Darius
Watching Bentley sitting in the armchair in our living room eyes hollow, and skin white as a sheet, made me realize just how young he was in our world.
I myself might not torture people for information, but I had my own twisted way to get people to tell me what I wanted to know.
Blackmail and financial pressure in the right area was just as effective when it was called for.
The Collective had kept Bentley locked away from our brutal world, working on advancing our kind through other means.
Now here he was sitting front row to the start of the largest war between werewolves in centuries.
Tav and Orion had headed off to clean up after their conversation with Sofia, so the rest of us waited.
Tristan and I had been working nonstop figuring out this American company, but they had some good people working for them.
That fact alone told me that whatever was going on I needed to know.
The largest problem we were finding is that they had so many companies, properties, and land they owned it was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Bentley had managed to tell us that they learned something very important but wouldn’t say more than that.
Unable to sit any longer, I stood up scotch in hand and began pacing the room.
Sometimes it hurts to be in this space and reminded of the time we all shared in here with Viv.
Her forcing us to watch silly movies, the arguments that pushed us all to be better men, and finding her sleeping on the couch after a long day.
One of us would scoop her up and carry her up to her room and tuck her in for the night.
It was how I saw our future together, all of us taking care of her when she pushed herself too far, pushing her buttons to see the fire in her eyes, and at some point, having our own kids running around the space.
Viv hadn’t been shy about her reservations where kids were involved, but I just had a feeling she would be an amazing mother.
How could a woman who loved so fiercely not make the best kind of mother?
“Dude, if you grip that glass any harder it’s gonna shatter in your hand,” Koit commented from where he was sprawled on the couch, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I grunted in answer as I gulped down the last of the amber liquid and set the glass on the side table as I passed, but I couldn’t sit.
Even Tristan managed to keep himself distracted with going over the latest files I decrypted for him as we waited, but my wolf was as restless as I was, making it impossible to mellow out.
Finally, Tav joined us, with Orion not far behind him.
Tav had taken the time to shave and comb though his hair, so he once again looked like the man I knew, even if his eyes held a new perpetual darkness.
“Bentley said you have information,” I barked out, unable to hold myself back.
Tav met my gaze and held it as he pointed to an open seat. “Sit down please, this is going to take a moment to explain.”
Even though he asked me, I knew he wasn’t really giving me a choice.
It had been months since we last talked face to face and the change that happened in that short amount of time shocked me.
Not wanting to get into a fight with Tav over dominance, I took a seat like he asked so we could get to the information we all wanted to hear.
“We do have information, what we can do with it the rest of you will have to figure that out,” Orion said taking a moment to sit.
“There is a group of fifty men in the pack that are plants from Vadik. Some of them Tav already took out when he saved Koit. Along the shoreline there is a cave that they have been meeting in and using a wolfsbane concoction to cover their tracks. Sofia was very good at her craft and found ways to keep them well hidden. Unfortunately, we did not get names of all the men she was working with, but I’m sure we can come up with a plan to get rid of them. ”
Shifting in my seat, I clenched my jaw shut to keep from saying something I would regret later. This couldn’t be the only thing they had to tell us, if it was then we were more fucked than I thought.
“Thankfully, this was just the tip of the iceberg of information we gathered,” Tav said, picking up where Orion left off.
“While I was gone, I’d been chasing down how Vadik was communicating with his leadership and other pack members.
I know for a fact he is not on the European continent, combining that with what Orion told me about the American connection it’s safe to say focusing there would be wise.
That also brings us to one of the biggest pieces of information that we got. ”
Orion burst to his feet with a huge grin on his face. “Vadik has a brother in America. Okay well half-brother... but still this explains the connection with Greyson Industries, his brother runs the whole damn thing.”
The room fell silent as we all took in that information and Orion sank back into his seat, seeing we were not as excited about the information as he was.
Vadik had a brother? To be honest, we don’t really know all that much about his personal life, only what he’d been doing in the werewolf community.
Now I had a job to give my tech people— they were going to turn his life inside out and shake out whatever skeletons there were in the closet.
“We are still running into the problem of where to even start looking for her once we get to America,” Tristan pointed out. “We’ve found hundreds of places they could be hiding.”
Tav leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees looking deep in thought. “She said they won’t be together, but he would be keeping an eye on Viv.”
“Why wouldn’t they be together?” I asked, frowning. “After all the trouble he’s gone to get her back, wouldn’t it make sense to keep her right beside him?”
“It would if she didn’t drain you of power and make you weak,” Orion mused tapping his chin in thought.
This seemed to catch Rik’s attention. “What did you just say? Drain his power—how would she do that?”
“They are the perfect yin and yang,” Bentley murmured. “One can only take the power while the other gives it away.”
When no one gave us more information than that, I shot up flipping the coffee table over, spilling everyone’s drinks and food. “Could someone give us a straightforward answer about things instead of this cryptic bullshit.”
Just as I was going to shove the chair I’d been sitting in out of my way, someone grabbed my neck and tossed me against the wall.
Twisting in the air so my back slammed into the stone instead of my face, I found Tav was the culprit.
Baring my teeth, I shot forward meeting him in a clash of bodies, fist at the ready to pummel his face.
Over the years we had sparred together in the gym and other training we did for the Collective, but this fight was different.
Tav no longer pulled any punches, and he wasn’t at all afraid to go for the kill.
I got one solid gut punch in on him before I was slammed into the floor, flipped on my stomach, and a knee was placed in the middle of my back, keeping me from taking a deep breath.
“Viv isn’t here to put you in your place, something you obviously need a reminder of every so often.
This is her home, and it will be treated with respect along with us, your mate brothers— am I clear?
” Tav whispered harshly in my ear low enough it would be hard for the other to hear.
“I will not allow you to fall apart on us Darius, that would hurt her too much. I see now it was a mistake to be gone so long because you’re all holding on by a thread. Pull your fucking shit together alpha.”
As much as I wanted to be pissed with Tav, I couldn’t—he was right.
Everything he was saying was true. The six of us were falling apart in our own ways and I didn’t know how to fix myself, let alone the others.
It was odd to me that Tav could still be the voice of reason even though he was a little more tough-love about it.
“I got it,” I growled trying to shake him off me.
He hesitated a moment, but then stood up and held out a hand for me. “I’m sorry if I was too rough, but you’re not the only one upset.”
Koit let out a whistle from where he was watching over the back of the couch. “Tav grew up and became a badass.”
Unable to stop it I rolled my eyes and groaned at Koit’s talent of perfect timing to help defuse a situation, even if it was just to make you want to punch him instead. Tav helped me right the coffee table before I took my seat once more, taking a few calming breaths.
“So, returning to what Bentley said... It seems that Vadik can take power from those who he kills, but Viv gives power that she takes from those strongest around her,” Orion started, bringing us back to the matter at hand.
“This is very old magic and I’m going to need to acquire my books and journals I have hidden away from my pack.
I don’t know how it works or if Viv even realizes that she is doing it or how, so I don’t have much more to share with you. ”
“I can look in the journals and history books this pack has too. Viv had been reading them and I remember her telling me about some of the old Dama’s and the ‘gifts’ they had way back in the day,” Bentley offered, shocking the shit out of me.
It seems that taking him to see someone get tortured had put things in perspective for him. Nothing like fear to get you out of your own head and to see what’s really going on in the world around you.
“I’ll have a meeting with my research team and get them working on Vadik’s life and who his brother might be.
Tristan and I will keep working on the business side of things.
Rik, do you think you and Koit could figure out a way to set a trap for the men that Sofia was working with?
If we can get rid of them it’s one less problem we have to worry about,” I asked.
Rik turned to Tav with a raised brow. “You sticking around then?”
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere unless it’s to America to get Viv back,” Tav answered.
“Then I don’t think we’ll have any problems catching those bastards with the mastermind on our side,” Rik grinned leaning back in his chair.
Tav quickly threw up his hair into a manbun letting me know that he was ready to go to work. A person can change a lot, but there are some things that will always stick, and this was definitely a good sign he wasn’t too far gone.
“Darius make sure to see what your men can find in Vadik’s life and travels that might help narrow down where they’ll be hiding Viv,” Tristan pointed out as he grabbed his tablet. “I’m going to send them a copy of the towns where they have property or businesses for cross reference.”
“See, this is why you get paid the big bucks bro,” Koit said kicking his feet up. “Your mind is a scary place, so glad that we have you and Tav on our team, otherwise I would have just surrendered now.”
Tristan peered at Koit over the top of his tablet. “Don’t think you can fool us with that devil-may-care attitude, Koit. Now that you know what to lock onto with that super sniffer of yours, their secret hideout won’t be a secret much longer.”
“Oh, and just so we’re clear,” I started as I stood up. “None of us are getting paid while the Collective is holding us hostage.”
Koit rolled his eyes at me. “I know none of us are getting paid, we’re all sleeping with the boss. Total slave labor happening here.”
This caused everyone to laugh, lighting up Koit’s eyes as he accomplished his goal. Shaking my head, I left our quarters to give my men a debriefing.
“Darius, wait up.” Orion called chasing after me down the steps.
I paused waiting for him to catch up crossing my arms and giving him a questioning look. “What?”
“Can I borrow your helicopter and a pilot so I can get to where I have my stuff stashed?”
“It’s late, wouldn’t it be better to do it in the morning?” I questioned.
“Nope, this works out the best, I don’t have to worry about someone tracking me,” Orion answered with a smile.
Heaving a heavy sigh, I waved him off. “Go find Chad and let him know what you need, and he’ll help you.”
Orion gave my arm a punch as he hurried down the stairs. “Thanks bro.”
“I’m not your bro,” I muttered under my breath. “For someone who’s four hundred and some years old he acts like a pup.”
Though I had to hand it to the guy, you would never know that a demi god of torment was lurking in that body. He was like a bomb no one saw coming. Koit might be right about how lucky we were to have these guys on our side.