Chapter 4 – NIKOLAI
Chapter
Four
NIKOLAI
" I t's not gonna fit, you big oaf!"
"Just push harder!"
The declaration, followed by masculine grunts, has my leather boots halting on the middle of the tarmac.
I stare up at the recommissioned hangar on the far end of the shelled-out airport I recently had rebuilt into a proper base after the last one exploded, weighing just how badly I want to know what's going on around the corner.
Fuck it, I've seen worse.
I'm just not sure if I'm relieved when I turn the corner and see the giant alpha and squirrelly beta trying to stuff crates marked with explosive warnings into the already overfilled section of the hangar.
Mikey grunts, his big muscles straining as he tries to wedge a crate on top of a tower that already looks like it's going to topple over as soon as the door opens again, while Reese, his marginally less idiotic beta counterpart, barks instructions while doing shit all himself.
For fuck's sake.
I haven't slept in days, and this is what I come back to? Idiots playing Tetris with enough firepower to level a small country.
Home sweet fucking home.
My eyes burn from exhaustion, but I force them to stay open, scanning the yard. The place is a mess of crates and pallets, munitions of every caliber imaginable scattered like deadly building blocks. It's more than I expected, even with Reinmich's legendary arsenal.
I've been up all hours, shuttling weapons and supplies to my various hideouts across the Outer Reaches. Can't keep it all in one place—that's just asking for trouble. But fuck me if I didn't underestimate just how much shit Reinmich was willing to part with.
Even if it was from its cold, dead hands.
A crash from inside the hangar snaps my attention back to the present. Reese comes stumbling out, tripping over his own feet as he backpedals.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he yelps, his eyes wide with panic.
Mikey's bulk fills the doorway a second later, his meaty hand clamped around Reese's collar as he hauls the smaller man backward. "Run!"
The world slows down as I watch the domino effect unfold. A single crate teeters on the edge of a stack, then topples. It hits the ground with a sickening crack, and suddenly the air is filled with the hiss of fuses.
Fuck .
The first explosion is almost anticlimactic. A dull thump that sends up a small plume of smoke. But it's just the opening act. Within seconds, the entire section of the hangar erupts in a cacophony of bangs, whistles, and thunderous booms.
Rockets screech into the night sky, trailing sparks and smoke. Mortars thump in rapid succession, sending up geysers of dirt and shrapnel. It's like the grand finale of the world's most lethal fireworks display.
And in the middle of it all stand Mikey and Reese, frozen in place like a pair of slack-jawed statues as flaming debris rains down around them.
I don't even realize I've moved until I'm grabbing them both by the scruffs of their necks, hauling them behind the dubious shelter of an overturned truck. We hit the ground hard as another wave of explosions rocks the compound, and then it's over, as anticlimactically as it began.
"Oh, hey boss," Reese says, his voice an octave higher than usual. He gives me a nervous grin, dirt and soot streaking his face. "Uh, at least there's more room now?"
Mikey looks down at my feet and I notice the edge of my coat is on fire. I give the edge of the coat a violent flick that kills the flame and level them both with a glare that could strip paint.
"Remind me again why I keep you walking advertisements for swallowing around?" I ask, keeping my voice level, partly because I'm not sure if the scream building in my throat is capable of toppling the rest of those precariously stacked crates.
"C'mon, boss," Reese whines. "You know we're the two most loyal guys in the Family."
"I meant on earth!" I bellow, loud enough that Reese jolts and Mikey grimaces.
Guess everything stayed in place. Before I can properly rip into them, the crunch of boots on gravel announces Lex's arrival. She skids to a halt beside us, her scarred face a mask of confusion and alarm.
"What the fuck?" she pants, eyes darting between me and the smoldering wreckage of the hangar. "Are we under attack?"
Why does she sound fucking excited ?
I push myself to my feet, dusting off my coat with deliberate slowness. "Yes," I say flatly. "From within."
Lex's brow furrows, then smooths out as understanding dawns. She turns to Mikey and Reese, both still sprawled on the ground looking like guilty children. "You two dipshits did this?"
Mikey at least has the decency to look ashamed. Reese, on the other hand, seems to have regained some of his usual bravado. He scrambles to his feet, puffing out his chest in a pitiful attempt at intimidation.
"It wasn't our fault!" he protests. "If you'd just let us use the other storage facility?—"
"The other storage facility," I cut him off, my voice low and dangerous, "is occupied."
Reese's mouth snaps shut with an audible click. His eyes dart nervously to Lex, who's watching the exchange with barely concealed amusement.
"Occupied?" Mikey asks, his brow furrowed in confusion. "By what?"
I pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting back the migraine that's been threatening to split my skull for days. "Not what," I growl. "Who."
"I thought it was whom," Mikey muses.
He's never been a bright lad. But unlike Reese, he usually knows when to keep his fucking mouth shut.
Usually. They've clearly been rubbing off on each other.
"None of your business, twatwaffle," Lex barks, smacking Reese up the back of the head. "Go get a fucking broom and start cleaning up this shit!"
"Yes, sir," they answer in unison, scrambling to follow orders. The last time any of my men made the mistake of calling Lex ma'am, they were shitting out their own teeth for a week.
"You thought it was a good idea to leave them in charge of packing munitions?" I ask through my teeth, deciding my anger would be more properly directed toward the only member of my organization with two working brain hemispheres, apparently.
"No, I left Diesel in charge of handing out jobs," she says gruffly, casting a rueful glance toward the mess hall. "Mistake noted."
"I should take it out of your pay," I mutter, striding toward the wrecked section of the hangar to assess the damage.
Her boots shuffle faster across the gravel. "You don't pay me enough to manage this shitshow as it is, and I can damn near guarantee you the next poor fucker dumb enough to take the job'll eat a bullet in a week."
She has a point. One I refuse to acknowledge with anything other than the vaguest grunt.
I whip out my bandana to breathe through the smoke and survey the smoldering wreckage inside the hangar, mentally tallying the losses. Not as bad as I initially feared. The concrete barrier contained the blast, sparing the bulk of our stockpile.
Well. Most of the blast.
"Could've been worse," I mutter, more to myself than Lex. "The facility near Belvast should be operational in a few days. We'll move what's left there."
Lex's eyebrows shoot up. "Belvast? Thought that was off the table."
My jaw clenches. Of course she'd bring that up. As if I need the reminder.
Raven .
The name alone is enough to sour my mood further.
"I'm not letting that spoiled hedonistic twink's princess tantrums deter me from using a perfectly good facility," I snap, my voice harsher than intended.
Lex doesn't flinch. She's used to my moods by now.
"Besides, with Surhiiran forces crawling all over the Outer Reaches like they're scouting real estate for one of their swanky little spa towns, a gutter like Belvast is the only safe option. "
Lex holds up her hands, placating. "Hey, you don't gotta sell me on it. Just curious, is all." She pauses, and I can see the question forming before she even opens her mouth. "You, uh... heard anything from him lately?"
"Of course not," I snarl, my hand instinctively going to the gun at my hip. The familiar weight is soothing. "Last I heard, the little shit had sunk all his ill-gotten gains from whoring into that cesspool of a club."
"Oh yeah," Lex muses, her scarred face scrunching up in thought. "What was it called again? Alpha Beta?"
"The Alpha's Alpha!" Reese's voice carries from outside, and I swear I can hear the grin in his tone.
"Fuck off!" I roar, my patience hanging by a thread. A thread that's already stretched tight under the best of circumstances.
Lex snaps her fingers. "Right, that was it.
" She grimaces, shaking her head. "Never got the appeal of a place like that myself.
Why would an alpha want another alpha when you could have an omega?
" There's a wolfish glint in her eye as she grins.
"A beta'll do in a pinch, long as she's got a nice rack, but?—"
"Speaking of princesses," I cut her off before she says another word that'll have Reese scrambling back in here to weigh in. "How's our guest?"
"Peachy. She's been out the whole time since I picked her up. Least, she was until last night."
I arch an eyebrow. "You drugged her?"
"Nah." Lex shakes her head. "She was awake, just... not all there, y'know? Zoned out." She chuckles. "Now though? More like a rabid tiger. And a pretty cute one. Too spicy for my tastes, though. I like my omegas sweet."
Something in her tone sets my teeth on edge. "I trust you followed my instructions to the letter?"
"'Course, boss," she says, all innocence. "No men allowed near her, just like you said."
I bristle. "I said female betas only."
Lex's grin turns downright shit-eating. "Did you? My bad. You know how the connection out here can be."
I clench my fist, resisting the urge to put it through her face. "That omega is Arthur fucking Maybrecht's brat. Do you have any idea the kind of shitstorm that's going to rain down if we give her back even slightly inconvenienced?"
"Since when do you care about diplomacy?" she asks, folding her arms.