LIMERENCE

Chapter Two

TWO: MOONBANE

He had no name. Ever since his mother drew her last breath when he was nine, no one had ever dared name him.

To mention the name of Hyde Pack’s most dangerous Gamma meant one thing: death.

And yet, today, Alpha Ehli called his name as he mind-linked to him.

“Jason, I have a mission for you.”

The Gamma drew in a breath, tossing a few wads of cash at the woman he was about to sleep with. “I can’t go ahead with this,” he murmured. “Something’s come up.”

“I could go with you, you know?” she purred. Instead of picking up the money, she inched closer to snake her arms around him. “I can wait in your home. When you’re done killing for the Alpha, you can come home to me.”

He turned around sharply then, flinging her hands off him. “What do you mean?” His eyes searched hers. Living like he did, on the edge, nothing could be taken for granted. His claws were ready to pop out as he waited to see if she knew even more than she should.

The woman merely shrugged, a sly smile playing on her lips. “I know you’re dangerous, the Alpha’s own killing machine, but even you need love. I’m willing to show you what love feels like.”

He relaxed then, his claws receding as he got up. This was not the first time a woman had tried to romanticize him. There was something so appealing to the fairer s*x about taming someone like him, and even a woman who offered s*x for money wasn’t above that.

But Jason knew better. He had no home, no heart, would never fall in love. All he was good for was keeping his hands dirty so that Hyde Pack’s Alpha could keep his hands clean.

It had started raining by the time he stepped out of the brothel. Jason quickly shifted, his large grey wolf sprinting through the pack, clutching the coat he would wear once he shifted back in its teeth so that when he finally stood before the Alpha, he was dressed in nothing but a large black coat.

“Ah!” Alpha Ehli exclaimed. “Jason, my angel of death.” He paused then, and dark brown eyes met clear grey eyes.

The Alpha was playing at something, Jason knew. He only ever told people his name right before killing them, and yet, now, the Alpha flaunted his name right in his face. He was a patient man, however, and twenty years of being Gamma had taught him that if you wait long enough, your questions get answered without you needing to ask them.

“You might be wondering why I keep calling this your ‘sacred’ name,” Alpha Ehli offered, chuckling darkly. “It’s because I have one more mission for you. After that, you are officially free from the oath that binds you to me as Gamma. You can go do whatever you want with your life, fall in love, who knows, get some woman pregnant with another little Gamma.”

Jason’s fists clenched, but his face remained expressionless. What was it with people assuming he could just ‘settle down’ like any normal man? His voice was cold when he spoke next. “It’s unfortunate that you have that notion of me, but trust me, nothing you’ve said now has even remotely interested me. If—when—I am no longer your Gamma, my private life will be none of your business.”

“Ah! But don’t sound so sullen,” Ehli chided. “You haven’t even bothered to ask what this last mission is, what’s so important that I’m willing to grant you your freedom after you’ve accomplished it.”

“That’s because you’d tell me even without my asking.”

“Hmm!” Ehli got up from his throne, waddling—that was the best way to describe the way he walked—over to a wine decanter to pour him and Jason a glass each.

“I’ll tell you, but if my predictions are right, then my daughter should come barreling in here, with tears in her eyes, complaining about finding her mate in enemy territory. This should happen in the next few minutes. We’ll wait for her; she’s key to this mission.”

He handed a glass to Jason, his dark brown eyes hard as he scrutinized his Gamma.

That was something about Alpha Ehli. At first glance, he was a short, slightly overweight man with average looks and a genial smile, but only a fool would underestimate the hard glint in those eyes of his, the ruthlessly cunning way his mind worked. Jason was not a fool.

As if on cue, the door flung open, and Amelia dashed in, staring wide-eyed at both men before flinging herself against her father, spilling his wine. “Daddy, you won’t believe what happened at the debate today,” she breathed against him before pulling away and attempting a more dignified posture.

“Hello, Gamma,” she offered.

His reply was a grunt. He turned again to face the Alpha. “You said she’d be crying.”

Ehli laughed, while Amelia shot him a puzzled expression.

“Father, I will talk to you later. I can see you’re busy with your Gamma.”

“No.” Ehli caught his daughter’s hand before she could walk out and brought it to his lips—briefly. “You think you’ve found a fated bond with the Alpha of Woodville, a bond so strong it’s beyond rejection, but what you’ve found is your heritage as a Moonbane warrior.”

Amelia frowned. “I—I don’t understand.”

Her father merely nodded. “Let’s go sit over by the study, shall we? I’ll ask the maid to get us a cup of hot cocoa.”

Ever the obedient daughter, Amelia nodded, but she shot quizzical looks at her father.

“Amelia, you come from a long line of female spies and assassins, blessed by the Moonbane. You have more power than you’ll ever know; you just need to learn how to harness it,” Ehli began as soon as they were all in the study, father and daughter sipping cocoa, while Jason had declined.

Amelia shook her head, distressed, noting absentmindedly that the sight of her father’s Gamma lounging in nothing more than a coat was unsettling. “Father, I don’t see how this has anything to do with the fact that I just discovered Alpha Tristan is my mate.”

A flicker of surprise crossed the Gamma’s eyes, but Ehli merely nodded as though he already knew.

“Tristan is not your mate. He has been chosen as your next target by the Moonbane. You are to spy on him and later destroy him. The thing about the Moonbane is that it mimics characteristics of the mate bond in order to ensnare your target.”

Amelia stood up, shaking her head in agitation. “I don’t believe you, Father. This is some cruel, twisted way to make me abandon my mate, but I will not. I have searched for him for four years now, and now that I have found him, I think I’m already in love with him—”

“But he is not in love with you. He never will be—”

“You can’t know that!” she half-pleaded, half-screamed, and there were tears in her eyes now. “I know he’s ruthless and a mean Alpha, but he said he’s falling for me. He promised to fight for our bond.”

Ehli laughed then, and even though it was a kind laugh, the timing was cruel. “He’s lying to you. Tell her, Gamma—no man falls for a woman that fast.”

Amelia turned to stare at Jason, blushing lightly as she was forced to acknowledge his state of undress.

His unreadable eyes roamed over her—her heaving chest, the way her curls flew about around her face, teased by the light breeze, the pain in her eyes that betrayed a weakness—her innocence.

She was a future Alpha. Someone ought to teach her that innocent naivety was a weakness, give her some kind of crude awakening, but Jason found he was loath to be the one to do this.

For the first time, anger flared within him at Ehli for putting him in such a position. “Miss Stone,” he started with an odd gentleness. “Men don’t fall in love that quickly. You’ll also have to bear in mind that he is an enemy Alpha. Perhaps making you believe he loves you can be of some kind of advantage to him.”

“I know all you’re saying is logical,” Amelia replied in a subdued voice. “But my heart thinks differently.”

Ehli sighed, getting up to throw an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Let’s make a deal then If you convince this Alpha Tristan to declare you his Luna before his entire pack, I’ll accept your bond, and walk you down the isle myself. But if you realize, within the space of a week – let’s say a month – that he’s only using you, you’ll come back and learn about your heritage as a moonbane warrior, and make plans with my Gamma here on how to take him down.”

Amelia drew up herself to her full height, in that moment, looking every inch the heiress. “Deal. And when I prove to you that he loves me, I’ll make you eat your words.”

Alpha Ehli waited for his daughter to leave, then he shut the door to his private study. When he turned next to face his Gamma, the genial smile he’d had on for his daughter was long gone. His face was cold, expressionless.

“There’s something else I didn’t tell Amelia about the Moonbane, something that you should know…..”