Chapter 4 4
Chapter 4 – Malyishka
“I always miss the good stuff,” Ninos said, observing the woman in Kazimir’s arms.
It was still an hour before sunrise, and we quickly moved to the Range Rover on the tarmac. Ninos held the door open for Kazimir who was still holding the girl firmly to his body. We lived in a villa on the edge of Larnaca, one of the largest cities in Cyprus. It was conveniently close to the international airport, and we had all the luxuries of the city, nightlife, and sea views from the villa. There were no packs in Cyprus, and we’ve never scented another shifter on this island country.
Fortunately, driving across Cyprus could be done in a few hours, and Paphos is one of my favorite locations to visit. It has vast stretches of forest and national parks along the western and northern coast. The birthplace of Aphrodite, Paphos’ white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters were said to be a playground for the Greek Gods. We often visited that side of the island to let our wolves run and right now, Haze was itching for a run.
“So, is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Ninos asked as we turned on the main road.
“After the wire transfers were complete, she slipped into our hotel suite and transferred the money to an encrypted account,” I explained.
“How did a human slip past you?” He asked incredulously.
“I was in the shower after the fight and Kazimir was getting food. She slipped in as housekeeping.”
“How much did she steal?”
“All three-hundred and fifty-two thousand euros,” I told him and he let out a low whistle.
Ninos looked through the rearview mirror and noticed the way Kazimir held her. “Is she sleeping?”
“Kazimir gave her a tranquilizer,” I replied.
“Kazimir has never had a problem convincing a woman to come with him.” An intrigued look formed on his face.
Of the three of us, Kazimir was the most charming, a real ladies' man. I was more of the dominant and intimidating type thanks to my height and bulk. Ninos was on the fit but lean side, a few inches shorter, and had no problem blending in with the humans.
“Oh, he had trouble convincing this one,” I chuckled. “She pulled his knife on him.”
“A little foreplay is always fun,” he waggled his eyebrows. “She’s my mate,” Kazimir told him.
Ninos’ eyes met mine in stunned silence, and I gave a small nod. His mouth fell open to say something, but he closed it without a word. We arrived at the villa and Kazimir carried her upstairs. I dropped our duffle bags in the foyer. We had a professional housekeeping service come three times a week to clean and do the laundry. If Kazimir wasn’t able to control Alina, when housekeeping was here, we might have to move her to the basement.
Over the years we had all learned to cook, but Ninos was the best and he enjoyed it. When he wasn’t cooking, we went to local restaurants or ordered delivery. We didn’t have conventional jobs and worked odd hours depending on the stock market we were trading in, the investing, or the hacking. The cage fighting started when we were at school as a way to earn extra money. The fights quickly turned into a lucrative money-maker with
the bets. This funded our investments along with the money gained through hacking.
We’ve always been careful with the hacking, only taking small amounts that could easily be missed from those involved in corrupt activity. Never more than twenty-five thousand euros, depending on the balance and activity of the account. Kazimir was a skilled hacker, in and out before anyone noticed a thing. He was good at covering his trail and integrating the money in layers, so it wasn’t traceable.
I stepped into our shared office. It was intended to be a large parlor in the villa with picturesque views of the sea, but we converted the space into a secured office with bulletproof glass and black-out shades. Our desks were set up with the most sophisticated equipment available to keep our digital activity private and untraceable.
I sat at my desk and reviewed a few things before my stomach rumbled. I could smell sausage cooking in the kitchen and wondered if Kazimir would join us for breakfast. My question was soon answered when Kazimir stepped into the office. I held his gaze, waiting for him to speak.
“I tied her to the bed.”
“You need a plan, Kazimir. You can’t just keep her captive, much less tied to your bed. She’s human.”
“We don’t live in a pack. She won’t find out what we are.”
“You brought her to another country. We know nothing about her.” I made my way to the door and followed the smell of food. Ninos was standing at the stove flipping eggs. The fruit basket was stocked with fresh pears, figs, and plums. Feeling the need to dig my knife into someone or something, I made quick work of the fruit and sliced some for breakfast.
“The cleaning staff will be here in two hours,” Ninos reminded us and turned to Kazimir. “Are you going to be able to keep her quiet?”
“I’ve got a new ball gag you can use on her,” I suggested and Kazimir scowled. “Fine, use your old one on her,” I raised my hands in mock surrender.
“Is the bread fresh?” Kazimir asked reaching in a basket of baked Koulouri bread and small buns.
“I picked it up from the bakery early this morning before I went to the airport,” Ninos said.
“Your mate might be hungry, you should fix her a plate before we devour everything,” I suggested and scooped a heap of fruit onto a plate before handing it to Kazimir.
“Now that Kazimir is mated, can I have Madonna?” Ninos gave Kazimir a wicked grin, as he set eggs on a big tray with sausage.
“The Turkish girl with the nice ass?” I inquired, knowing exactly who Madonna was.
“She’s not Turkish, she’s Lebanese. I’m not mated, and no you can’t have her,” Kazimir snapped.
I heard a door quietly opening somewhere upstairs and held my hand up to silence the others. They stood motionless as we heard the soft and slow footsteps moving around. I looked at Kazimir, “I suppose you didn’t tie her up good enough.”
We moved out of the kitchen and her footsteps stopped a moment before she rushed down the hall. We reached the second-floor landing, and her scent was thick in both the left wing and right wing. My room was to the left and Kazimir’s was to the right. Ninos was on the ground level.
Kazimir quickly stepped to the door of his suite and pushed it open. I followed my nose to my room and stepped inside. A heavy scent of Mulberry led to my closet. I pulled the door open, and Alina stood in the back of the closet, holding a leather flogger in one hand and a cane in the other.
Unable to contain myself, I chuckled. “I’d have thought after the knife incident, you’d have learned a lesson.”
The other two entered my room and Ninos took in the inside of my closet door. “What the hell?” He looked over the accoutrements hanging on the hooks and pegs inside of the closet door. Floggers, canes, spreader bars, cuffs, crops, paddles, restraints, leashes, and a new ball gag.
“Don’t look in the top dresser drawer,” I shrugged in response. Dominance and control were something that seemed to be deeply ingrained in Alpha DNA. Even in the bedroom, I preferred to have complete control over my women. Pain and pleasure carried them to new heights, while punishment and reward gave me what I craved.
“Stand back!” Alina screamed.
“Alina, no one’s going to hurt you,” Kazimir told her.
“Unless you want to be spanked, then I’m sure Kazimir will be happy to oblige,” I added, tipping my head to the leather flogger she held in her hand.
“Maybe she’d like to spank Kazimir instead?” Ninos laughed. “Where am I?” Her eyes moved from Ninos to Kazimir.
“As you may already know, I’m Hades, that’s Kazimir, and this is Ninos. We were getting ready to have breakfast and I hate waiting. Put the toys down, unless of course, you want your ass caned,” I commanded.
“You… you drugged me!” She accused Kazimir and pulled the cane back, ready to strike.
“We could have left you there and they would have killed you,” I told
her.
“Russia may be the biggest country in the world, but these people have
a way of finding you no matter where you hide. No one is safe here,” she shrieked.
“We’re not in Russia,” Kazimir told her as he stepped closer and reached for the cane. In her shock, she released it without protest.
“Did we cross the border? Belarus isn’t safe either.” The fear radiating from her was palpable and I wondered who it was that caused the fear within her.
“No malyishka, we’re far away. You’re safe here. I promise,” Kazimir said in a soothing tone as he reached for the flogger.
She stood silent for a moment, regarding us. Curiosity nagged at me. I really wanted to know more about her. Who was she, how did she end up a thief, who she worked for, and why did the Moon Goddess pair Kazimir with a human?
Her eyes met Kazimir’s, and she looked confused. “Why do you call me that?”
“Malyishka?” He asked and she nodded.
“I’m not your baby girl. You don’t even know me.”
“Because something inside of me tells me different.” The energy became tense at Kazimir’s near admittance. “And you know what, malyishka? I think something deep inside of you is telling you something about me.” He moved closer to her.
“Yes… you’re right,” she paused. “Something is screaming that you’re dangerous and I should run!”
“If it’s a chase you want…” Kazimir gave her a wolfish grin as he leaned his mouth against her ear, “then it’s a chase you’ll get.”
Ninos rolled his eyes and groaned out loud. “You know, the food is getting cold. Can we talk about this over breakfast?” He turned to leave and Kazimir pulled Alina along next to him.
We made our way to the kitchen with a reluctant Alina. She kept throwing nervous glances at us. Not that I could blame her, she was human
and alone in a house with three wolves who exude strong energy. Energy she could feel but couldn’t recognize as a human. My wolf Haze was stronger than Kazimir’s wolf, Kuzma, and I suspect it’s because I’m a first born Alpha and Kazimir is fifth born. Ninos had a strong aura, but he also had an appealing disposition.
Alina’s eyes locked on the kitchen window above the sink that looked out to the blue waters.
“Where are we?” She asked as Kazimir pulled a chair out for her. “Far away from Russia,” Kazimir said, turning to the food.
“That’s not what I asked. I see palm trees and the sea,” she snapped.
“We’re on an island in the Mediterranean, we took a private jet while you were sleeping,” I told her and sat down at the table with my plate of food.
“Drugged. I was drugged,” she reminded us and glared at Kazimir as he set a plate of food down in front of her. I watched closely to see if there were signs the human felt a mate pull to Kazimir.
Kazimir took the seat next to her and she stared at her plate but made no move. I watched as her eyes drifted from her plate to Kazimir’s plate, then over Ninos’ plate, and finally took in the food on my plate. Kazimir forked a sausage and took a bite. Alina reached over to his plate and picked it up. She swapped her plate of food with his, not trusting if the food he gave her was drugged.
Without missing a beat, Kazimir continued to fork food into his mouth from the plate she placed in front of him.
“I hear you grew up in America.” Ninos finally broke the silence. “Which State?”
“Several of them,” she replied and devoured her food as if she was afraid someone would take it away from her.
“You moved around a lot?” Ninos asked.
“Something like that,” she shoveled another forkful into her mouth.
“With your family?” He pressed. I knew he was just as curious about her as I was.
She paused for a moment and then continued eating, without answering the question about her family. I could hear the change in her breathing, Ninos had hit a nerve. Her family was a topic she didn’t want to discuss. I wondered if they were on the run, trying to escape something or someone. We continued to eat in silence. It’s times like this, I wish we were able to mind link each other like regular pack wolves. Because we’re not part of a pack, or blood relatives, or mates, we could not mind link with one another.
“What are you going to do with me?” Alina asked.
“That all depends on you,” I replied and Kazimir shot me a hard look. “I don’t know anything,” she quickly replied.
“You stole three hundred and fifty thousand euros from me. I’d like to know why and who you’re working for. If you’re working for a Russian, your life was forfeited when you failed to return. Your partner in the BMW is also dead. Whoever they are, they’re going to be looking for you, Alina.” She met my gaze and the fear had returned.
“There isn’t much to say. My parents died when I was fourteen. My uncle took me in and returned to Russia with me. He didn’t allow me to attend school, but he taught me about computers. A few years later, trouble found him, and they took me as payment.” Kazimir’s jaw clenched tight, and his eyes flickered black. He was struggling with his wolf.
“The people who took you as payment…” I encouraged her to continue. “They’re not good people, they’re monsters,” she said looking away.
“The world is full of monsters,” I replied with a wry smile. The world was indeed full of monsters, and she was a human in a den of wolves.
I watched as her eyes scanned the kitchen dining area we were seated in, no doubt looking for an escape. If she had been a man, I would have broken one finger at a time while torturing him for answers and I would have enjoyed it. But she wasn’t a man or an ordinary human, she was Kazimir’s mate. Hurting her would hurt his wolf. I would allow Kazimir a few days to get the information from her and figure out what he wanted to do.
“Is that your cat?” Alina asked. We turned our heads to see the only stray cat that isn’t afraid to hang out around a villa of predators. A young tortoiseshell colored male that had taken a liking to Ninos, who tossed scraps out to it. He had jumped up on the ledge of a closed window and laid down, soaking up the sun.
“He’s a stray,” Ninos said. “There are more stray cats here than people,” he added.
“You said we were in the Mediterranean and I see palm trees,” she said thoughtfully. “Cyprus has more stray cats than humans.”
Kazimir and I exchanged questioning looks. She was either really smart or knew more about us than we expected. We would need to watch her carefully.