Chapter 2
Derek 's
The room smelled of expensive perfume, the salt of sweat, and the sharp bite of strong whiskey. I sat in a tall leather chair tucked away in the corner of the room with my legs spread wide. One of my hands held a glass that was already half-empty. My other hand held a cigarette. It burned slowly between my fingers, a small orange glow in the dim light. Loud music filled every inch of the space. The heavy bass was so strong that it made the very walls shake. It was loud enough to block out most of my thoughts, but it was never loud enough to silence the restless wolf that lived inside my head.
Half-dressed women moved around me like shifting shadows. They laughed too much, their voices high and fake. They swayed back and forth to the beat of the music. They seemed to touch each other more than they actually touched me, which was fine by me. One of them, a blonde with a dark fake tan and bright red lips, decided to slide onto my lap without asking. I felt her legs press against mine. Her chest brushed against my bare skin as she moved. She leaned in close to me, and I felt her warm breath against my ear.
"You look tense tonight, Alpha," she whispered. Her voice was low, trying to sound sexy. I felt her fingers trace a path down my stomach, moving toward my belt. "Let me take care of that for you."
I didn't give her a reply. I didn't even look at her. I simply took another long drag from my cigarette and blew the gray smoke directly into her face. She didn't react or pull away. None of them ever did. They knew better than to complain when I was in this kind of mood. They knew the rules.
Another girl moved closer to the chair. She was a brunette with long legs that seemed to go on forever. Her hips swayed in time with the thumping music. She reached out and ran her nails lightly across my shoulder, looking for a reaction.
"Come on, Alpha," she said, her voice competing with the music. "Pick one of us. Or pick both. We have got all night to play."
I let out a low laugh. There was no real humor in the sound. It was just a habit, a way to fill the silence that the music couldn't reach. I wasn't interested in them. I wasn't interested in anything in this room.
Then, the door opened.
Heavy footsteps cut through the rhythm of the music. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. Marcus, my beta, walked into the room. His back was perfectly straight, and his face was calm and professional. He didn't look at the women scattered around the room. He didn't react to their bare bodies moving through the air around him. His eyes went straight to me, and they stayed there.
I lifted two fingers in the air.
The girls froze instantly. One of them frowned, clearly unhappy that the party was being interrupted. Another let out a loud, dramatic sigh.
"Out," I said. My voice wasn't loud, but it carried over the bass.
They didn't argue with me. They knew that when I spoke like that, the conversation was over. They scrambled to grab their clothes from the floor and hurried toward the door. I heard the fast click of their heels against the floor as they left. The blonde stayed on my lap for just one more second. She pressed her lips against my jaw in a final attempt to get my attention.
"Later?" she whispered into my skin.
I didn't answer her.
She finally slid off me and followed the other women out of the room. The door closed quietly behind them, shutting out the rest of the world. The room suddenly felt very different. The music was still playing, but someone had turned it down until it was almost silent.
I stood up from the leather chair. I was still holding my drink in one hand and my cigarette in the other. I walked across the room toward the large window that looked out over the city. Below me, the lights of the city spread out across the dark streets. It looked like a map of glowing veins. I placed my free hand against the glass. It felt cold against my palm.
Marcus stayed behind me. He stood a few steps back, giving me my space. He lowered his head slightly, showing me the respect he always showed. I had told him many times before to stop acting so formal when it was just the two of us alone, but he never listened. He was a man of tradition.
"Speak," I said, still looking out at the city.
He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Alpha, she refused to pay us again. There is no money this month. She didn't even give us a part of it."
The words hit me hard. A surge of irritation rose up in my chest.
My hand tightened around the glass I was holding. The pressure was too much. The glass cracked suddenly, and then it shattered right in my fist. Whiskey spilled over my fingers, feeling cold and sticky. It mixed with the red blood that started to leak from my palm. Small, sharp cuts opened up across my skin from the shards. I barely noticed the pain. To me, it was just a sting.
The wolf inside me surged forward. It was angry and wild, feeding off my own frustration. It pushed hard against my mental control, ready to take over my body and lash out at anything nearby.
I forced the beast back down. I did it slowly, bit by bit.
I turned around to face Marcus. I moved slowly, like a predator tracking prey. Marcus didn't move an inch, but I saw the caution in his eyes. Every wolf in the pack felt it when their Alpha's anger filled a room. It was like a heavy weight in the air.
I stepped closer to him until we were almost face to face. I knew he could smell the blood from my hand and the smoke from my cigarette. I lifted the broken piece of glass that was still tucked in my fingers. The sharp edge caught the light from the ceiling. I pressed the flat side of the shard gently against his cheek. I didn't press hard enough to cut him. I just wanted to remind him who was in charge of this pack.
"Do whatever it takes," I said. My voice was quiet, but it was cold enough to freeze water. "Make sure that woman pays what she owes. I don't care how you do it. I don't care who gets hurt in the process. That debt gets settled. I want it done tonight."
Marcus swallowed hard. I saw his Adam's apple move in his throat. Then, he gave me a firm nod.
"Understood, Alpha," he said.
He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. The door closed behind him with a solid thud.
I stayed exactly where I was standing. I looked down at the blood on the broken glass in my hand. My palm began to throb as the adrenaline started to fade, but I didn't care about the injury. It would heal soon enough.
I dropped the glass shard. It hit the carpet with a soft, muffled sound.
Then, I heard movement behind me. Someone was still in the room.
I felt soft fingers brush against my waist.
It was the brunette from earlier. She must have slipped back into the room while I was talking to Marcus. Her silk robe hung loose from her shoulders, barely staying on.
"Why are you so angry, Alpha?" she asked in a soft, soothing voice. Her hand slid up my chest. She rested her palm right over my heart. "You are so tense tonight. Let me help you relax."
I reached up and grabbed her wrist. My grip was firm and unyielding. I twisted her hand just enough to make her gasp in pain.
"Leave," I told her.
She let out a nervous laugh. She sounded unsure of herself now. "You always say that," she replied, trying to stay playful. "Then you always change your mind once I start."
I squeezed her wrist harder. "I said leave."
She didn't move away right away. Instead, she took a daring step closer to me. Her robe slipped down one of her shoulders, revealing her skin. She pressed her body against mine, trying to use her warmth to calm me down.
"Don't you like what you see?" she whispered. She leaned in, and her lips brushed against my collarbone. "I can make you forget about whatever is making you so angry."
The wolf growled deep inside my chest. It was louder now. It felt restless. It felt furious. It didn't want this woman. It didn't want any of this.
I pushed her away from me. I didn't do it hard enough to cause her an injury, but I did it with enough force to make her stumble back and hit the wall.
"Get. Out."
Her eyes went wide. Real fear finally appeared in them. She realized I wasn't playing a game this time. She quickly pulled her robe back up and held it tight against her body, covering herself.
"Yes, Alpha," she whispered, her voice trembling.
She hurried to the door and disappeared into the hallway.
The room felt much larger now that I was truly alone.
And it felt empty.
I walked back over to the window. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass. It felt good against my skin. Outside, dark clouds moved across the sky. They were heavy and thick, covering the moon until it was gone. Lightning flashed somewhere far away in the distance, lighting up the sky for a split second. No thunder followed the light. The world stayed quiet.
Inside my head, the wolf spoke to me again. Its voice was low and demanding. It was a sound I heard every single day.
When? the wolf asked. When do we find her? Our mate. She is out there somewhere. I can feel her. Stop wasting our time with these other women.
I took one last long drag from my cigarette. It was slow and deep. I held the smoke in my lungs for a moment before I let it out through my nose. I watched the smoke vanish into the air.
"Soon," I said quietly to the empty room.
The word was barely louder than the sound of my own heartbeat.