Desire for Love | Desire Series ~ 2

Chapter 45

Daniel POV

I barged out of the car as soon as we arrived. Matthias and Claudia slammed the car's door as I rushed into the packhouse. I could only take a few steps before the group leaders came to greet me.

“Alphas, you’re back!” they greeted as Matthias joined my side.

“What happened?” I asked my Beta as she explained everything while leading us to the forest.

We followed her while closely listening to what happened. Everything happened during the night. The attackers were hiding in the trees until the men on patrol sniffed them out. The intruders were all dressed in black, and they didn’t attack until our men did. They were few in numbers, and we could easily overwhelm them. Their abilities, however, were unimaginable for humans. While the intruders attacked, none of our men suffered any grave injuries. It was as if they were ordered to not kill the werewolves.

“Although they fought their way toward the packhouse, they retreated before reaching it,” my Beta explained as we arrived at the place they were first spotted.

“They retreated?” I asked.

“Yes. I may be wrong, but their goal may have been…” she replied, but did not finish her sentence.

“I understand,” I nodded as I clenched my hands.

Carefully, I observed my surroundings. There were multiple odours clouding the area. There was a sweet faint smell floating in the air, besides the ones that emanated from my pack. It was like Tricia explained. There was a human smell, but something was off. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Matthias climbing on one of the trees to simulate what Tricia explained.

“They were hiding like this?” I overheard Matthias ask Tricia.

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Did anyone climb the trees afterwards?”

Tricia frowned. “No.”

Matthias hummed and jumped down. I joined them and asked. “Did you find something?”

“Their scent is pretty thick up there,” Matthias answered. “They must have camped there for a few days.”

A growl escaped from me as I glared at William, my Head Warrior. They were silently following us, as if to make their presence as small as possible.

“Explain this.”

“Alpha, we carefully patrolled this area every day,” William answered, with worry clouding his eyes. “I even doubled my men after you left, but they reported nothing.”

I clenched my fists harder and dug my nails into my palms. The pain kept my head clear. It prevented me from slicing his throat. Instead, I glared at the Head Warrior, who shifted his gaze down to his feet as a sign of submission. My Beta and Delta were about to step in, but a glance from me made them step back.

“A-alpha, I swear we didn’t slack off while you were gone!” William added as he went to his knees. “We will never dare to disobey you.”

Suddenly, Matthias stood in between us. I growled at him to step away, but he ignored it. With his hands in his pocket, he took a step closer. Instead of cowering in fear like everyone else, Matthias didn’t seem affected.

“The intruders must have used a scent covering spray as they hid,” Matthias added calmly.

“Then how are we able to smell it?”

My mate shrugged, unaffected by my glare. “The effect isn’t permanent. It must have faded by now.”

“Is that so?” I raised an eyebrow.

As we stared at each other, I still didn’t detect any fear from my mate. He didn’t look away or shrink down in submission. Had he not been my mate, I would have killed him long ago. And yet, a part of me revelled in it.

“Yes,” Matthias answered confidently as he took a step closer toward me. “Leave us.”

For once, the warriors didn’t hesitate and followed Matthias’ command. In seconds, they disappeared from my sight. Slowly, my mate grabbed my hands as he clicked his tongue.

“Do you plan to bleed to death?”

I followed his gaze and stared at my bloodied palms. In my anger, my nails turned into claws. They dug deep into my skin. Gradually, I loosened my grip as we both watched my injury heal. My mate brought my bloody palm to his lips and licked it clean. Standing frozen under his stare, I couldn't look away from his tongue. Then he did the same with the other. With my palms clean of blood and with no trace of the injury, he let them go.

“Thanks for the meal,” he licked his lips as his eyes glowed red.

“Am I only a lunchbox now?”

Matthias chuckled. “Only when you deserve it.”

“Thank you.”

Matthias lazily flicked his hand to the side. “Don’t worry about it.”

I took a deep breath and regained my composure. “Can they really cover their scent?”

“It’s highly possible if they used the spray, but…”

I frowned at my mate’s hesitation. “What is it?”

“I’m not certain yet, but you should know about them.” Worry clouded his expression. He swallowed and fiddled with his fingers.

“The enforcers?” I asked as Matthias shook his head.

“Enforcers are humans. They went through excruciating training to reach the peak of human capabilities. But I fear the intruders are worse than the enforcers.”

“This is not like you to turn around the bush.”

“They are mercenaries. The humans founded an organization that creates mercenaries. They use orphans to transform them into weapons.”

“But in the end, they are merely humans. Why are they so different from the enforcers?”

“The orphans are born humans, but when they finish their training, they aren’t.”

“They create vampires to do their bidding?”

Matthias softened and simply shook his head. “They create hybrids.”

I couldn’t believe my ears and the shock must have shown on my face because he confirmed my thoughts.

“Yes, vampire and werewolf hybrid. They don’t possess the same weaknesses as we do. Which is why they are so fearful.”

“Why would they target us?” I mumbled as I thought about my potential enemies.

Something flashed in my mate’s eyes. It was a mixture of fear and anger. He, however, didn’t speak his mind.

“With enough money, anyone could have bought their services,” he added in a mumble.