Chapter 26: Calm after the storm
Benjamin's POV
“What’s his name? Huh? What does he look like?” I demanded to know, but the man remained silent, crying out in pain. “Answer me!”
“He’ll kill me if I talk! You don’t know him! He’s cruel and evil!” The greyed hair man howled.
“I’ll do worse if you don’t talk. I promise.”
I placed my foot on his fractured shin and shifted most of my weight on top of it while I pierced new holes in his torso. I saw many of my pack members look away as they couldn’t stomach to watch my gruesome actions. Many were still young pups and, up until this moment, had remained free from the sins of torture.
“He goes by the name Miller! He’s tall! He looks a bit like you!” The old man cried out as he neared the state of unconsciousness. “Please, stop hurting me!” He pleaded with his last breaths.
“I’ll do you one better than that. I’ll make your pain disappear.”
His eyes widened at my words and tears streamed down his face as he implored for mercy. I slashed his throat with the knife before he could say another word and I threw the bloodied blade to the side. I had no qualms about killing him. In my mind, he deserved to die like the others.
“For Max and the Waters’.” I said slowly as I straightened myself back up.
It took a while but by mid-afternoon, we had managed to bring everyone back into our territory. I had been made aware that there were no deaths on our side and I was utterly relieved. We’ve had enough loss within our pack already and I was glad that I didn’t cause more grief. However, while most of us were unscathed, there were some warriors heavily wounded. I asked the pack doctors to keep me updated on all of their conditions. After we had settled everyone, Ryan, Craig, Anderson and I went over to the Flannigan’s as promised to give them our condolences. Max’s mother was inconsolable and his father simply thanked us for avenging his son’s murder.
I drove back to my house, both mentally and physically drained but the thought of my mate eased my soul. When I walked in my bedroom I noticed that my bed was empty. Mina was awake and wandering somewhere around in my house. I knew that much because her scent was still very strong all around. I hopped in the shower and quickly washed away the blood and dirt from the day. I changed into loose fitting clothes and went about finding her. She was standing in the middle of my office, looking through my bookshelves with a strawberry tucked between her lips. I couldn’t help but stare at her again. She was wearing one of my long sleeved shirts and a pair of my gym shorts. Both were way too big for her and Mina kept having to pull up and readjust the shorts. I chuckled at the sight of her and my laugh managed to grab her attention. She whipped her head back at me followed by her black curls.
“Hey, beautiful.” I whispered from the corner of the door and I could feel her blushing.
“Stop it!” She said placing her hands on her cheek. “I woke up and you weren’t there so I started roaming around. Hope it’s okay?”
I simply nodded my approval, letting my eyes wonder all over her.
“Where were you?” She asked me.
“Fighting rogues.” I trailed off when I saw the look of horror on my mate’s face. I walked over to my desk and leaned against it. “There was another attack last night and we responded.”
“Are- Are you okay?” She asked moving towards me a little.
“Yeah, just a little wound on my back. Nothing that won’t heal quickly.”
“Werewolves heal super fast. I remember.” She kept her eyes locked in on mine and I could tell that she wasn’t convinced.
“Really, baby. I’m fine. There was one thing that was bothering me a lot though. I don’t seem to have your number.” I smiled softly at her.
She scoffed in disbelief. “Oh! I see. So a girl has to put out like twice before you ask her for her number, is that it?”
“You’re lucky! Usually, it’s more like five times.” I quipped back.
“Jerk!” She crumpled her nose feigning disdain.
I laughed alongside her and leaned over to grab the end of her shirt to pull her in slightly.
“About last night, Mina…”
“Wait, before you say anything… I was drunk, so like really horny. I still mean what I said though. I want us to get to know each other.”
“And I’m all for it. I already know something about you.”
“What?” She squealed out.
“You drool when you sleep. And I mean, drool.” I saw her try to disappear into herself and I laughed wholeheartedly. “Don’t be embarrassed! It’s cute!”
“Okay, so how about we start with less mortifying things, then?”
“Sure, like what?” I asked still chuckling.
“Like… I’ve been looking around here and I’m sorry but I have to ask… Are you rich?”
“Excuse me?” I asked stifling my laughter. She could’ve asked anything about my scary werewolf heritage but she was asking about something so silly.
“I’m sorry to ask this but you and your family seems extremely rich. Are you and Roxy like some sort of trust fund babies?”
“So Roxy’s never told you anything about our family, did she?” I said shaking my head, amused by how Mina knew almost nothing about us.
“We both struggled through college with lousy jobs and even now, as nurses, we share a tiny apartment. Plus, I just found out, like a week ago, that you’re all werewolves. So, no… she’s never said anything. Or at least, clearly nothing relevant.”
“Typical of my sister.” I laughed. “Well, my parents own an investment firm that was passed on to them by my grandparents. It does pretty well.”
“Yeah, I’ll say. So you make investments too?”
“Nah! My father tried to get me interested in the whole financial thing. He even sent me to business school, but I could never be passionate about it.”
“So what are you passionate about?” She asked, genuinely curious.
“Besides you?” I winked at her, making her look away for a second. “This!” I pointed in every directions with two hands. She shot me a confused look so I explained myself more. “I build houses. Well, I build a lot of things actually but houses are my main thing.”
Her face lit up as she was piecing the pieces of the puzzle together. “You built your OWN house?”
“Yup!” I smiled proudly. “I had help, of course. I’ve got this architect buddy of mine who helped me design it. And then, there’s the guys who work for me that helped me build it. I have my own construction company. I guess the business classes weren’t a complete waste.”
“Wow!”
“Impressed?” I smirked while raising an eyebrow.
“Very!” She nodded back. “And this explains that!” She said while grabbing my hands and pointing at the numerous calluses on them.
“I’m sorry.” I lowered my head slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Don’t be. It’s very…sexy.” She smiled biting her lower lip a little.
“Really?” I pulled her towards me and wrapped my arms around her waist. “In that case, ma’am, I can’t wait for you to see the soles of my feet.”
“Gross!” She laughed, smacking my chest.
She noticed my eyes gloss over for a brief moment and asked me what was wrong.
“It’s nothing. Just the pack doctors. Everyone is going to be okay. ” I explained.
“Thank God! So did you guys win?”
“No.” I sighed. “But we managed to mess things up for them. It’ll take some time before they can regroup and attack us again.”
“Did you get a chance to see who’s their leader?” She said with a slight worry in her voice.
I shook my head while running my hand up and down her back. “The bastard wasn’t there.”
“It’s okay, his time is running out anyway.”
“How do you know that?” I asked curiously.
“Because you want to get him. And I’m starting to figure out just how much Alpha Benjamin gets what he wants.”
“Hmmm… good girl.” I pressed my body deeper into hers and placed kisses on her neck. “Speaking of what I want…” I looked into her eyes and brought one hand to her face. “How about a date, Mina?”
She gasped completely enthused. “A phone number and a date? I really am lucky!”
I was the one truly blessed to have her and I knew it. Before she could say anything else, I planted a kiss on her lips that she happily welcomed.
**Benji, hurry! You need to come quick! River Creek is at our door!** Ryan’s voice resonated through my head.
“I can’t catch a freaking break!" I muttered, breaking my kiss with Mina.