The Viper's Den (Randy Orton)

2

A/N: Hey y'all, It's Clay here and I'm back on my bullshit. Lemme get these warnings out of the way before the pitchfork-wielding snowflakes attack lmao. So obviously, kidnapping is part of the warnings here and additional warnings include, cursing. (it's a mafia romance come on, what're you expecting?) Dramatic rescues, blood and injury Gun violence (again, you're reading a MAFIA romance you should be expecting gunfights) I don't think I missed anything, but If I did, if you can be respectful about it, feel free to let me know. Lemme remind everyone that this is FICTION. Get it? Got it? Good! Oh, btw this is written in Randy's POV Lemme also remind y'all that sentences in italics = character's thoughts. 

I walk into the coffee shop Cora works at and, I'm surprised that she's not there. Her friend is at the counter and they seem to be pretty close, so I walk up to the counter and Lyra smiles at me professionally. "same as yesterday?" she asks with a warm smile. I nod. "yeah. Large coffee with three sugars.'' she hits a few buttons on her screen and then looks back up at me. "that'll be $3.75'' I nod, pulling exactly three dollars and seventy-five cents out of my pocket. "if you don't mind me asking, where's Cora?'' Lyra looks confused and maybe a bit worried as I hand her the money. "I don't know, she usually never misses work. I haven't heard from her since last night, when she said she didn't want to go out for drinks.'' I force myself to not show the pang of worry that shoots through my veins at Lyra's words. I can't help but think ''What the hell happened to Cora?''   I realize I've been staring at Lyra for much longer than I meant to. "Sorry for staring, got lost in thought.'' she shakes her head and waves a hand dismissively. ''No problem. You looked distracted so, I didn't think you were staring at me. Cora does that to me all the time.'' Lyra places the money in the register and turns to make my coffee, Leaving me to think about Cora. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. The thought of something happening to My little sapphire makes my blood boil. I'm brought back to reality by the sound of a coffee cup being set on the counter. "have a good day!'' Lyra says, sliding the cup to me. ''Thanks, you too,'' I say back, my voice distracted.  I walk out of the coffee shop, and head to Cora's apartment, carefully picking the lock on her front door. I walk in and turn on the light and the living room floor; I find something that both worries me and pisses me off. There's a syringe on the floor. And by the looks of it, it's the kind you use to sedate people.  With a sigh, I pull my gloves out of my pocket, putting them on before picking up the syringe. I'll take this back to my office and have my second-in-command and close friend, Cody dust it for prints. If I wasn't worried about my little sapphire before, I sure as hell am now. I walk out of Cora's apartment with the syringe, making sure to lock her door on my way out. I have a nagging feeling she's been kidnapped, she doesn't need to get robbed too. I get into my car, sighing softly as I sink into the leather seat of the silver Lexus. I just sit there for a minute, remembering the first time I saw Cora, which was the night that her father killed her mother. I tried to stop him, and he shot me square in the chest. I still have a scar from the stitches Cody patched me up with that night. The way he tells it, I almost didn't make it. Poor Cora couldn't've been older than fifteen that night. Now, she might be in danger again. I'm gonna make sure I protect what's mine. I start my car and head back to my office a little faster than the law allows. Once I pull into the parking garage, I get out of the car and lock it, before walking over to the elevator and pressing the button to go up to my office. Once I'm in my office, I text Cody, telling him I need him to dust the syringe I found at Cora's apartment for prints.

Once Cody walks into my office, I hand the syringe to him. "take this down to the lab and dust it for prints.'' I say as he takes the syringe from my hand. "Alright, I will. I'll be sure to tell them to put a rush on it.''  I'm not surprised that he figured out that this is highly important, he's pretty smart. "thanks.'' My tone is flat, but based on the look on Cody's face, I assume that my body language betrays just how worried I am. He looks as if he's going to say something, but decides against it. He walks out of my office, and I am again left with my thoughts. Around 30 minutes later, Cody walks back into my office, and he looks worried. "What is it?" I demand, my voice coming out much harsher than I intended. There's a moment of uncomfortable silence before Cody speaks. "We got prints on that syringe. Mark Callahan's prints." He doesn't need to say anything more. I nod at him, trying to hide my worry and anger. Cody's my closest friend, we're like brothers and I've never been able to conceal my emotions from him. He shuts the door behind him and locks it. Sitting down in a nearby chair. "What is it, Randy?" He asks, his eyes filled with a level of compassion you don't often see in this line of work. "I think Mark kidnapped his daughter" my voice is flat with anger. Cody looks shocked and somehow he knows what I'm planning to do. "As your friend, I'd advise you not to go after her, considering what happened last time you and Mark fought. But, as your second-in-command, do you want me to get the guys together?" I shake my head. "I appreciate it Cody, but I want to do this myself but I need you to come with me. I'll need you to hold them off while I take care of Cora." Cody smiles faintly, then pats my arm. "Don't worry Randy, she'll be okay." Now it's my turn to be shocked. "How'd you know?" He chuckles faintly. "The way you talk about her. It's like she's yours and no one else's. I look up at him, almost hating that he's right. "She's mine whether she knows it or not" Cody smiles and pats my arm again. "Let's go get your girl." I nod and walk out of my office, with my gun and bulletproof vest. I don't usually wear a vest, but I can't risk getting hurt, not when I have to take care of my little sapphire. We head to the parking garage and get into my silver Lexus. Cody and I don't even have to discuss where to go, as we already know where we're going. Mark owns a warehouse on the edge of town. As we get closer to the warehouse, I can't help but look at Cody, I'd never tell anyone else what I'm about to tell him. "I'm worried about her." Cody nods, gently patting my shoulder. "I know you are, but she's gonna be okay. You're not gonna let anything happen to her." At Cody's words, a sudden surge of possessive protectiveness runs through me, and I growl. "You're damn right." Cody pats my arm again, and I look at him, slightly confused.
"You've gotta stay calm, werewolves can't wear a bulletproof vest" I nod, I know he's right. We pull up to the warehouse, and I check my vest, making sure it's tightly secured to my chest, before getting out of my car. Cody shoots the two guards at the very front of the warehouse, but he doesn't kill them. He shoots them in the shoulder before knocking them out with the butt of his gun, then he turns to me. "Go find Cora, I got this" I nod, and kick the door of the warehouse open, rushing in and looking around. "Ah. I figured you'd show" says a voice behind me, Mark. I think, almost growling, I turn to him, my aquamarine eyes almost glowing. "You can't kidnap my girl and not expect me to show up." He pulls his gun on me, but before he can shoot, I've shot him in the shoulder, and knocked him out with the butt of my gun, I'd kill him, but I have more important things to do. Then, I'm rushing to find Cora, and when I do, I have to fight the urge to phase then and there. She's lying on the floor, in a pool of her own blood, there's a cut on her side that's gushing blood and she's pale. Too pale. I kneel in front of her and pull her into my arms, placing my hand over the cut on her side, trying to at least slow the bleeding. With my free hand, I'm gently cupping her face. "Cora? Little sapphire?" I say, desperately hoping for her to respond. She groans softly, probably only from the pressure of my hand on her side. I bury my face into her hair and kiss her head. "You're gonna be alright little sapphire, I promise. Just hang on." I pick her up, cradling her to my chest. I've got stitches in the car, and I can stitch her up there. But to my surprise, Cora shifts in my arms, her eyes flickering open. "Hey," she says suddenly, surprising the hell out of me. I'm not sure what to say so I just look at her for a moment, my aquamarine eyes meet her green ones. All of a sudden, it makes sense. The possessiveness, and the need to protect her she's a werewolf. And she's my omega
I decide I need to say something so I do my best to get it together "Hey, little Sapphire." Her eyes flicker between green and the most beautiful shade of blue I've ever seen for a moment before it dawns on us both that her wolf's name is Sapphire. My wolf's name is Viper and I think Sapphire and Viper kinda sound cute together, Cora's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "Well, that's interesting," she says with a slight laugh. "It is, and it also means you're gonna be just fine," I say, planting a kiss on her forehead, almost smirking when I see the look on her face. God, I want to mark her so badly and soon, I'll mark her and claim her as mine.

A/N: Hey y'all! The next chapter is gonna be more on the romantic side 😏 so enjoy that when it gets here! This is Clay, your local ADHD insomniac, signing off!