Chapter 1 - Prologue
Jayden
“They’re people, Elijah, you know we don’t take on cases like this. You take care of them,” I say for the hundredth time.
Their faces blur on the screen, their names are meaningless. They owe us money and we are meant to collect it. Elijha sighs angrily and turns the computer screen back to me, as if I’m going to agree right now because of their faces.
Of course, it’s easy money for us, I know that and he knows that.
“Noah, Ethan and you, you’re made for this,” he says, trying to convince me further.
I look at my brother. His eyes are tired, but his look is determined. Elijha is not only my brother and the head of our family business, if you can call it that, but also the alpha of our pack.
“What are we supposed to do with them if they don’t pay? They don’t stand a chance,” I ask, although I already know the answer.
“Do it like the others,” he replies tonelessly. “The main thing is that you organize the money. I’m getting tired of this.”
Our grandfather was a renegade, an alpha who left his pack. That doesn’t really happen, ever. And we still don’t know why he did it. But there are things we will never get an answer to, and we just accept that.
But that makes other packs hate us, perhaps because almost everyone has worked with us in one way or another.
But just like Elijha and our father, our grandfather was the most charismatic guy to walk this earth. His charm and powers of persuasion were legendary. He not only managed to sell overpriced loans, but also to gather a whole pack around him.
That is the reason why we are where we are today.
Although Elijha has also built up other lines of business, lending is still the business that earns us the most money today. It is a legacy that haunts us like a curse, but also a tradition that we must preserve.
We not only lend to shapeshifters and other supernaturals, but also to humans. They are easy to put under pressure and quickly become frightened, especially when they realize that their weapons are ineffective.
The look on their faces when they realize that a bullet won’t just kill us is indescribable.
But our group, Noah, Ethan, Roxy and I, we don’t do business with humans. We deal with supernatural beings like shapeshifters, witches and vampires who refuse to repay their debts.
“Your daughter lives normally, so it should be...” Elijha begins, but I interrupt him. “Just be? We both know it’s not,” I reply, sighing.
If it were that simple, five years would not have passed since the debtor was last seen, since he hid in the shadows of some city. A wretched human who has managed to hide from the shapeshifters as if he were a ghost.
Elijha sighs too and looks down to the parking lot, where Ethan, Noah and Roxy are standing by our bikes, still waiting for me.
I told you it would be quick, I’ll sort it out - as always. But now we’ve been talking for half an eternity. Roxy is licking Noah’s ear and Elijha grimaces in disgust. “That’s disgusting,” he explains and turns back to me.
I can’t say anything, I’m used to this shit because they’ve been stuck together since school, but I agree with him.
“I still don’t understand why you brought her onto your team,” Elijha continues as he analyzes the situation. “You know she’s strong,” I explain to him.
Because it is, it is strong - and that’s all there is to it.
“She’s uncontrollable, worse than the three of you. And she’s only there because your friend Noah thinks it’s smart to have a steady girlfriend of over ten years,” Elijha replies mockingly. I sigh in annoyance. “That’s not the issue. The issue is that we both know we can’t get close to their daughter,” I add, emphasizing the challenge. I want him to think that this isn’t an easy job - because I have a goal.
“And that’s where you come in, I know Ethan has already looked into the case, and knowing you, you already have a plan,” Elijha explains with a certain tone of voice, grinning like when we were kids.
So the decision has already been made, the only thing left to do is negotiate.
Because, of course, Ethan has already looked into it. Ever since he found out about the case and that we were to take it on, he’s been bombarding me with information, which I’ve carefully compiled.
“We want double,” I say firmly.
Elijha laughs out loud and shakes her head. Of course he doesn’t want to pay for it, it would be naïve to think that he would do so without a good reason.
“You know as well as I do that all the other troops you’ve sent haven’t even set out. They don’t have a clue, let alone the courage, to go to Alpha Gabriel to tell his mate, of all people, to pay her parents’ debts,” I reply, hitting the nail on the head.
“You’re ready to go there? Do I understand that correctly?” Elijha asks with his eyebrows raised skeptically, as if he doubts our determination.
“Of course,” I reply immediately, leaving no room for doubt.
Because that really is part of our plan.
His gaze narrows on me. “I’ll add half," he offers.
I hold his gaze. “Double,” I insist.
Elijha leans back in his chair and there is silence between us for a few seconds as we look at each other intensely. Finally, he breaks the silence. “Double, but only if Roxy doesn’t come with us this time,” he offers.
He’s our alpha, of course he could just order us to do it, but when it comes to business, that’s something else.
That’s the good thing about Elijha that our father couldn’t do. He separates the affairs of the pack from the business.
“Last time she turned in front of three ignorant people and destroyed an entire bar. I have no desire to pay for such damage or to have to negotiate with the bloodsuckers again in the near future, who already charge too much money for five minutes’ work anyway,” he adds.
I can’t help but nod in agreement with Elijha. How could I not? I was there when she lost control. Once again.
That’s one of the things she has in common with Noah, a lack of control over her wolf, especially when she gets upset. I don’t have a firm grip on my wolf either, but I don’t try to kill the debtor just because he insults my shoes.
The blessed one of the four of us who has the best control over his wolf is probably Ethan. He even manages to appease his wolf by siphoning money from random assholes on the internet and donating it to charity. A good Samaritan.
“Get the money from the Harringtons and put an end to this”.
I nod in agreement without saying another word.
A deal is a deal.
The three of them are still standing there waiting for me when I come out of the building. Roxy is rubbing up against Noah like they’re already having sex, and he’s looking at me expectantly.
“So?” asks Ethan, who is already sitting on his bike and wants to leave. Sure, when I look at the two of them and how little they care that we’re standing here in a public parking lot, I want to get out of here too.
In any case, wolves, like other shapeshifters, are not shy. Nudity and sex are completely normal, especially when mates are found. The urge to mate, that crazy feeling that spreads between mates, is said to be so strong that it is difficult to get home in time before they fall over each other.
But they are not.
And then there are the ignorant people who live in the middle of our pack, or we live among them. They’re already looking funny, not much longer and they’ll call the police.
The relationship between Noah and Roxy has been going on for years. They’ve been together since they were teenagers. Back in school, they were even the bloody prom king and queen. The phrase ‘until we found our mates’ keeps coming up. But Elijha’s right, having relationships, especially with other shapeshifters, is bullshit. At least if you’re not planning to mark them. And especially not if you want to find your mate, and Noah does - eventually.
“Why don’t you say something?” Roxy asks, looking at me challengingly.
“We’ll get double,” I reply curtly, so as not to get drawn into any emotional discussions.
Ethan immediately grins broadly and nods in agreement. At least the work he’s been doing for days hasn’t been in vain.
“But you’re out,” I explain to Roxy and her face turns pale.
“I’m out? Why?” she hisses angrily, standing in front of Noah as if she were his protector or as if he had something to do with it.
“About the bar thing. You’re supposed to sit this one out, you’ll be back for the next one,” I explain calmly, although I’m not interested in what she thinks. A few days without her could be good for everyone, especially Noah.
“I’ll talk to him! That’s not how it works! We belong together!” she grumbles, but Noah interrupts her by saying that she wants to visit her aunt anyway.
By ‘we’, of course, she doesn’t mean us, our group, but just Noah and her.
As if she were his mate.
As if he were her mate.
Fortunately, this is not the case.
I tune out the two of them talking, this miserable discussion that arises even when the three of us men just want to go for a spin. And at the end of their discussion, as always, is the sentence that they should just mark themselves. Even if it has nothing to do with the topic.
“Have you got anything on this guy yet?” I ask Ethan, trying to change the subject.
“It’s not a guy, it’s a woman,” Ethan explains and shows me a photo of her.
“You?” I ask skeptically, looking at the small, petite woman with the white hair and grey eyes. The photo was obviously taken secretly and shows her, dressed all in black, talking to one of her colleagues.
“Yes, she’s the tactician of the security force and was promoted to leader straight away. Probably because she’s the Alpha’s cousin,” he explains.
“Anything else?” I continue to ask.
“Nothing, except that her name is Skadi Sterling.”
