Leah's POV
Liam's bitter laugh could've curdled milk. "Tried that shit. Dockyards wanted truckers with clean sheets - mine's dirtier than a motel porno magazine. Dealership garage? Turned out to be ex-cons crew running protection rackets." He leaned across the red vinyl booth, eyes dark as burned coffee. "I'm no saint, but I don't peddle drugs to kids. I used to keep my pride, trust me, I really did... till Nana's med bills hit." His throat worked like he'd swallowed glass. "Pride's just dead weight when your world's sinking, feel me?"
"But the girls, man..." I trailed off, the words sticking like a bee.
"Wake up!" His fist hit the table, silverware jumping. "You think this shit disappears 'cause it skeeves you out? My girls eat regularly. Don't get beat black-and-blue like some dollar-store pimps allow." His finger stabbed the air between us. "Without me? They'd be turning tricks in back alleys on Monday, end up as another Jane Doe in a dumpster by Tuesday. Tha
Leah's POVBig mistake.Darryl's touch ignited a white-hot rage. The beast surged, teeth sharpening beneath my gums - rip, rend, feast - but Liam's voice cut through the haze."Don't." He met my gaze, blood trickling from his split lip. "Just don't."I let my shoulders slump, the perfect picture of helplessness. Darryl released me with a sneer."Smart boy," he said to Liam. "Now strip."What followed was a symphony of humiliation. They made him bare his thighs, his hips, the pale map of old scars. Jeers echoed - "Fitting you ended up a whore" - but Liam's face stayed eerily blank. When the first punch landed, he curled into himself, silent.I memorized each blow.Rib crack. Nose crunch. Knuckle split on tooth.Darryl would die slow. They all would.By the time they left him bleeding in the gutter, my gloves were shredded from clawing my own palms. I hauled him upright, his weight warm and too-human against me.
Leah's POVBrad’s blood smelled like rust and regret. It pooled beneath my boots, seeping into the cracks of the warehouse floorboards as I circled him. The ropes binding him to the chair creaked - not from his struggling anymore, but from the tremors running through his body. Fear had a way of making even meaty men like him brittle."You're wasting my time," I said, dragging the tip of a fish knife along the edge of a frozen cod. The screech split the air like a promise. "Twenty years. Twenty yearsyou let that rot fester. And now you think shaky denials will save you?"He jerked his chin up, sweat gluing his collar to his throat. "I know who you are... You're the girl who was with Liam earlier this morning...""That's not an answer to my question." I backhanded him. The crack of my hand against his cheekbone echoed louder than his whimper. A tooth skittered across the floor. Clink, clink, clink. Music to my ear.I cro
Leah's POVThe afternoon sun hung low, casting long shadows that stretched like fingers across the cracked pavement. I followed Liam into his house, the air inside stale and heavy with the scent of old cigarettes and desperation. He collapsed onto the sofa, his body sinking into the worn cushions as if the weight of the world had finally crushed him. Within moments, his breathing evened out, and he was asleep.I knelt beside him, my eyes tracing the lines of his face - lines that were usually etched with worry but now smoothed into something almost childlike. For a fleeting moment, he wasn‘t the man burdened by debt, loss, and the scars of a life that had never been kind. He was just Liam, the boy who should've been. My fingers brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, lingering longer than they should have. The sharp trill of his phone shattered the silence. I snatched it up before the noise could wake him."Hello?"A woman's voice,
Lycidas' POVThe desert heat clung to my suit like a second skin, the Bentley's leather seats hissing as I shifted my weight. I'd chosen this human contraption precisely because it reeked of their fragility - polished steel and squeaking hydraulics, a coffin on wheels waiting to crumple under a werewolf's fist. My boots dented the steering wheel as I stared at the prison's rusted gates. Pathetic. They built their cages above ground here, as if shame needed sunlight to thrive.A lizard skittered across the asphalt, its panicked heartbeat thrumming through the haze. It froze when my shadow fell across its path, beady eyes widening before it bolted toward the prison walls. Even vermin recognized true predation. I smiled, fangs pressing against my lower lip, as the gates groaned open.The figure that emerged made my blood hum.He moved like fractured glass - all sharp edges and dangerous fragility. The prison shirt hung loose on his frame, but I saw the muscl
Lycidas' POVThe sunset hung heavy outside my window, its crimson glow bleeding through the curtains, casting jagged shadows across the room. I'd dragged the man back to my lair, his wrists still bound tight with the coarse rope. The stairs creaked under my boots as I hauled him up, his useless squirming only stoking the fire in my gut. I flung him onto the bed, the frame groaning under his weight, and watched him thrash like a trapped animal, his voice grating against my ears."Let me go!" he barked, his words sharp and desperate, clawing at the air. "I must go see my pro officer today! Otherwise..."I loomed over him, my shadow swallowing his form, and let a smirk curl my lips. "Otherwise, will they throw you in jail again?" My voice rumbled low, a predator's taunt, and I savored the way his eyes flickered with panic, even as he tried to hide it."Let me go!" he snapped, his tone brittle, cracking under the strain. He twisted against the ropes, his scar
Lycidas' POV"Get up," I said, jerking my head toward the headboard. Finn scrambled to his feet, awkward and unsteady, and I watched him climb onto the bed. The mattress dipped under his weight, and I followed, letting the chain drag behind me like a hound on a leash. I grabbed his wrist, hard enough to bruise, and looped the cold metal around it. The clank of it locking into place sent a shiver through him, and I felt it under my fingers. Good. Let him shake."You think you're sorry?" I asked, leaning close so my breath grazed his ear. "You think that little apology downstairs means anything?" I yanked the chain tight, pinning his arm above his head, and he gasped, his lips parting in a way that made my blood hum. "You don't get to decide when you're forgiven, you fucking slut.""Yes, Sir," he whispered, his voice small, broken. His eyes stayed on me, pleading, but I didn't care for pleas. I cared for power, and he gave it to me every time he bent.I sat
Lycidas' POVDarren looked away. "I have no interest in learning that." I leaned against the car door, trying to seem casual. "Would you like to go out for a drink? My treat." He turned his head, his voice firm. "I don't drink at 10 AM." "Well, we sure can do something else without drinking alcohol."He glared at me angrily. I quickly backtracked and raised my arms. "I mean, we can chat without drinking." He lowered his head again, not saying a word. "I insist. Don't make me force you," I said, moving closer and whispering in his ear. "I can be really persuasive."I saw his fists clench, his body tensing. I casually put my arm around his shoulder and started walking him towards my Bentley.As we walked, I could feel the heat from his body, the tension in his muscles. I wondered what had happened to him, what had turned this once-confident man into something like this.Once we rea
Leah's POVThe sterile stench of antiseptic clawed at my throat as I stood beside Liam’s Nonna. Her arm lay bloated on the mattress, purple veins snaking beneath skin stretched thin as rot-stained parchment."A carrot," Liam had choked out earlier between sobs, "it’s swollen like a goddamn carrot."Talia hovered at the foot of the bed, her knuckles bone-white where they gripped the metal rail. Humans always held onto things when their world frayed — rails, hands, lies.Liam's crying cut deeper than any wolf's snarl. Not the proud, wounded howls of my kind, but wet, shattered noises that made my gums ache. When the doctor came, he collapsed on his knees, fingers twisted in the man's lab coat, begging in a broken voice -"Do something. Anything. Please."The doctor's eyes slid to mine once, quick and guilty, before he murmured platitudes about pain management. I tasted the lie before he spoke it."Weakness." My wolf br
Lycidas' POVA pause, heavy with his worry. "Lycidas, don't let anyone hurt her. Protect her. The ritual has to be done."Finn's pace quickened, his throat tightening around me, and I gripped his hair harder, forcing him to take more. "Don't worry, brother. I miss you. I'll be back soon. Put Jalin on, will you?"The line shifted, and Jalin's cold "What?" slithered through.My voice turned razor-sharp. "If you dare touch my brother again, I'll pump you full of suppressant, make you a fuck toy, and toss you to the slave market. Every hole in your body will be stuffed with cocks for the every minute in the rest of your fucking life. Do you understand?"Silence. Finn gagged, his throat spasming, and the pleasure spiked through me. "I'm talking to you," I snarled into the phone."I understand, Your Highness," Jalin muttered, subdued at last. I hung up, tossing the phone aside, and turned my full attention to Finn. He sucked harder, desperate to p
Lycidas' POVThe lazy afternoon sunlight in Miami pressed against me like a lover's claw, the moon long gone but its bloody echo still staining the sky. I stepped out of the limousine, and the red carpet unfurled before me like a tongue, wet with the flash of cameras and the screams of the crowd. The hotel loomed, a glittering beast of glass and steel, its jaws wide with fans clawing at the barriers, their voices a feral hymn to my name. I was Lycidas, the Lycan Prince, a Hollywood god carved from hunger and shadow, and they worshipped me with every ragged breath.I strode forward, my boots sinking into the plush scarlet, and the air thickened with their adoration. The paparazzi swarmed, lenses glinting like predatory eyes, but I owned them all. My lips curled into a smile, sharp and deliberate, as I waved - a king acknowledging his court. The noise swelled, a tidal wave of sound, and then a voice cut through it, high and desperate."Lycidas! Lycidas!" A female
Leah's POVThe clock on my wrist ticked like a smug little bastard, each second a jab at my nerves as I stood there, plotting culinary carnage. Six hours until the Miami Mayor's Annual Seafood Charity Dinner, and I was about to turn a fancy gala into a symphony of gurgles and groans. The TV blared in the background, some chipper anchor rattling on about celebrity cars rolling up to the hotel—shiny Bentleys and Teslas, all ferrying the rich and famous to their doom. I smirked, imagining them clutching their pearls and their stomachs by night's end.I glanced over at Seth, who was practically hypnotized by Sharbo's lazy laps in the shark tank. The kid's mop of hair flopped over his eyes, and he looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here, plotting with me. I gave his shoulder a solid pat, jolting him back to reality. "It's time, Seth."He blinked at me, all wide-eyed and twitchy, then fumbled for his laptop like it was his security blanket. His fingers danc
Leah's POVThe moonlight was pouring down from the sky like cascade.I stood there, rooted, facing Darren, his eyes blazing with a storm of rage and grief that pinned me where I stood. The air hung heavy, thick with unspoken venom, prickling my scarred skin—the brands of the slave market I'd never outrun."Why are you asking this question?" Darren's voice cut through the stillness, sharp as a blade, edged with accusation.I didn't answer. Couldn't. My throat clenched tight, strangling the words beneath the weight of all we'd left unsaid.He stepped closer, his emotions bursting free like blood from a fresh wound. "Are you asking this to hurt me, Leah? Haven't I done enough for you all these years to earn your trust?"Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and relentless, carving trails through the grime on my face. I felt nothing - no sting, no release - just the hollow rush of them falling, a betrayal of the numbness gnawing my bones.
Leah's POVI remained silent. Father killed his son. Justice was almost done.Al Cosa continued, "And my son Tommy... He was burned alive in an elevator. Forensic team said his charred, deformed body burned so badly that... they needed tweezers to collect him."Two fat tears carved paths through his ashen stubble. I mirrored his grief - shoulders curling inward, breath catching - as the incinerator roared to life behind him. Its hunger vibrated in my molars."They found nail marks," he whispered. "Inside the elevator door. My boy...my Tommy clawed iron hot metal until his fingers..." A wet choke. "You know what fire does to lungs before death comes?"I let my own eyes glisten. "Mr. Cosa, I...""You're about to find out."I pretended to be horrified. "Mr. Cosa, I'm...""Sorry?" The wheelchair lurched forward. "You shoved my Tony off a balcony! Trapped Tommy in that metal coffin!" Spittle hit my cheek. "And now you're standing he
Leah's POVThe neon sign above the night club buzzed like a dying wasp, its crimson glow pooling on the asphalt as I shoved through the club's sticky doors. Smoke clung to the air—cheap cigars and cheaper desperation - and there he was, slumped at the bar like a discarded marionette. Liam's fingers curled around a whiskey glass, his knuckles whitening with each swallow as if he could drown the words we'd never said.I slid onto the stool beside him, the leather sighing under my weight. "You look like someone pissed in your bourbon," I said, nodding at the bartender for my usual gin.Liam didn't turn. "Would've improved the taste." His voice was sandpaper rough, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Classic Liam - even half-drunk and brooding, he couldn't resist the bait.We drank in silence for three songs, the bass thumping like a defective heartbeat. When he finally spoke, it was to the smudged mirror behind the bar. "You shouldn't be here. You do
Leah's POVI turned my head, meeting Darren's gaze, those eyes still hungry, still pleading. "I know," I said, quiet, a sad twist to my lips.But knowing wasn't enough. Love wasn't enough - not when the howls kept calling, not when my scars ran deeper than my skin. I rolled onto my side, facing the window, the moon's bloody glow spilling over us both.The full moon hung there, swollen and silver, its light bleeding through the broken window and washing over the bed. I stared at it, unblinking, the pale glow clawing at something inside me - something feral, something I couldn't bury no matter how hard I tried. The air thickened, heavy with the salt of the sea and the weight of the night, and then I heard it - a low, guttural sound drifting through the dark. A howl. Distant, but unmistakable. Then another, and another, until the night was alive with their calls, a chorus of primal hunger that sent a shiver down my spine.My heart kicked against my ribs, the
Leah's POVThe sun bled out over the coastal city as Darren gunned the motorcycle through the weaving crowds, the traffic shuttling around us like a frantic pulse. I clung to him, my helmet pressing into his back, my arms locked tight around his waist, feeling the heat of his body sear through me. The sky was a mess of red and orange, spilling over the buildings like a wound, and the sea's salty stink mixed with the exhaust choking the air. Last night clawed at my mind—his hands, his mouth, his desperation sinking into me after years of waiting. We'd fucked all night, a brutal, beautiful collision that tore past every fantasy I'd nursed in the dark. It played over and over in my head, a sad, desperate reel I couldn't stop watching—every thrust, every whispered curse, every moment I'd surrendered to him. Thinking of it, I tightened my grip, my fingers digging into his leather jacket like I could claw the memory into permanence.He pulled the bike to a stop by the sea, t
Liam's POVSeth caught it and sighed, theatrical as ever. "Look, we're pros here. Employers aren't people - they're NPCs in a game. Whenever I approach her, I get a new task alert. I walk up, get a quest, finish it, cash out. Done. Sure, late nights, when I'm beat, I might jerk off while looking at her before crashing - but it's all business. Nothing more, Liam."I blinked, thrown. "Wait, you jerk off over the survaillance video?"He shrugged, casual as if we were discussing the weather. "Who wouldn't? Look at her! She's a goddamn knockout. Any guy with a pulse would twitch. Doesn't mean I'd act on it."He scratched his head, squinting at the screen. "Come to think of it, I barely see her sleep. She's always on, like she doesn't need rest."That hit me like a spark. "That's exactly what I wanted to ask about," I said, leaning in, my voice low. "She's not normal, Seth. She took down two thugs with one hand - barely blinked. She's too confident, too