His Crimson Mate

Scarlet Shadow

(Janessa's POV)

~Age 20~

He grabbed me by my throat before he slammed my back hard into the wall. He was getting the upper hand and I was trying to regain control over the situation. I wrapped my legs around his waist as we tussled back and forth. He gripped my hair tightly between his fingers before slamming his lips roughly against mine. I began to grind my hips into his to gain some friction.

"Milo," I moaned out into his mouth before he spun us around and slammed me onto the bed in the spare bedroom of headquarters. Milo and I liked to get quickies before and after missions. It helps relieve some tensions. After quickly discarding our clothes, we once again fought for dominance. We rolled around the bed a few times before we landed with Milo on his back and myself on top.

I quickly grabbed Milo's large shaft and slid myself onto it. We began to work up a rhythm as I threw my head back and Milo began to explore my body with his hands. "Sss," I heard Milo hiss in pain. I looked down and realized my claws were elongated and digging into his skin. I quickly retracted them, realizing I was beginning to lose control again as a few drops of blood trickled from his wounds.

Milo lifted me off him and flipped me over before roughly shoving himself in from behind. I moaned out in pleasure before he began pumping into me. "Harder!" I shouted as Milo quickened his pace. I could slowly feel my peak coming and I heard Milo begin to pant hard. I knew he was nearing his edge, but I wasn't there yet.

"Harder!" I shouted again as I reached forward and began to rub circles on my nub to quicken my release. "Ahh," we both moaned in unison as we both let go. Milo pulled out and released onto my back. He collapsed and sighed in relief before getting something to clean me off.

Sadly, I am almost twenty-one years old and I have yet to find my mate. By the time I turned nineteen, I still had no mate and my needs were growing. Being an assassin takes a lot out of you and my drawer full of kinky toys just wasn't cutting it anymore. I never thought I would be with anyone else but my mate, but here I am. I was ashamed at first, but honestly, now I could care less.

Unfortunately, even with Milo, I am never fully satisfied. Sometimes I need him to go harder or be rougher, but he can't quite get where I need him to be. Also, he can't seem to handle me when I get overly aggressive, even though he won't openly admit it. Is something wrong with me? This is probably why I have no mate, because I am pretty sure I'm broken.

We quickly dress and leave the room with Milo fully satisfied and me only slightly satisfied as usual. It was enough to take the edge off of the next mission. We met Dagger, Avalanche, and Hawkeye in the meeting room of headquarters. "Ghostface and Scarlet Shadow, so nice of you to join us," Hawkeye said to Milo and me with a knowing smirk. I rolled my eyes and sat down at the desk to get briefed on our new mission.

Milo and I received our names shortly after our first mission. Milo is swift and deadly and there were rumors from survivors who claimed the man who saved them had the face of a ghost because of the blank white mask he wears on missions. It's important no one sees our faces. I prefer a dark fabric that covers my neck and face up to my eyes, my hood covers the rest of my head, adding to my mystery.

I have gotten the reputation of being silent but deadly. I am usually the last shadow you will ever see before I paint the place red, hence the Scarlet Shadow. My reputation is getting so big, that even my parents have heard of the rumored assassin, Scarlet Shadow. It makes me proud even though they will never know it was me. Sometimes I want to tell them so they can stop seeing me as some pitiful unmated pup, but I know it's against the rules.

As a team, we get in our van and drive about an hour in the dark to our destination. There have been kidnappings in this area and we have narrowed it down to a central location. When the daughter of a nearby pack's Gamma was kidnapped, we were called in to retrieve her and the other victims.

We parked our van where Hawkeye set up gadgets and the rest of us trekked about a mile and a half to our location. We saw a small drone already hovering over the large farmhouse when we arrived. "Okay, two rogues are guarding the front and two guarding the back. What I can see from the outside with my thermal imaging camera is there are sixteen people in the house. There are three downstairs, four upstairs, and nine in what appears to be an attic," explained Hawkeye through our earpieces. "The hostages must be in the attic," whispered Dagger. "Plan B?" I asked Dagger, anticipating which one of our plans we would be going with.

Dagger nodded his head and said, " Correct, Avalanche, you quickly clear the first floor after I take care of the two guards out front. Scarlet Shadow, you scale the house from the back and clear the second floor. Ghostface will go ahead of you to get rid of the two guarding the back. Scarlet, guard the attic and we will meet you up there once the house and surrounding area are clear." I was excited and ready to complete this mission so I could head back to the Blood Moon Pack. It had been days since I had been home and my mother's fortieth birthday party was tomorrow night.

We quickly ran towards our destinations. The cold, winter night air whipped against me but with my adrenaline pumping through my veins. Milo and I ran up toward the back of the house and crept along the side. I grabbed Milo's arm before we reached the back of the house.

He looked down at me expectingly before I whispered, "be careful, Ghostface." He smiled that annoyingly smug smirk I couldn't stand before leaning forward and planting a rough and dominant kiss on my lips. "You watch yourself in there, Scarlet," he responded before he pulled his white mask over his face. I did the same, pulling my mask up just under my eyes.

Ghostface made quick work of the two guards as I skillfully and stealthily scaled the large house. I walked across the slanted roof to a nearby window and peered into a dark room. The window was locked so I quickly used the butt of my dagger to shatter it. I crept into an empty bedroom and checked to make sure no one was hiding in it. I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds. I could hear loud chatter downstairs which let me know Avalanche hadn't made it inside yet.

I could hear several heartbeats coming from down the hall. One, in particular, was beating very rapidly. I stopped in front of a door where I could hear slight movement. I went to turn the knob slowly but it didn't budge so I began to shake the door. "I'm in here, dude, chill out!" I heard a male shout from the other side. I grabbed one of my daggers and used all my weight to burst through the door.

To my surprise, I found a man sitting on a toilet reading an old magazine. "What the fu-" was all he could say before blood was gushing from a deep wound in his throat. He gagged and choked a few times before he fell forward dead in his own pool of blood, pants down, ass up. It was a comical sight to see, but I didn't have time to ponder on it as I continued to make my way up the hall.

I stopped outside another door where I heard a slow heartbeat and soft snoring. I slowly opened the door and entered a bedroom with two sets of bunk beds lining the walls. I walked over to a man sleeping soundly. He looked so peaceful and I smirked at the fact I was about to ruin his life, quite literally. I tapped his shoulder roughly before he jolted awake. "What the fu-" I cut him off by slicing his throat open. I swear everyone's final words are always the same. It's always either "what the fu-", or "who the fu-". Either way, these criminals need to get more original.

I continued down the long hallway of the house. By that point, I could hear the chaos coming from downstairs. I needed to be quick. Hawkeye said there were four upstairs, which means I have two more left. I stopped outside of a room where I heard at least three separate heartbeats. One heartbeat seemed to be in a panic. I heard a muffled scream and quickly acted.

I grabbed an extra dagger to help accompany my already bloody one, and quietly opened the door. I saw a man near the door with his back turned facing a bed. On the bed, I could see a male with his pants down hovering over a scared female. " Please don't!" the female cried as the man put his hand over her mouth to cover her screams.

"Shut up b***h, I will do as I please and when I am done my partner will have a turn," he laughed, the most disgusting cackle I have ever heard. I had seen enough. I quietly approached the man near the door, quickly covered his mouth, then began to repeatedly shove my knife into his side until his intestines spilled onto the floor.

The other man must have heard the struggle because he turned around just in time to see my dagger flying through the air and going into his shoulder. "f**k!" he yelled, trying to reach for the dagger. The woman screamed and rolled off the bed just as I jumped onto it, using my other dagger to carve a deep hole into the side of his brain. His body quickly slumped to the side.

I walked over to the woman who backed away from me nervously. "I won't hurt you, I am here to help. Do you know where everyone else is so we can get them out?" The woman nodded her head, stood up, and walked out of the room. I followed her further down the hall until she stopped and just stood there. I was confused until she pointed up, and I noticed a string hanging from the ceiling. I pulled on the string, revealing an old, wooden, foldup ladder.

I pulled the ladder down and followed the young woman up. "Maryann!" a female shouted before running over and taking the woman I just saved into her arms. "Are you okay? Who is this?" the new female asked after she finally noticed me. "I am here to get everyone out. Is anyone here injured?" I asked, trying to assess the situation. "No, we are fine. We were just worried about Maryann here. It's never good when one of those putrid men comes and takes you," she explained. From the looks of it, she seemed to be the leader of this small and terrified group.

"How long have you been here and what is your name?" I asked her. "I have been here about a week, I think, and I have been trying to figure out our escape plan. It seems you beat me to it," she chuckled. "My name is Kari, by the way. I am the daughter of the Gamma of the Rocky Mountain Pack," Kari explained.

Just then the ladder shook and up popped Avalanche. "All clear Scarlet Shadow," Ava said before ducking back down the ladder. "Alright everyone, let's head out so we can get everyone home," I explained as they all made their way out of the tiny attic. "Everything go well?" I asked Ava as we lead the ladies out of the house while stepping over a few dead bodies. A cleaning crew should be here soon to make this look like it never happened.

"Yup, no issues. I'm just ready to get back to headquarters to take a shower," she responded. I sighed in relief knowing Milo was okay and I knew exactly what I wanted to do as soon as we got back. I walked down the steps of the front porch and spotted Milo with a huge grin on his face. I had some pent-up frustration that I needed to get out, and by the look in his eyes, he knew it.

Suddenly, Milo went stiff and he was no longer looking at me. "Ghostface?" I whispered as I approached him. It was like he didn't even hear me, he brushed past me and kept walking and that's when I heard it. "Mate!" I heard Milo growl before I turned around and saw he had Kari wrapped tightly in his arms. Suddenly, I felt the bitter chill of the December night's air all the way to my bones. I hugged myself tightly and walked away as we waited for the hostages to be transported.

_________________________

It was the night of my mother's birthday and party and I sat on my bed staring out my window. I wasn't depressed or anything. I was genuinely happy for Milo, but I couldn't help but feel the weight of once again being alone. I heard a light knock on my door before hearing it quickly open and close.

My little sister Lidiya came and quietly lay across my bed. I observed her in her pretty, flowing pink dress. She looked so regal and was growing up beautifully. Next year she will get her wolf at sixteen and I couldn't wait to be by her side. Even though there are five years of an age difference, I can honestly say Lidi is one of my best friends.

"Are you still sulking over your stupid boyfriend?" Lidi asked, finally breaking the ice. I sighed and said, "It's not about him. I am just frustrated -" Lidiya cut me off by saying, "because you still don't have a mate?" I just lowered my head in shame.

"Come on sissy, you have always told me our mates would come and sweep us off our feet. You said we were born and bred Alpha females and one day a strong Alpha would come whisking us away and we would be Lunas of our own pack," Lidi explained dreamily as she stared off into the distance.

I sighed, defeated. "I don't even know if I want that anymore, Lidi. I mean, of course, I want a mate, but I don't know if I want to just settle down and be some Luna like I did when I was some mushy-headed teenager," I said as I bumped her shoulder and she scoffed. I continued, "All I am saying is, as I get older, the more I value my independence. I don't want to be confined to some packhouse planning parties all my life." Lidiya's eyes went wide in shock before she responded, "You know there's more to being a Luna than planning parties. But what else would you rather be doing?"

"Slitting the throats of our enemies," I stated, looking her in the eyes before we both burst into laughter. If only she knew how serious I was. "You are so silly. Can you put your dress on and come down to mom's party? Guests are starting to show up. Pleeeassseee," Lidi begged with her big puppy dog eyes that she knew I couldn't resist. "Fine!" I growled as I stood up to hop in the shower. "Hey, maybe tonight you will find your mate," my sister said encouragingly. I scoffed as I disappeared into the bathroom. I have been to enough parties and mating balls to know that's not happening.