived for, and he found that since he'd bedded Nivea, other females no longer held any appeal. He had thought maybe if he met the right one, but Will was gorgeous, perfect even, and she didn't appeal to him. Sure, he knew Dare considered her his, but he had never been one to let unofficial claims bother him. Eventually those two would get it together, but meanwhile he considered them both free agents. Not that males appealed to him, he loved the ladies, or now the lady.

Will scowled, things weren't going how she had expected them to and on top of everything else, she had to deal with Dare. She glanced over at him and felt herself grow wet. His head jerked towards her, and he smiled. Damn supernatural senses picked up arousal quicker than anything. She would pretend she was interested in Trent, but it was too late, Dare knew better. That damn Chief escaped regardless of their best laid plans, and she didn't know how to find the jerk off. They needed a break, a clue, something. He was good and he didn't mind sacrificing his soldiers to the cause. Dead men tell no tales and all that.

Dare lifted his head and took another deep breath. Will's arousal smelled so sweet, he wanted to eat her up. He knew she wanted him, why did she fight it so? They were good together, not just the sexual attraction between them, but on missions and when they had to fight. He was glad she was aroused and suffering since he ached so bad, he hurt. It wasn't like he hadn't let her know he wanted her, he had even tried to seduce her, but she ran like a scared virgin, which he knew she definitely wasn't. He would just have to deal with his frustration, and she would either give in or eventually, he would move on.

Damon didn't know what to do, not really. "Why don't we form a task force across the nearby states and see if we can't find him?"

"I want in!" Trent said again in a demanding way. He looked up at Damon and saw the forbidding look on his face. "Please." It hurt to add it, but it was the only way to get Damon to give in.

"Alright, Trent, as long as you follow your team leader's instructions," Damon said.

"Of course," Trent said, giving in too quickly earning him a scowl from Damon. He was nobody's fool, and he gave Trent a long, hard look.

"Dare, you and Will are in charge of the task force. Get a team together and fax me the list. Come up with a plan and fax me a proposal pronto. I'm going home now, you have my number, but don't call me!"

Damon hurried out, happy to be going home. Will and Dare weren't very happy, but he didn't give a shit. Trent was happy and that one worried him. He hoped Dare and Will kept a close eye on Trent and then he just pushed it to the back of his mind. He was far more worried about his mate and how her pregnancy was progressing. Now he sincerely hoped no one else called him over an emergency because he might just tell them to fuck off and find someone who wasn't taking family leave.

Finally, he made it home and was at peace as soon as he scented his mate. She was sitting at the kitchen table working on her computer, because she was still keeping up with her business and her family, her huge extended white wolf family. His mate was also still hunting her sister, Alyssa, who had disappeared like she had never existed. Marissa had hoped so much that Alyssa would come home before the pups were born. Damon moved to her as she stood to meet him. He wrapped his arms around her gently and softly kissed her lips. The babes had dropped, and it would be soon, and he had no intention of leaving her side until the babes were in their arms.

XXXX

Hunter was tired and he knew Rain was too. They had elected to fly straight home to their mate, Laurel, as soon as the club had been raided. There was really nothing more that they could do while Dare and Will could handle tying up the last of the loose ends. He was beginning to think that Chief would never be caught and that he and his two mates, Laurel and Rain, would never be free of the fear that Chief would come after them again. His own twin brother had turned out to be the biggest threat, not only to his happiness, but to his very life. His brother wanted his mates, especially Laurel, and he didn't care that they didn't want him. If anything, he took it as a challenge to take them and make them accept him.

Rain was glad they were home and he had gone mostly so Hunter wouldn't have to face his evil crazy ass brother alone. He had missed home and Laurel the whole time they had been gone. It was his hope his brother Dare, who was their pack alpha, would take out Chief with the help of Will who was Laurel's sister and also the leader of some type of military team that specialized in dealing with bad supernaturals.

XXXX

Will looked at Dare wondering if he was as reluctant to be paired with her as she was to be stuck with him. No, it wasn't possible he could be as reluctant as she was, no one could be. He was a gorgeous male, and she was attracted to him until he opened his mouth. When they worked together, he was intelligent, thoughtful, and well spoken, but as soon as things got personal between them, he acted like a crude man whore. So, he was experienced, big deal, he could try to pretend he wasn't only out for sex. Maybe she should just find something to stick in his big mouth when he opened it? The thought, originally not sexual, started her thinking about personal things to stick in his mouth. Oh God, she was as bad as he was. Why did she have to want him? She did and she couldn't stop, she wanted him and lately, no one else.

Dare examined her beautiful face. She was his, he knew it, but she resisted him at every turn. Anything he said either came out wrong or she purposely misunderstood it. He'd had enough and he was going to set things between them straight if he had to go caveman and tie her to his bed for a week. By then, if the sex were half as good as he thought it would be, she would never want to leave. He would try a romantic approach first, and he'd start off by sending flowers, females loved that, didn't they?

"Let's get a team pulled together. I want to get this done so I can get back to my usual missions," Will said with a sour look on her face.

"How many people should we put on a team like this? We've got Trent here, your team, Cage and his temporary partner, Candi for the office work, and the two of us. Is that enough?"

"If not, we'll add as we see fit," Will replied.

"Sounds good to me. Trent, what are your skills besides fighting?"

"I've done a little investigative work. I'm training to be an arson investigator back home as well as a firefighter."

"We need someone to help Candi find the clubs that Chief is rumored to have set up or any he might be setting up anywhere in the country."

"Oh, an easy job," Trent said sarcastically.

"Don't sweat it," Will said. "One of my guys is good with computers. He'll work with Candi."

"You know the odds aren't good for finding Chief unless he gets ratted out or messes up in a big way," Dare said.

"I know, but it's all we can do. We'll start out on it full time and as time passes, they'll scale us back. Sometimes it just takes perseverance and time to get what you need done," Will admitted.

"You guys are fucking depressing me. We need to get this guy because he is hurting people as we speak," Trent growled.

"Man, you're preaching to the choir, but it doesn't make the wheels of justice turn any quicker," Dare said.

They'd get on it and stay on it, hoping for the best, but expecting progress would be slow. Dare could already see Trent was going to be trouble of the hot headed kind.