A Special Evening
forty-six
*MARTIN*
Jonah begins chatting the moment he spots me.
He seems to be genuinely happy to see me, and a part of me does feel a little bad for double-crossing him, probably similar to how Rory sometimes looks guilty when he talks about Clemmens.
Things are never black or white. However, I try to remind myself that Jonah willingly plays along with Jordan; that he is not just a bystander but an actual accomplice and that he was the one who poisoned my luna’s parents.
The Jonah I know, the version he shows to me, is completely different to the man he actually is.
At the entrance, I see a bouncer right in front of the place where we keep our jackets. “That’s new,” I say.
“Right, it’s your first time here on a special night.” Jonah gestures to the two guys in front of us who hand over their bags. “We need to hand over our phones this time, and our bags and jackets,” Jonah explains.
“Oh, I see.” I nod, relieved I didn’t fix the camera to my jacket or blazer, but to my tie, and even more relieved that Harry’s camera is on the button of his shirt. “I get it, a safety measure.”
“Exactly.”
Just what exactly is going on today?
Once I hand over my jacket and phone, I can eventually get inside. To my surprise, it doesn’t look a lot different than usual. Granted, the bar is definitely normally on the more luxurious end, so it always looks top-notch.
I was there during casino night once, and all three floors were basically redesigned as play halls.
But today…
“Jonah,” I mutter. “Don’t get this wrong. But I am confused.”
Jonah laughs. “I know how you feel. Don’t worry. The evening is special, but you don’t see it at first glance. Come, let’s drink something.”
He leads us to a table that’s usually reserved for him. I’ve learned over the last couple of weeks that Jordan’s most loyal men always have a place here, strictly for them. He definitely knows how to buy their loyalty and make them feel special. Scary how easy it actually is.
“My round first,” I tell him. “Order whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?” he grins. “You know I’ll be going for the expensive stuff.”
I chuckle. “That’s fine, I feel generous today. The day went too well not to be.”
“How come?” he asks curiously.
I grin. “Maybe I will tell you later.”
Jonah rolls his eyes. “Just wait, I’ll get you drunk.”
“Good luck trying!”
He buys into my act immediately, ordering two strong drinks for us, and then, for the second round, does the same. Jonah might be one of Jordan’s closest men, but he can’t hold his liquor. The guy is surprisingly easy to get drunk.
Two hours later, he is basically hanging over the table, a goofy grin on his lips.
Meanwhile, I still have no idea why this evening is supposed to be special.
The only thing different is the audience.
There are only high-ranking customers here today, or men who look like they have a shit-ton of money. Something is definitely going on.
“Okay, I am curious,” I say. “How is this evening special?”
Jonah laughs hysterically. “You will soon see. Tell me first…”
“Tell you what?”
“Why you are in such a good mood today.”
I smirk. “Why should I tell you?”
“You said you would!”
“I said I ‘maybe’.”
“Semantics,” he slurs.
“Okay, deal,” I say. “You tell me one of your secrets. I will tell you one of mine. But make it a good one.”
Jonah’s eyes glint, and he nods. He orders another round of drinks before leaning forward. “My first job for Jordan,” he whispers. “The one I proved my loyalty with…”
“Oh…” I say. “So, he does it with all his most trusted men?”
“Yes,” he snickers. “Guess what I had to do?”
“Steal something,” I guess.
“No.”
“Abduct someone?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe seduce a woman?”
Again, he shakes his head.
“Betray someone.”
“I guess you could call it betrayal,” he muses. “But it’s even better!”
I frown before lowering my voice. “Kill someone?”
“Exactly,” he exclaims before he continues in a hushed whisper. “I won’t tell you the details. Just… the words: poison and my former alpha.”
My heart stops beating for a moment. He fucking admitted to it! We don’t just have Rory’s report as a witness; we have an actual confession!
“No way,” I say. “You really did that? You must have had nerves of steel!”
“Right?” he grins. “Jordan knew he could always count on me. Now it’s your turn.”
“In comparison to yours, my secret is lame,” I say. “But it’s also the job I did for Jordan to prove myself.”
“What did you do?”
“Let’s say I made sure a certain former alpha could come here. Meant a lot of sneaking around from my side.”
“Harry?” he asks.
“Don’t say his name,” I hiss.
“Sorry,” he snickers again. “You are right, not as cool as my story, but if it’s good enough for Jordan, it’s good enough for me.”
I smile. “I hope I can be of more help soon.”
“You are a real bro,” Jonah says with a grin. “Okay. I think it’s time to show you why this evening is special. You must be dying of curiosity.”
“A little,” I admit. “Or rather, a lot!”
“Alright, I’ll show you something!” He grabs my arm and forces me to stand up. Then he drags me along. To my surprise, we are not heading upstairs, but to the staircase that leads downstairs to the basement. I have never been there.
“I didn’t know there was a basement,” I muse. “Well, okay, I am being stupid. There must be storage rooms somewhere.”
“Storage rooms,” Jonah laughs. “Right.” He stumbles a little, and I make sure to grab him. “Thanks, bro.”
“That last drink was one too much,” I tease.
“Nope, I am perfectly fine,” he exclaims. “We are all used to drinking a lot.”
Again, he slurs his words and wavers a little, proof that he is clearly not tolerating a lot of alcohol. But it makes him let his guard down. I am sure that sober, he would never have told me what he did to Rose’s father. And I am not sure if he would have brought me here either.
I believe Jordan would have picked me up eventually to show me what’s going on—he just likes to make me wait, to prove his control and show me that he is the boss.
Harry used to do the same. I know this game too well.
But I doubt I was supposed to come down here.
“You ready?” Jonah asks with a dorky grin, his hand on the doorknob. “The best ones are here!”
“The best what?” I ask while Jonah opens the door. The rest of my words get stuck in my throat by what is revealed to me once I step downstairs and into the room.
For a moment, all I can think of is how Jonah laughed when I said storage room. He found it funny. Jonah might be a bro towards me or might feel he is my friend, but in fact, he is a monster, in a row of monsters that all trail behind the biggest evil of them all.
“Now you are speechless, huh?” Jonah chuckles.
I swallow thickly. Damn right, I am. I am looking right at cells with people locked in them, and some of them look awfully young. Their eyes are wide with fear and desperation. What the fuck is this? “Who are these people?” I ask, trying to go for a light tone.
“They are here for the special night,” Jonah explains. “Some of the girls”—he points at a cell with a group of young girls in it. They can’t even be legal—“are already upstairs with our guests. You know, some guys like them young.”
Some guys… like Harry?!
“And the others?” I ask. My voice sounds flat, but fortunately for me, Jonah is drunk as fuck. “Are they all for the brothel?”
“No, the others are for the games. Tonight, a group of our most loyal customers will choose two of them. Then, they will be killed, exactly in the way the crowd wants them to die,” he explains cheerfully.
“It’s always such an event. Cool, huh? You wouldn’t believe how much certain people are ready to pay just to see a girl be killed. ”
“Yeah, cool,” I mutter.
Before I came here, Forest and I agreed on a sign in case something went wrong, so that he’d know if he needed to act.
I was supposed to send him a short message.
Obviously, I can’t do that anymore as they have my phone.
However, there is no way I will let this happen.
Until now, I was able to play along because I hadn’t seen the worst yet, but I am not going to leave this place and leave these innocent victims behind to be tortured and killed.
I just can’t.
My camera has recorded enough for Forest to have a case, and I am certain Harry’s camera will show them quite some awful proof, also. They don’t necessarily need me anymore.
“Jonah?” I ask.
“Hm?” He turns around to look at me with his signature goofy grin, but this time the look on his face enrages me.
I don’t hesitate for a second. Before he can even utter another word, I punch him so hard it sends him flying across the room.
I don’t stop there, grabbing two empty chains they have stored on the shelves; I shackle him before dragging his unconscious body to one of the side rooms. I check all of them until I find a storage room furthest down the corridor.
I toss him into it, closing the door firmly and locking it twice. The key I toss into the drain of a nearby sink.
“Alright,” I mutter, hurrying to the cells. “We don’t have much time. Where are the keys?”
“That awful alpha—” one of the guys mutters. “He has them.”
“Then I need another plan,” I say.
“They are strong,” he hurries to say. “The bars, I mean. We are not under wolfsbane, yet can’t get out of them.”
I stare at him. “You are not?”
“No, they like to kill and hurt us with our wolves on the surface.”
“Fuck!” I curse, brushing through my hair. “Then I will need a different plan. When do they usually come to pick someone up? And who comes?”
“They don’t come regularly,” one girl whispers. “But usually a guard comes.”
And the guard will have a key, definitely. I can hide somewhere and wait for the guard to come and then act. I need to wing it, which is not going to be the best of plans, not that I had many to begin with. This was far beyond anything I had imagined.
“I will—”
I sense it too late; my wolf and I are too distracted with what’s in front of us to check what’s behind us. Some of the imprisoned women scream. I spin around just to look into two black eyes, a dangerous glint in them, then someone punches me in the face.
Something pierces my neck.
Fuck it, fuck it!
That’s a shot with wolfsbane, meaning I am without my wolf.
Three guys I haven’t seen yet lunge at me, but I dodge them easily. I have trained with Griffin and Forest a lot, learning how to rely on myself more and not just on my wolf, but fuck, I am not going to survive for long against a bunch of strong wolves?
Well, I am not going down without a fight.
Grabbing an iron bar off the ground, I hit one of them before kicking the other. “Fuck,” one of them groans. “He is strong!”
“We need reinforcement,” another one yells.
I hope Forest will be proud of me for how long I try to hold up against them, although I am being heavily outnumbered. I know my wolf would be proud, but I also hope I did something useful for Forest, Rose and the pack. They have seen what’s going on through my camera. They must be on their way.
Even if they are too late to save me, I am sure they can at least save a few of these victims.
More men pour into the room, piling onto me. I try to dodge their attacks, but I have no chance.
“Stop!”
At hearing Jordan’s voice, the men instantly halt. Two guys grab me and force me down on my knees. I watch as Jordan comes closer, his formerly so polite expression replaced by a glint I can only describe as… content. He looks like he is fucking enjoying this!
Jordan comes closer, grabs my face and then punches me hard.
I feel dizzy at the impact, my jaw pulsating painfully.
He did not dislocate it yet, but it was close.
I turn back to look at him, noticing how he sneers.
Claws appear in front of me. “I could rip your heart out,” he whispers before bearing his claws into my side.
A groan leaves my lips, but other than that, I don’t make a sound.
For a moment, Jordan stares at me, then he gets up and to my shock, punches one of the guards. He sends the man flying. “You needed six men to restrain him,” he hisses. “That’s weak.”
“I am sorry, Alpha.” The guy hurries back to his feet and bows his head. “We were—”
“It doesn’t matter what you were,” he huffs. “You are my elites, yet you could barely hold yourself against a wolf under wolfsbane. It’s disappointing. And I am not even talking about that other fool, Jonah, who utterly failed me!” He takes a deep breath. “We’ll discuss this issue later.”
At the way his men wince, I don’t want to imagine how he discusses any issues with them. I’d feel a hint of pity for them if we weren’t in a fucking basement with innocent people locked in, ready to be slaughtered for one of his sick games.
None of these men deserves my pity.
“You know, you were good,” Jordan says, stepping closer to me now. “Almost convincing. But it was too easy.”
“Yes,” I say. “I didn’t have enough time to build up a better persona.”
Jordan’s expression turns into one of annoyance before his expression smooths over and he looks mildly intrigued.
“Your poker face is fascinating, but unfortunately, I will need to get rid of you now. I wish we could play a little longer, but I have guests upstairs and can’t let them wait.
And I certainly won’t take the risk and keep you alive.
” He takes out a gun and loads a single bullet into it before holding it against my head. “Any last words?”
“Yes,” I say, spitting out some blood. Then I chuckle. “Rose really found the best possible mate and alpha in Forest.”
“Fuck you,” Jordan hisses, hitting the gun over my head.
I just laugh at his rage. His ego truly is easy to bruise. What a pathetic loser.
“Alpha,” one of the men whispers. “It’s almost 12 a.m.”
“Time for the games,” Jordan spits, looking annoyed. I guess if it weren’t for the party he was going to, he would definitely have played a little longer. I can hear a clicking sound before he holds his gun towards me again. “Say goodbye.”