Stolen Hearts

Ace's and Eric's Stories

Eric's POV

The dark house greets my mate and me as I welcome her to Deep Haven. She looks around as I flip a light. There is a lot about her I need to ask, a lot that I don't understand. This is going to be one hell of a mateship: a Beta and an assassin.

I live permanently in the Alpha and Beta complex. Barrett doesn't live here though, so Ace takes the extra master room. My mate (I refuse to call her Phantom) sits on the couch, glancing at every window, picture, door, and furniture item in the room.

"So," I sit across from her. "I'm guessing your real name isn't Phantom."

She laughs lightly, running her hands through her ginger hair. "I haven't gone by my real name in forever, Ghost, er, Lena doesn't even know my real name."

"Well, I'm Eric Preston."

"Dixie," she offers me her hand across the coffee table, which I take. Light smarks tickle my hand as I do so. "I've never had a last name."

"How long have you been... um..."

"Killing people for money?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the first time I killed I was fourteen, freshly shifted. My parents were murdered and I wanted revenge. Copper trained me, hard, pushing my every limit until I tracked the bastards down and killed them.

"After that, Copper insisted I keep training. I met Decker when I was sixteen, the two of us hunted and killed together. Mostly we targeted other hitmen that took out Copper's crew. They called him Demon and me, Phantom. Decker was the only person that really loved me."

I growled lightly at the idea. Dixie is my mate, mine. "And Lena?"

"I met Lena, I knew her as Trixy--"

I laugh at the name, "That's a hooker's name."

"So is Dixie."

"Go on."

"Her dad trained the three of us, she and I connected instantly. Neither of us had friends, I had Decker and she had her father. We went on missions together, the three of us, the two of us. A year and a half in, she and Decker went on a mission together. I figured out their affair after a month."

"What happened to Decker?" I ask, moving from my chair to sit beside her on the couch.

"He's dead," her eyes meet mine. "I killed him after I found out."

"Remind me not to cross you," I smile lightly at her, trying to turn the conversation.

"I'm not proud of who I became, but I do know who I am."

"Tell me who you are," I ask her, hesitantly resting my hand on her leg.

"I'm an orphan, I'm a rogue, a killer, but I'm strong. I never enjoyed the cushy life, my parents never let me have it easy."

"You are strong, I know you don't need me to validate you, but listening to you and from what Lena's told me. You deserve so much."

"Thank you," she takes my hand silently. Her hands are rough but fit perfectly in mine. Dixie deserves so much more than what she's been given. It's obvious that men have pushed and manipulated her her entire life.

She's my mate though, which means that I get to be her calm, her stable. Goddess help me, I'm going to have a relationship with her, I'm going to stand by her.

&[]

Ace POV

Ivy's hips press against mine as I hold her against the tree. We returned to Deep Haven two hours ago and instead of returning to the house I share with Eric, I took my mate out through the territory. One thing led to another and now she's between me and a tree, kissing me as if my life depended on it.