Chapter 14.

Hunt Adler watched Candy walk away from his office while he stroked his chin. He wanted to know more about her and he had been genuine when he asked her out on a date. Even though his brother Ruhn had asked him to keep an eye on her, Hunt could only presume that she was harmless. And there was a possibility that she knew little of Lila and why she looked closely resembled her.

In fact, he believed she didn't know there was someone who looked exactly like her.

He was worried about so many things. He touched the gash beneath his cheek and found out the gash was gone. It had healed. Not as fast as he had hoped since Candy had seen it.

He hated when he got physical with his father, unfortunately his father was an aggressive man, who liked to assert dominance even when he knew who the Alpha was.

Their little spat had happened after he had told his father not to raise alarm about what was going on.

Yes, Hunt knew werewolves were dying and with the body count of the strange deaths rising to seven, Suna and Hunt could only hope it wouldn't get worse.

He didn't want the Council to start panicking, like they always did when confronted with the unknown. But he also had to be careful. So far, only three humans and four werewolves had been killed in the past few weeks. And why their death itself wasn't the problem, it was the cause of death that served as a mystery to all.

They just couldn't place it.

And it was bugging all of them. Especially his father who had seen his fair share of Supernaturals and awful deaths.

His phone started ringing and it startled him for a second.

His brother was calling. He sighed as he picked up the call, hoping that Ruhn wasn't calling him to give him anymore bad news.

"Any news?"

"Yes. And you wouldn't believe what we've found."

Ruhn sounded excited and Hunt sat upright in his chair, eager to know what his brother was talking about.

"What is it?"

"Okay, you know the murders were all similar, but Suna never found what connected all of them all together."

"Yes... Go on."

He murmured impatiently.

"Well, today, Suna ran a background check on the wolves and humans. Can you guess what they all have in common?"

"No, I can't guess. Just tell me what it is."

He raised his voice impatiently and Ruhn scoffed from the other line.

"Well, they're all founding families of Aron City."

"What?"

"Yea, you heard me. The Hampshire's are founding families, so is the two other humans and the werewolves we found."

Hunt's jaw hardened as he started to connect the dots in his head. No, the killings weren't random, they were far from random.

Someone somewhere was killing off anyone who was a member or offspring of the founding fathers in Aron City.

"You know what that means Ruhn..."

Hunt said and Ruhn groaned in frustration.

"Yes, I know."

"If the person responsible is targeting founding families, then we're on their list."

The Adlers were part of the thirteen founding families in Aron City. The founding families were very important in every city. They had the right to choose members of the City Council and they were highly regarded as special advisors to the Council and the city at large.

What Hunt couldn't understand was why someone would be targeting the founding families.

"Hunt? Hunt? Are you there?"

Ruhn asked frantically and Hunt nodded.

"Yes, I am. Have you told Dad about it?"

"No. You know how he is. He's going to flare up and declare war."

"I understand. What about Suna?"

Hunt could only imagine how Suna would be feeling. She was his beta, sworn to protect him at all odds. She would feel obligated to pause her life and protect his if she felt he was at any threat or risk.

"Still looking for clues."

"What are we going to do Hunt?"

Ruhn asked and Hunt shrugged. There were very few alternatives they had, but if they ever had hope of stopping whatever that was coming, they had to do it fast an quick.

"Don't worry. I'll come up with something."

Those were his last words before he ended the call.

Hunt Adler knew exactly what he was going to do.

He had to go to The Underground.




"So black or red?"

Lacey mused as she examined the two dresses side by side.

The red dress was bold and daring, it promised to flaunt her tiny waist and full curves. But with the price of a high slit that left little of her left thigh to the imagination.

The black dress on the other hand screamed sophistication and elegance.
Something Lila would wear.

The thought came to her head abruptly and left as quickly at it came. But it still made her pause.

The new laptop she had gotten with the money Aidas gave her was on her vanity mirror. She dropped the two dresses and walked towards her laptop.

She had to satisfy her curiousity.

Quickly pulling a seat and pulling her hair in a messy bun, she searched for Lila Hampshire and several articles popped up.

More pictures of her came up as well. She was born into an affluent socialite family and she seemed to be quite the social butterfly.

There were a lot of articles about her death and her brief disappearance.

But the only one that caught her eye was an article labeled 'The mysterious relationship of Hunt Adler and Lila Hampshire'.

A quick skim through the lengthy article showed that the public had at first been elated about them being together, then got worried when Lila stopped attending social functions and the ones she did, the reporters claimed she looked depressed and sad.

During their one year relationship she rarely went for outings without Hunt by her side. And it was insinuated that both families were not on good terms.

She was still looking for another article to read when she heard a door softly click.

She turned back startled. The sound seemed to be coming from her living room.

Her heart threatened to blow up in her chest as she walked towards her bedroom door.

She picked up the nearest vase she could find, emptying it of its fake flowers and holding it as a weapon.

Her fingers were around her door knob ready to open when she heard the annoying voice of Aidas Vladimir calling her name.

She dropped the vase in frustration and rolled her eyes, walking towards her bed to pick up her dressing robe.

What was he doing at her place anyways?

She had told him she would text him all that happened after her date with Hunt but it seemed that he was a little impatient

"What part of privacy do you not understand?"

She asked as he opened the door and found him standing in front of her bedroom door ready to knock.

"Sorry for the intrusion. I couldn't muster enough strength to go though the trouble of waiting while you answered the door."

"Then how did you get in?"

Lacey asked appalled and Aidas shrugged.
  He pulled out a key card.

"I don't remember giving you one."

Lacey retorted as she folded her arms and Aidas rolled his eyes.

"Have you picked out what you would be wearing?"

He asked as he eyed the clothes strewn on her bed.

"Yes. The red or the black... Now if you'll excuse me..."

He ignored her as he picked up the dresses and his face turned into disgust.

"No, this won't do."

"Aidas, it's just dinner. And if you don't remember, I'm just his personal assistant and he's my boss."

"Yes, I know he is. But I'm kind of hoping you guys could be more. Show me your closet."

She pointed to her closet and Aidas raided it for a while. Every time he saw a dress he didn't like, he threw it out in frustration.

"How about this?"

He pulled out a glittering gold dress with spaghetti straps.

"I've never tried it. It's one of the outfits Imelda got for me."

"Well, go check it out."

He said as she handed over the dress.

She walked into the bathroom to change.

The dress was perfection when she put it on.

Granted, it was too daring and bold for her to wear it but she found herself loving the dress more and more.

She came out of the bathroom and showed Aidas. He was silent for a while before nodding with approval.

"That would do."

Lacey frowned at him.

"That's all you're going to say?"

Aidas shrugged as he moved closer to her.

"What else do you want me to say?"

His voice became low and husky and focused on her as he started moving towards her, slowly.

Hearing her heart beat frantically, his eyes gave her an assessing stare. He circled around her and she instantly felt vulnerable and exposed.

Finally, he moved closer and she could smell the aftershave as he whispered in her hear.

"How does he make you feel?"

Lacey was confused. She didn't know who Aidas was talking about.

"What do you mean?" She mumbled nervously.

He ignored her question as he traced her collarbone with his fingers before bending down to kiss it. Lacey closed her eyes in pleasure. And as his lips explored the base of her neck, one of his hands cupped her breast.

He ran his thumb across her nipple and she couldn't help but gasp. As soon as she does, he pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"Do you want him?"

He growled deeply as he clenched his jaws hardly.

Lacey blinked hard and fast. Was he talking about Hunt? She asked herself as she tried to wrap her head around what he was saying.

She couldn't focus, she just wanted his hands on her.

"No."

She whispered and Hunt growled in approval.

To demonstrate his point, his hands went down to grab her ass. He squeezed it and pulled her against him so tightly that she could feel his growing arousal.

Then he drew her in for a kiss.

He kissed her passionately, his tongue exploring her mouth and his hands running through her hair and across her body.

There was suddenly a sincerity in his passion and Lacey couldn't help surrender to it. She dug her fingernails into his back and hooked her legs around his hips.

Instead of matching her hunger, he broke the kiss and untangled himself from her.

He looked away while running his hands through his dark hair.

"Go. Get ready for your date. If anything comes up, text me."

And just like that, he was gone.