Chapter 15

BEAST.

Exiting the airplane, my eyes fixed on the city skyline in the distance. I climbed into the taxi and willed traffic to go faster. I had to reach the city in time and negotiate a meeting with her father.

He had gotten mixed up in some dangerous business and the mafia wanted to make an example by killing Natalia. Now I was racing against the clock to reach him before it was too late.

The city sparkled like a jewel in the late morning light. Most of the people were oblivious that the mafia lived among them.

I exited the taxi, giving a huge tip. My heart pounded in my chest, making it hard to breathe. I had no idea what I was going to do once I reached the city, but I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t let anyone hurt her.

I bolted through the streets, my feet pounding the pavement as I searched for his home. Wasn’t like he sent out invitations to rival mafia leaders, but I had a general idea of where he might be.

Best place to find someone is the local bar. I went to one with a hooker leaning against the brick wall.

“Wanna go to my place?” she asked, her face lighting up.

“No, thanks.” I handed her a fifty-dollar bill. “Any Russians drink here?”

She stuffed the money into her bra with a wink but shook her head. “I’ve heard some of your comrades in the bar on Fifth Street.”

“Thank you.” I walked in that direction.

Five minutes later, I stepped into the dimly lit bar, my eyes scanning the room for any sign of someone who might know how I could find Natalia’s father.

The bar smelled like old booze, sweat, and cigarettes. The bartender was a skinny guy with an ominous glare and a mop of red hair.

I approached a group of rough-looking men huddled around a table in the corner, their hushed whispers and furtive glances telling me they had something to hide.

I pulled up a chair and sat down, my hand instinctively drifting to the gun tucked into my waistband.

“I’m looking for someone,” I said, my voice low and menacing. “Vladimir Mikhailov. Any of you know where I can find him?”

The men looked at each other nervously, their eyes flitting back and forth as they weighed their options. Finally, one of them spoke up. “We don’t know anything,” he said, his voice quavering slightly. “Go bother someone else.”

I didn’t believe them for a second. I could tell they were hiding something, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. I leaned in closer and my eyes narrowed.

“I don’t believe you,” I growled, letting my wolf add power to my words. “I think you know exactly where he is, and I’m not leaving until you tell me where.”

The men shifted uncomfortably in their seats, their nerves clearly getting the better of them. But before they could respond, one of them let out a bellow of rage and lunged at me, his fist connecting with my jaw and sending me sprawling to the ground.

I hit the floor hard, my head ringing from the blow. But I wasn’t about to let these thugs get the better of me, and I knew how to fight dirty. I rolled to my feet and launched myself at the man and throat-punched him.

The bar erupted into chaos as the other men joined the fray, chairs, and bottles flying as the fight raged on. One of the men tried to get up to his knees when I grabbed him by his greasy neck and shook him like a rag doll.

“Tell me where Vladimir is,” I said.

He spat in my face. Then I pulled his arm back and snapped it like a desiccated branch.

He screamed like a dying animal and I tossed him aside.

I took out one man after another until finally the last of them lay unconscious at my feet.

Breathing heavily, I stood up and looked around at the wreckage of the bar. It was clear that these men weren’t going to talk, at least not without some serious persuasion. But I wasn’t done yet. I had to find Vladimir, no matter what it took.

I grabbed the nearest guy moving and dumped an abandoned beer over his head. He sputtered.

The same guy that had the tremor in his voice.

“Talk.” I bared my teeth at him and his eyes bulged out of his head. “Where can I find Vladimir?”

“I-I d-don’t know,” he stammered, and I let my wolf fangs extend.

His shriek had me shaking him. “Tell me or I will kill you right here.”

He nodded his head hard and fast. “There’s a guy who-who I think works for him. He comes here to play poker in the back. I spot him in the corner—he usually waits for his girl to have lunch every day at the corner of Main and First. I-if you go now, you can catch him.”

“I’ve called the cops,” the bartender shouted. “You’re not welcome here.”

“If you’re lying to me”—I leaned down in his face—“I will come back for you. I’ve got your scent and can track you down no matter how far you run.” Not entirely true, but as a wolf, I could smell him within a mile.

“I swear I’m telling the truth. H-he just left here about five minutes before you came in.”

Not wasting time, I pushed the guy out of my way and rushed out the door.

Finally, I spotted the goon standing on a corner, like the guy in the bar told me, his face etched with worry. I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward me.

“Where is Vladimir,” I said urgently. “I need to talk with him.”

He jerked his arm from my hold, reaching into his jacket pocket, but I slid my knife under his chin.

“I have no beef with you, man, but this is urgent.”

“Why should I believe you?” He huffed, clearly not believing me.

“Listen up, buddy. You ain’t got a clue what this is about, but I’ll make it quick. His daughter is in trouble and I’m here to save her. You with me?”

I gritted my teeth, pushing the tip of the blade into his skin. “You think I’m lying? Explain to Vladimir when his daughter is dead because you were too much of a coward to help me out.”

His eyes widened in fear as he nodded, and I followed him down the murky alleyways of the city. I had no idea how we were gonna escape the mafia and get Natalia to safety, but I wasn’t giving up. We needed to stay one step ahead of them if we had any chance of surviving.

He finally stopped outside of a fancy hotel and my stomach tightened. Of course, her dad would be living in the most luxurious place in town.

I strode into the lobby, a surge of adrenaline coursing through me. My wolf howled inside me, as though warning that we were in enemy territory. Couldn’t be helped. I had to get his assistance if I had any chance of me and Natalia living through this.

I’d been part of the mafia for years now, but this situation was different. She was my mate and I’d rip out the throat of anyone who laid a finger on her.

“He’s on the top floor, penthouse,” the man said nervously, nodding his head toward the elevators.

I grinned menacingly as I waved my blade in his direction. “Lead the way, bucko.”

“My name’s Rex.”

“I don’t fucking care,” I ground out.

After Rex entered his keycard, the elevator continued up, then the doors opened up with a ding.

We stepped out into a posh office with a mahogany desk, leather chairs, and her father sitting behind a stack of papers.

“Boss,” Rex called out. “Someone here to see you. It’s about Natalia.”

Her father sat at his desk, studying me with a wary expression, staring at me over the barrel of a pistol. It was as though he’d aged thirty years since I last saw him, which was only last year. His once brown hair had turned gray. His brown eyes, which usually shone, had turned almost black with shadows surrounding them. He had so many lines on his face, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. I remembered Natalia telling me that he’d killed his own brother. I wondered if he really cared about anyone, including his own daughter.

“I should fucking kill you. You have Natalia. You have my baby,” he growled, confirming what I suspected, that he did care about his daughter.

I ignored his accusations and got down to the reason I came here in the first place.

“Who wants Natalia dead?” I said, clenching my teeth. “Is it Ilya?” That had been my best guess as he would want to push her father into going mental with her death.

“What are you talking about? I thought you may have her, but then I doubted it. If you did, then you wouldn’t have the balls to come here.”

“You tell me,” I said. “They think she’s a liability. And they’ve ordered me to take care of her.”

He shook his head as his face paled and he laid his gun on the desk between us.

“So what the fuck are you doing here, then?”

I was confused. I told him that I was ordered to kill his daughter, but instead of him thanking me for not doing it, he was questioning why I was here.

I hesitated. I had always done what the mafia asked of me, but this felt different. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.

He had to know she was an omega, but blurting out that I was an alpha werewolf might just get me killed. Best if I kept everything on the human-side of things.

“I don’t want her to be harmed,” I confessed. His eyes narrowed as he realized not only was I saving his daughter’s life but that there was more to this story. I wasn’t going to ask for her hand in marriage and all that shit, I was just going to stick to the plan, which was to save his daughter’s life.

“You do what you’re told. You always have, Tomas. But now something is different. You want me to stop you from killing her?”

I shook my head, as all my ideas of how this was going to go down had completely changed. Vladimir stood up from his desk as he looked me over from head to toe.

“Do you want me to thank you for saving my daughter’s life? Do you want to be a hero?”

“No,” I whispered. Not recognizing my own voice.

“I’m fucking losing patience. You’re not saying anything worth listening to, Tomas.” His eyes blazed with anger. “Where is she? You must bring her to me,” he said firmly.

Somehow, I knew I couldn’t do that. Not without talking to her first. I’d left her on the island with two of my best men waiting for my report. If something happened to me and I didn’t give them the safe word in an hour, they’d sail without me from the island and take Natalia somewhere safe.

I knew as soon as she walked into that cafe for our blind date, something in me had changed. I didn’t realize it was because the world I once knew and loved would be a thing of the past. I had to leave this life; seeing Vladimir had confirmed it for me. I’d saved his daughter’s life, and he should be on his knees thanking me. Not eyeing his gun and wondering whether to use it or not.

“I could have your brains blown out right here and now. My man has a gun pointed at your head.”

“And I could have killed her already.”

He chuckled. “If that was the case, you wouldn’t be here telling me everything that I already knew.”

Fuck!

No, I wasn’t going to be dragged into a conversation about who had the biggest balls. I came here to find a solution to stop Natalia from being killed, and I came to the one person who caused all this shit in the first place.

Her father. If he had just done his fucking job and promised to vote how we wanted, we wouldn’t be in this shit.

“No. We need to find out why Ilya ordered her death and who is behind it.” I kept my arms at my sides, even though I wanted to leap across the desk and choke him for putting her in danger like this.

“Where is she?”

“Safe.” I straightened. “I was ordered to kidnap her to make you vote for Ilya. But it doesn’t mean they’re responsible for the order.” I was paid by the highest bidder so I didn’t have sway either way, but my boss was like a toy ship in a swimming pool, moved by whoever made the biggest wave.

He glowered, but then nodded like he’d given me the upper hand. “All right. I’ll get some men on it and we’ll get some tongues loosening. What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to protect her.” I pulled out the piece of paper with my information on it. Dickwad behind me tensed, but I gave him a lazy wink. “Here. This is the code for my radio. Call me with whatever information you come up with.”

I had made the right decision, turning my back on my boss and killing anyone who stood between me and Natalia.

For now, I just needed to buy time for her father to discover who ordered the hit and why. Then I could deal with the aftermath.

His mouth tightened into a thin line, but there was a pleading look in his eyes that made me pause for a moment.

“You have until dawn on Sunday to bring me my daughter,” he said finally, with a stern look on his face to mask the fear that wafted off him like sour milk.

“No. We need to make sure everything’s in order.”

“Six days,” he repeated. “At dawn. Or I will find you and kill you myself.”

“She doesn’t even know I’m here.”

His jaw dropped as if he were in shock about my revelation. I slumped back down into the chair, feeling like a fool because he knew exactly what I just said.

“So, you’re in love with my daughter. You’ve taken her and now you’re here out of concern.” He waved his finger and then laughed as he fell back into his chair. “It all makes sense now. You would kill; you do what you’re told, Tomas. All men like you do.”

He wanted to insult me. Tell me that I was stupid and men like me do nothing but follow orders. I knew if I reacted to it, then not only would she be dead, but I would be too. Something I wasn’t willing to risk. I came here for a reason and it was to protect her, and I was going to live with that same mission in mind.

I jumped up out of the chair.

“Remember, you have six days to bring her to me.”

I shook my head. “If Natalia wants to come, then I will bring her.”

“If? I’m her father.” His face reddened, and if I didn’t say something quickly, I didn’t doubt he’d blow my head off.

I bit back, “She knows what you did to your brother.”

He opened and shut his mouth, unable to say another word.

“And if anything happens to me or her, the information will be released to all the families. No one will back you after they’ve discovered you broke the cardinal rule of Bratva: family before all.”

The silence was deafening and spoke volumes.

I spun on my heels and left. I had the last word, but then I knew a man like him wouldn’t let it slide. I had to tell Natalia what I’d done and what could happen if her father didn’t help us.

The next few hours were a blur as I headed straight for the island. My men had the okay that I was on my way back, but it would be dusk before I returned.

I was puzzled about who would want Natalia dead and if it was the same mafia leaders who wanted her taken to persuade her father to vote how they wanted. Except we couldn’t count on that. A rival leader could’ve put the hit on her to take her out of the equation.

I tightened my fists, holding back my wolf who wanted to kill anyone who stood between me and her.

When I reached the shore, I phoned the two men I’d left to watch over Natalia.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Nothing, boss,” Emer said over the radio. “Been quiet all day.”

Relief flooded me. Natalia was safe. For now.

I knew I had to tell her what was going on and that it might not be safe to stay on the island, but I didn’t want to frighten her more than necessary.

My chest squeezed and I couldn’t wait to see her. To hold her in my arms and know for sure that she was safe.

I ran up the dune to the beach house and opened the door.

Natalia stood there, her eyes wide with fear.

I took her in my arms and held her close, not caring if my men saw us.

It was as though we hadn’t seen each other in years. Our lips met and fireworks danced behind my eyes. The link between us—alpha and omega—was stronger than before.

I held her in a passionate embrace for a long time, until she sagged against me.

Placing my hand under her chin, I lifted her head a little, making eye contact again, my cock already hardening at the sparkle in her eyes.

“Don’t you ever fucking leave me again.” She punched my shoulder.

Not caring that she was mad at me, but loving how fierce she was, I grabbed her, holding her to me. “I’ll always protect you, no matter what happens. You’re safe.”

Tears shone in her eyes as she nodded, and I held her tight in my arms.

Even though she trembled against my body, I could feel the strength of her resolve to survive.

“What are we going to do?” she asked. “About... about them telling you to kill me?”

I inhaled deeply, drawing in her spicy-sweet omega scent. She was close to going into full heat and we wouldn’t be able to resist each other even if we tried.

The idea of lying to her to protect her sank like a stone in my gut. “I went to the city to talk to your father. Warned him about what was going on.”

“My father?”

Before I could answer her, she slapped me in the face. She pulled from my arms and headed to the guest room, where she slammed the door firmly behind her.