Chapter 22 - Malachi

I watched as Harlow tortured these men. She was getting a lot more information than I could have. I couldn’t stomach it, but it seemed like she thrived on it. Seeing someone enjoying torturing someone should have turned me off, made me want to leave, and never look back. But the way Harlow did it, it was like art. She was graceful, beautiful, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  A dance that ended in getting what she wanted and needed.

         “Anything else you need?” She asked over the microphone.

         I pressed the button to talk. “That’s all.”

         I watched her lean over and talk to the one on the table, that one got the least amount of shocks and beatings.

 She whispered, “I’m sure I will see you soon.” She smiled at him, an evil smile that would turn anyone’s blood cold. But my dick hardened. “Same goes to you. Great job, Brent. I’m surprised you survived.” She touched his shoulder and left the room.

         The man in the chair was unrecognizable. After being hit originally with the brass knuckles to being shocked over and over, and then being hit again. His face was a bloody pulp that was drooling blood and saliva.

         “Go to my office,” I said to Joe. I didn’t leave any opening for him to argue or question. He just left the room as Harlow walked in.

         I stared at her. She looked down at her shoes, now covered in blood spatter along with her white shirt, looking almost like it was tie-dyed. I could only stare at this goddess of chaos. She came alive when she was torturing and asking those men to answer her questions. She made them bend to her will.

         She let out a breath. “I know that was a lot. I’m sorry you had to watch that. I understand if you are second-guessing this whole thing.” She pointed a finger from me to her and back.

         Before she could continue, I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around her and kissed her fiercely. I wanted to touch this goddess, to be inside her and feel her again and know that she was mine. I pulled away, leaning my forehead against hers.

         She laughed. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

         “What were you expecting?” I closed my eyes and listened to her voice.

         “That you would be revolted and ask me to leave.” She gave a nervous laugh as if that were even a thought now.

         “And why would you think that?”

         She pulled away and pointed to the room she had just left, which had two men on the brink of death. “I literally just beat the shit out of and electrocuted two men within an inch of their lives. And I killed one by waterboarding. I don’t consider that a turn on for most men.”

         “I’m not most men.” I smiled at her.

         She rolled her eyes.

         “Let’s go.” I held out my hand to her and escorted her out of the room.

         “Where are we going?”

         “To my office, to talk over what we all just heard.”

         We walked out of the basement and up to the main part of the house, through the hall, and to my office. Alec and Joe were already sitting on the sofa that was on one side of the room. Alec eyed Harlow, covered in blood. He didn’t watch what we did, but he could tell it was gruesome by how Harlow looked now.

I led Harlow to a seat and pulled her down into it. I sat in my chair behind my desk. “We got a lot of information, thanks to Harlow.”

Her face became serious.

“What did she get?” Alec asked, still staring at Harlow.

I growled at him; his eyes darted to me. I knew he wasn’t looking at her because he was attracted to her, he already had his mate. A petit blonde, who was sweeter than anything. His perfect match. He was just looking at how bloody Harlow was and how ok with it she seemed.

“Overall, they are sending scouts out here to see how strong we are. They keep on sending them to see how many returns. They are building up to do a full-fledged attack in the next month or so. Roan needs to build an army to fight against us.”

         “Do we know why now?” Alec asked, looking at each of us for a moment, but lingering on Harlow.

         “No. He just got power hungry.” Joe said.

         “And she got all of this information?” Alec pointed to Harlow, saying it with disdain.

         “That she you’re referring to, got more information than I could have,” I growled at him.

         “Not to mention she’s your future Luna,” Joe added, equally as angry as I was getting.

         Harlow glared at him. He saw what she could do and knew that she meant business.

         “No disrespect.” Alec held up his hands in surrender. “It just seems a little weird, she could get that much information, when we couldn’t.”

         “This is what I do for a living,” Harlow said. “I know the best ways to get information.” She smirked and my dick went hard.

         Alec nodded but then asked. “If she is going to be the future Luna, would that make Julie her Beta?” Julie was his mate. She wasn’t suited to be a Beta, but since Alec was mine, she would normally be slated for the position.

         Joe snorted. “She wouldn’t work out.”

         Alec growled at Joe. “Why not?”

         “Julie is as sweet as pie; she couldn’t stand up to anyone or fight. Those are the facts.” Joe said.

         “So, then who should take the position?” Alec looked around at us again. “How about your mate, Joe? Oh yeah, you don’t have one yet. Where is she? Huh?” Alec threw a low blow.

         I noticed Harlow flinch at Alec’s words. Not sure what the reaction was about. She turned and looked at Joe. She said something to him in Russian, and he just shook his head. She turned back around and nodded her head.

         “Hold up.” I put my hand up, and everyone looked at me. “What was that?” I looked from Harlow to Joe.

         “Nothing.” Harlow shrugged. “I just had a question.”

         “Why in Russian?” I asked.

         “No reason.” She stared me down. I broke the stare and looked at Joe. “What did she ask?” His eyes darted to the ground. “Joe, what did she ask?” I used my Alpha voice, forcing him to respond.

         “She asked if they knew,” he said between tight lips.

         I continued to stare at Joe. “Knew what?”

         “It’s none of your business.” Harlow jumped in.

         “If it’s within the pack, it is our business.” Alec chimed in.

         “It has nothing to do with the pack, so calm down, sweet cheeks.” Harlow hissed.

         Alec’s eyebrows furrowed at the nickname. “Sweet cheeks?”

         “Too sweet to handle a little blood.” She laughed. “I noticed you were pleasantly missing from the control room.” She turned and glared at him. “Can’t deal with the hard part of the job?”

         Alec crinkled his nose at her, fangs starting to elongate.

         She pulled a gun from the back of her pants. When she put it there, I didn’t know and pointed it at Alec. “Do you think a little growling and showing me your fangs would scare me?”

         “HEY!” I yelled, standing up. “Stand down, Alec! Put the gun down, Harlow!” When neither of them moved, I jumped over the desk and stood between them. “I said stand down, Alec.” I stared at him, but he was staring around me at Harlow. “Get the fuck out of my office,” I yelled at him in my Alpha voice.

         He made his way around the room, still showing his fangs at Harlow. And she still had her gun pointed at him. “Pussy.” She said as he exited. Alec slammed his fist into the door on his way out, making a large hole.

         “Was that necessary?” I looked over at Harlow, and she had already put her gun away.

         “He started it.”

         I looked at Joe. “Can you make sure he calms down? We can pick this up tomorrow.”

         “On it,” Joe said as he stood, looking relieved to be out of the room.

         I ran a hand through my hair as I went back to my chair. Harlow watched every movement with a smile. Something struck me. “Did you do that on purpose?”

         “Do what on purpose?”

         “Don’t play dumb, you know exactly what I meant. You started that altercation on purpose to distract us from what you asked Joe.”

         She shrugged. “Maybe I did…Maybe I didn’t.”

         She was smart, I had to give her that. There was no way she would have egged on a pack member without a purpose. And that purpose was to distract us…and it worked.

         “What did you mean when you asked him, ‘Do they know?’”

         “You’ll have to ask Joe.”

         “I’m asking you.”

         “It’s not my place to say.” She stared at me, challenging me to continue with this argument.

         I exhaled. “You are frustrating, you know that.”

         “Yup.” She smiled at me.

         I shook my head at her. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”