Chapter 3: The Cave-In
1100 Words
The concrete floor was gone, replaced by the loud shaking vibration of a moving vehicle.
Evadne woke up, feeling like she was choking. The silver patch on her neck had left a burn. The pain in her chest was worse. Her inner wolf was paralyzed, pinned down by the residual toxins coursing through her bloodstream. She couldn't feel the pack network, her senses muffled as if she were trapped underwater.
"She's awake, Alpha " a rough voice said from the front of the vehicle.
Evadne opened her eyelids. She was on the floor of a transit van, her wrists tied behind her back with tough titanium cuffs. Sitting above her was Malakai Vane. He was swirling a glass of liquor looking at her with a cold, calculating gaze.
"You look small without your suits, royal one " Malakai said, using his shoe to lift her chin. "Cassian Sterling had the supernatural weapon answering his phones for three years and he didn't even realize it."
Evadne spat blood onto his shoe. She ignored the sting in her cheek when Malakai’s smile vanished, replaced by a sneer.
"I don't belong to Cassian and I don't belong to a parasite like you " Evadne hissed, forcing herself to sit up. "If you think the Valerius Syndicate will pay for an assistant you're dumber than you look. Cassian views everyone as assets."
Malakai chuckled, a low, grating sound that vibrated uncomfortably in the enclosed space. He leaned down, his face close to hers unleashing his Alpha aura. Evadne's royal bloodline would have crushed his presence. With the sedative suppressing her, his aura made her stomach churn.
"Oh, he wouldn't pay for an assistant, darling " Malakai whispered, his eyes flashing gold. "His wolf will tear this continent apart for his fated mate. I saw the look in his eyes before the ceiling collapsed. He didn't look like a billionaire CEO. He looked like a monster who just lost his soul."
Evadne's heart skipped a beat. She remembered Cassian's roar in the collapsing garage. The electric shockwave between them when he touched her wrist was undeniable. They were fated.
"The fated mate bond is a myth " Evadne lied, her voice cold. "Cassian is a logician. He will calculate the cost of a war with your syndicate, realize I am not worth the stock dip and replace me by Monday morning."
"We shall see " Malakai said, straightening up as the van stopped. "Because we just arrived at the neutralization facility. If Cassian does decide to track you he'll be walking into a meat grinder."
The rear doors of the van opened, revealing a dock. Four armed Omega-hunters dragged Evadne out toward a massive windowless concrete warehouse.
As she was marched through the doors, Evadne's eyes widened. This wasn't a hideout; it was a military fortification. The warehouse was lined with silver-plated mesh wiring creating a massive Faraday cage. Dozens of Malakai's enforcers patrolled the catwalks carrying high-caliber rifles loaded with silver-tipped ordnance.
They shoved her into an iron chair, chaining her torso tightly to the metal frame.
"Secure her " Malakai commanded, walking over to a tech console. "Activate the secondary perimeter wards. If a stray cat crosses the border I want it vaporized."
"Alpha!" a tech enforcer shouted from the monitors. "We have an anomaly on the external thermal grid. Multiple high-speed signatures just crossed the harbor bridge."
Evadne's breath hitched. Cassian.
"How many?" Malakai snapped.
"Just...just one, sir " the tech stammered. "The thermal signature is too massive for a vehicle. It’s moving at over eighty miles per hour on foot. It’s a Lycan."
A sudden deep vibration shook the warehouse. The massive reinforced steel walls were slammed into.
High above them on the warehouse catwalks, the enforcers panicked, raising their weapons.
"Open fire the moment the perimeter is breached!" Malakai roared, drawing a silver-bladed hunting knife.
The massive three-ton reinforced iron bay doors were violently torn off their hinges.
The screeching sound of tearing metal echoed through the warehouse as the massive doors flew inward crushing two of Malakai's enforcers. Through the billowing cloud of rust and concrete dust, a figure stepped into the light.
It was Cassian. The billionaire in the bespoke suit was gone.
His charcoal jacket was torn away revealing a chest covered in deep bleeding lacerations. His shirt was soaked in blood, his tie ripped apart. His jaw was locked, his face partially shifted into a terrifying Lycan form.
It was his eyes that made every enforcer freeze. They weren't gold; they were a blinding incandescent white-hot fire.
"Malakai " Cassian’s voice didn't sound human. "You took what is mine."
"Kill him!" Malakai screamed.
The warehouse erupted into a symphony of gunfire. Dozens of silver-tipped bullets tore through the air hitting Cassian’s chest, shoulders and thighs. Evadne screamed as she watched the metal hit his flesh, the silver burning his skin. Cassian didn't flinch. Fueled by the possessiveness of the fated bond, his wolf ignored the lethal toxin.
He lunged.
With speed, Cassian blurred across the concrete floor. He caught the enforcer by the throat crushing the man’s windpipe before throwing the body into a group of gunmen on the catwalk. He tore through the ranks of the enforcers like paper.
Evadne watched in shock. For three years she had thought Cassian was a cold, calculating dictator. Seeing him now completely bathed in blood breaking the bones of his enemies with his bare hands.
Within ninety seconds the catwalks were silent, dripping with blood. The remaining enforcers fled into the shadows, terrified of the monster standing in the center of the room.
Cassian stopped, his chest heaving violently as black silver-tainted blood dripped from his wounds onto the concrete. His hot golden eyes slowly turned toward the center of the room locking onto Evadne.
"Evadne " he breathed out taking a step toward her.
"Cassian, behind you!" Evadne shrieked.
Before Cassian could react, Malakai Vane stepped out from behind the tech console holding a military-grade detonator.
"If I can't have the bloodline to build my empire, Sterling, then neither of us leaves this room alive " Malakai screamed, slamming down onto the red trigger.
A series of deafening, synchronized explosions ripped through the four corners of the warehouse. The massive concrete support pillars shattered instantly. The entire ceiling began to collapse directly over Evadne’s head.
Cassian didn't hesitate. He lunged forward throwing his body over hers using his own back as a shield to protect her from the catastrophic cave-in.
The world turned into a dark nightmare. It was a place of weight and screaming metal.
- Writer
