5. Cold-blooded bastard

Draco's POV

My body is taut and ready for Evans's attack as I drain his son of his blood. It seems the old fart believes I'm still that five-year-old boy he tortured day and night but he's in for the shocker of his life. I've waited too long for this day to come. Now, I can't wait to rip out his jugular and bathe in his blood.

Instead of his presence though, I begin to hear voices calling me from far away. They sound worried and desperate.

"Draco, wake up!"

"Wake up man, c'mon!"

They also sound like people I know. Familiar voices I cannot ignore.

"Draco!"

"That's enough now, you will kill her!"

'KILL HER!'

Alarm bells begin to sound in my head and I force my eyes open to realise it was another dream.

Instead of Hunter, Evan Black's son, a raven-haired girl is leaning with her back to me while my face is buried in the crook of her neck.

"Damn it!" I swear as my grip on her automatically loosens.

She falls, but Ryder, my right-hand man, moves fast, catching her before she hits the floor. I get a better look at her face then and see she's the new addition to the harem of women I keep for sex and blood source. There's a place I provided for them to stay, and another place where I meet them if I need to feed or if I desire sex.

"What the hell is she doing in my room? Is she dead?" I rapidly ask the other two people in the room.

Two of the three people closest to me. Ryder is checking for pulse to see if she's still breathing while Rowan, aka Red, sits on my favorite sofa, filling her nails with her stilettos-clad feet propped on my coffee table.

"Serves her right if she dies. Crafty bitch!" She replies coolly without taking her eyes off the nail she's filing.

"Jealous?" Ryder asks, chuckling in her direction

She scoff

"Of what!? That!? You must be out of..."

"I can't remember either of you responding to my questions!" I snap before their bickering turns into a full-blown argument as usual. "And you, get your damn feet off my damn table! You crazy or something!?"

"Sorry!" She apologized softly and immediately put down her feet. She sounded hurt. The way she's pouting her lips also suggests that, but I don't care. She knows better than to treat my place like a common room. What is her problem?

"She's still breathing," Ryder announces. "She's Lucky to still be alive considering she walked in while you were having one of your nightmares– or was it a dream about killing Vladimir and Evans this time?..."

It sure sounded like he's joking about my situation, but knowing him, I know he's not. I can even see the worried crease etched into his forehead. I ignore his question since I know it would lead to him lecturing me for the umpteenth time about how I've allowed myself to be consumed by hatred and how it's important I consult with a shrink.

A shrink!

He is the one who needs a shrink for suggesting I need a shrink. Moron!

"Take her to Alf. Tell him to hypnotise and erase everything about us from her memory then get rid of her," I say to no one in particular.

Red immediately stands up to do as I've commanded.

"Yes!" She replies with a smile. Now she looks happy.

Females! Unstable, silly creatures.

"Hold on!" Ryder calls and chuckles when she turns, rolling her eyes at him in exasperation.

"What?" She asks in a boring tone

"I hope you understand that 'get rid of her' doesn't mean kill her? It means pay her off then send her packing."

She looks towards me for confirmation and I wordlessly stare back. I don't care what they do with the bitch as long as her memory is wiped and she's out of my land.

"What!?..." Ryder chuckles. "Why are you looking at him. He puts me in charge of things here, remember? I'm your superior so you have to respect my decision."

She replies with another roll of her eyes and sashays towards the door as if her words are too precious to waste on him. She soon returns with one of my men.

"Sir!" He greets with a stiff bow.

I nod, and he bends to lift the girl into his arms

"Don't forget the instructions given to you," Ryder calls after them as they walk out.

"God, Ryder, get off my case!" She snaps and he laughs some more.

I will never understand what he finds so amusing in needling her. That humour is lost on me

"Get any of the maids to have this thoroughly cleaned or get another!" I say, kicking the coffee table aside before sitting down on the chair.

"Although she's spoilt, our little Red is not so little anymore, Draco." He says instead

I sigh with irritation.

"Yeah, I can see that. I mean, anyone with eyes would notice she's a grown woman. I'm surprised you're just noticing considering she's twenty-four!" I reply sarcastically. I'm not in the mood for chitchat. Especially nonsense ones.

He chuckles, not minding my tone of voice.

"If you can see that then how come you didn't know she has fallen in love with you?"

"Yeah, right!" I scoff and lean back into my chair with my eyes closed.

Love!? This fool!

I scoff at the ridiculousness of his statement then open my eyes again.

"You talk a lot of nonsense these days. Should I be concerned about your mental health?"

His expression turns serious then

"You think I would joke about such a thing?"

'No he wouldn't!' I reply to his question in my head as we stare at each other.

Red!?... In love!?... And with me!?

I laugh in disbelief

That would be a mess. A mess he shouldn't have involved me in. Now that he said it, what does he want me to do with that information?

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed. With the way she's been acting around you..."

I suddenly stop laughing, interrupting him

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that nonsense, so deal with it. Deal with her or..."

His eyes widen with surprise

"Deal with her!? How!? It's Rowan we're talking about here! She's like a sister to..."

"How could she be in love with me then!?" I growl with my eyes angrily piercing into his, when what I wanted to shout at him was, 'I don't have a sister! I don't need a sister!'

God! What am I going to do about this fool!?

" I-I-she..." He stutters, then shrugs, "I don't know. I just– I mean..."

Seeing the look on his face, I force myself to calm down and pull up a smile

"Perhaps you're mistaken then?..."

He swallows and nods, somewhat nervously.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken..."

"Good," I say with a nod and then close my eyes again.

"God, Draco! You're insane!..." He says after a while. "What's with the crazy look!?"

What crazy look is he talking about now? I wonder but continue to ignore him. Thinking about the nonsense he brought to me

Love!

That word should be synonymous with deception. It is an elaborate hoax. A word that stupid people use to take advantage of their less intelligent counterparts. Love is a bullshsit idea promoted by delusional writers to earn money. I don't believe in it. Not parental love and certainly not romantic love. That's even more dumb and pointless.

People like Ryder confuse physical attraction with love. He knows I don't believe in the word. Just sex, which is necessary for procreation and carnal pleasures so why bring it up? Although I'm convinced whatever he believes Rowan feels for me is just sexual and would fade with time, I still consider it a burden and won't hesitate to cut her off if her head and heart are not where I want them to be.

My problem is Ryder. That moron is sentimental about everything, especially Rowan. He's beginning to think she's our little sister just because we brought her along with us seventeen years ago when we escaped from Black Sky Pack, but I do not.

I don't have a sister and don't need one. I don't want a mate. Neither do I need a wife nor a concubine. I don't want any female getting emotionally attached to me and sure as hell don't need one around me who doesn't have her head screwed on tight. I owe Ryder my life. Dude is my Achilles heel, I know, but Rowan? I owe her nothing. Seventeen years or not, she's out if she slacks on the job I pay her to do. She's an adult, therefore old enough to move on with her life.

It is a dog-eat-dog world we live in. A world where families discriminate and turn against each other. A world where a mother abandoned her child and left him to the mercy of a monster so she could continue living her life. A world where a father tortured his own son for his own selfish needs and never cared if he died or not.

I'm a survivor. Being emotional didn't get me this far. Being callous, ruthless, and cold-blooded did. Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure I destroy them all.