Chapter 0004

Niklaus

The piece of shit Beta in front of me slumps forward in his chair, the chains around his body holding him in place. I flex my fingers, annoyance bubbling up in my chest as I watch the scars heal on my knuckles.

I get down on my haunches in front of him and he glares at me, defiance etched onto every inch of him. “Are you going to tell me who the fuck sent you, or should I get your wife in here as well?” I say, and that defiance drops right off.

“You fucking wouldn’t—!”

“Wrong answer, asshole. I’ll be more than happy to throw Maria right in here with you and let her take your punishment as you watch,” I say in a flat tone before getting to my feet.

I can hear the gears turning in his head as he wrestles with his loyalty to whomever sent him here and his precious mate. Of course, it doesn’t take long for him to decide and he calls me back.

“That’s what I want to hear—” I start, but then I’m interrupted when the door swings open and my brother, Dimitrios, walks inside. I’m about to shoot him a glare when his next words over the mind link stops me.

/“There’s a lost pussycat asking about you downstairs,”/

I frown at this, then I nod and walk toward him, all the while the piece of shit Beta behind me makes a racket, wanting to know if we’re going to harm his wife or not. He doesn’t need to know that I don’t touch innocent women, even when they have asshole mates.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask as I close and lock the door behind me.

He chuckles. “Let me show you, I think you might like this,” he says, and annoyance bubbles up in my chest. But I follow him anyway, since we’re in the basement of my casino; then I frown when I see he’s leading me to the surveillance room.

We walk inside and when we get to the large screens; he points at a brunette sitting at the bar. “People at the bar let me know she’s been asking around about Alpha Niklaus King. I have a feeling she doesn’t know how you look.”

I cross my arms and stare at the woman. She’s nursing a glass of what seems like bourbon, wearing a tight black dress and mile high heels. There’s an air of confidence around her, but not a ‘I know I’m sexy’ type of way, more like a ‘I’ve been through some shit, don’t try me’ way.

Interesting.

“I’ll go down, see what she wants,” I say as I clap him on the back before walking out.

I’m used to women seeking me out, but nothing like this. People know how I look around here since I own the city, so that can only mean this little spy is not from around here. This makes things all the more interesting.

Walking into the bar, I spot her immediately as she sips on the amber liquid. With my hands in the pockets of my slacks, I stroll over to her and sit down on the stool next to her. But not before alerting the bartender over the mind link to not approach me yet.

“This seat taken?” I ask as I sit down next to her.

She’s staring deeply into the glass of what I can smell is bourbon. But what hits me isn’t her virginal she-wolf perfume, it’s her sweet as fuck scent; chocolate and caramel. How the hell does she smell like both?

“No, it’s…” she trails off as she turns to look at me, her grey eyes widening. “Uhm.. It’s not taken.”

I gesture for the bartender to come over and order a whiskey before turning back to her. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in this bar before,” I say, sounding like a fucking pick up line and she rolls her eyes.

“How many times has that line worked for you?” she says as she sips on her bourbon, then she turns her head to face me. “Judging by your looks, I guess it works quite often.”

“Ouch, an insult and a compliment in one go,” I say with a hand to my heart, pretending to be wounded. “But no, it’s no line. I remember who walks into my bar, and I have never seen your face here before.”

Her eyes widen, and she’s about to say something, when the bartender brings my whiskey. “There you go, Alpha Niklaus,” he says, and I can see her growing pale at the mention of my name.

“Thank you, Jax,” I respond without looking at him, then I pick up my whiskey and take a sip. “Now, you were telling me who you are and why you’re looking for me.”

This seems to sober her up, and she actually swivels her chair so she’s facing me completely. Then she squares her shoulders as if she’s prepared this speech for a long time. This only serves to intrigue me more.

“Your sister is in danger as we speak,” she says, and I nearly fucking drop the glass in my hand. “The hotel Kristina is in will be blown up at midnight tonight—”

But I don’t let her finish, instead I grab her by the arm and drag her into the corridor leading to my office. There, I pin her to the wall, my hand around her neck.

“You better explain what the fuck you mean by that,” I growl, my wolf itching to come to the surface. “Who are you?”

She claws at my hand, and I notice her eyes glowing gold; she’s a fucking Rogue Omega. Who is this woman? And why is she threatening my little sister?

“It’s… It’s not like that!” she gasps. “Lucan … Alpha Lucan is planning to blow up the hotel!”

At the mention of that asshole’s name, my grip tightens involuntarily, and I let go as soon as I feel her kicking her feet and sputtering. Lucan fucking Russo has been a thorn in my side since he took over from his father two years ago. He’s itching to start a war, and by killing my sister, that would do it.

“How do you know this?” I ask, lowering my voice. “Who are you?”

“Someone who knows too much about Lucan and wants to see him pay for what he’s done,” she says, jutting out her chin in defiance. “I came here to broker a deal with you in exchange for information, but then you just had to go and be violent. You Alphas are all the fucking same.”

With that, she turns around and walks away, but I go after her and grab her wrist and pull her back. She looks like she’s about to slap me and fuck, that’s a sexy look on her. Who is this little spitfire?

“I am simply retaliating to the news you’ve just dumped on me, because no one is supposed to know where my sister is,” I say, and I slowly see the understanding dawn in her eyes. “Now, I don’t mind listening to what you have to say, but I need more proof than ‘I know too much about Lucan.’ Do you understand?”

She nods and I slowly let go of her. “The person feeding Lucan information on you is someone named Fabiani; not sure if that’s his first or his last name,” she says, crossing her arms. “And by that look on your face, you know who I’m talking about.”

Know who she’s talking about? That’s my fucking uncle!

/“Mitri, get Kristina out of that hotel without anyone noticing, it’s been compromised. Ares, get Fabiani into a cell. Laz, come to the bar, I need you to take a woman up to the suites. No questions asked,”/ I say to my brothers over the mind link, then I turn to the little spitfire.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I don’t take too kindly to random information with no basis,” I say, then I spot Laz walking towards me. “You’ll be kept in a hotel room here until I find out what the fuck is going on.”

She looks like she’s about to argue, but she closes her mouth and nods. “I understand, but you’ll see I’m right,” she says just before Laz stops in front of me.

“This her?” he asks in Greek and I nod.

“Don’t hurt her, but stay outside the room and keep the surveillance going,” I answer back before walking away from them.

Five hours later, the hotel Kristina was in went up in flames, and my uncle died at my hands.