CHAPTER 5: A PAWN

AKIRA

A small scream escaped her lips, and she fisted the sheets as I pinned her down, my canines scraping against her neck before I buried my cock within her slippery walls.

She attempted to speak into the kiss, but she knew how I felt about unpermitted speaking, so I bit her lower lip, eliciting a strangled moan from her lips that sounded like music to my ears.

But the sound of tearing fabric quickly drowned it out as I ripped her dress open, her writhing sending thrills down my spine. I loved it when she squirmed beneath me, and my hands found her soft mounds, fondling them roughly as I continued to devour her lips.

She yelped as my hands slid inside the elastic of her panties and ripped them off her. "Ahh!" She grabbed my arms as I began rubbing her clit before finger fucking her.

“Ooh! Please!” She screamed and begged me to slow down, but I bit her lip again.

I couldn't slow down. I was on edge as Makena's pathetic face flashed before my eyes, my mind replaying every step I had told my man to take. Every time I thought of the way she looked at me with brimming expectations, I wanted to vomit.

I wasn’t hers; I never had been. The only reason she had even had the privilege of talking to me was because of the stupid deal my father made with hers, two arrogant old men playing gods with my life.

But I would show that power-hungry scumbag who manipulated my father and his stupid bitch that I was not a pawn to be traded for power or whatever sentimental bullshit they would convince themselves was noble.

My jaw tightened, and I could hear my father's voice echoing through the halls of my memory, that sickening pride in his tone as he bound me to a girl I barely knew... a girl who did not belong in my world, all to fulfill some ridiculous, outdated promise.

"Honor me, son. If it were not for Vektor, you would not be alive today."

No way in hell would I marry Makena, and if I could not remove myself from the stupid marriage, I would remove her.

Elena, or Erina, whoever the hell I was fucking, whimpered as I grabbed both of her hands and pinned them over her head with one hand before ramming into her hard and fast, my hand reaching up to her neck and firmly wrapping around her throat, making her gasp for air.

“Fuck!” A growl ripped through my throat as I took her earlobe in my mouth, and it was not long before her body convulsed and an orgasm emptied her lungs.

But I wasn’t done. I let go of her hands and loaded her heels over my shoulders while continuing to fuck her into the mattress. Curses, moans, and groans escaped my lips as I mercilessly took everything from her.

I was the only man she'd ever been with, and she needed to keep it that way if she didn't want to end up like the previous maid. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as another orgasm surged through her. She was a panting, breathless mess, but I was not finished.

Flipping her over, she gasped, clutching the sheets as I slammed into her from behind, my fingers digging into her waist.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed as I fisted her hair and pulled her upright, causing her back to press against my front before wrapping my arm around her waist to hold her in place.

“Fuck! I’m close.” I cursed through clenched teeth, pushing her down again as I rammed into her even harder and faster, Makena's face returning to my vision. "Die you dumb bitch!" I roared as I let go. And a knock echoed through my door right at that moment.

“Who is it?”

It was one of the men I had dispatched to handle my problem. "Get out," I told the girl who sat up clutching the sheets, and she scrambled out of the bed, quickly making her way to the door with a limp in her step as I told my guy to come in.

I felt it before he spoke, the hesitation in his step, and I stood, the room's air conditioning reminding me that I was still naked.

He froze at the threshold as I approached him. “Tell me you didn’t fuck me,” I hissed, and he took his hat off with shaking hands, clutching it tightly to his chest like it could save him from what was coming if they failed me.

"We did everything as planned," he said. "We had her, but just as we were about to throw her in the fire..." He paused, and my fists tightened, the sound of my grinding bones echoing throughout the room as a scorching heat rose in my chest.

"A man appeared out of nowhere. His strength was unlike that of a wolf. He moved unlike anything I'd ever seen as he tossed us like rag dolls.”

Something inside me snapped, and I growled, slamming my fist into the nearby wall so hard the impact cracked the stone, the vibration shooting up my arm, but I didn't feel anything as something solid lodged in my throat.

“I don’t want to hear that shit! Where’s Jason?! Why isn’t he telling me this?” He flinched, eyes wide. “He’s dead boss… I’m the only one who made it out. I swear, Alpha... this man moved with the strength of ten men. He-”

He didn’t finish. My hand went through his chest like a hot knife through butter, and his eyes bulged, his mouth frozen in a silent scream as I ripped his heart out with a wet, sickening sound. Blood splattered across my chest as he collapsed to the floor, lifeless.

For a moment, everything went silent as I stood there, staring at the still-warm organ in my hand before throwing it across the room. It hit the far wall with a wet thud, leaving a smear of red behind it as it slid to the floor. And I stared at the mess, my vision blurring as the fire returned.

“So be it,” I growled, voice feral as my wolf surged forward, just as pissed. “I’ll do it myself.”

----

ROSAVELLE CITY

MEL

“Damn it, what took her so long?” I muttered opening the door quickly while looking over my shoulder to ensure the hallway was empty before allowing Elysia in. She stepped inside without saying anything and placed the metal pail on the table.

“It’s done,” she said.

“Finally.” I removed the lid and looked at the contents, my stomach tightening at the sight. “Are you sure it’s not going to stop?”

"It won't as long as you follow the instructions I gave you," she said, resealing the pail and reaching into her pocket to hand me the ring bonded with Val's blood. “Remember, never take it off.

"I won't," I said, closing my fingers around it. She asked if Father had already received the news about his precious son, to which I confirmed, adding that he was busy gathering the men to head to the Martinez Cartel so he could look them in the eye and find out if they had any involvement in his son's death.

“He’s in bad shape,” I added, and explained that I made the death appear to have been caused by a bombing that reduced Val's car to ash. I had a body burned to ashes and placed in the car. I also ensured that Val's ring was removed and placed on the deceased during the ambush.

The Martinez only needed to fulfill their end of the bargain, deny their involvement, and point the finger at another cartel. Elysia asked if I was sure they would not fold before Father's gaze, and I replied that they would not if they knew what was good for them. They stood to benefit significantly from our arrangement.

“Do you need anything else? I’d like to lie down," she asked, sounding done with the conversation, but I had one more question: what she did with his actual body.

"I threw it down the mountain," she interrupted.

“Without a head, right?”

“There was no need-”

“Elysia!” I snapped, but she didn't let me finish and snapped back, asking if I would have survived if my heart were the one beating inside.

"Keep your voice down," I hissed, lowering my own in panic. "Do you want the entire house to hear you?"

"No! I won’t calm down! You’re not the one who had to look him in the eye while ripping out his heart!”

Her words hit me hard. “You’re right,” I said after a beat, rubbing a hand over my face. “I’m sorry. I’m... paranoid. It’s a big thing we just pulled off.” I reached for the bottle and poured myself a glass of whiskey to calm the storm brewing inside of me.

"Val and I grew up together, Elysia," I explained more softly. "We might not have shared blood, but he was always like a brother to me."

She didn’t even blink. “And yet you plotted his death.”

“That was Father’s fault for insisting on making a weakling a leader of this house,” I said, watching her as she stood too composed for someone who had just torn out a heart. "Val never had the stomach for this; he thought he did, but this house would never have reached its full potential with him at the helm." I paused, a bitter laugh forming in my throat. "Do we refer to him in the present or past tense? Since you know, his heart is still beating."

She turned without a word, her posture stiff. "I have a long day ahead of me," she said, hurrying toward the exit as if she could not get away fast enough. However, I had one more request. I didn’t feel like spending the night alone.

“You don’t want to spend the night together? You know... grieve together... comfort each other?”

“No, thanks; I’ll pass. I grieve better alone," she said flatly, stepping out before I could say anything else, and I called after her, a smirk forming on my face at her feistiness. She was too damn hot for a witch.

“Goodnight!”

She didn’t look back or answer. The silence that followed felt heavier than the words we had spoken. And Val's face flashed before my eyes. He was good to me and never made me feel like I was not his blood brother.

Even as pups, he always defended me, even though it was painfully obvious that I was never his biological brother because he and the rest of his family were Lycans, whereas I was a wolf. But a wolf had to do what a wolf had to do. Power wasn't given; it was taken.