Chapter 21 21
Chapter 21 – Howling Dogs
“Do you have a song request?” The stripper asked Odessa and rubbed her knee.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t catch your name?” I asked.
“I’m Diana.” Her eyes were focused down on my chest. She couldn’t bring herself to meet my gaze. I always made humans nervous. I reached into my wallet and held up a thousand euros which got her attention.
“Diana, I just remembered my girlfriend has a thing for redheads. Do you think it’s possible to get your friend from the room next door and give my beautiful lady a thirty minute show together? My brother and I will wait out in the hall so you can make it extra sexy.” I smiled holding up the money. I knew it was an offer she couldn’t resist since a private dance for five minutes was twenty euros.
She eyed the cash and nodded her head, then rushed out of the room to retrieve the dancer Ninos had in the next room.
“What are you doing?” Odessa hissed.
“You need to stay here while Ninos and I wait in the hall. We’re going to slip upstairs, and I don’t want you in the line of fire if something happens.”
“What am I going to do alone with two strippers?”
A twisted smile formed on my face, wishing I could watch this. “Sit back and enjoy the show.”
Diana returned with the redhead and they both looked eager to earn their money. “Get her worked up for me ladies.” I gave Odessa a wink and
handed Diana the cash before I stepped out into the hall to join Ninos. The look on Odessa’s face was priceless.
“She is going to kick your ass!” Ninos laughed as we stood in the hall.
“The guards are on the club side of the doors. Let’s go before they notice us standing here.”
“What about Odessa?”
“I paid for thirty minutes,” I told Ninos as we quickly climbed the stairs. “I take it back, she’s not going to kick your ass, she’s going to kill you!”
He shook his head.
My dick was throbbing just thinking about it. I was considering going back when I caught the scent of another wolf in the building. I looked at Ninos and recognition set in on his face. I inhaled again and the scent was on the second floor. We moved silently through the corridor, and I tried to suppress my Alpha aura to keep the unknown wolf from sensing me.
“Hades, I wasn’t sure when we’d be expecting you.” A familiar voice called out.
“You! I thought you were dead,” I said as Martakis appeared in the doorway leading to an office with four human guards.
“As you can see, I’m very much alive,” He smirked.
“You’ve been here this whole time? Helping my father with the mob business?”
“What can I say, I’m better suited to run this business than a pack.”
“You were my father’s Gamma. The pack needed you and you left them,” my tone was reproachful. He had not only abandoned the pack but Thea as well, his own flesh and blood.
“His wolf is slipping,” Haze warned me. He could sense Martakis’ wolf going feral.
“You can have the pack Hades. Now with Stefanos gone, I’m calling the shots.”
“This guy must have a death wish. Does he know who he’s talking to?” Ninos laughed, inciting Martakis.
“And what about your daughter?” I asked Martakis. “What a waste! She’s not a son,” he sneered.
“Kill him,” Haze snarled and a savage growl ripped from me.
I heard the sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs and knew we would have more company. Not wasting any time, I attacked Martakis, throwing him into the wall. Ninos rushed two guards at once and I moved quickly to snap the neck of the one closest to me. Another reached for his gun which was knocked from his hand the second my foot connected with it. He turned around and swung his fist at me, I blocked it and drove my elbow into his temple, splitting it open.
“Humans are so weak,” Haze scoffed.
Martakis stumbled to his feet and dashed back into the office. Ninos followed after him and I remained in the hall to deal with the three remaining men. The first guy jumped at me and the second pulled another gun. I wasn’t sure if they were using silver bullets, so I needed to avoid catching a bullet. My foot collided with the rushing man’s stomach, and he stumbled back into the fool with the gun.
I charged at them, both fists ready to inflict death. I pummeled both of them with unrestrained savage force. The last man turned to leave, and I sprang for him. He fell face-first on the ground and I snapped his neck into silence before he could scream. I turned my attention to the two men that were still alive, gasping for air as they tried to move away from me. My wolf craved their death and I gave it to him.
I lifted my foot and stomped down on their throats. I would have enjoyed ripping out their windpipes, but I didn’t want to make a mess for humans to discover. The sound of struggling caught my attention, it was coming from the office. I rushed inside and found Ninos holding Martakis in a guillotine choke and was squeezing the life out of him.
Moments later, Martakis went slack and Ninos dropped his lifeless body. Kazimir would be proud, Ninos had just taken out a Gamma ranked wolf. We stood looking down at Martakis’ dead body. I wondered if he knew he was slipping into madness? Do they ever really know it’s happening?
Not all wolves went mad when they lost their mates, some focused on their pups or packs to help pull them through. Martakis couldn’t see past Thea being a female. Life had been cruel to her in her few short years of life, and yet she still managed to be tender and sweet. This only made Haze want to protect her more for it.
“Go get Odessa,” I instructed Ninos and moved to the desk.
“Are you sure you want to disrupt her fun?” He asked sarcastically and left to retrieve her.
The safe in the wall behind the desk looked like it had been cracked open using a blow torch. I assume Martakis helped himself after Stefanos was killed. I pulled open the drawers of the desk and found several computer storage drives, file folders, bank records, title records, insurance documents, everything I was looking for.
“What the hell happened here?” I heard Odessa’s voice in the hall as she stepped over the bodies.
“I’ll explain later, I found what we’re looking for.” I lifted the folders out of the desk drawer, noticing the lock on the desk had also been pried open.
“There’s a big duffle bag over here,” Odessa reached for it and noticed it was heavy. She unzipped it and inhaled a sharp breath. It was full of
money, stacks and stacks of bundled euros.
“We’re not leaving that behind!” Ninos reached for the bag.
“We need something to carry the folders in,” I said looking around the office.
“This box is full of register receipts,” Odessa dumped the contents of a large box out on the floor and handed me the empty box.
“Thanks babe. How was your private entertainment?” I grinned and she shot me a furious look.
“She can kick your ass later, we need to get out of here before someone finds us with all these human bodies stacked up in the hall.” Ninos lifted the duffle bag of cash and slung it over his back while I emptied the contents of the desk into the box.
“It’s going to look like criminal activity gone bad, a rival gang or something,” Odessa said. “The police will be called out, make sure to wipe your fingerprints from the desk.” She rushed to the bathroom and came back with a towel for me.
I quickly wiped down the areas of the desk that I had touched before we left. We decided to exit through the kitchen door and came out in a dark alley. The police would probably be called out soon and the Howling Dogs will be closed for investigation.
“What are you going to do with the club once ownership is transferred to you?” Ninos asked as we moved quickly through the dark alley into the narrow cobblestone streets of the Plaka district.
“Sell it,” I replied as we turned another corner.
“How much? I have a bag full of cash,” Ninos smirked and patted the large duffle bag hanging on his back.
“After what you did to me, that bag belongs to me!” Odessa huffed.
“The car is just ahead,” I tried to change the subject.
“What? You should be thanking Hades, I certainly would.” Ninos laughed. “Did they kiss? Was it full nude?” Ninos couldn’t control himself.
“It’s Athens, of course the private dances are fully nude, you dog!” She scowled and punched him in the arm.
“Oww,” Ninos howled with laughter and tenderly rubbed the spot she
hit.
We reached the car and Ninos pulled the door to the back seat open for
me. I set the box down and Ninos slipped the duffle bag in. I pulled the front passenger door open for Odessa and she gave me a look that promised I was going to pay for leaving her with the strippers.
I pulled into traffic and tried to weave my way out of the city center of Athens.
“Should we check into one of the pack hotels for the night?” Ninos asked. “It’s going to be almost three in the morning by the time we get back to pack territory.”
“Odessa?” I asked. I’d let her decide.
“I’d like to get as far away from Athens as possible.”
“Get comfortable back there, it’s going to be a long drive home,” I told Ninos.
“Home?” Odessa whispered.
A cellphone vibrated and Ninos reached in his pocket. He answered on speakerphone, It was Kazimir.
“I received a call from Larnaca police,” Kazimir said. “The villa caught fire tonight and they won’t be able to determine the cause for a few more days.”
“The Russians!” I replied. “What Russians?” Odessa asked. “I’ll explain later,” I told her.
“This night just keeps getting better and better,” Ninos said sarcastically.
“How’s Alina doing?” Odessa asked.
“She woke up to eat but is still very weak from her first shift. She’s sleeping again.”
“And the cat?” Ninos asked with a mischievous smile. “He’s with Thea and Giota.”
“We found a trove of information. I believe it’s everything we need. It seems my father had a ten million euro insurance policy on the yacht,” I told Kazimir.
“The villa was insured for six million,” Kazimir reminded me. I knew we were both thinking about our cash goal in the next two months so we could secure more SiberianOil shares.
“Did you call the attorney today?” I asked.
“Yes, I’ll send him the details of all the records in the morning after I review with you, and he’ll start the legal title transfers on Monday.”
“We’re just under four hours away. I’ll see you in the morning.” Ninos disconnected the phone and placed it back in his pocket.
“Can we stop and grab some gyros? It’s going to be a long drive,” Ninos asked.
“It’s going to be even longer if we stop. Go to sleep.”
“I have plenty of cash back here, I’ll buy.” He waved around a thick bundle of money. “Look there’s a gyros shop on the corner, I’ll be quick.”
Fifteen minutes later, Ninos sat quietly in the back of the car, chewing on his gyros. He purchased half a dozen and Odessa had taken one. She took a bite and moaned, savoring the flavor. The smell of food filled the car, and I was considering eating one while driving when Odessa held her gyros in front of my mouth. She was offering to feed me! Feeding another wolf, especially with your hand, is considered an intimate act among wolves. Without hesitation, I bit down on the meaty pita sandwich.
“I think this means she’s forgiven you for the double stripper surprise,” Ninos said with a mouth full of food.
“No way, there will be hell to pay.”
“It can’t be worse than anything you saw at the Adonis,” Ninos laughed. “Or did,” Haze purred in my mind, reminding me of how she had
allowed me to bring her to orgasm.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to forget that no matter how hard I try,” she replied to Ninos who was working on his second gyros.
Three hours later, both Ninos and Odessa were deep in sleep. We had finished off the gyros and it didn’t take them long to drift off. Odessa’s head leaned against the window, her lips slightly parted, and the mark on her neck stared back at me. Mocking me. The more time I spent with her, the more I wanted her. The more I needed her. Despite the turbulent night, I had enjoyed every moment with her.
The vision of her under the soft glow of the dinner lights with the Parthenon backdrop at night was breathtaking. The feel of her lips against mine and the taste of her on my fingers was driving me crazy. I smiled thinking about how she felt dancing and grinding against me. The pleasure that coursed through my body from my mate’s contact, and that was through clothes. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t wait to feel a
woman's skin in complete contact with mine. To allow her perfectly unblemished skin against my scar-hardened chest.
“She is ours,” Haze reminded me, and I knew he was right.
Another hour later, we arrived at the pack house and I stirred Ninos awake. He stepped out of the car and draped the duffle bag of cash around his back, then he lifted the box of items we had recovered. “I’ll keep all of this in my room for the night, we’ll sort through it in the morning.”
“Thanks.” I gently pulled Odessa’s door open and scooped her up in my arms. She turned her head and nuzzled her nose to my shoulder as I carried her into the house and up the stairs.
I reached the third floor landing and turned left into the Alpha quarters. I stopped in front of her room and debated on tucking her into bed alone. Wondering if I should leave her clothed or not, then I remembered she didn’t have any panties on. Removing her clothes and leaving her in just her underwear to sleep was not an option.
After careful consideration, there was no way either of us should sleep in our clothing. We had spent all day in them, and we had been in clubs after all. I decided it would be best to bring her to my room because it was a chilly night, and my mate might require some additional body heat.
“Whatever it takes to convince yourself,” Haze snickered happily as I carried Odessa into my room.