Chapter 10

(**Vicktor**)

I watch Zasha play chess as I stand on the other side of the two-way glass wall in her cell. I keep her in the same compound with half of my collection, but I have her set away from the others in a much larger cell. Zasha is the only wolf in my collection that I give luxuries to. Part of me knows that this child is my weakness, and that is why I keep her isolated from my other creatures. Another part of my mind screams at me to treat Zasha like the child she is.

I have given her toys, a small chess set, and a tablet that has some games on it. I worried about giving her the tablet at first, but then I remembered she couldn’t access the internet even if she knew how. The network of rooms and cells of my collection are deep underground, far below the office building above. There would be no internet for my little wolf.

What the fuck? She is not mine. Zasha is nothing but a tool. A tool I use against her mother, my business rivals, and others in my own organization.

My meeting this afternoon went how I expected it to go. All of us lined up before Gerald to give him reports on all our current collection statuses. To tell him our goals for our next acquisitions. I told him about Cyra, but left out the part where she got away and I was still hunting her. I left out the part where a team of supernaturals had attacked my compound in France. Gerald need not know that there has been a setback to my acquisition of the phoenix Cyra.

That will cause him to try to take over the situation and swoop in to claim the prize if he gets the situation under control before I can. Gerald is an opportunistic motherfucker that had done shit like that before. That is one of the many reasons I want to take him down a peg and replace him. So much of what he has now, he did not earn the way the rest of us have.

Some of Gerald’s collection he took by force from our previous leader, Robert Preston. It was the first and only coup in our organization’s history. I mean for it to be the last. I have plans to take him down in another way. One that will make him walk away with his head hung down and his proverbial tail between his legs.

That is a far off goal, but I am biding my time, gathering my supporters, and making everything I use against him as solid as a lead-lined brick wall. Where he will not be able to worm his way out of anything I throw his way. I am not above using dirty tricks to get what I want as far as my collection goes, but in this war of I have to play carefully and legally by our laws.

Yes, even an organization that makes its money by showing off caged animals, has laws we abide by. We do not have many laws, but the ones we have are absolute, and if broken there are dire consequences. The removal of your seal, the one used to gain access to our conclave, is a threat often used to make The Collectors fall in line. The threat of death and losing one’s collection is used to make Collectors think twice about going against Gerald.

For now, I bid my time. I take one last look at Zasha before I turn around to head home. I will leave for the airport in the morning. Fixing Issac’s mess is not something I want to deal with right now. I want to be focused on Irina’s mission. Sebastion Drakos. I want him and that twin of his bad, but what I want more than the two Alphas is the money that Drakos Enterprises will bring me.

If they die while in my cells, then so be it, as long as I get his signature on the transfer documents signing Drakos Enterprises over to me before he dies. I smile as I think of how crazy Irina will go while I am gone, thinking her daughter is with me. I planted that seed in her mind so she would stay on track. The bonus to Irina thinking I have Zasha with me, is knowing that she will now do whatever it takes to get her job done.

It also helps to know that Irina has no idea where I keep my collection, well half of it at least. The little bitch knows about my Paris location from Issac and his big mouth. No worries there, however, she may know it is in Paris, but she will never know where it is exactly. Maybe I will move Zasha to France when I get back from fixing Issac’s mistake.

Keep her far out of her mother’s reach as I can. No, that won’t do at all. I need Zasha here with me. I will just find another place for her, so she isn’t with either part of my collection. I have a perfect place for her too. One place that Irina will never think to look. I let out an evil chuckle as I head to my car after leaving the building.

I look around the parking lot as I walk to my car, I can’t help the feeling that I am being watched, but seeing no one around I ignore it. I wave to the guard as I drive through the gates and head towards my penthouse. I call a number on speed dial, when a woman’s throaty voice answers, I place an order. I have some tension to work out before my fight in the morning.

The woman assures me that my order will wait in my penthouse when I arrive. I end the call as I continue to drive home. My mind now focused on the two women who will be my night time tonic tonight. I hope they are prepared for what I have in mind. I pay for their services handsomely.

(**Sebastion**)

I jerk awake at the sound of a knock at my door. Looking at the clock, I see that it is two a.m, who is waking me up at this hour? The knock it to forceful to me Jace, he would just open the door on his own and climb in bed with me, rather than knock on the door. I throw the covers off, grab my robe to cover my nakedness, then walk to open the door.

Flint is standing on the other side of the door with his fist raid up to knock again. The look on his face has me frowning. “What is it?” I ask him.

“You have a visitor downstairs,” He says.

“Who is it? Is there something wrong inside the pack?”

“No, she is not one of ours, but she knew where to find us.” Flint stepped back from the doorway to allow me to follow him down the hall.

“Who is she?” I ask him as I follow along behind him.

“She hasn’t told us her name yet, only that she must talk to you. She also babbled something about her daughter, but she keeps going into rants in a language that I think may be Russian.” Flint tells me.

I stop in my tracks. Irina is here. How did she find where Redwood is located? Nevermind that. Irina is here. Flint stops and looks back at me with a raised brow. I can tell he is confused by my actions.

“Have her taken to my office, then wait with her, I need to check on Jace. I will meet you there in a few minutes.” I tell him.

Flint nods his head, then goes off to follow my orders. I move to Jace’s door, crack it open slightly, and let out a sigh of relief when I see he is still sleeping soundly. One less worry for the night. Now I have to figure out why my mate is here now and how she found us. I turn from Jace’s door and head to the stairs that will take me to the second floor. My office is one floor down from the family quarters on the third floor.

When I reach my office, I smell her instantly. That orange blossom scent of hers invades my senses and makes Aries wake up. Flint looks up at me as I stop a few feet from him, just staring at the door to my office. He frowns as he looks at the door, then back at me.

“Leave us please, tell your scouts to double their numbers, then you can go back to your mate.” I tell him as I reach the door.

“Is there something going on here that I need to know about Sebastion?” Flint asks me.

“The woman in there is my second chance mate. Her name is Irina, and if she is here now, then a shit storm may be brewing soon. I will tell you everything later, ok?” I tell him.

Flint nods his head, then he walks away. I take a deep breath, reach for the doorknob, then slowly open the door. The sight that greets me takes my breath away. Irina is pacing back and forth in my office wearing a blue silk robe, the tie on it loose allowing me to see the matching blue silk nightgown beneath it. Her blonde hair is wild and loose to flow down her back. Her feet are bare and dirty, like she walked here.

Despite whatever dire circumstances drove her to come here, all I could think about was the fact that she was here in my office, wearing her nightclothes. The silk of her gown a pale comparison to the beauty of her ice-blue eyes. I can feel Aries fighting for control. He wants to claim our mate, right here, right now, before I have the chance to fuck it all up.

“Irina, is everything ok?” I ask when I finally recover my wits and step into the room.

Irina spins around to face me, her hair swirling around her like a cloud of blonde curls. Her eyes are wild, her mouth is parted, and I can see the tears that are now flowing down her cheeks. What the fuck happened during her meeting with Vicktor? Before I have time to react, she is racing across my office, then she launches herself into my arms.

I wrap my arms around her, then steady myself so we don’t fall. “Hey, shh, you are safe here.” I whisper to her as I hold her trembling body against mine.

“He took her with him” Irina whimpers. Her small hands are fisted in my cotton robe.

“Slow down and take a deep breath, then tell me what happened.” I scoop her up bridal style then walk to the couch against the wall. I sit down with her on my lap. As I do, I remember that I am naked under my robe.

“Vicktor,” Irina spoke. That one word had anger rising in my heart.

“What are you saying, Irina? What did Vicktor do? Did he hurt you when you met up with him tonight?” I ask her.

“No, I was spared that,” She pulled back to look at me, “He got a call from one of his hunters. The anger Vicktor had after that call made me know he would take it out on me. The fact that he wants me right were I am now saved me, but he is taking my daughter with him to deal with the issue.”

“Where is he taking Zasha?” I ask her. Then her words hit me and I look down at our positions. Well, fuck.

“France. He keeps half of his collection there. I forgot about it until my meeting with him tonight. I am so sorry I forgot that,” Irina tells me.

France? That brings to mind what Rayne had told me earlier about some of her allies being in Paris to rescue a phoenix. Is that related to Vicktor’s collection? How many supernatural creatures does this fucker have in cells?

“Is he going after a phoenix?” I ask her.

Irina’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at my question, “Yes. How did you know?”

“Rayne told me about a group of her allies that are on a mission to break out a male phoenix. They rescued one a few days ago and are going after her mate. That is why they didn’t come here when I asked for help,” I tell her.

“Your allies are going after Vicktor’s compound in France, and my daughter is on her way there now. Fuck,” Irina screams the last word before she breaks out in sobs.

“Hey, that can be good news. There are eleven of them going after that compound. They have a higher chance of getting their mission completed successfully. If Vicktor is going there, they can get Zasha away from him while they rescue all the others.” I tell her as I rub my hands up her back.

“What if she is hurt in the process? What if I am never reunited with my daughter again?” Irina whispered into my chest.

I want nothing more right now than to snap Vicktor’s neck. What he has done to my mate is unforgivable. Instead of giving in to my wolf’s rage, all I do is continue to rub Irina’s back in soothing circles. I will calm her down enough so she can sleep, then in the morning I will call Rayne, tell her that there will a be a child at the compound soon. If they can rescue Zasha and all those in Vicktor’s compound in on go, then his plans to take Vicktor down will be easier.

The feeling of her small hand on my chest made me look down at her. One of her hands was inside my robe, flat on my bare chest, rubbing up and down in a slow circle. Sparks were erupting all over where her hands touched. I could feel myself going over that edge of desire as I looked into her eyes. The lust in her eyes made things low in my body react instantly, and the look on her face showed she felt it too.

Then before I could react further, Irina moved to straddle my lap, fusing her mouth to mine as she pressed her chest to mine. Fuck, I am in trouble if she keeps going. Who am I kidding? I was screwed the minute I stepped into my office and saw her in her nightclothes.

“If you keep going, Irina, I may not stop?” I whisper when I break the kiss.

“Then don’t stop. Take me now and make me forget for tonight,” Irina whispers back to me as she fists her hands in my hair.

Well, holy fuck.