Chapter 1
BRENT
“The eastern part of the pack is getting a lot worse,” the new leader of my team, Marek, says, reading from the thick folder he keeps clutched in his hands. His shoulders are stiff from anxiety.
Not this again.
I am currently sitting in the middle of the mess that’s the alpha’s office. It smells like stale coffee, and ink, with the single desk lamp buzzing overhead, throwing a sickly yellow circle across the mountains of paperwork I have to do.
A year. It has been one fucking year since Kael walked away, and it feels like the cracks in the pack are only growing wider minute by minute. Something like this can only be considered as absurd.
“Continue,” I keep signing forms though I barely read them.
“We had four incidents since yesterday,” Marek does as he is told, voice rushing. “Two adult males nearly killed each other over a shared hunting path that’s been neutral for decades. One of them nearly lost an eye,” he sighs “A mated pair who had been stable for years got into a fight because the male came home smelling like another female. She burned their den to the ground. Then we have a group of young ones who started a brawl during their training over nothing. Nothing, Beta Brent!”
When it comes to pack laws, one of the duties of a Beta when his alpha is away, is solving whatever issue comes up in the pack, both the ones made by the wolves and natural ones. I know this. Dad taught me this, but I never expected to actually do it.
It was clear as day the moment I came to the world that I was not a people’s person.
Marek flips another page, too nervous to stop. “I’ve got witness statements, injury lists, damage estimates. If we don’t reinforce the eastern patrols and start handing down real punishments, it’s going to spill into the other zones. We’re…”
“Stop,” I finally raise my gaze to find Marek staring back at me. “Get out.”
“Sir, we still have…”
“I said get out!”
Marek stares at me for half a second, then gives a stiff nod before backing toward the door. The man proceeds to run away like someone is chasing after him.
Alone, I let the pen fall between my fingers. It rolls across the desk and drops to the floor. Fucking… hell. I lean back against the chair, dragging a rough hand down my face. I press it hard against my eyes until sparks of light burst beneath my lids.
Fury to the goddess or whatever.
I am just one man.
“Anyone with eyes can see how bad of a job I’m doing as the chief-in-command of this pack. This place cannot survive another year without the alpha,” I scoff, not caring if anyone hears. “I need to visit Kael.”
But before visiting my dear friend, I have something to cross out of my ever-growing to-do list. For the last time, hopefully. I grab my jacket, and leave the office without bothering to lock the door.
After I got Storm to place containment spells on the bars in the prison wing—a way to get information from her since nothing came from Kael anymore, the wing got this form of coolness that became worst the closer we got to the end. Most of the cells here are empty or just holds petty offenders who’ll be released in a week or two.
Not this one, though.
This is a full containment, separate from the others, making it impossible for anyone to see inside or for the prisoner to see outside, unless someone deactivates it. One of Kael’s best ideas. This is a place for the most dangerous of creatures—the ones we don’t want escaping.
I step inside the little compartment, which automatically locks immediately. This happens in the event that whoever is inside overpowers the visitor. It’s not a fool-proof method because all the prisoner needs is a drop of my blood to get the door open.
But it works…
“Goddess, shit,” I gasp, trying my best not to fall as I crash hard into a chair. The chair that’s supposed to be at the side of the door. “Seriously, vampire?” I sneer. “Must we do this all the fucking time.”
I kick the chair away from me, my senses on alert if the inhabitant of the room decides to attack. Three months ago, my team ambushed a group of vampires testing the western barrier, obviously searching for something. This vampire was the only one they were able to get their hands on, and from what I heard, it was because he wanted to be the little hero.
What an idiot.
“Here to finally kill me, Beta?” the vampire taunts. He says the same word every single time I visit, almost like he’s waiting for the day I’ll snap.
Today, he’s leaning against the far wall with that unnatural stillness only his kind could manage. Dark hair falls across sharp, angular features, while his eyes gleams like polished obsidian in the low light.
No one should look this good.
Prison clothes hang loose on his frame, giving me a better glimpse of his neck and a larger part of his chest. His pants hang so low on his hips, one wrong move will bring them down immediately.
“Shut your fucking mouth, Eden.”
He sneers but falls silent, tilting his head. He never says much, which makes these visits tolerable. I didn’t need someone talking over me, or offering me some fake comfort or useless advice. If he actually gives me advice, I’ll place a sock in his mouth and force him to eat it.
The only words I need from him is the reason his group was sneaking around my pack’s border.
“So what are you here for, Beta?”
I barely manage to stop my upper lip from lifting in a sneer as I snatch a second chair at the side, and sit on it. This one is closer to his cot. “Just shut the fuck up and listen, vampire,” I glare at the waste of my time. “The pack is still tearing itself apart from the inside, with all the pointless fights in the east today. The wolves are ripping themselves open for the dumbest fucking reasons. I try my best, but it’s almost like no matter what I do, the problem persists.”
If anyone is wondering what’s happening right now, then worry no much. Eden, the vampire is also Eden… my therapist. Or not my therapist. That’s stupid. He’s just a prisoner I force to listen to my rants.
“Our alpha refuses to come back.” And who can blame him at this point? “He is never available when I visit too, almost like he’s avoiding me on purpose.” He is. “The spineless old fucks are already whispering about finding some new alpha, like it’s that easy.”
So, yeah, it’s the same fucking shit every single day.
Eden remains pressed to the wall. He has this look on his face that tells me he’s keeping every word I say in that brain of his, probably to use as blackmail later. Stupid vampires, and the stupid things they do. I should probably stop telling him things about my pack and myself.
“I don’t care.”
“You’re not supposed to care,” I snarl at him, and he chuckles. “Who in their right mind cares about the problems of the man keeping them locked up?”
Ugh. He’s so stupid.
We remain like that for some time, just staring at each other. I find my eyes drifting lower, roaming slowly over the vampire’s body. The pale column of his throat. The sharp lines of his collarbones beneath the loose collar. The lean muscle of his chest and arms. Those long legs coupled with thick thighs that are probably strong enough to break me into two if that’s what he wants.
Why do vampires have to look so fucking good… it isn’t fair.
Even caged, Eden radiates some form of dangerous grace that makes something dark and hungry twist low in my gut.
This is so wrong.
Everyone, from their time of birth to death, knows frolicking with a vampire is wrong. Those damn creatures can drain you till you’re dead, since they only care about their twisted selves… Blood-drinking zombies.
The only reason Eden isn’t forcing me into a headlock and escaping this place is because he can’t. He’s so hungry and weak that it’s almost impossible for him to take on a full werewolf like me, who can change immediately and snap his neck in half. I make sure of this by making sure the staff here gives him nothing but half a pint of animal blood everyday.
Vampires hate that.
“Can you leave now?” Eden lets out a sigh, eyes moving to the cot beside me then back at me.
A chill runs over my flesh, the thump in my nuts reminding me of how many days it has been since I came. And then my mind slithers back to the last time I came… How do I always go from a little confession to this every time.
“Remove your clothes, vampire. I’m going to fuck you now.”
