Chapter Nine

WOLF

The coordinates take me straight to an abandoned-looking mine shaft in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but overgrown and dense forest trees and bushes; I cautiously get off the bike and remove my helmet before placing it on top of the seat.

My brows furrow as I narrow my eyes; it’s quiet, so quiet, in fact, that I can’t even hear any critters in the forest.

Strange, right?

My eyes slowly scan the area, trying to figure out why Caius would come here of all places; he had all but dominated most of the packs in South America. As far as memory serves, he was doing well, too. So why come up here and give up the reigning power he has down there for this? It doesn’t make any sense. ‘What the fuck are you up to, Caius?’ I wonder to myself, and at that exact moment, I notice someone standing right in front of the mineshaft hole.

I instantly frown as I narrow my eyes at him when I grumble,

“Damien.”

He smirks at me as if he’s not even surprised to see me when he slowly narrows his eyes,

“Well, well, well. Look at what the wolf dragged in if it isn’t the infamous Wolf himself. I didn’t think I would see the day you walked up to my front door, and yet, here you are.”

Scoffing, a smirk creeps up at the corners of my mouth as I shake my head at him in amusement,

“Didn’t think I would see you again either, Damien. Nice place you got here.” And if the sarcasm was a loaded gun, he would be lying on the ground.

Dead.

“What’s it been two years since you ran away with your tail between your legs?” He smirks menacingly. Scoffing, I tilt my head as I size him up,

“Yeah, something like that,” I grumble, and Damien is still the same scrawny mutt he was two years ago; he hasn’t changed.

“I see you got yourself a nice set of wheels; that must help quite a lot with running away; make it much more convenient.” He smirks with an eye roll as he checks the bike beside me. Shrugging, I cock my head as I narrow my eyes,

“Your cheek healed nicely from the last time my fist connected with it.” That’s when he narrows his eyes on me, and I instantly see a shimmer of his wolf pushing to the surface,

“You mean the last time you rejected my offer,” He growls,

“You mean the offer to help overthrow your old man,” I scoff, when I shake my head dismissively,

“Hey, it was a simple misunderstanding,” He snaps, as he points the finger at me,

“A misunderstanding that would have resulted in me getting killed, or was that always the plan?” I mutter in annoyance,

“What can I say? Sometimes there has to be sacrifices,” He mocks, and at that moment, I’m over his shit; when I grumble,

“I’m not here to see you, Damien; I’m here to speak with Caius.”

There’s a moment of silence that stretches out as we have a stare-off when he finally mutters,

“What do you want with my old man?”

Smirking, I shake my head in amusement,

“Are you the rogue in charge now?” I ask as I furrow my brows,

“No, still, Caius,” He retorts with a sneer,

“Well then, I don’t need to tell you why I want to see him, do I?”

Damien and I continue to stare each other down when he finally mutters,

“I don’t have to take your shit, Wolf. Get off our lands before I remove you myself.”

Narrowing my eyes, my jaw tightens as his words immediately agitate me; he just referred to Erebus’s territory as their land. I want to rip his throat out, and I don’t understand why that is. Still, I keep myself calm and decide to push his buttons instead. Damien is such a dick, but he’s easy to rile up.

He always has been.

“So, how’s your mom these days? I believe she’s on wolf number four or five; sorry, I keep losing track,” I mock, and that does it; a threatening growl suddenly reverberates through the air as he barks,

“We don’t mention that bitch’s name around here, Wolf. You would do best to remember that!”

I want to laugh; the fucking irony of how easy it is to get a reaction out of him is hilarious, but I decide not to push it; he’s too easy as it is.

“Still holding such animosity, I see.” My words irk him as he takes a fisted step toward me,

“Fuck you, Wolf. I’ll show you animosity.” He suddenly lunges at me, but I swiftly counteract his move. He’s slower than I am and always has been.

I do that two more times as he comes at me like a chaotic clown, and the moment he tries to claw at my face, I block, grab, and put him down instantly as I toss him over my shoulder like it’s nothing.

It’s just like Deja Vu, with Damien on the ground and me ready to pound the shit out of him, just like the old days.

Damien’s clearly winded; I wait for a second to see if he’ll get up, but he doesn’t,

“See, that’s always been your problem, Damien. Always too quick to react and too fucking slow to connect the first punch.”

He growls as he finally gets up to lunge at me again, but a sudden booming voice suddenly roars from behind us,

“What the fuck is going on out here?” It instantly stops Damien in his tracks. My head snaps back to look at who it is, but I already know. And the moment my eyes collide with Caius, my stomach drops.

He glares hard from me to Damien and back at me again when he suddenly blinks as he recognizes me; his brows become raised in surprise as he lets out a gruff laugh,

“Well, I can’t fucking believe my eyes, Wolf; what are you doing at my doorstep, kid?” Straightening up, I keep my calm; slow movements with this guy have always been crucial to my survival.

“Caius, it’s been a long time. Nice place you got here.” Scoffing, he folds his muscular arms across his broad chest,

“Way too long, boy. Look at you; you’ve filled out quite nicely. The last time I saw you, you ran in the opposite direction; what happened?”

“You sent your rogues after me to kill me.” I shrugged with a smirk,

“Well, you did beat my son to a pulp, so...” He drawls out,

“I had my reasons.”

“I’m sure you did.” He nods with a low, sinister chuckle,

A moment of silence stretches out for far too long as Caius eyes me with wary curiosity. I’m again reminded that I’m standing before a monster who knows no mercy.

He suddenly clears his throat as he raises a suspicious brow at me,

“So what brings you out here, Wolf, still running away from what you are?”

Smirking at the hidden meaning behind his comment, I shake my head as I stuff my hands into the pockets of my black cargo pants,

“Nah,” I shrug, “I’m done with all that. That’s actually why I came looking for you.”

Surprised, his brows rise when he chuckles, his wolf surging behind his eyes when he grumbles,

“Oh, and how did you know to come and look out here?”

Oh fuck, my mind instantly races to come up with an excuse while my eyes stay fixed on his,

“You know me, if I want to find someone, it doesn’t take me long to track them down; besides, all I had to do was follow Damien’s stench; it wasn’t too difficult,” I shrug nonchalantly, playing it cool as to not raise suspicion.

Damien instantly growls from beside Caius when he barks,

“Fuck you, Wolf!” but Caius raises a hand towards his son, and Damien immediately shuts up. Such a good little mutt, I think with a smirk as I stare Damien straight in the eye.

“Does that offer still stand, the one you made me two years ago?” I finally grumble when I turn my attention back on Caius,

“You mean the one where I asked you to join my pack, and you declined my generous offer?” He mutters. Feeling the stiff tension in the air, I keep it cool when I nod once,

“Yeah, that one.”

Caius’s wolf peers out at me; he’s an even bigger, surly mother fucker than Caius. I wouldn’t want to ever get into a fight with his beast; he’s a sick, sadistic mutt.

“I thought you said you would rather die than pick a side between packs and rogues?” He grumbles while narrowing his eyes at me,

“Let’s just say I’m tired of being pushed around by alpha packs, and if this is the only way, then so be it.”

Caius’s jaw ticks at the mere mention of the word alpha when he grumbles,

“Aren’t we all?”

The thing with Caius is his hatred for alphas runs deep. I don’t know why, and I don’t care to know. All I do know is that some alpha pissed him off long ago by taking something Caius wanted, and here we are today because of it, with Caius decimating alpha packs, running drug cartels, and collecting as many rogues as possible to fight his fight.

Every rogue who has ever joined Caius has done so more out of fear; Caius has a way of convincing wolves to join; it’s pretty simple: either you join, or you die.

“Yeah, so, you’ve always wanted to overthrow every last one of the alpha packs; I’m not into that shit; I just want them to leave me the fuck alone,” I mutter with a shrug,

“Either way,” He scoffs, “If we overthrow them, they won’t bother you anymore, so we both win.” Nodding, I shrug as my jaw tightens,

“And you’ll have complete control,” I mutter, staring at him directly as I do.

“Well, wolves still need leadership, and I will be only too happy to give it to them.” He grins, and the look in his eye instantly has my wolf growling inside me.

I immediately break eye contact when I divert my eyes; my beast is right there, peering out through my eyes. He hates Caius’s guts and always has.

“Of course,” I finally smirk as I nod my head. This isn’t the time for my wolf to show dominance, not when I have no idea what I’m even up against; who knows, Caius could have me surrounded right now, with Rogues hiding in the bushes.

Again, a moment of silence lingers in the air; it’s uncomfortable, and my beast is on edge, but I manage to control him. Damien, however, loses his cool, his wolf’s agitation showing itself in waves when he grumbles,

“Just let me fucking finish him, Caius; we don’t want him in our pack.”

A loud, deafening bark suddenly has Damien cowering beside his dad when Caius growls,

“Shut the fuck up!” Damien immediately lowers himself by Caius’s side in submission; if there’s one thing I know, Caius will kill his only son if he disrespects him in front of someone else.

Seeing Damien cowering before his old man instantly pisses me off. Still, I’m not here to feel remorse towards Damien, so I stand fast, my eyes narrowed on Caius as my jaw ticks.

Turning his attention back to me, Caius smiles a devilish grin when he murmurs,

“Well, we have something to celebrate. Wolf, finally becoming part of my mission after all this time.”

Damien looks pissed off but doesn’t utter a word; instead, he only glares at me.

I remind myself that I’m not here to become reacquainted with the ways of the rogues but on a mission of my own when I mutter,

“So, which alpha pack do you want to take out first?”

Scoffing, Caius’s deep etched grin makes me feel uncomfortable when he finally claps his hands together,

“We’ll talk business later; first, we drink. Let me show you where you’ll be laying your head down tonight, my boy.”

Making our way into the mineshaft, I was surprised when we started descending into a really well-lit makeover rendition of Krakow mines. I remember seeing it on a magazine cover once; it always fascinated me how they could restore a mine into something that prestigious.

Now I get to see it first hand.

We keep descending deeper and deeper into the mine; when I turn my head to stare at Caius,

“Old salt mine?”

Shrugging, he chuckles when he raises a brow at me,

“I picked it up for a steal right under the Erebus pack’s nose. We slowly turned it into this. It took me a few years. I wasn’t always able to get up here, with my businesses down south, but it came out alright.”

Nodding, my brows furrow; how exactly did Fenris not know this was going on? I mean, don’t pack wolves patrol their territory? This is a bit far from where they are, but it’s still Erebus pack territory.

Strange.

Caius suddenly stops at one of the doors down a long shaft, which has me stopping, too. When he points his chin towards a closed door, he grumbles,

“You can have this room; it’s a bit more private from the rest of the mutts further down.” Nodding, I mutter,” Thanks,” before pushing open the door. Once I do, I peer inside to find a room with a double bed, couch, and coffee table. It’s raw and industrial looking inside. The floor and the walls are concrete; the bedding is dark grey. The finishes are all iron pipes and metal.

Nice.

Turning around to face him, I nod again when I mutter,

“This is quite a fine place you got here.”

Damien scoffs as he rolls his eyes but stays dead quiet by Caius’s side. I can tell that I will have to watch my back with him because he’s still holding a grudge from the last time I kicked his ass.

“Yeah, well, put your backpack down and then meet us all further down in the gathering hole when you are ready; then, you can meet the rest of the pack,” Caius grumbles before turning and walking further down the tunnel.

I start making my way into the room when Caius suddenly calls out,

“Oh, I almost forgot. You’ll never guess who finally joined my pack!”

Popping my head out the door to stare after him, my brows furrow when I call out,

“Who!?”

“Mason!” He shouts back with a menacing chuckle.

My jaw instantly clenches at the sound of her name.

Fuck.

And with that, Caius and Damien disappear around the corner, leaving me there to recollect the last time I saw her.

This isn’t going to end well.

We didn’t part on good terms two years ago.

Mason is Caius’s niece, but she always hated him with a vengeance. She couldn’t stand him or his pack of mutts, so it was bizarre; she would have joined his pack in the end.

It seems a lot can happen in two years; here I am after realizing I’m potentially fated to an alpha’s daughter.

Fuck. I instantly dismiss the feeling creeping up deep inside when my chest aches; I can’t be thinking of Sasha, not now and not here.

She’s not mine, she’s not mine, she’s not mine.

Blowing out a deep breath, my mind bounces back to the present, to the girl who could probably sink my mission in a second.

Mason.

I met Mason when I was eight, and we would bump into each other occasionally from time to time. She was the first girl I ever fucked; I was fifteen when it happened. Mason has two years on me, so she had way more experience than I did back then.

She was a born rogue, and her mother wasn’t much stability for her growing up; her dad was a no-show, so Mason was just used to doing her own thing.

We would hang out when we ran into each other, and once we started having sex, we would make sure to make the most of it every time we did.

She was someone I didn’t mind hooking up with; it was never anything serious, but she was wild, sometimes a little too carnal for my liking.

Things got awkward between us when she talked about wanting to settle down and have my pup.

Yeah, I got my tail out of there so fucking fast after she said that.

The last time I saw Mason was when I was eighteen. She tried to claw my eyes out after she went all psycho on me. Yeah, fun times. So, to say that I’m a bit apprehensive about seeing her after all this time is an understatement.

I always assumed that she understood that what we had was nothing more than our beasts satisfying their animalistic hunger and nothing more.

I can only hope she met someone else after two years and left the past where it belongs.

As I close the door to my room and descend the mine shaft deeper towards where Caius went earlier, I suddenly stop dead in my tracks when none other than the girl I was hoping to avoid a little longer suddenly rounds the corner at the same time as me.

Fucking great.

I stand there staring at her for a minute, unsure of what to say. She immediately narrows her eyes at me in response; she’s clearly still harboring ill feelings.

“Mace.” I finally mutter as I push my hands into my pockets. Her wolf shimmers behind her eyes when she snaps,

“Fuck you, Wolf.”

Smirking, I instantly nod at her response. Same old, same old, I guess.

“Nice to see you too, Mace.”

She clicks her tongue as she cocks her head; her long dark hair is up in a messy bun, and her brown eyes are shooting daggers at me. When she sneers,

“What are you doing here?” Her voice is laced with bitterness, and I do my best to keep it cool with her; she’s like a ticking time bomb, and I do not need her to self-detonate right now.

“I could ask you the same thing; the last time I saw you, you told me you hated Caius’s guts.”

“Well, the last time I saw you, I remember telling you the same thing.” She snaps as she raises a challenging brow at me.

There’s a moment of silence as we size up each other’s reactions; she definitely hasn’t changed; she is still as feisty and full of shit as ever.

I have to keep my cool around her because if there is one person who could catch me out about the real reason I’m here, it would be her.

At that moment, Caius rounds the corner, and he chuckles dryly when he eyes us both,

“Oh good, I see you two found each other. Now, let’s go down into the hole and grab a drink; Wolf has decided to join my mission. Isn’t that great?”

“What?” She snaps, her head whipping around to stare at Caius in disbelief.

“Yes, after all these years, he’s finally decided to fight against the alpha packs with us.”

“Is that right?” She drawls out, turning her head to give me a suspicious look. Crossing her arms, she raises a brow at me when she smirks, “I suppose a lot can change in two years, Wolf, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hey!” Caius calls out. “You two can catch up and fuck each other’s brains out later; now come, let’s go and celebrate,” He mutters as he continues past us. And the way he said it immediately has my wolf on edge.

There’s no way I’m touching Mason, never again.

She tilts her head towards me, her wolf surging behind her eyes when she grins, making it clear that the thought of us still excites her.

Great, just what I don’t need on top of the real reason why I’m here.

I can’t let my guard down around her; the real reason I’m here pops into my mind, and my wolf perks up.

Sasha, she’s who I’m here for, and I can’t ever forget that.