Chapter 37 37

Chapter 37 37
Chapter 37 – Chaos

I stood at the locker room door, trying to watch my mate through the small plastic window. Haze was snarling while watching the heads turn when she walked around. He didn’t like seeing her so vulnerable, so exposed, and he sure as hell didn’t like anyone looking at his treasure.
I also had an overwhelming urge to shield her from the hungry looks of those unworthy pigs. The red hood was a beacon in a sea of dark colors, which made her easy to find. She would no doubt be the star of many wet dreams tonight and the thought unsettled me. Molten heat coursed through my veins, and I was ready to kill.
One of the fucking drunks tried to proposition her. Odessa attempted to move around him, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer and grabbed her. A primal burst of anger roared through me, and Haze wanted blood. I pushed the door open and stalked in their direction, ready to break his arm. Before I could reach them, she dug the pointy end of her heel into his foot. The heel snapped and I smiled as she hobbled on the broken shoe back to Alec.
She was a fierce little thing, and I admired her fighting instinct. The man dragged his bloody foot behind him and made his way to the locker room. I’m not sure if he hoped to find a doctor or a first-aid kit, but he would find neither. He moved to the back of the locker room by the sinks and examined his foot. Like a silent hunter, I prowled behind him.
He looked up through the mirror and nearly jumped when he noticed me standing close enough to breathe down his neck. His shoulders bunched and fear radiated from him. A cruel and twisted smile formed on my face, I needed to be sure he would not return to seek out my mate for retribution. My forearm wrapped around his neck, and I pulled him tight in a chokehold. His eyes widened in panic as he struggled to free himself, but it was useless. I watched as his face turned red, his eyes rolled back, and his body convulsed before I released his lifeless body.
“Hades,” Giota called through the mind link and I returned to watching from the small window in the door. I saw her standing next to Alec with a pack member who had his face buried in her neck. He was whispering something to her, and she started repeating it through the mind link to me.
“When you get to your last prisoner, or just before midnight, whichever comes first, Belsky plans to have his gunmen assassinate you. Aleksei’s men are going to position themselves throughout the arena during your fights and prepare to attack the shooters. Alpha Volkov will kill the power to the entire place and that’s when they’re going to make their move to free Alina and get Thea. Kazimir is going after Alina and Aleksei will go after Thea.”
“I want you and Odessa out of here before it goes down.”
The arena lights flickered on and off, it was time. I watched as the prisoners were brought in, at least two dozen. They were all in black uniforms, which was the color worn by the most dangerous prisoners. The ones who had committed the most heinous crimes and they would receive no mercy from the beast inside of me tonight.
The rush I usually felt when walking into the fight ring was snuffed out with one look at Thea’s little face. She was standing at the edge of the second balcony looking down at the fight cage, watching me. Her face was filled with fear, hope, and pride. She knew I was here to save her.
They announced the prize purse and paraded around the whore offered to the winner. I had somehow forgotten about this part of a death fight. I felt my mate’s eyes burning into me with jealousy and I almost smiled. I had no interest in anything that wasn’t Odessa and kept my eyes focused on the poor fool who would soon join the underworld.
The first prisoner seemed eager to get the fight over with and bury his cock into the whore. He was still partially erect when the fighting started, and he came out swinging with just as much enthusiasm. I could feel my mate tense with worry, so I put him down quickly, crushing his throat. She had seen me fight before, a human didn’t stand a chance against me. Most werewolves didn’t either.
The fighting continued as one man turned into three, three turned into four, and now four had turned into five men at the same time. I could have easily killed them in minutes, but I played along, trying to prolong the fights as long as possible to give Kazimir as much time as he needed. I chanced a glance up at Belsky who was sipping vodka and growing impatient. One of the men landed a blow to my jaw while I was distracted, and I lifted him up and threw him into the two remaining fighters behind him.
“Hades, you have five more prisoners left and still a half an hour to go,” Odessa’s voice came through the mind link.
I had already taken out sixteen prisoners and tried not to make it too bloody for Thea’s sake. I had ripped out a tongue when one of the prisoners said he was going to fuck my wife when he had killed me. Another lost both of his eyes when he looked at Odessa as she moved closer to the gatekeeper.
“Forget the gatekeeper,” I linked Odessa back. “I’ll shift when the lights go out, Haze can bust through the door, it’s not silver. Get my sister and get out of here.”
I hoisted one of the three remaining men above my head and sent him flying into the cage door, testing to see how strong it was. Haze was becoming more feral with each kill, and I knew he’d be able to break the door down. Odessa turned to walk away from the gatekeeper, and he grabbed her ass under her little red skirt. He fucking touched her ass.
I saw red and a snarl ripped from me. All the shifters in the arena recognized the angry possessive snarl of an Alpha. The humans were unsure of what they heard, but they were so engrossed in the thrill of the fight, they only cheered louder. I grabbed the throat of the man closest to me and felt my canines grow longer. Haze was out of control and my fingernails grew just long enough to dig into the man's throat and rip it right out, without the humans noticing.
One of the men in the cage rushed to the door and tried to rattle it open. He screamed in Russian for the gatekeeper to unlock the cage, begging to
go back to prison. His fear was palpable, he was close enough to understand there was something unnatural about me. Those standing near the cage also stepped back, fear radiating from them as if they were looking at the devil.
I grabbed the back of the screaming man’s head and bashed it into the cage door repeatedly as I stared down at the gatekeeper. His face paled and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him. I dropped the corpse and turned to find the remaining man holding a knife in his hand. I don’t know if he snuck it in or if someone tossed it into the cage.
He extended his hand with the knife in a defensive stance. I tilted my head to the side and gave him a twisted smile. His hand started shaking and his eyes locked on my teeth. Panic filled him and he started screaming vampire in Russian. Haze was offended, but I found it funny. I chuckled and reached for his hand with the knife. My hand tightened around his fat fingers that held the blade and I slowly forced his hand towards his neck. The knife pressed against his skin and sunk into his throat. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. I dropped his body and stepped back.
Like a caged animal, I paced back and forth, waiting for the gatekeeper to unlock the cage. The remaining five prisoners waiting for their turn looked as if they were considering an escape route. Belsky motioned for one of his men to come closer and I knew we were running out of time. A nervous-looking gatekeeper stepped up to the cage and removed the key from his pocket. The sound of the lock tumbled just as the arena was plunged into darkness.
I charged at the cage door and unleashed Haze. The gatekeeper screamed when Haze bit his hand clean off. The hand he had touched my mate with. The black fur made it hard to see me, and Haze swiped a paw at the gatekeeper's face, tearing chunks out. Gunshots rang out and chaos broke out.
Screams, swears and shouts echoed as people rushed for the exits, tripping over each other. Several shifters were fighting with Belsky’s security guards on the second level. A man standing near me aimed his gun
towards the second level and Haze jumped on him, sinking his teeth in the man’s throat.
I looked up towards Belsky who had one hand wrapped in Thea’s hair. She struggled against his hold, trying to escape and that’s when I saw the small black and white wolf spring for Belsky. A blood-curdling scream left his mouth and Giota continued her snarling as she tore him apart. He had taken Thea from her, and he was going to pay.
Aleksei scooped Thea in his arms, and someone fired gunshots at them. A bullet hit him in the chest, inches away from Thea and she screamed. He ducked behind the chairs at the edge of the balcony level, and I hoped the bullets were not silver. A bullet wasn’t typically fatal for our kind unless it was silver, but Thea was still susceptible because she didn’t have her wolf yet.
The shooter was on the ground level, he had a flashlight and was dressed like security. I snarled and charged at him. He fired in my direction and grazed my shoulder. Haze rewarded him by ripping his throat out. I shifted back into human form and called out to Aleksei.
“I’m okay,” he shouted back. “Take Thea,” he said and dangled her over the edge of the balcony. She screeched as he dropped her down into my arms.
“Alpha!” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Let’s see if we can find our Luna,” I held her tight. “Odessa!” I called through the mind link.
“Alec has me cornered in the locker room. Where’s Giota?” She replied.
I moved in the darkness to the locker room with Thea. Several people who had been unable to find an exit were crouched low, hiding in different areas of the locker room. My fight shorts had been ruined when I shifted, and I reached for my clothes inside the locker I had used.
“You really should shower first,” Alec said and tossed me a towel.
Odessa rushed to us, and I handed Thea off to her while I wiped myself down as best as I could. I slipped my pants on and shoved my feet into my shoes. The lights came back on as I pulled my shirt over my head.
“Have you been shot?” Odessa looked at my shoulder.
“Just a graze, it should be healed within the hour,” I kissed her lips. “Where’s Giota?” Alec asked.
“My sister is going to need clothes,” I handed my jacket to him. “She’s upstairs with Belsky.” He took the jacket and went to find her.
“Where’s Kazimir?” Odessa asked. “Good question. Take off your shoes.” “What?” She asked.
“Five!” I grinned and she smiled, slipping off her shoes.
I ripped off the remaining bit of heel left on the broken shoe and removed the entire heel from the other. I slid each shoe back onto her feet before I stood back up. “Better?”
“Much,” she beamed at me.
We stepped out into the arena, and it was empty. Alec and Giota rushed to us, Thea extended her arms towards Giota who swallowed a sob hugging the pup.
“Where’s Kazimir and Alina?” Giota asked. “I don’t know,” I replied. “How’s Belsky?”
“Man, she mauled him to death!” Alec told us with excitement, obviously impressed with the well-deserved mauling. I wrapped my arm
around Odessa and led everyone out of the arena.
“Sir! Excuse me,” a man came running toward us holding a large yellow envelope in his hand. “Your winnings from tonight,” he bowed his head and handed it to me. Five million rubles would be just over fifty thousand euros.
We made our way to the back of the parking lot where Anatoly and Sasha were waiting for us. Several black cars were parked near the taxis. Someone was tending to Aleksei, digging a bullet out. Kazimir and his father were facing off in the parking lot, yelling in rapid Russian. I couldn’t see Alina, but I could feel her presence in the black SUV with dark tinted windows behind Alpha Volkov.
“What’s going on here?” I demanded.
“I need to question the girl before you leave with her,” Alpha Volkov said.
“You’re not taking her out of my sight!” Kazimir roared.
“I will do what is necessary to protect my pack,” Alpha Volkov snarled. “This is not pack business, this is Bratva business,” Kazimir gritted.
“A threat to me is a threat to the pack. Are you challenging me?” Alpha Volkov extended his claws and was ready to fight Kazimir.
I snarled and my claws shifted. “A threat to my Beta is a threat to me!” “You promised to let me question the girl, Hades!”
“Perhaps if you asked your daughter-in-law nicely, she might be more inclined to tell you everything you want to know about her uncle?” I replied.
“Daughter-in-law?” He looked at Kazimir with a questioning look.
“Dah!” Kazimir nodded his head. An unspoken tension filled the air. Kazimir had been reluctant to tell his father because he worried about retribution. He worried his father would hurt his mate to get back at him for not being a pawn in the Bratva games.
“Wait until mama hears about this!” Aleksei chuckled.
“I need to know what she knows.” Alpha Volkov insisted.
“I have something better for you,” I told him and retracted my claws. I gave Alec a nod and he moved to the taxi to retrieve Kronos.
“The pussycat?” Alpha Volkov laughed. Alec handed the bag to Kazimir who removed the journal and held it up.
“I believe this is what you’re looking for. Yuri’s journal with all the codes and links to your Bratva blackmailing ploys,” I said.
Alpha Volkov’s eyes returned to their gray color and his claws shifted back into his hands. “Let me see it.”
“Release my mate!” Kazimir demanded and a warrior opened the car door. Alina rushed to Kazimir and buried her face in his chest. He tossed the journal to his father and wrapped his arms protectively around Alina. Not trusting him, he never took his eyes off his father.
“Where did you find it?” Alpha Volkov asked while flipping through it. “We believe Yuri had it sent to the Skaya hotel before he died,” I
answered.
“You’ve had it all along?” Alpha Volkov shook his head.
“Dah!” Alec mocked. “Even at the banya, it was under your nose.” “I’m glad I let you live,” Alpha Volkov gave Alec a twisted smile.
“We’ve made copies Volkov, and my Luna’s brother is The Beast of Greece. If anything happens…”
“I won’t allow it,” Aleksei thundered. “You have my word.”
Alpha Volkov may have been able to carry on without his fifth born son, but losing his first born heir was something he couldn’t afford. If he tries anything now, he knows he’s risking his relationship with Aleksei. Our business dealings with SiberianOil were also built on trust with Aleksei.
“You were always his protector,” Alpha Volkov mumbled to Aleksei who grinned at Kazimir.
“Now that we’ve settled everything, I’d like to get back to my pack.”
“Will you invite your mother to the mating ceremony?” Alpha Volkov asked Kazimir.
“Will you let her come?” Kazimir asked. Alpha Volkov nodded his head yes before he turned to leave.
Police sirens were approaching in the distance, and it seemed like a good time for us to leave. We had already wreaked a great deal of havoc in the short time we were in Moscow and Haze couldn’t wait to get out of here. Alec helped my sister into the taxi with Thea still clinging to her. Kazimir took a moment and introduced Alina to his oldest brother before we said goodbye and made our way back to the airport.