Behind The Alpha Book 5 Deacon

DEACON

As much as I’m happy for Cass’ mating to Ember, his nymph bro is too much for me. I’m all for a fun time, but I draw the line at stupid pranks. If Puck pushes my buttons, I’m clocking him. I am in no mood.

It almost happened to, after he called a blizzard in my room because I looked too hot. If Oliver, of all people, didn’t call, there would have been a brawl. I have to thank Oliver for the escape.

Eden isn’t that far from Cass. About 40 minutes.

If you met Alpha Frederick, he seems like a decent guy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Fredericks is a control freak. When it comes to his sons, he only ‘breeds the best males' As a new member of the alliance, I stayed at his house once while his dad still had control. Never again. The entire time, I wanted to drop them all and run.

Oliver has his uses. He gets shit done. As long as Falcon keeps turning a blind eye, he will continue to do so. His methods are…questionable.

In his pack, it’s like something out of a toxic gang story. His whole pack is filled with controlling narcissists, but when Oliver enters a room, every one scatters. Imagine being terrified of your leader like that.

But hey, if it works, who am I to question him.

Anyway, he called saying he had something to show me. I left Cass' right away. Puck was this close to becoming a dead man. I think I’ll pop into Jayson’s instead after.

I pull into the warehouse parking lot where Oliver told me to meet him.

I park next to the mountain of a SUV. His midnight black, Hummer H1.

I shut the jeep off and turn my head to his door. I get chills whenever I’m around him, but when Oliver wants to show you something, it’s serious.

His door opens and his huge boot comes out. He’s always dressed in a black suit, white shirt and no tie. The guy is 6’6” and fucking thick. His black hair is slick up and back. His beard is closely trimmed and his hard, almost dark eyes meet mine.

He takes the cigar out of his teeth and tosses it onto the road.

I get out, find my balls and walk over to him.

“Dea.” His natural voice is so fucking deep, it rattles you inside. I’ve only seen him pissed once, and it wasn’t pretty.

“Ollie.” I side clap him and we turn to the building.

“Glad you found the building.” He says as he pulls out a set of keys.

“I don’t give a shit about the building, I want what’s inside it.” I eye him as he searches the keys.

“The bird.” He arches a brow.

I return his look. “Uh…yeah…Jenny.”

He looks around. “Jenny. Sweet. Sounds like fun to break.” He looks down the side of the building.

“No. I don’t break.” I scowl.

He turns to me and smirks. “Too bad. It’s even more fun piecing them back together.”

“OK.” I scratch my temple. “Oliver, you called me. What am I doing here?”

“I think I have answers for you.” He points to the door. “In there.”

“Alright.”

“Follow me and be…quiet.” He warns.

He unlocks the door and opens it.

I follow him in and the place is dark. Some light filters in through broken windows. The inner walls have body sized holes and doors are either broken or missing. The floor is covered in wall debris and garbage. The air smells like shit.

He wanders through the main hall, looking side to side. He stops and tells me to stay where I am. I watch him walk down a small hallway and stick his head in a couple of offices. He stops with his head down. He turns his head to a wall and walks back.

He pushes past me and continues to walk.

He glances over his shoulder. “This girl. She pretty?”

“Yeah.” I answer.

“Special?” He eyes me.

“So special. I mean, I’ve never met anyone…”

“Shut up!” He slams his palm on my mouth and I furrow my brow.

With his finger to his lips, he turns to a door ahead of us. The walls between the hallway and the room on the other side are broken. It’s from these holes, I hear the click of claws and panting.

“I spotted her hanging around a few weeks ago. I’ve been trying to catch her, but she’s a smart little tramp.”

Oliver takes his hand off and that’s when it hits me. The sick, stomach turning stench. “Ollie, I don’t think we should…” I know what’s in here.

“Shut the fuck up!” He growls at me. His eyes murder me with his hard look.

More panting and his eyes turn to the door.

He walks down the hall again. He unbuttons his shirt as he steps slow. “I know you’re here.” He calls out with his dark voice. He cautiously opens the door. “I just want to play a little.”

We walk into a storage area with tall glass division walls. Most of them are broken.

There’s very little light coming in from the upper windows, but wolf vision compensates.

“Come out. I won’t bite…much.” I see him scanning side to side.

A fast paced pant crosses the room.

I look around and the only ways out is the holes and the door. She and we are trapped in here. I’m feeling increasingly nervous about this. If she does attack, I know I could take her. What worries me is if she has her friends somewhere. These new rogues are more unpredictable than the normal ones. They keep pulling surprises out of their asses. I don’t like an unpredictable enemy. This could be a trap for all I know.

My stomach flips as the concentration of rogue sickness builds. “Oliver, man…”

He spins around. “If you don’t shut your fucking mouth, I’ll chop you into little pieces and feed you to the sick mutt.” He looks down on me. His wide shoulders cast me into darkness.

“Whatever you want.” I say quietly.

He flares his nostrils. “Thanks.”

He spins around and he peels his dress shirt off. He tosses it to the side as he walks to a glass wall divider.

It has a head sized hole in it.

He leans down and looks into the hole and smirks. “There you are.” He slightly growls. He waves me over and I look into the hole. She’s a skinny, tricolor wolf. She’s covered in filth and drool. Her lips snarl as her red eyes threaten mine. My wolf surfaces and I feel his want to shed blood. Oliver shoves me out of the way and I almost land on my ass.

Oliver rests his hands on his knees. “My, my, my…You’re a pretty bitch, aren’t you?” He drawls into the hole.

I look at Oliver like he must have a screw loose. “Are you ok?”

He turns to me and scowls. “I’m fine.” He looks back into the hole. “OK, baby. Here’s how things are going down. I give you three seconds to come out here and let daddy see you better or…I go in there and make you wish you made the first choice.”

He straightens up and takes a few steps back.

“One…”

He looks around the floor.

He eyes the wall. “Two…”

The rogue starts to growl. This doesn’t feel right.

“Ollie…” I whisper as I prepare myself.

“THREE!” He growls, reaches down, grabs a cinder block and throws it at the glass.

It all happened so fast, I barely had time to protect myself from flying glass as the wall shatters.

The rogue lunges through the falling shards at Oliver. She hits him and they smash through the glass wall behind them.

“OLIVER!”

He kicks her stomach and she flies behind him into a third glass wall. She lands on a concrete wall as Oliver jumps to his feet.

He has a chunk of glass sticking in his side.

His eyes glow gold and grabs the chunk.

“You tried, baby. Now, let daddy show you how it goes.” He rips the glass out and runs at her.

Her wolf jumps with teeth bared. He leaps and lands a fist to her head. She yelps loud and slams into the concrete.

He walks away and wipes his lip.

“Oliver…” I start.

He raises a finger to me.

He eyes the she wolf.

“Get up.” He says low.

The Wolf shakes her head as she tries to stand. He rung her bell good.

“Come on. I know you want me. Get…up!” He paces in front of her.

She claims some strength and stands.

“That’s a girl.” He crouches in front of her.

“You can call your wolf…” I start.

Again he interrupts. “Wolves don’t teach lessons. This needs a man’s touch. Doesn’t it, baby?”

He flexes and braces himself. “Come at me. Show daddy what you got.”

She lowers her head and snarls a growl. She barks as she runs and jumps at him.

He grabs her tail and scuff. He spins around while lifting her over his head and slams her into to floor.

I cringe as the rogue screams in pain. She kicks her legs at him trying to get away.

I see him smirk and crack his knuckles. He balls a fist and jumps into the air. His arm goes up as he comes down.

“NO!” I dive in, grab the rogue and pull her out of the way.

Oliver’s fist hits the floor and it cracks.

The rogue plants her feet on me and pushes me over. She scrambles to her feet and runs for the hole.

Oliver’s eyes meet mine as he growls.

My mouth is small as I breathe hard through my nose. He looks to the hole. Standing , he turns sharply and runs.

“Oliver!” I scramble to my feet and run after him.

I climb through the hole in the wall and out the office door into the hallway.

I run out the door we came in and Oliver is standing there with his hands on his hips.

“Where is it?” I pant.

I stare at his back and within a blink, he turns grabs my throat and lifts me. Pinning my back to the door.

His large hand applies more pressure as I punch at his thick forearm.

“I should kill you.” He growls. His glowing eyes flare.

“Oli…” I choke. My eyes turn to slits and the air is quickly leaving my lungs. My feet try desperately to find grip.

With an intense dark growl, he drops me and walks to the parking lot.

I’m on my knees, coughing and rubbing my neck.

“I…couldn’t let…you kill…” I choke.

“I wasn’t going to kill her.” He says.

“Sure as hell looked like it.” I stand and brace myself on the door.

He scrubs his face. “You know why rogues are so hard to kill?” He turns and crosses his arms.

“They’re sick?” I answer.

“That’s right. The rogue sickness gives them more stamina, more strength and twice the recovery of a normal shifter. If they weren’t so nuts, they’d make good soldiers.” He walks up to me and looks into my eyes. “These new rogues. Make the old ones look like pups. What you saw in there…an act.” He raises his chin.

I cinch my brow. “What?”

“An…act…dramatics to get me let her go and you fucking fell for it.” I leans a hand on the door.

“Ollie. Rogues don’t…”

“Don’t act…I know…From this day forward, toss everything you think you know.” He leans to me. “This is a whole new ball game and we’re fucking losing. There’s no room for pussies.”

I study his unwavering expression as a feeling of dread comes over me.

The only person I can think about is Jenny.