The Grim Reaper

Ronan

“What the hell?!”

Alpha Jared's furious shout filled the room as the door came crashing down.

Two naked women lying on the bed with Alpha Jared screamed at the same time, scrambling to cover themselves with whatever they could reach.

I stepped over the broken door and rested one foot on what was left of it, a smile spreading across my face as I looked at Jared.

“Sorry about your door, Jared. I really did mean to knock, but, uh...” I glanced at the wreckage beneath my foot. “I was kind of in a hurry.”

One of them hurried past me with the sheet wrapped tightly around her body, while the other followed right behind her, still struggling to pull her dress over herself.

I simply stepped aside and let them go, knowing they would eventually be taken care of. The moment they left, the room fell quiet, and Jared's expression changed as he looked at me.

At first, he seemed more irritated than frightened. Then his eyes traveled over my face, and whatever anger he'd been holding suddenly disappeared.

His eyes widened.

“The Grim Reaper...” he muttered.

I nearly rolled my eyes.

That was the ridiculous name they had started calling me over the past few months. Apparently, hunting down everyone connected to the feral operations after Jacob's death had earned me a reputation.

The Grim Reaper.

It sounded impressive, I supposed. Personally, I thought it was a little dramatic.

But Jared's fear didn't last long. His expression hardened, and suddenly he was shouting again.

“You've got some fucking nerve coming in here like this! I have done nothing wrong!” he yelled. “Nothing! For fuck's sake, Jacob is dead! Do you hear me? He's fucking dead! So why the hell are you still hunting me and the rest of us?!”

I listened quietly until he finally stopped to catch his breath, then chuckled darkly.

“Don’t worry, I won't waste your time. I just have one question for you. There’s an intel going around that one of the Alphas from Jacob's circle has been gathering resources and rebuilding alliances.”

The anger in his face faltered for half a second.

I noticed and took a few steps towards him.

“They're supposedly trying to continue the project using the blueprint Jacob left behind. Apparently, he kept it somewhere secret before he died… Do you know anything about that?”

Jared scoffed loudly. “I don't know what kind of nonsense you've been hearing.”

His shoulders relaxed, and then he suddenly chuckled almost mockingly. “You really think you're some kind of hero, don't you? All these ridiculous heroic acts you're pulling around the black market will eventually get you killed.”

His smile widened.

“You're nothing but a small street rat who got lucky. You think because you've managed to take down a few Alphas, you're powerful now? You have no idea what's coming.”

There was an unusual confidence in his voice now that was beginning to irk me.

“The future is being rebuilt. And when it is, foolish people like you will be crushed beneath it. You'll wish you'd stayed in the streets where you belonged, because you're going to—”

My claws shot out, and before Jared could react, I crossed the space between us and drove them deep into his throat.

His eyes flew open.

Blood burst from the wound as he grabbed desperately at his throat, trying to stop the bleeding. His mouth opened, but whatever he tried to say came out as nothing more than a wet, broken sound.

I watched him stagger backward. His knees gave out, and his body hit the floor. I looked down at him for a moment before slowly retracting my claws.

Another Alpha down.

Another dead end.

“Do you have to make a mess everywhere we go?” Caleb's voice came from the doorway.

I glanced over my shoulder. He was standing there with his arms crossed, looking around the room with obvious disapproval.

I shrugged. “Not my fault. He took too long to open the door and talked too much. It was annoying.”

Caleb stared at me and shook his head.

“You're just impossible. We need to leave. Now.”

Turning toward the doorway, I followed Caleb.

We had barely made it a few steps when something caught my attention.

A dull sound that sounded like… a pound?

I stopped. Caleb took another step before realizing I wasn't beside him anymore. “What?”

I looked toward the room. “Did you hear that?”

He stared at me for a moment before sighing.

“Hear what? Ronan, come on. We seriously need to leave.”

I frowned. Maybe it had come from somewhere outside. But I had barely taken another step when I heard it again.

POUND

This time, there was no mistaking it.

My head turned sharply toward the sound. It had been louder than before, although still strangely weak. Almost like whoever was making it didn't have enough strength to hit very hard but was determined to make sure someone heard.

Caleb looked at me, and his expression turned serious… He'd heard it too.

My claws slid out again as I slowly began looking for the source of the sound. I followed the sound toward the far side of the room.

It seemed to be coming from behind a large standing mirror.

“A mirror?”

Caleb moved beside me. Neither of us spoke as we examined it. The mirror was large enough to cover almost the entire corner of the wall, with a thick decorative frame around it. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it.

Then the pounding came again.

POUND.

It was definitely coming from behind it.

Caleb moved closer and ran his fingers along the frame. His eyes narrowed. He looked at me and gestured toward the edge.

I leaned closer. There was a thin line where the mirror met the wall. It wasn't simply a mirror… It was a door.

For the past two years, we'd been searching for clues connected to Jacob's operation. We'd followed money trails, interrogated Alphas, tracked shipments, and searched places we thought could have been used to hide whatever remained of his plans.

Nothing had led anywhere.

Yet here we were, standing in Alpha Jared's private room, staring at a concealed entrance.

My pulse quickened.

Could this be what we'd been looking for? Could this be the first real clue we'd found in two years?

Caleb crouched down and carefully examined the frame. “Wait.”

His fingers moved along the edge until they stopped. He pressed a tiny button hidden against the frame, and a soft click sounded.

The mirror shifted.

We exchanged a look. Caleb's expression had changed completely. “Found it.”

I stepped forward and wrapped my fingers around the edge. Slowly, I pulled. The concealed door opened, and a strange smell immediately hit me.

My face twisted as I instinctively covered my nose… A scent blocker, and it was not a weak one. The smell was so concentrated that it almost burned my senses.

“What the hell...?”

I looked into the darkness beyond the door. Why would Jared need this much scent blocker?

That alone was enough to put me on edge.

I stepped through carefully, my claws still extended. The room beyond was small and dark, and the air felt stale. My eyes moved across every corner, searching for anything that could attack us.

Nothing.

The pounding had stopped.

I moved deeper into the room. My gaze swept over the walls, the floor, the corners. Then I saw a figure.

“Someone's in here.”

I cautiously walked closer and noticed it was a young woman. She was lying on the floor near the wall, curled beneath what looked like a thick black fur coat.

At first, I couldn't tell if she was even alive. Her body was incredibly thin, and a mass of matted blonde hair covered much of her face.

I slowed down.

Caleb came up behind me.

Who was she? Why had Jared hidden a young woman in a secret room? And why did she look like she hadn't been properly fed in months?

I moved closer.

The woman suddenly stirred. Before I could react, a fist came shooting out from beneath the fur.

My instincts took over. I grabbed her wrist sharply, stopping whatever she had been about to do.

She flinched. I tightened my grip, expecting an attack, but then she looked up at me, and I froze.

Her eyes were dull, almost lifeless, with a strange ombre coloring that might have been beautiful under different circumstances. Right now, they were filled with nothing but fear and exhaustion.

She looked absolutely terrified of me. My grip loosened slightly.

“Easy.”

She stared at me without saying anything. Her breathing was shallow. I glanced at the hand I'd caught. It was still clenched tightly into a fist.

“What were you trying to do?”

No response.

My suspicion returned. Whatever was in her hand could be important. Keeping hold of her wrist, I used my other hand to slowly pry her fingers apart. One by one, her fingers loosened, then her palm opened… It was empty.

My eyes moved back to her face, and suddenly, it made sense.

The pounding.

She had been the one making it. She had been trying to get our attention.

“You were knocking?”

Her gaze flickered toward me.

There was something in it then. It was not fear this time… it was hope. But before I could ask anything else, her eyelids began to droop.

“Hey.” Her head fell slightly. “Stay awake.”

She didn't. Her entire body went limp, but I caught her before she could hit the floor.

“Shit.”

Caleb stepped closer. “What happened?”

“She passed out.”

I looked down at her. She felt far too light in my arms, and that bothered me more than it should have.

I adjusted my grip and carried her out of the hidden room. The moment we stepped back into the main suite, the overwhelming scent blocker began to fade.

Her natural scent slowly replaced it, and something about it caught my attention. It was faint, but there was something strangely familiar about it.

I couldn't place it… Not yet.

“Put her on the bed,” Caleb said.

I nodded and carefully lowered her onto the mattress. Her blonde hair spread across the pillow as she remained completely unconscious.

I stood there for a moment, staring at her. My mind was still trying to piece everything together when something stirred inside me.

Leo.

My wolf had been unusually quiet since we'd entered the hidden room. Now, he suddenly stirred hard.

My entire body stiffened. “Leo?”

His presence surged through me, stronger than I'd felt in a long time. Then he said one word that made my heart stop.

Mate.