Chapter 6
Chapter six
Frankie
Agrowl trickles from my chest, but it’s not aimed at anyone in particular. I’m alone in my vehicle, after all. Hell, I slept in this fucking thing. No, the growl is one of frustration.
And jealousy.
No, that’s not what I’m feeling. I don’t feel threatened by Seth’s friends. I don’t feel as if they are taking him away from me. I have questionable morals most times, but I’m not delusional about my…relationship with the young man. My actions are what would drive him away from me, not his friends.
No, what I feel as I watch him with the two other men in the coffee shop is one of envy. I want to be able to sit next to him in public. I want to be able to hold his hand as he laughs at a joke. Hell, I want to take him on an actual date, which shocks the fuck out of me.
I suck in a breath. Shit, I want it all.
And I’m not a man who has ever been interested in settling down.
It’s a ridiculous concept. I’m an enforcer for the Vicellia Family.
Even if he was interested in a serious relationship, I can’t give him a cushy, white picket fence life; I’m not a guy with a nine-to-five office job.
I swallow the next growl that tries to escape. My wolf is restless, annoyed that our time with Seth was interrupted last night.
I was stretching him out when I got a call. Normally, I would have just ignored it, but the call was from Vincent. You don’t ignore a call from the Don of the family.
My wolf whines as I watch Seth through the coffee shop window. It was stupid of me to think a simple text would have been a sufficient report, but the need to see Seth was overpowering. It’s as if he’s my drug and I can’t go a day without seeing him.
But right now, my case of blue balls has become critical because I couldn’t just answer the damn phone and get back to Seth.
No, I had to go back to the family house.
Even though it was after midnight, Vincent insisted on a face-to-face meeting.
By the time that was finished and I got back to Seth, he was already awake.
I was leaning against his front door, listening to him making his coffee, when I realized I had left my improvised toy inside him when I rushed out.
I’ve been so careful up until now, and this time, I’ve potentially fucked it all up.
But at least I didn’t leave anything truly incriminating, like my wallet.
I won’t lie, I thought a lot about what he must have thought, waking up with that thing inside him.
Did it feel good when he pulled it out? Did he perhaps finish what I had started before doing so?
I let those thoughts entertain me all morning, and now, I was horny, hungry, desperate.
I settle more comfortably into the leather seat, windows rolled down so I can enjoy the nice weather. Everyone jokes that if you don’t like the weather in Missouri, just wait a few hours and it’ll change.
But for now, it’s sunny with a nice breeze that makes the mid-eighty temperature rather pleasant.
I don’t feel pleasant, though. Just because I’m a shifter, doesn’t mean my back approves of sleeping in a car. Especially my car. It’s not built for comfortable sleeping and I think I got maybe two hours.
Could I have just gone home? Sure, but that would have meant leaving Seth, and the thought of doing that caused a physical pain. Like someone was trying to dig my heart out of my chest using a hand trowel.
Which is why I’m sitting across the street from the coffee shop, watching as Seth leaves shortly after his friends.
He heads down the street toward his apartment, a small smile on his face.
It’s only because I’m keeping such a close eye on him that I see the man slink out of the shadows of the alley Seth is passing and yanks him back.
I’m out of my car and sprinting across the road before I even consciously realize what I’m doing. But my wolf does and he’s pissed. How dare anyone lay hands on my Seth! He belongs to me, and I protect what is mine.
With a growl, I enter the alley, the sounds of scuffling and muffled shouts directing me further down the alley. And yet, I can’t pick up Seth’s scent. It’s like where I know he should be, there’s nothing but a void that smells faintly of ozone.
The other man, though, smells of rot, overcooked cabbage, and too much cayenne. I wrinkle my nose at his stench, at the way it wants to cling to my olfactory receptors like a needy hookup. A skunk would smell better than him.
“You gonna be a good lil’ whore?” the man asks in a raspy, sing-song voice.
My wolf goes feral, and I agree. Who the fuck does this low life skunk think he is to say such things to my man? I’ll rip him apart and make tripe out of his intestines.
I finally round a half-filled dumpster to find Seth being crowded against the stained cinderblocks, eyes wide with fear and shimmering with unshed tears. A grimy hand is wrapped around his throat, pinning him to the wall.
“Yeah, he said you’re good at taking a cock. Said I can have my fill of you if you don’t run back home. Might take it any damn way. Might be a slut, but I bet you’re still tight.”
The feral growl that has been building up in my chest barrels out of my throat in a snarl that has the pigeons on the street fluttering into the closest trees. Seth lets out a strangled scream, struggling to get free of his assailant.
I can feel my wolf’s rage as he mentally throws himself at the confines of my body, trying to get me to fully shift. But that’s too dangerous. I can rip Seth apart in my fury just as easily as the skunk beside him.
The assailant looks over his shoulder at me, bloodshot eyes going wide at the sight of me. I let my wolf peek through, allowing my claws to extend as I unclench my fists. I want to rip into his belly and feed him his intestines, but I can’t do that just yet. I need answers.
“And who exactly has said such things?” I give him a smile as my fangs lengthen, giving him a good show as I let out another growl.
Seth lets out a strained gasp as the man’s hand squeezes his throat in reflex.
“He’s mine! Jake gave him to me!” The rest of the man’s words are garbled as he turns back to face Seth. Tears seep from the corners of his eyes as he tries to pry the man’s hand from his throat.
My wolf howls in fury. The need to protect Seth is obliterating my ability to think rationally.
Nothing else matters except ensuring his safety.
I grab the man by the scruff of his neck, my claws digging into the sallow skin.
He squeals as I yank him away from Seth, but he is surprisingly strong.
He refuses to let go of Seth’s throat, crushing until Seth’s face turns bright red.
With another snarl, I grab his arm with my other hand and squeeze. He grunts but then starts cackling, a wet sound like there are thicker things than just spit in his throat. I don’t have time to deal with a crazed junkie. Not with Seth on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen.
Letting go of the back of the man’s neck, I make sure I have a good grip on his forearm before driving my fist upward into the underside of the elbow. With a sickeningly wet pop, the arm bends in the wrong direction, hand going lax as the man howls and squirms in my grasp.
Seth drops to the ground with a pained gasp, hands immediately going to his throat to check the damage. Bright red handprints encircle his neck, marks that will bruise by tomorrow.
The man struggles weakly in my grasp, going between that disturbing laugh and pained whimpering. As much as I want to check on Seth and whisk him away to my place to care for him, but I need to dispose of the trash I’m holding first.
“Little slut…Jake gonna make you pay,” the man slurs. I let out my own laugh as I readjust my grip on his arm.
“Highly doubtful,” I growl out before wrenching my hands apart. The shrill scream the man lets out bounces off the building walls. Hot blood spurts over my hands as I drop the severed arm, making sure the blood spray is directed away from Seth.
“Hey, where my arm go?” the man murmurs. He sways on his feet when I let him go, confused eyes staring at his bloody stump. “Man, where my arm? Why you took my arm?”
My wolf snorts in disgust as the man takes a few stumbling steps away from me before collapsing. He doesn’t even manage to get his remaining hand in front of his face before it hits the asphalt. The gushing blood slows to a trickle as I walk around him and kneel beside Seth’s groggy form.
He slaps at me with shaking arms, unfocused eyes streaming tears. My heart clenches painfully in my chest.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok. He’s gone.” The words come out on a rough growl, and he shrinks away from me. My wolf is still right there at the surface, wanting equally to rip the dead man to tiny shreds and also curl up in Seth’s lap and offer as much comfort as possible.
“Please,” he whimpers, “please, don’t hurt me.”
I soften my voice, willing my wolf to step back. “I won’t hurt you. Just let me see your throat, ok?” He closes his eyes with a sob, letting his head fall back against the wall behind him. The skin of his neck is an angry, mottled red, already bruising across the front.
He needs medical treatment to make sure there’s no internal damage. But I can’t call it in on my phone, and I can’t call any of the medical specialists on our payroll. There would be too many questions.
Seth takes another shuddering breath, a grimace crossing his face. I wipe my hands on my pants, attempting to get as much blood off them as possible.
“Give me your phone.”
He hands it over to me without opening his eyes, and I quickly call the cops. I let them know where we are and the condition Seth is in before I gently take his hand and wrap his fingers around the phone. “Cops are on their way. They will take you to the hospital.” I say softly.
He nods, eyes blinking open to look at me. There’s confusion in his expression, but I can’t stick around to answer his questions. I have a body to get rid of, and considering it’s the middle of the day, I can’t exactly stroll out of the alley with a body over my shoulder.
My wolf snaps its metaphysical jaws at me as I get to my feet and back away from Seth. I don’t want to leave. It’s physically painful to do so. my muscles contract as if I’m having a full-body Charlie horse, and pain ripples across my nerve endings as I drag myself away from the other man.
With a huff, I grab the severed arm and toss it inside the dumpster.
By the time it gets discovered, it will have been partially eaten by the many pests and strays that live in the area.
Getting the corpse out of here is going to be more difficult to do.
I don’t have the time to call any of my crew, and I can’t just leave the body here.
There’s nothing I can do about the blood, though.
Grabbing the body, I haul it over one shoulder, grimacing as the severed stump of his arm smacking my back, dribbling blood.
“Wait,” Seth croaks out, and I turn. My wolf whines, straining to go to him as he pulls himself to his feet. “Why,” he stops to clear his throat. “Why are you following me?”
I knew he was going to ask that question. But I don’t have an answer to give him. I could give the original reason, to get information, but that’s not the truth. Not anymore. I don’t know why I can’t stay away from him, and he deserves a true answer to his question.
I can hear the sirens barreling our way, so I just shake my head and step away. My wolf strains, yipping in desperation to go to him as he looks at me with hurt and confusion. I have to walk away from him. I have no choice, even though it kills me.
I flee down the alley, my senses straining to find a way out of here. The scent of old wood and mold hits me, and I veer towards it. The door has a faded eviction notice partially taped to it, and I sigh in relief.
It’s risky as hell to leave a body so close to where the police will be swarming, but I don’t have many options.
There’s nothing I can do about the blood, but with Seth almost unconscious and with no body, the likelihood of Seth being a suspect is pretty low.
And that’s the best I can hope for right now.
Grasping the handle, I yank it out of the door. Pulling it open, I slip through just as I hear the cops pull up.
I hesitate long enough for my eyes to adjust to the darkness before I start navigating my way through the abandoned building. The place smells like a sewer, so it might be a while before a body is even discovered in here.
More sirens join the ones on the street, and I grind my teeth at the cacophony.
Having the senses of a wolf can be an annoyance sometimes.
I make myself further into the building, the thick walls blocking most of the noise from outside.
It doesn’t take me long to find a place to leave the corpse, a shallow closet with a half-collapsed shelving unit.
I shove the body inside, fighting with all the limbs until there’s a thump and the door slams shut.
I brush my hands off, checking my clothes over.
There’s a reason I wear dark clothes most of the time; it tends to hide blood splatter more easily.
Finding nothing overly suspicious, I make my way toward the front of the building.
I need to get out without drawing attention to myself, and I can’t go back the way I came.
Winding my way through the empty hallways, I pass trash-strewn rooms, finally finding the main lobby.
It’s equally trashed, graffiti covering nearly every square inch of the place, but there’s a window in one corner that is busted out.
A thin, splintered board hangs forlornly from one crooked nail and offers more than enough room for me to slip out.
In moments I’m out of the building and heading down the street toward my car. There are two squad cars and an ambulance in front of the alley and my heart clenches when I see Seth getting lifted into the back on a stretcher.
When the ambulance takes off, I have to physically restrain myself from following. What the hell is going on with me?