22. Chapter 22
Workingthroughthepaperwork onmy desk, I glance at my phone again. I”ve been waiting to hear from Achilles, but so far there has been nothing from him. He’s been trying to uncover information about the wolves in our territory. All I want to do is find them and end them before they can hurt anyone else. Or worse, come back for Demetria.
The soft vibration from my cell phone gets my full attention. It”s a news bulletin about a missing woman. Swiping across the notification, I wait for the page to load. Lila Moore has been missing for over two weeks without a single lead as to what happened to her. Glancing at the image of the young woman, she”s all blonde hair and blue eyes.
Scrolling down to the bottom of the article, there are links to more missing women cases. At least eighteen women have gone missing in the last five years, and none were eventually found alive. The police have identified at least nine of the bodies they have found on the list of missing. Hikers found some of the corpses in the woods, others on the side of the road. Each one ripped apart; their throats torn out. The official cause of death, animal attack.
Even with all the similarities in the deaths, the police haven”t pursued the cases any further, stating that while tragic; they were all accidents. Women partying hard during camping trips, runaways…they all get lost in the woods, only to be attacked by animals, which there are plenty of in the Portland area.
To me, ‘animal attack’ is a story that the Council uses to cover up deaths caused by a supernatural creature. An easy way out of having to explain that whilst some of us are good, there are bad supernaturals in every species. Just like humans, there are those who want to cause havoc and not follow the rules. Those that think they are above everyone else.
Human deaths haven”t bothered me in many years. All humans die in the end, it”s the one inevitable event in their lives. But with this many missing and murdered women - at least some of whom I now notice resemble Demetria - I”m wondering if it”s all linked. By the looks of the articles, the wolves have been in our territory for at least the last five years, kidnapping and killing with no one to stop them.
I”m so lost in my own thoughts that I barely hear the soft knock on my door.
What would Harley be doing here?
”Come in.” Dropping my phone on the desk, I wait for Harley to enter. The leather of my chair creaks as I lean back on it.
”Sorry, boss. Bane said I should come get you.” She twists her hands in front of her. ”It”s Demi.” As soon as her name escapes Harley”s lips, I”m on my feet.
”What happened?” My voice booms louder than I intended, making Harley flinch.
”One of our patrons got a little handsy. When Bane came to remove him, the guy”s claws caught Demi”s wrist. Diego rushed her to the backroom before it set anyone”s bloodlust off.”
I”m out of my office in a flash, leaving a bewildered Harley behind. As I move through the bar, I spot Bane by the door. He gives me a small nod; I take it to mean the trash that touched Demetria has been taken care of. I can still smell the faint trace of her blood in the air, and I follow it down the hallway to the backroom.
But what greets me when I enter isn”t what I was expecting. Diego has my woman across a crate; her lips are tinged with his blood. The lower half of her body is naked, legs wrapped around Diego”s bare ass. He”s poised, ready to thrust inside her. Both of their arousal as well as their blood taints the air and the beast inside me roars.
They”re both so lost in their lust they haven”t even realized I”ve entered the room. Shifting across the space, I grab Diego by his shoulder and throw him clear across it. He smashes into the shelves, sending boxes crashing to the ground. Diego is on his feet in seconds, tugging up his jeans as he goes.
A feral snarl bursts from his chest as my claws extend, and my fangs lengthen. We crash together and fists fly as we both fight for the upper hand. With a strike of Diego’s claws, he leaves his side wide open and I ram my knee into it with enough force to send him to the ground.
As Diego lands on his stomach, I pounce. Shoving his face into the ground, I straddle his back, my knees pushing into his rib cage. My claws dig into the back of his neck, holding him down as he struggles to get out of my grasp. But I”m older and far stronger than him and this is the first time I”ve really shown him the extent of my power.
”She”s mine, Diego!” I roar, spittle flying from my mouth. ”If you touch what is mine one more time, I”ll put you six feet under.”
”Fuck you, Jax.” Diego continues to wriggle under me.
I”m so focused on keeping him down, I don”t see the booted foot that smashes into the side of my face. It”s enough to knock me off balance. Diego makes his move, rearing his body up and pushing me off him. Our positions are reversed, only with me on my back, his fists pummeling my face.
”Stop, just fucking stop!” Demetria”s voice cuts through the air, but Diego doesn”t listen. Neither of us do.
”She isn”t just yours, Jackson! She”s mine too.” Another punch from the left. ”Get that into your thickskull.” My face cracks back to the right.
Then his weight is gone. Bane holds Diego tightly across his chest, crushing him against his own body. I push up into a sitting position. My face aches all over and I feel blood dripping down from a cut above my eye.
”Get him the fuck out of here before I rip out his goddamn throat!”
Bane drags a kicking and snarling Diego out of the backroom. As I shove myself up off the floor, my eyes cut to Demetria. She”s dressed again, her skirt back in place, but it isn”t enough to hide the scent of her arousal from flooding the room. Brushing off my suit, I straighten my shirt and turn towards her.
”What the hell did you think you were doing, Demetria?” I stalk towards her. Her lips are still strained red and the sight of it sends blood rushing to my cock.
”What do you mean?” She snarls. ”The fact that I was about to fuck Diego? Or the fact I kicked you in the face?” My cheek throbs at the mere mention of her boot connecting with it.
”Everything! All you do is tempt them both, but they can”t have you, Demetria.” I”m in front of her now, having backed her against the wall.
”And why”s that Captain Asshole? Cause you think you own me?” Her eyes are full of fury. ”I am no one”s. Not yours,” she jabs her finger into my torso, ”not Diego”s,” she jabs me again, ”and not those fucking wolves.” She smacks her tiny fist against me.
With my nostrils flaring as her scent surrounds me, I grab her wrist and pull it away from my chest. Demetria goes to raise her other hand, but I snatch that wrist too, slamming them against the wall above her head.
”You are mine, sweet Demetria. Diego has no right to touch what is mine.”
”You don”t even like me, so why do you even give a damn who I fuck?”
Demetria thinks I hate her, and that sends a jolt to my heart. I”ve been pushing her away from me with such ferocity, what else did I expect her to think? I feel the slight movement through her arms, her knees rising to hit me in the groin, but I deflect her with my thigh.
”I don”t hate you, Demetria.”
”Well, I fucking hate you!” She spits in my face and snaps the hold I have on myself.
Slamming my lips down on her, a small squeak causes them to open, and I thrust my tongue inside. Dominating the kiss, I push her back into the wall, my hardened cock pushing against her as I hold her in place. Her teeth slam down on my tongue and blood fills her mouth, but all it does is make me groan as I plunder her mouth further.
When she kisses me back, I release her hands and lift her from the ground. Demetria”s long legs wrap around my waist as I push her back into the wall again. Her lips wrap around my cut tongue as she swallows my blood. A moan leaks from her and I shove my erection into her crotch. At this angle, my swollen flesh rubs against her clit through my pants.
Demetria rests her head back against the wall as I thrust against her, my lips tracing down the side of her neck until I reach the juncture of her shoulder. Licking and nipping at her flesh, she rolls her hips against me. My fangs scrape across her skin, leaving tiny cuts which I lavish with my tongue as she tries to ride me.
I want to rip the clothing from our bodies and bend her over. To sink my length between her folds as I tangle my fingers in her hair, pulling her back until she screams my name and can no longer stand. Then, when she thinks she can”t take anymore, I”ll flip her over and sink back inside her as she cums all over my cock and I fill her to the brim. I”ll cut across my neck and let her drink my lifeblood, sinking my own teeth into her neck until we seal the true mate bond.
Sealing the bond… it”s like a bucket of cold water being dropped over my head. Releasing my mouth from her neck, I all but drop her on the floor. Demetria stumbles to keep herself upright, glaring at me. Her lips are swollen and bruised from our kiss, and now both mine and Diego”s blood mark them.
I stare at her. My cock is pulsing, begging to be sheathed inside her. Everything in me is telling me to claim what is mine, but I can”t. I can”t bind myself to her. Until the wolves are gone, I refuse to make her mine. If we can”t stop them - if she dies - I won”t be able to live without her. I”ll rip my broken but still beating heart from my own chest and end it all, letting oblivion take me.
Storming past her and out of the room, I don”t give her a single glance as I pass.
”I fucking hate you, Jackson.” She screams after me.
Bane steps in front of me, stopping my progress, his hand on my chest as his stormy blue eyes stare down at me.
”Stop being such an asshole, Jax. You know she”s ours. Just claim her already. Let us claim her.” So many words from the usually quiet giant.
”I can”t...” I shrug his hand off me and carry on down the hall.
”Check the basement.” His words follow me as he heads for the backroom to comfort Demetria, or whatever the hell it is he plans to do.
Slamming open the emergency exit, I inhale the night air, clearing Demetria’s scent from my lungs. I head out into the alley behind the club and make my way to the stairs that lead to the apartment and the ones beside that.
Taking the stairs two at a time until I reach the bottom, I unlock the door and step inside. I already know where to go, even if I couldn”t hear the muffled voice drifting from the end of the hall. Opening the door, I step inside and leave it to close behind me.
A vampire who looks to be in his late thirties is strapped to the wall by thick manacles. His face is mottled with bruises, which I”m sure are courtesy of Bane. Shrugging off my suit jacket, I hang it on a hook by the door.
”Let me the fuck go!” He growls, blood splattering from his mouth. ”You can”t fucking keep me here.”
”This is where you”re wrong. This is my territory and my club. I can do whatever the hell I want.” I step closer to him,and he shrinks back as best as he can. ”You touched what”s mine, and I can”t let you get away with that.”
My arm lashes out, my fist connecting with his mouth. He spits blood on the floor. A few drops land on my shoes and I snarl. His eyes are blood red now, his fangs on display. Just how I wanted him. Walking to the desk, I pick up a set of pliers and make my way back over to him.
”Do you know what happens to vampires who touch my things?” A shake of his head is all I get as he stares at the tool in my grasp.
Grabbing him by the throat, I force his head back against the wall and pull his jaws open. I close the pliers on one of his fangs and yank down hard. The sharpened tooth rips from his gum and he bellows as blood flows from the wound. Letting the lengthened incisor fall to the floor, I force his mouth open again and close the pliers on his other fang. Another yank and I detach the last fang from his mouth. A scream rips out of him and he chokes on his own blood as it flows down his throat.
”I rip out their fangs and add them to a jar in my office,” I whisper into his ear. ”But you… I think you need more than just a warning.”
Letting the pliers fall to the floor, my claws latch onto his crotch. They slice through the material into the flesh beneath it. He continues to scream as I rip through the skin until there isn”t much left of his pathetic cock. He’s sobbing now, whispering pleas for mercy, but he won’t get any of that from me.
”Wait, there”s more.” I grin.
Trailing my sharpened nails up from his waistband to the neck of his shirt, I cut open the material, baring his chest to me. My claws glance across his skin as I make my way back down to where his heart lies. Pulling back, I look him over; his mouth is bloody, and tears pour from his eyes. There”s a hint of urine in the air, a look at his crotch confirms he”s emptied his bladder.
”Please... I”m sorry... I didn”t know she was yours.” He sobs, but it falls on deaf ears. ”Just let me go... you”ll never see me again.”
”Oh, I know I won”t. But I can”t let you go.”
Drawing back my hand, I punch it through his ribs, my claws puncturing through skin, muscle, and bone. Curling my fist around his still-beating heart, I let my sharpened nails dig into it before I rip it from his chest. There”s a look of shock on his face as he sees the thumping organ within my grasp. Then the light fades from his eyes and his body slumps, his head falling down to his chest.
Dropping the heart on the floor, I stomp down on it for good measure. My anger over the wolves, Diego, and Demetria has gotten the best of me, and I took it out on him. Not that he didn’t deserve it, he shouldn”t have touched my mate.
Cleaning myself up at the sink in the corner of the room, the dead man”s blood swirls down the drain. I still haven”t heard from Achilles, but if I let him know I have a body to dispose of and cash to line his pockets, I”m positive he will get back to me. Then I can ask if he”s heard anything about the wolves.
Wiping my hands on the towel, I notice the flecks of blood staining the edges of my cuffs. Another shirt ruined and heading for the furnace. Grabbing my jacket on the way out, I pull out my phone and text Achilles about my little situation. With that done, I pocket it again and take the stairs back up to the apartment.