Page 36

CHAPTER 36

Leo

“When I joined the Lopez pack, I’d already settled into my designation,” I explained as I scooched a little closer to him, until my thighs were pressed up against his. “I had these stupid red eyes when I was only thirteen so Francisco placed me in his alpha training program right off the bat. You see, he was worried I might end up just like my father.”

I leaned forward and stared up into Soren’s eyes, amused that he could look so unaffected despite how fast his blood was pulsing against my fingers.

“A few weeks into my training, I received a call that Francesca had been kidnapped – someone had taken her and no one knew where she was.”

Finally. Those pretty eyes widened and I felt oddly relieved he was finally starting to react.

“I’ve never been afraid like that before. Not even when my father shot me.” I shook my head, not exactly pleased with having to relive this experience, but he needed to understand .

“I did everything I could to find her, but she was nowhere and I lost it. Went completely ballistic.”

Taking the pistol from him, I whipped the cylinder open to see there really was a bullet in there. I spun it again and then flicked it back into place.

“Eventually, I tracked her back to the compound where I found her waiting for me. Apparently, the whole ‘pretend kidnapping’ thing had been her idea.”

I placed the barrel of the gun just under my jaw and pulled the hammer back.

“Lopez wanted to see if I was a danger to her or her brother – he wanted to see if I would take advantage of her absence and use the opportunity to gain the position of Lopez’s heir.”

I smiled slightly, remembering exactly how I’d felt when I’d realized I was finally seeing who she truly was.

“But you know what Frankie wanted? She wanted to see if I would come for her…she wanted to know how I’d react when I really saw her. She was only ten and she was already so fickle and cruel.”

In that moment, I’d understood exactly how she’d felt when we first met because I was afraid…of her, of what she would do…I don’t know, but she’d scared the fucking shit out of me.

I chuckled and pressed the gun even harder into my soft flesh. “My father killed my mother and my sisters right in front of me. Then he tried to kill me but I got lucky and managed to kill him first. When they took me to the hospital, it felt like I was burning alive right in front of everyone’s eyes and yet none of them could see the flames.”

I pulled the trigger and Soren winced before he tried to rip the gun from my hands.

“When I opened my eyes in that hospital room, I fell into a bottomless ocean, sucked into a watery nightmare. I couldn’t breathe or scream…I was drowning . It was dark and cold, but I wasn’t burning anymore.”

Gripping his wrist hard enough to feel the bones creak, I made sure Soren was really listening so he could understand.

“You know, the ocean is terrifying but I was no longer burning to ash and that’s when I realized…the dark is peaceful.”

I relinquished the gun and dropped his hand.

“I was drowning, but when I was pulled out of the sea, my peace was shattered and I’ve been burning ever since. Asphyxiating. Slowly dying. And I didn’t even notice until I was plunged back into those icy blue depths.”

It was impossible not to smile when I remembered the way those blue eyes had stared at me without blinking, wanting everything I was and more.

“I know I’ve been ensnared by a siren, but I just don’t care. I mean…look at her.” I shrugged and leaned back, giving Soren a wide smile. “She may be fickle and cruel, but she’s my Calypso. My goddess.”

“I worship her. No matter what she does, I simply can’t hate her. How could I when she’s the one who gave me life? Everything I am belongs to her, and as such, she can do whatever she wants with me.”

Grabbing him by the back of his neck, I yanked him forward, until our foreheads were pressed against each other and the only thing he could see was me .

“My chemistry has been altered,” I confessed. “My body forever changed. I can no longer survive anywhere but the deep, blue sea. She drew me into a watery nightmare where reality bends and nightmares come alive, but you know what I realized? The dark is peaceful . The water is deep. It carries you. Holds you close and never lets you go.”

“ So . Tell me, Soren. What weakness of hers do you think you have?”

He searched my eyes and his red one was so shiny I almost got distracted but luckily I was more interested in the emotion I could see in them.

“I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone,” he growled.

This motherfucker actually growled at me.

Rearing back, I slammed my head into his and Soren cursed. He reached for his nose, blood gushing everywhere.

I ripped the gun out of his hand and pressed the barrel to his thigh, pulling the trigger three times in quick succession. Lucky for him I didn’t catch a single bullet. I tossed the gun over my shoulder, annoyed that nothing ever seemed to go my way.

“You know what? I could be lying.” Grabbing him by the hair, I wiped the blood from his chin. “I could just be some guy who doesn’t really know her, trying to trick you into giving me her weakness so I’ll let this one slide.”

I licked the blood off my thumb to get a taste of his mortality. “Your turn.”

The way he so casually wiped the rest of the blood from his face, like it didn’t hurt at all…oh, he was really starting to try my patience.

Soren spat blood onto the floor and then refocused on me. “Have you ever thought about seeing a therapist?”

His question caught me off guard and I actually laughed out loud.

I could see why Frankie liked him.

“Yeah, actually,” I admitted. “I’ve been seeing one for the last sixteen years.”

Soren raised an eyebrow. “And how’s that going?”

“Can’t really fix crazy but they do help me remember why I’m doing all this. Talking it out helps and they’ve taught me how to control all my…impulses.”

I ran my hand through my hair and studied the array of weapons on his table.

Did this guy have even an inkling of what he was getting into? Did he care at all?

Just thinking of how much he might not care about the consequences of his actions, or hers, made me want to drag him behind my motorcycle through the city until he got it through his thick skull that he couldn’t fuck around when it came to her.

I tilted my head and studied this big, beefy alpha Frankie thought would make a better omega than me.

Why did she always have to rub it in my face that I would never be good enough for her?

I was trying. I really was. I was doing my best to be exactly what she wanted and needed, but she kept turning me down even though she always looked at me like she was begging me to do something—anything.

What the fuck did she want? I couldn’t figure it out. Not on my own. But this guy…he might be able to help me. One way or another.

I just had to push him in the right direction.

“Are you going to keep working this job?” I tilted my head the other way and narrowed my eyes when his pupils contracted to pinpoints. “Are you going to tell them Frankie was buried alive with a bunch of dead bodies during her alpha training and that’s why she gets so squeamish?”

There . That was the emotion I wanted to see. Outrage . For her.

“Was it you?” His calm question made it seem like he didn’t particularly care but the state of his pheromones said otherwise.

“It wasn’t me, but I was there.” I fiddled with the handle of a machete of all things. “I wasn’t allowed to interfere with her training but I wasn’t going to let her die either. So, I waited and waited, but she didn’t need me. She got out all on her own.”

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” Soren demanded, his hand wrapping around my throat to slam me down on the table.

He even went so far as to bare his canines at me.

“Frankie wanted to be an alpha,” I reminded him. “So she had to go through alpha training.”

“Why would you let them do that to her?” Soren was growling again and I knew without a doubt that he wouldn’t tattle on her. “How could you just stand there and do nothing?”

“Because she deserved it,” I snarled, losing control of my temper thanks to his aggressive, volatile pheromones. “She deserved to experience exactly what she’d asked for – to be treated like everyone else because I was no one to her by then. Just another obstacle to her status .”

I didn’t like the way Soren was staring at me.

Knocking his hand off me wasn’t easy, but I managed it.

This rat was stronger than all the others. I couldn’t forget that. But he wasn’t stronger than me.

Yanking off the hoodie as I stood, I tossed it on a nearby chair. It was way too hot in here and I slicked my hair back with my sweat.

His pheromones were thick, filling up the apartment with the smell of cedarwood and geranium of all things. There was a hint of patchouli too but the geranium was what really caught me off guard.

Surprisingly, he didn’t direct his anger and frustration at me either but it still colored his scent and raised my hackles.

Thanks to Francisco I didn’t feel the need to respond to another alpha’s pheromones when they were raging out unless it was directed at me. This guy was just losing his shit because he didn’t understand the world of legacies which was fair.

Even I didn’t really understand it, I lived in that world. I just did what was best for Frankie. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“Are you going to keep working this job?” I asked again, forcing myself to calm down so I could finish this task and go about my merry way.

“Let me get this straight.” Soren ran his hand through his hair, pushing all his hair up and back to fully expose his mismatched eyes. “She wants nothing to do with you because you would get in the way of her status? That doesn’t sound like her.”

Aw, he had it bad didn’t he?

“I know you haven’t known each other for long, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. She’s not the benevolent creature you think she is.”

I picked up his machete and eyed the sharp edge. “She has this uncanny way of ignoring her emotions if a person doesn’t serve her purpose. Regardless of how strongly she feels about them. And you? You don’t serve her purpose, but you do serve mine.”

Soren glared at me and reached for the machete but I shifted just enough he missed. “What exactly does that mean?”

I set the edge of the blade against his neck and tilted my head. “She likes you enough to ignore you. Didn’t want me to kill you either. That means you’re valuable.”

“I’m not going to let you use me to get back at her,” Soren warned.

“Get a little more creative, geez.” I rolled my eyes. “Why would I want to get back at her anyway? My life is hers to do with as she pleases, whether that means she treats me like nothing or not.”

It didn’t really matter to me because I would always be her tool.

Those mismatched eyes dropped to the shiny metal of the machete and I watched with interest as he reached up to slide his thumb along the edge, slicing his flesh open like he couldn’t feel a thing.

He looked up and locked eyes with me as he licked the blood from his thumb. His eyes sharpened and the red glowed, warning me that he wasn’t as calm and collected as he seemed on the surface.

With the blood dripping from his nose, down his chin, and the psychotic way he grabbed the blade of the machete – ripping it out of my hand and slicing his palm open in the process…

I could see why Frankie liked him as much as she did.

Soren tossed the machete to the floor and closed the distance between us, taking his sweet time about it too. He was in no hurry, practically sauntering over.

Then he kicked my legs out from underneath me and slammed me down to the ground.

I coughed when the air got knocked from my lungs. “Real professional…upstairs neighbor behavior.” I heaved in a breath and dodged his punch, laughing when he growled in frustration. “Come on. Use your words, Soren.”

But there wasn’t a single drop of sanity left in his eyes. I could definitely relate. Francesca was good at driving people insane.

Shoving back to wrap my legs around his neck, I brought him down and flipped him onto his back. He caught the knee I tried to shove into his throat and grabbed my neck so he could push me to the side.

We both had too much training and our strength was well matched. Every time I got the upper hand he’d take it from me and then we’d go around and around, grappling with each other like a pair of idiot boys arguing over who got the last piece of bacon.

This was taking too long and I had other shit to do.

I whipped out the zip ties and snapped them around one wrist, then the other when I countered his move. A third one to tie them together behind his back would give me a few seconds of breathing room.

Kicking his chest, I flipped back and landed in a crouch, watching him carefully as he tipped over.

“Chill out for a second,” I warned. “We need to finish our little chat.”

“I serve no one ,” he growled as he somersaulted backward.

Soren landed on his knees with his hands secured behind his back.

“Before you break out of that, I need to clarify something.” I kept my weight on the balls of my feet, ready to move the second he came at me. “I’m not here to get you to do something you don’t want to do. I’m here to get you to understand that her life depends on what you decide to do next.”

Some sanity started trickling back into his eyes.

I watched in wary admiration as his shoulders slumped and he reeled in more of his pheromones than I thought was possible in his current state.

“Sorry,” Soren muttered. “I’ve been on edge all day.”

Clearly.

I didn’t say anything though because all the talking was done. The rest was up to him and if he decided to keep working this job, I’d make sure he couldn’t get out of those ties, torturing him until he told me who he was working for.

Then I’d flip him.

But getting him to flip willingly would be better for Frankie.

Soren didn’t try to get out of the zip ties but he did get to his feet, dropping down onto one of the only chairs we hadn’t knocked over.

“You work for Francisco Lopez then?” Soren asked as he rubbed his bloody chin on his shirt.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was totally fine but that freak out earlier told me he wasn’t just on edge.

He was about to have a nuclear level crash out.

“I work for Frankie,” I corrected. “Francisco was simply a placeholder.”

She’s marked me after all. She was mine now just as much as I was hers. No one else’s.

“What work do you do for her exactly?”

He sounded way too calm but it would make things easier for him to know. I just didn’t trust his motives.

“I protect her.” I shifted my weight and propped my arms up on my knees. “I do whatever I have to do to make sure she’s safe. That includes sniffing out all the rats and exterminating them.”

He was one of those annoying rats that kept popping up no matter how many times I stomped on all their little friends, but this one seemed to have a slightly higher intelligence than all the others.

Pointing a finger at him like a gun, I raised an eyebrow. “So…am I going to have to exterminate you? Or are you going to make yourself useful?”