Hunter's Mark: The Dream Walker

Chapter Five

Typhon

I headed into the conference room of my security company, The Damascus group. I hate having to go to these meetings, but as the owner, it is necessary with certain clients. I mostly have bodyguards that get hired out for rich and powerful clients, but I do have some mercenaries. I have my second in command with me as always, Henry, who is a smoke demon. He pays more attention to the clients than I do.

I built The Damascus group from the ground up and I only employ super naturals because, well, this company is a cover for something I enjoy much more. I sit down at the huge table next to Henry and the client starts complaining about his problems and why he needs a guard. I'm not listening anymore but zoning out, caught in a memory of long ago and how I became this person, well, not a person but the horrible demon I am today.

I'm in my room and I can hear the screaming downstairs as it gets louder. It's my parents as always. I'm twelve years old and even though my parents fight all the time, this one was the worst. My father was a rage demon, and he was mated with my mother, who was a smoke demon. This argument was one they have almost every day now. You see, my parents were not destined mates.

It was a mating of convenience for my grandfather and one that my mother never wanted. My father’s family was high ranking and rich. My mother’s family had a business, but it was failing miserably. Her father made a deal with his father. Money in exchange for the mating of my mother to my father. Their mating was never a happy one. My mother wanted to be given the chance to find her destined mate. My father said that she was angry when she found out that she was pregnant and wanted to get rid of me. She resented having to give birth to me and was looking for a way out of her relationship with my father. My father was always either drunk or high on something and beating one of us until he was satisfied.

My mother didn't even try to protect me anymore. I snuck down the stairs and watched as my mother got in his face and told him that she had finally met her mate. She was going to leave with him and never look back. I looked down and saw that my mother’s stomach was swollen. “Is that his abomination in your stomach?” She smiled at him and I looked at my father.

His eyes were glassy and knew that this was not going to end well. He grabbed her by the throat and pulled her face close to his. "You are not going anywhere b*tch, you are mine and don't think I'm going to let you just walk out of this house." She did the worst thing possible in the next second and spit in his face. My father's face twisted into something that I didn't recognize and his whole body shimmered into his demon. She grabbed for her stomach in an attempt to protect the baby.

"I'll teach you some respect, woman", he said. He raised his fist at her, then stopped. He must have sensed my presence because he looked up and saw me on the stairs. "Come here boy and see what disloyalty gets you." I couldn't make my legs move and in the next second, he was punching my mother everywhere he could land one. She curled up into a ball, hiding her stomach as much as possible. He dragged her limp body down into the basement and chained her up with magic-infused chains and that was where she stayed for years. He would go down and torture her and take out his anger on her.

As I got older, he started to make me join him. When I was 18 years old, he said that my birthday present was getting to finally end her. We drank the whole day and into the night and we made sure her last moments were the most painful. She wasn’t really even a person anymore. She stopped trying to communicate with us a long time ago. She was going to leave me after all. She loved that baby she never got to hold more than me. I never did anything to her until that night. Her mate never came looking for her and if he did, my father probably killed him.

That memory changed to when I was 20 years old, and I met a beautiful ice demon named Amara. I knew she was my mate as soon as I laid eyes on her. She was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen with her dark black hair that had a blue shine to it in the light and her piercing blue eyes. She was 5'9" and had a body that any man would give almost anything to touch and explore. I thought that she was the cure for the darkness inside me that my father created, but I was so wrong.

I loved her very much, but it didn’t change a thing. I was a monster, but I was ok with that. We started fighting not long after we completed our mating and I hit her for the first time not long after that. When I started, I couldn't seem to stop. I was getting drunk all the time just like my father and one night I took it too far. When I got home, she had her bags packed and was trying to get out of the door. "I can't do this anymore Typhon, this was not what I thought our mating was going to be like." "I'm going to be at my parents’ house until you can get yourself straightened out and then maybe we can work on things." She didn't understand though that I never intended to let her walk out of that door. She was mine. “You are not going anywhere”, I growled. Her face morphed into pure terror.

I had her by the throat before she could even blink and she was too stunned to fight back right away. I just started punching and kicking and screaming at her. She curled up into a ball just like my mother, but it didn’t faze me at all. When I finally stopped, she was unrecognizable. I knew she was dead. I called Henry and he came over and helped me get rid of her and helped me clean the house. I thought that I would feel something, but I didn't.

How could I not feel something? I just killed the woman that was made for me to love and nothing. I began to wonder if she was my destined mate at all. I didn’t even feel the bond breaking. In the years to come after that, I never got serious with anyone. I went to clubs and had plenty of women, but never the same one twice. I started building my empire, both above board and criminal. Henry and I created The Damascus Group and used the money we made to fund our criminal empire. We had always been very careful and then I met Tabitha.

She was a lot of fun at first and the first woman since Amara that I had even the slightest feelings for. She wasn't even safe from who I had become. I started abusing her in much the same way that I had Amara. She took it for a while and then one day, after a particularly bad night on my part, she was just gone. I was furious that she had gotten away. I had looked everywhere for her but couldn't find her. How does one little woman with no resources just up and disappear?

I still have my guys out there combing everywhere for even the slightest sighting of her. Henry clearing his throat brought me out of my memories. "You ok boss." "Yea I'm fine", I said. I looked across the table and saw that the client was no longer present. "I was approached by Maximus yesterday", Henry told me. "What did he want?" "He wants three extra shipments this month", he scoffed. Now I'm angry, those disgusting vamps don't tell me what to do ever. If it wasn't for me and trafficking their live blood banks, they wouldn't even be able to get their hands on fresh blood without alerting the humans or the Vindicta. I would not cave into their demands.

I run the show here. "Tell him no, I won't risk everything that I've built because one group of vamps is getting greedy." "He can have his normal shipment." Henry shook his head at me, but he understood. “He is not going to be happy. They sent an envoy to the spot to pick up a few extras and almost got killed. These vamps are going to get us caught.” “I will deal with it Henry, but right now we need their business and money to fund our project.” “I know. Beherit was here too.” I almost roared in anger, “What was he doing here?”

“More complaining about you not helping him kill the hunters that murdered his brother.” “He is not even a hundred percent sure it was them yet. I’m not going to have hunters killed and find out they were the wrong ones. That is a dangerous business.” “Yea Ty, I know. I told him not to show up there again, which he was not happy about. He said and I quote, “no unranked smoke demon tells me what to do.” “I will talk to him later. I really don’t want to deal with him at all, but having a high demon lord as an ally will come in handy.” Henry rolled his eyes, but he knew I was right.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss before I head back to my office?" "Oh, yea I almost forgot the chemist called for you this morning." "If he's calling me then he better hope that he has all of my product ready to go." "According to what he was saying he was able to synthesize, something for every species." When I found this guy a year ago, he was a genius at coming up with drug compounds that would affect all different kinds of super naturals.

I hired him instantly and had him get started. Vamps like strong blood and taking down Alpha wolves or the high ranking of any species, for that matter, is not easy. Quite a few of my men have died trying to get them. This, however, will help immensely. "Fine, he better because I want this stuff on the market as soon as possible." Henry gave me a strange look and said, "Don't worry boss, he's good, I'm sure he's ready to go just call him back when you get to your office. He said something about how he borrowed some men and did a test run.” I got up and headed down the hall to my office, but before I could make the phone call, my pocket started vibrating. I don't recognize the number. "Hello," I say, "Who is this?"

"Boss, it's me Dave." I then remembered that Dave was one of the guys that had been out looking for Tabitha and I got a hopeful smile on my face. "You had better have some good news for me if you are calling me." "Yes, boss I do", he paused, "I found her." "Have you made contact yet?" "No, she just showed up to a bar that I'm in." I couldn't believe my luck that she just happened to show her face to one of my guys. "Don't let her get away Dave, do whatever you need to without any witnesses, I can't have people realizing that she has gone missing yet."

"Yes sir, I'll call you again when she's secure." I sat back in my chair waiting and hoping that he could get this done. Dave is one of my best guards and, as a jaguar shifter, he is stealthy and strong. I decided to give the chemist a call back while I was waiting. He answered right away, “What have you got for me?” “Oh, hello Typhon, well I got excellent news. The formulas work perfectly. I did a test run on a very rare female alpha Lycan and let’s just say she is being moved to the facility as we speak.” “Do you know how much the vamps will pay for blood like that?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I almost kept her for myself. She’s very beautiful.” “That’s not part of the deal. You don’t get to keep them.” “Noted. She should arrive at the facility in a few weeks. We had to travel far to find her. They must travel carefully.” “I will make sure the arrangements for her arrival are made.” We hung up and I dialed the next number. “I have something rare coming your way. Make sure you’re ready for it.”

I hung up immediately, not wanting to have another conversation. Within two hours, my phone rang again, and it was Dave telling me the package was secure and that he was taking her to one of my safehouses in Seattle. I get up from my desk and head out to the penthouse that I am currently staying in and pack a small bag. I called my private pilot and told him that I needed to fly out to Seattle as soon as possible and he told me that he would meet me on the plane. I get a sick smile on my face because she is finally mine again and I will make sure that she can never get away from me again.