by Merel Pierce
The alpha had attacked a beta patron in one of his clubs for accidentally spilling a drink on his shoes. Nikolai figured a week in the hospital would serve as a good lesson for the cocky youth. Considering the alpha’s victim spent three days in the ICU due to his injuries and was still hospitalized, he was getting off lightly as far as Nikolai was concerned. But the man was the eldest son of an associate, so he’d agreed to go easy on him this once. Relations with the younger man’s family were already tense. Nikolai made it clear all bets were off if it happened again.
He returned to his desk, sighing as he sat down and begrudgingly opened his ledger. Spread sheets filled with unlabeled number sequences fluttered noisily as he sifted through until he came to an unused sheet bearing the current days date; November 3rd. Nikolai retrieved a pen from the blotter and began the daily coded notations that made sense to only him.
Halfway through the morning log he paused and glanced down at his watch. 10:45AM. Nikolai frowned. He’d only been away from his omega for an hour and a half, and already he was growing restless. Had his men not informed him of the alpha prisoner’s pending arrival, he wouldn’t have left her at all. But he needed to speak with the man’s father before punishment was enacted. If Ramon Bulgras didn’t still hold so much sway with the criminal factions in this city, Nikolai wouldn’t have bothered trying to keep the peace. But until his own position was more secure, peace keeping was sometimes an unpleasant necessity.
His brooding was interrupted by unexpected shouts from the men on the floor below. Before Nikolai could rise to investigate, the lights went out and pitched his office into darkness. For a moment he was still as stone, allowing his senses to adjust to the changes in his environment. As he listened, the yelling below grew more distressed. He heard the urgency and confusion of his men. Some of the female captives were screaming, though the unfocused sound told him it was merely the lights going out that had frightened them. Nikolai’s hand went to the desk drawer on his right, muscle memory guiding his action as he opened it and extracted the handgun he kept there.
The weapon was cocked as he rose to his feet, approaching the office windows once more. The dull red of emergency lights illuminated the hall where his men were running back and forth, attempting to identify the problem. Other than a lack of proper lighting, nothing seemed amiss. Most likely, it was a block problem. The power went out here on occasion, though not often enough that he could remember the last time it happened. While they were working below, he decided it would be prudent to make certain they hadn’t blown a fuse or damaged the circuit breaker.
He left his position, crossing the office to the rear door that led down an access hall and up into the warehouse business front above. The fuse boxes and control panels for the facility were located halfway between his current location and the stairs that led out of the underground containment center. Nikolai stepped to one side before throwing open the door, lifting his weapon as he peered cautiously around the edge of the doorframe. The same red lighting gave the empty service hall an eerie, unwelcoming glow. Idly, he wondered if he shouldn’t consider replacing the antiquated system with floodlights.
Seeing nothing that concerned him, Nikolai made his way down the passage. Once he reached the inlet where the fuse boxes resided, he withdrew a small pen light from his pocket and slid it between his teeth as he stepped into the dark opening in the wall. He sat his gun atop the first metal box as he opened it, removing the light from his mouth to scan the switches. Finding nothing looked out of place, he opened the second box.
Suddenly, gunfire sounded above. The alarming sound was followed shortly after by a deafening crash as the metal door at the end of the hall was thrown back. Muted gunfire echoed out from a second location somewhere beyond the open door of his office, suggesting that more than one entry point was being breached at once. Nikolai turned off his light and retrieved the gun, his muscles tensing as adrenaline flooded his body. He raised his weapon and aimed it steadily at the space beyond his hiding place, waiting for a target to present itself.
The distant noise of gunfire continued, and outside of his current location he heard the footfalls of several approaching men. His finger tightened on the trigger, knowing he had the advantage as the inlet was almost impossible to find in such dim lighting if you didn’t already know where it was. The invaders were whispering in another language as they drew near, something vaguely Asiatic and entirely foreign to him. Nikolai didn’t have to understand their words to know the intent behind them, which made it even easier to shoot the first shadowy figure that moved into his line of sight.
As the first man went down, Nikolai dropped to his knees in the shadows, ducking low as he opened fire on the second figure that stepped into view. To his dismay, two more took the fallen man’s place. The twin muzzle flashes were the only warning he received before his alcove was peppered with an erratic spray of bullets from fully automatic barrels that his handgun had no hope of competing with.
His body jerked and twisted as the projectiles tore through his flesh in more places than he could count, and he roared his agony and rage as he emptied his clip into the hall beyond. The firing stopped abruptly, another unknown enemy following his own descent to the floor when his strength failed him. The injured alpha fell backwards, wedged into the corner of the darkened alcove that it seemed would soon serve as his final resting place. Helpless to defend himself as the final assailant stepped over his companion and shined a light into Nikolai’s eyes.
Nikolai could hear the gurgling rattle of his own breathing, felt his heart unintentionally pumping his life’s blood onto the floor at an accelerated pace. The pain was so extreme that he instinctively knew there would be no coming back from this. As he squinted up at the shadowed figure behind the blinding beam of light, a pang of regret seized him at the thought of what would happen to the helpless female who was waiting for him to return home. Why he cared what happened to a girl he hardly knew, he couldn’t have said. But in his final moments, being unable to protect her from what was to come shamed him worse than any other sin he’d committed in the whole of his miserable life.
Blood was pooling in his lungs, suffocating him slowly as the gun wielder watched in silence. Nikolai coughed, the taste of copper filling his mouth as he glared defiantly up at the man overseeing his death. “Fuck you.”
He felt a strange sense of relief when the stranger raised the weapon again. The fact that he wouldn’t suffer long was a blessing he knew he didn’t deserve. Nikolai closed his eyes and sighed in defeat, curling his fingers suggestively at his murderer to come forward. “Come on then, get it over with, you spineless cunt.”
The deafening sound of gunfire filled the air one final time.
***
December woke choking on a scream. She bolted upright in bed and nearly toppled off the side in a terrified attempt to outrun the nightmarish hell she’d just been expelled from. Something caught her around the middle, and in her panic, she did not immediately recognize it for what it was. Instead, she screeched and fought to be free of the unyielding arms now wrapped around her waist.
“Be easy little wolf, you are safe. Stop before you hurt yourself!” the command of a familiar voice against her ear stilled her motion, the warmth of his breath raising goosebumps along her skin. December went rigid, her nails still embedded soundly in his wrists even after her frightened fighting had ceased.
“Be calm...” he repeated firmly, his words accented by the merciful purr that began to rumble through his chest as Nikolai drew her back against his torso. She gave a wretched sob, her grip on the male loosening as his purr immediately began working its magic. With careful movements, the male drew them back down to the mattress. Overwrought, she went without protest.
His body cocooned her own as he tucked her into position against him, conforming his body around her, so that she might feel the most protected and secure. Though one forearm remained around her middle, he raised its twin so that he might brush the sweat damp
ened hair back from her face with gentle fingers as she continued to gasp and whimper softly.
“It’s all right, sweet one.” The alpha murmured against her throat, nuzzling at her ear while he cooed. December’s eyes remained wide, unbidden tears sliding over the bridge of her nose and down her cheek towards the pillow beneath her head. She didn’t dare risk closing her eyes. Fear that the final moments of her dream would replay on the backs of her closed eyelids made the idea too horrifying to consider.
Despite her continued state of distress, December’s body instinctively began to respond to his attempts to comfort her. The tension in her muscles loosened, her shaking grew less severe, and after a time her breathing lost its ragged edge and fell into a more normal rhythm. The tide of her tears was more difficult to squelch, in part because the man whose death she’d just experienced first-hand in the nightmarish realm of sleep was taking such pains to soothe and be sweet to her. “Do you want to talk about it?” He murmured, the tips of his fingers traced a featherlight path down her arm and over the swell of her hip, stroking and soothing.
December shook her head violently, twisting and pushing at him until he allowed her to roll over. Now facing him, she buried her head beneath his chin, forcing one knee between his thighs as she pressed herself closer to the hulking heat of his body. The male made a pleased noise as one large hand came to rest against the back of her skull, the other moving to splay across her lower back. She inhaled deeply, pressing her nose to his skin as she drew in lungful after lungful of the already familiar scent that was like a balm to her frazzled nerves.
In a fevered attempt to forget, December sealed her mouth over his flesh. She covered his throat and shoulder with kisses, tongue and tooth alike scraping over his skin as she worked her way towards his chest while her hands drifted around his rib cage towards his back, she pulled at the male almost desperately, until he obliged the unspoken suggestion and rolled her beneath him. Her shoulders now to the mattress, with the weight of the male's growing erection digging into her hip, her hands shot to his hair. Knotting in its sleep-tousled length, she tugged as cruelly as she could. “Kiss me!”
With a soft growl of approval, he did just that. It wasn’t long before their heavy petting turned tide, the urgency of her need mingling with his desire until she was panting a plea for him to hurry and he was settling himself between willingly spread thighs. Her legs clamped tight around his waist when he surged forward, the delicious burn of his invasion searing away any lingering fear she felt when he began pounding her already sore channel as if his very life depended on it.
For a short time, the alpha owning her body managed to obliterate every thought from her mind. He left no room for doubt or worry as he petted, kissed, and fucked her with an intensity that kept her breathless and begging him not to stop.
As his knot began to swell, the male’s movements grew slower. When he seated himself with one final, powerful thrust, his mouth soothed the throbbing pain of the invasion with a kiss so passionate that December nearly believed the lie of their union.
This time, he did not roll over once his knot had bound them together. Instead, he settled on his elbows over her, the partial weight of his body a sound reminder of where she was. She was not dreaming. This was real. He was real. He illustrated his point by continuing to kiss her until she turned her head and broke contact, her throat tightening painfully as the threat of tears blurred her vision again.
Deft fingers sifted her bangs away from her face as he stared, making it difficult for her to ignore the gaze that she knew had settled so intently on her profile.
“Look at me,” he rumbled gently, his damnable purr still soothing and stroking every part of her being that his hands could not reach. With a trembling lip, December obeyed.
The expression on the male’s face was content, traces of something she could almost mistake for affection lingering in the depths of his dark eyes. The corner of his mouth tipped up, his brow knitting sympathetically. “It wasn’t real, December,” he reminded her kindly. “Whatever you saw, whatever you experienced. It was only a dream.” Nikolai lowered his head, kissing the swell of her pout before whispering against her parted lips. “But I am real, and for so long as you are mine, I will protect you. Understand?”
The troubled look on his face when she nodded her head and started crying again told her that he couldn’t understand how he’d made things worse instead of better with his declaration. But when she wrapped her arms around his neck, he merely gave her his weight and continued to purr until she’d gone quiet.
December didn’t expect him to understand. She couldn’t explain what it was about her nightmare that had felt so real, or why it plagued her even now with his knot seated inside her, when her mind should have been awash in pleasure and feelings of sated bliss. If she’d tried to tell him, it was likely he’d have called her silly or chided her for being foolish. But seeing how disquieted he was already, she tried to conceal her continued feelings of unease.
When his knot finally receded some time later, the male returned them to their former position. He drew the covers up as he spooned against her smaller frame, his movements sluggish and weary. Frowning, December angled her head to look back at him from the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I kept you awake.”
“I’m not,” he teased lazily, a genuine hint of amusement tainting his tone. “I promised to care for you as a mate would, did I not?” She nodded mutely, her frown deepening. “I understood when I offered this deal to you that such a commitment may require more than just the attention of my cock to be successful. When you have no control over what has happened, there is no need for you to be sorry.”
With a sigh, December tried to settle in for the sake of the tired male at her back. She listened to the steady, rhythmic sound of his breathing, jealous that he could rest when she knew she wouldn’t be able to do the same anytime soon. When her thoughts inevitably drifted back to the horrific nightmare, she couldn’t stop herself from looking back at the slumbering male once more. “Nikolai?” His lashes fluttered, his body shifting sedately against her own as he gave his rumbled reply.
“Hmm?”
“What time is it?”
With a sigh, the male lifted his arm from its place around her waist, drawing it behind her head where he might press the button on the face of the watch he wore. A blue glow briefly illuminated the space between them as he checked the dial. “2:30 in the morning.”
As he returned the arm to its former resting place, she wove her fingers between his own and drew his hand up to rest between her breasts. In hopes of squashing her nagging doubts and getting some rest, she drew another lungful of air to fund a second question. “What’s the date?” Her heart fluttered nervously as she waited for his response, her chest burning when she refused to breathe again until he answered. Half a minute passed before the male spoke again, his words slurred and thick with pending sleep. “November 3rd.”
Chapter 11
While she knew the alpha couldn’t have been sleeping for more than a few hours, it seemed like an eternity to her. As if the ominous dream weren’t concerning enough, she also had her heat to contend with. Neither made it easy to rest. Nikolai’s purr faded when he’d begun to snore, stealing the only source of relief she’d had from the gut twisting anxiety that plagued her since waking in a cold sweat.
December tried to consider the situation rationally. But rational was a hard thing to be when you were leaking slick, desperate for sex, and had an overactive imagination all working against you. Even when she’d forced herself to close her eyes and go over the details of the dream again, she could feel her hips rolling and grinding against the male’s groin in an unauthorized attempt to entice. The effort it took to keep still and not stir her snoozing captor had her muscles aching and twitching from the strain. It was just one more distraction in a series of many.
Despite her difficulties, she managed to formulate what she thought was a decent plan. She couldn’t ask h
im outright about the things she’d seen in her dream since she’d never been in his office, that much she had decided already. Trying to confirm the details would only make her look guilty of something she wasn’t. If her description were accurate, it was likely he’d think she was a spy or an enemy plant of some sort.
She couldn’t imagine that his response would be pleasant. It wasn’t as if she could claim she’d seen it in a vision without him laughing outright and probably beating her senseless for what he’d think was a lie. Instead, she’d look for other ways to confirm the impossible prediction.
In her dream, she gathered that Nikolai had been with her when he received the call notifying him that his associate’s son was being brought in to the transfer station. It had to have been early, if he’d only been away from her for an hour and a half when the power went out. All she had to do was wait. If the unlikely occurred and he actually received that call, she’d have to find a way to keep him here with her.
If she remembered correctly, it had been 10:45 when Nikolai checked his watch at the desk. Things happened so quickly afterwards that she felt certain she wouldn’t have to divert him for long if it turned out she wasn’t imagining things. Considering she was still leaking slick and miserably in heat, she didn’t think that it would be hard to distract him. If she had to, she’d play sick.
Of course, a small voice in the back of her mind continued to calmly assert that none of this would be necessary. That it had only been a dream and the hormone flux of her cycle was making her irrational.
She hadn’t forgotten the final moments of her nightmare. He’d been ashamed that he couldn’t protect her from whatever awful fate he seemed to think she’d be left to. The longer she thought about that, the more frightened she became. Even if Nikolai were using her, he’d been a far gentler and more civilized alpha than most, at least to her. Considering the sort of enemies a crime lord was likely to have, she wasn’t sure she’d survive being taken prisoner by his theoretical murderers. Even if she did, the horrors she would face weren’t hard to imagine.
