Chapter 34 - If Spiders Could Smile

— Mishka —

"So?" Ethan asked me.

Hellhound Girl and I entered the kitchen. Ethan, Amir, Karl and John were there. And so was what was left of the Alpha.

He was not walking out of there. There was only one eye left and a slew of broken bones, some giving odd shape to his limbs. His breathing was ragged. There was a bunch of syringes on the counter that would have contained wolfsbane serums. So I guess he kept fighting back. The white tiles had smears of blood, pale in places, darker where it's thicker.

"He's the Hellhound alright," I confirmed.

"Fuck!" Ethan swore.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"You think I'm gonna tell you while she's here?" John said.

"She's not leaving my side until we're outta here. It'll change nothing," I said.

"Who's this Hellhound and why is this a problem?" asked Karl.

"Someone you don't want to have to face," said Ethan.

At least one of them did their homework.

"And what are you gonna do with her?" asked me John.

"You said she was my problem, and to find my own payment method, so I'm ransoming her."

Ethan looked at me like I'd just sprouted horns.

"And how does that work exactly?" John asked.

"I'll dump her on our way out, and get my money, then I'll go out and party with Vanessa because I'm not doing any more gigs with you."

"Why?" asked Karl. "And why do you lot look scared of this Hellhound dude?"

"You don't pay my wages anymore," I said. "I work for money, not charity. And to answer your second question, have you ever heard of Genghis Khan?"

He blinked. "Eum, the Mongol Guy"

Ethan snorted.

"Yeah, the Mongol guy," I conceded sarcastically. "The one who conquered half of the world. Well, right now, when it comes to werewolves, the closest thing we have to Genghis Khan is the Hellhound. Granted before the Mongols finished their conquering spree."

"What?" That guy was definitely not the brightest bulb in the box.

"The hellhound has conquered a bunch of packs already, but not half of the world." Ethan explained.

"Yet," I interjected.

He eyed me but continued. "He's also reputed to answer to challenges pretty brutally."

"You don't know how brutal he can get," Hellhound Girl said to the guys. There was a fire in those eyes that I liked. She was probably imagining them burning at the stake and she enjoyed the idea.

"How much is that exactly?" asked John.

She just smiled, like a spider would to a fly. Well, if spiders could smile that is. But you get the image.

"Get her outta here," said John to me.

"Get your hands off of him," she ordered him regarding the Alpha lying on the floor.

"Out, now," said John pointing at the door.

"You know, torture doesn't work," she told him. "You've watched too many American action movies."

I dragged her out before John decided she was better off dead.

She growled at him, but didn't fight me back. I half-dragged her out of the room. My arm around her waist, nearly lifting her completely off the floor.

Despite her little rant, she managed to look damsel-ish enough.

Now we're going to have to work on that little mouth of hers if we want this to work.

— Ylva —

"Contact made," I said in my ear-piece. "Spread," I told my guys and they moved, disciplined, fawning behind me, then marching slowly forward. "Anders?" I called.

"Yeah," he told me, coming forward to meet me.

"Find out who's in charge."

He nodded and went forward.

I took a phone out.

Hey there baby.

I'm ready to party.

Where are you?

I'm getting bored. I wrote.

I got a message back nearly instantly

Vanessa darling. I thought you forgot about me.

I just got to get a few things sorted and I'm all yours.

We could watch a movie or ten.

Then warm things up a bit.

"Ten lookouts," I said in my earpiece. "Dodson, I want eyes on the building, check sniper positions."

I wrote two more texts.

Baby, are you alone?

You know I don't like it when you see other girls.

I waited a few seconds for the answer.

Babe, you know you're the only piece of ass I want. I'm with a few friends. They're guys, but they brought a few friends of their own and now I'm just waiting for the right moment to ditch them.

Do it fast. I'm wet already. I sent back.

Working on it. I received back.

Keep it up, I'll make it quick. Then we can get the firework going.

If you don't, I'll ask your friends. I wrote.

They're 7 idiots, none of them know their ways to a G-spot. Vanargand replied.

Then I'll ask their friends. I wrote.

They're a bunch of amateurs, they're not equipped for your kind of needs. He replied.

If there's enough of them, it doesn't matter so much. I wrote.

You're too much of a handful, the 26 of them won't be enough to do what I can do alone. He wrote back.

You have quite an opinion of yourself. I wrote.

It's not vain when it's true. I read that and scoffed.

Show-off git.

I took my other cellphone and called Kaden.

"Status?" he answered.

"We've reached the village, Anders is doing recognizance to find out who's in charge. I talked to Vanargand. Ten on the lookout. I send someone to spot them. Their main team as seven members but they have 26 in reinforcement, but those don't have weapons. Claws and fangs only."

"The code's working I see."

"He's enjoying this a little too much, if you ask me."

"If it works…"

"Give me a sec," I said as Anders came with someone to meet me.

"Lorcan Murphy," the man told me as he reached me. "Beta of Ghealach."

"You were not at the packhouse?"

"Not during the attack."

"What do you know?"

"A bunch of assholes got in there. This is a fort. It's equipped to handle assaults. They were prepared before we attacked. We can't get in."

"We have a contact in," I told him.

"Miss Devon?"

I nodded.

"What do you know?" he asked me.

"You're not gonna like it."

"Tell me."

Suits me. I've never been one for bedside manners, so he better not freak out on me.

"Luna and her kids are dead," he stiffened. "Alpha's injured bad. They're looking for the shield. Torturing him for it."

He swallowed. "Ab—about the others?" He had to give it a few tries before his voice got stable enough to talk, but he didn't crumble on me.

"Don't know, but our man is dead."

He nodded.

"You got that?" I asked on the phone to Kaden.

"Yeah."

"You want to talk to him?"

"Pass him through."

I gave the Beta my phone and took the other phone to fish for information on other survivors.