Alpha Vaughan

Chapter 40

Vaughan tore his gaze away from the road to throw me a quick glance. "What do you mean?"

"There was this other girl at the warehouse," I explained, confused myself. "When she'd looked at me I felt this... I don't know, some sort of familiarity. As if some part of me had recognized her as another Link."

He continued to drive, digesting it all in. He suddenly let out a heavy sigh. "If that's true then you know what this means."

"What?"

"We've achieved nothing."

"Oh," I said absently, leaning back defeatedly in my seat. "But we could go back, there's st--" the plan that'd been forming in my mind died. With a deflated sigh I said, "Except they'll change their locations after today."

"No," he said.

"No?" I asked.

"They won't do that," he said, easing into another lane.

"Well, why?"

"Because they're done running from us."

__

When we got back to the hotel, the manager rushed towards us, a horrified look on his face. I noted the staff all wore similar looks on their faces, tension stretching the air.

There was a stiff moment where we all stared at each other, before his throat bobbed and he stuttered out, "I-I don't know how it happened, b-but... Your room, s--"

Vaughan instantly took off, fast heading towards the elevator while I ran towards the stairs, people throwing themselves away from my path. The bodyguards didn't stop me this time, instead they moved out of my way, their faces drawn in fear and regret.

I pushed the door open with a grunt, stopping short once I saw the interior of the room.

Destroyed.

There was a burnt hole in the middle of the rug, and from it smoke still rose up. The entire room was in shambles, cushions burnt, wooden items broken and charred.

My gaze widened when they landed on the wall above the headboard. A sentence was boldly written on it with what I hopped wasn't blood. It read; 'Surrender Your Luna.'

My blood ran cold. I spotted Vaughan at a corner in the room, his eyes glazed in a way that told me he was mindlinking. When he opened them again, he quickly approached me and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the room.

"Where are we going?" I rushed out.

He made to answer but my horrified gasp stopped him short. My eyes were fixed on the blood spreading around his side. "Vaughan, you're hurt."

He looked down at it but said nothing, continuing to drag me towards his car.

When we got there, I got in, then waited for him to turn the ignition before I asked again, "Where are we going?"

Driving out of the lot, he answered, "I've just told one of my men to arrange a cottage for me. It's not that far off."

He was right, it wasn't. But it was isolated. A large cottage hidden within the woods and within several acres of land. I could only guess he'd bought the entire land around it.

He killed the engine and we got out. A werewolf from Beastclaw approached us. When he saw me, he bowed his head low. It made a tiny bit uncomfortable, but Vaughan didn't appear anything like that, probably used to shows of respect like that.

He handed us a set of keys and when Vaughan opened the front door, he went straight to the bar, taking out a bottle of alcohol and two glasses. He poured one for the tall man, then they sat and proceeded to talk in low tones.

I went up the wide stairs, coming across a long hallway. At the end of it was a set of huge double doors. Walking over to the doors, I pushed them open, entering into a wide, scarcely furnished room. Everything in here screamed male.

Going over to his closet, I opened it and was met with a large collection of men clothes. The distinct smell of cinnamon hit my nose before I closed the closet.

After a while I heard the door close and the faint sound of an engine roar to life. I stood and walked down to the spacious living room. On entering it I saw Vaughan sat on a chair, a wine glass in his hand, a deadened look in his eyes.

Looking at his now bandaged side, my heart clenched. "I don't think it's wise for you to be drinking right now."

He said nothing for a long moment. Taking a gulp of his drink, he stood and slowly approached me.

Towering over me, he held my chin, gently running his thumb over it. In a dangerously soft tone, he said, "They want my Luna."

I swallowed at the lethal promise in his eyes, a promise of retribution.

"When I find Vladimir I'm going to rip his throat out, surrender his bloody heart at your feet."

"Well, first of all, ew, and sec--"

"No one messes with what's mine," he said softly. "No one." He bent his head, and took my mouth in a possessive kiss.

I felt my nerves sizzle to life, hot desire snaking its way down my to my core. With a moan I slid my arms around his neck. I felt him pick me up and in the next moment my back connected to a wall.

His hands settled under my butt, roughly squeezing as he grinded into me. Breaths heaving, I fisted his shirt, wanting it off so there was no space between us.

The kiss turned wild and his lips left my mouth to rain open mouthed kisses down my neck. I felt his canines at the base of my neck, and I arched it, desperately wanting his mark on me. Suddenly he was detaching himself from me.

Cold air instantly bit into my skin, and it did nothing to cool of my desire.

Panting, I stared at him in shock as he roughly scrubbed a palm over his face.

He turned to face me, eyes gone yellow with lust. "I need to mark you."

My brows furrowed. "Then do it."

That torn look appeared on his face again. "No. I need to tell you."

"What?"

"How I got my curse."

There was a pause. With a sigh, I began in a gentle tone, "Hey, if you don't want to ta--"

"No," he said, "I want to tell you. I don't want any secrets between us, Hilda."

At length I inhaled, and then nodded.

He nodded too. Moments passed before he revealed, "You're not the first mate I've had."