Chapter 5

Nikolai Romonav’s pov

Stuck in my large, secluded mountain home, I sat in my office with sore thighs, chest, and shoulders. I listened to the chatter over the handheld radios my troop leaders held.

They were currently trying to capture more blood donors to be auctioned off for us to share in the profits with. The rest of the prisoners they intended to keep for themselves. Doing this on my own, I was risking the Moon Council's wrath but cared little. I was bored, and this small town was easy pickings. All I had to do was blow the single bridge and cell phone towers. I was lucky that the area I was in charge of had little to no guns.

“But they have a female that is skilled with a bow,” my Lycan Ares growled sourly in my mind as I rubbed my sore shoulder.

“So they have Ares, but I have her acquaintance in my dungeon, so I will capture the human and keep her for sport. Besides, she needs to pay for causing me injury. No one gets the better of me and lives long,” I snarled just as the radio of those I sent to the warehouse went to static.

“What's going on?! Respond to your commander!”

I shouted into the speaker.

Not getting any response, I threw the small walkie-talkie against my wall and shouted out for James, my second in command.

He rushed into my office, asking what I needed.

“Go to that female's apartment that I sniffed out and see if you can find any information on the human. She's causing me issues, and I demand them to be squashed,” I snapped, and he nodded his head.

“Take a couple of the hybrid vamps along with you. Their quickness will help avoid her tainted arrows,” I added, feeling bitter due to my body not healing as quickly as it should have.

“Does she use poison,” James asked me.

Shaking my head, I explained that the arrows were dirty and full of bacteria that my Lycan and vampire were fighting against. His smirk irritated me, and I waved him off.

Leaning back in my office chair, my mind thought about how her blood would taste as my crotch tightened up on my other sinister thoughts.

“She is a human and disgusting,” Ares gagged, causing me to pinch my lips and narrow my eyes over my body's response to the female who was named Jade.

“She is human, but her lower parts can be used just the same, and her blood will sustain my blood hunger,” I snarled to my wolf in response.

Hearing Ares snorting in my head brought a curl to my lip. He was interested in the minx but wouldn't admit it to me.

“She will never willingly lie with us,” he huffed.

“Perhaps but you saw her pupils dilate when she looked at us in the grocery store and heard what she said to her friend,’’ I mumbled, and Ares sighed.

“Nick! Nikolai!!!”

I glanced over at the walkie-talkie and stood up to collect it off the floor.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“The three sent to the warehouse are all dead. Marcus informed me of that. He and I are at the girl's place and going through stuff, but there's not much here,” James asserted.

Sitting back behind my desk and grinding my molars, I rubbed my eyes in frustration.

“Hold up, someone is coming in through a back window…I believe it's her!”

Feeling my heart skip a beat, I grinned cruelly.

“Capture her, but be cautious about her arrows!” I ordered.

James said, “Will do, sir,” before ending the connection.

Feeling giddy, I headed out to my balcony and looked out at my view.

My home was hidden from the human populace below. Located high in the mountains, the temperature was exactly like my birth home of Slovakia.

The strange storm the Corporal had promised dumped its dirty snow and left the landscape to look like monotone grays.

The rich green pine trees were a startling contrast.

“What are you going to do with the female?”

My Lycan asked me curiously.

“I'm going to have her submit to me and become my human blood slave. She will be compelled, like her red-haired friend has, to do my bidding,” I asserted.

Hearing my walkie-talkie click, I glanced down at it in my hand.

“We caught her, but Marcus was injured. The female is a wildcat,” James growled.

Chuckling, I said, “But he is still alive. Bring her to my bedroom and ready the redhead in the hallway outside. I will need her to prove my point to the stubborn she-devil.”

“I will cover her head and bring her straight away,” James stated and ended his transmission.

Grinning sardonically, I hurried to my bedroom to prepare the chains and cuffs that would hold my female captive.

“Do you think it's wise to keep her chained within your private chambers,” my Lycan questioned me.

Rolling my eyes, I growled, “How else will I be able to keep my eyes on her, Ares?”

Giving me an annoyed huff, he quieted as I measured the chain length from the metal ring secured to the wooden beam in the sitting area of my bedroom.

Standing back and eyeing the space, I rubbed my chin in thought.

“How's she going to use the bathroom?”

Ares had a valid point. I couldn't lay down straw for her like an animal. Not that I found that cruel, I simply didn't want to soil my domain.

“I will give her a chamber pot like the old days,” I announced with a snap of my fingers and determined my loyal servants could dump her waste.

Ares growled sourly and muttered, “That's disgusting.”

“Fine, I will allow her breaks to use the facilities, and after I compel her, she will get free range,” I commented, bringing my Lycan comfort and humor to my vampire half.

I retreated to my bedroom and took off my shirt, exposing my tattoo-covered chest and pausing at the top of my sweatpants.

“Should I shift or remain in this form?”

Ares growled sourly and told me to remain.

“I have no desire to show myself to a human,” he snarled bitterly in my mind.

“Fine, throw your fit,” I responded and used the radio to call my second.

“James, where are you now?”

“Marcus and I are driving the ATVs up the back roads and will be there in about thirty minutes,” he said firmly.

Ending the call, I noticed that my palms were sweaty in anticipation of seeing the young woman again.

“Why am I reacting this way,” I huffed in irritation and could only hear my Lycan telling me that I was being an idiot, raising my hackles more fervently.

Deciding to check on the woman's friend, I hurried down to the basement and asked the vampire there where the redhead was put, and my plans to use her as leverage.

“She's in the third cell and looks emaciated. The two young bloods drank more than they should have from her, and I doubt she will be capable of standing with you for long,” the bastard admitted, and I glared at him.

“They're your species and responsibility!”

Lowering his head, he apologized and stammered his excuse.

“The vampires have lost several good warriors to the humans in a short time, but I will see that they are punished for their misdeed.”

Ignoring his mutterings, I went to the third metal door and looked inside. The red-headed woman was naked, lying face down in the stray pile with bite marks covering her pale skin. Thankfully, she was still breathing.

“Get her roused up and put a shirt on her. James will be bringing her upstairs,” I grunted.

“Don't drink any more from her, or her heart will stop…”

Standing before him, I tilted my head and curled my lip.

“You don't tell me what I can or cannot do!”

“Forgive me, Commander,” he murmured, and I sneered at him one last time before I headed back upstairs to my bedroom to await my new slave.