Werewolf CEO 4, page 11
Stay there, I said to Mia down the bond as I started to sprint down the alleyway. I have him.
Josh, I can come with you! my mate protested.
No, I said as I pushed myself even further. Stay. That’s an order.
The brick walls of the long, winding alleyway allowed me enough safety to partially shift, and I felt myself grow taller and run faster as I did. The hooded figure was pretty far ahead of me, but I was quickly catching up thanks to my abilities. It still baffled me how he could be so fast, but he didn’t stand a chance against me.
My chest was heaving, and I felt spit fly out of my mouth as I breathed heavily through my sharp teeth. The hooded figure didn’t even turn around as I advanced on him. He just kept sprinting down the dank alleyway that twisted and wound around the buildings it was attached to.
“Fucking face me like a man!” I shouted in a deep, gravelly voice. “Stop running away like a goddamn pussy!”
The sound of his shoes slapping against the puddles in the ground echoed between the brick walls, and I could hear his labored breathing as he carried on running away from me.
“Goddamnit,” I hissed as he stayed at least ten feet ahead of me. “Just stop!”
There was a sharp turn in the alley, and the hooded man skillfully twisted his body and jumped off the wall before he started sprinting down the next narrow passage.
Where he had anticipated the turn, I hadn’t, and I slammed into the brick. My palms tore against the harsh wall, and I growled in annoyance as he gained a significant lead over me.
I bolted down the passage and pushed myself to my limit. I could feel the cuts on my hands already healing themselves as I raced behind him, and his back was getting larger and larger as I got closer to him.
Again, I caught a whiff of chemicals and decay, and I reached out a clawed hand as I gained on him. I was about to take a swipe at his neck, but he suddenly turned again. I managed to catch myself before I slammed into another brick wall, but I stumbled and lost my footing.
When I looked up, the hooded figure was nowhere to be seen.
But there were four juiced-up wolves glaring at me.
And they had neon-green eyes.
Chapter Eight
I slowly pushed myself up from the floor and stood at my full height. The hooded man had somehow vanished into thin air, yet again, despite there being a brick wall behind the four juiced-up wolves.
I immediately noticed they were different to what Arlo had become, even if they were juiced up on Z-TECH serum. There was some degree of sentience behind their eyes as they scowled and glared at me.
Their bodies were still huge, though, and their muscles bulged out of black shirts that looked like they were about to tear off their bodies at any second. Neon green pulsed through their veins, all the way up to their faces that were shifted and ugly.
Their bottom jaws jutted out more than any wolf I’d seen, and their fangs were longer and sharper than any I’d seen, too. Not to mention, their teeth looked yellow and were poking out of black gums.
Clearly, they’d taken a different amount of serum, or maybe a different strain, and it made my stomach twist to think about how many wolves had been the victim of figuring out how much juice did what.
Whoever these cronies were, they clearly weren’t captives. There was bloodlust in their eyes, and it didn’t seem like the same type that was uncontrollable. No, it looked personal. And as far as I could tell, their minds were their own.
“Where did he go?” I asked as I prepared myself for a fight.
“You think you get to ask questions like that?” one of them asked in a rough, grating voice.
He was bald, with thick green veins protruding from his shiny head. It looked grotesque, but it was nothing compared to what Arlo had been.
“Well, I’ve just been led down here like a rat in a goddamn maze, so I think I can,” I replied casually. “Who are you?”
“None of your concern,” another one grumbled out in an even deeper voice. “Even if we told you, it wouldn’t matter.”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Because you’re about to be dead,” he said with a wicked grin that sent a shiver down my spine.
He was the shortest of the four, but what he lacked in size, he made up for in ugliness. His face looked like it had been squashed and run over by a truck. Even though most wolf noses flattened, this guy’s looked concave, and he had small beady green eyes that were only just managing to peek through his overhanging brow.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I said as I cracked my neck. “But here I am.”
“Funny,” the third wolf grunted. “Mitch said you’d be funny.”
This wolf was huge, and it was clear he had been impressive in stature before he was juiced up. His muscles were by far the biggest, and he basically had no neck from how big his traps were.
“Then I suppose I have a reputation I don’t know about,” I said. “Where is Mitch?”
“None of your concern,” Baldy spat. “You’re dead meat, St. James.”
“Says the one who looks like he’s got one foot in the grave,” I fired back. “Is it really worth it? Juicing yourself up with that shit, and for what?”
“For this,” Muscles said as he slammed his fist into the ground.
The entire alley shook as the cement beneath us cracked for several feet, and I backed away from the crack in shock. His movement was the catalyst the other guys needed to attack, and three of them immediately started charging for me with snarls on their faces.
I leaped out of the way just before they could jump me, and I dug my claws into the brick wall to give myself some leverage. I slammed into the ground behind them, and that gave me just enough time to strike first.
My body grew as I shifted into my elite form, and I heard my suit rip and tear as it adjusted to my new muscles. Of course, the one time I’d need to fight was in one of my suits and not my dad’s. That fueled the anger I was already feeling at being lured here yet again, and I let that anger course through my veins.
I snarled and prowled low to the ground before I leaped at the closest wolf first. I dug my claws into his neck and tore out two huge clumps before he even had a chance to process what was going on.
“No!” Muscles shouted and slammed his fists into the ground again.
The ground rattled, and the wolf I’d just attacked staggered to his knees from the motion and from the fact blood was gushing from two holes in his neck.
I jumped off him before he hit the ground, and his body started convulsing as he hit the cement. Black blood pooled around him, and I could see flecks of neon green inside it that were slowly fizzling out into nothing.
Shorty and Baldy stared at the twitching corpse before their glares turned to me, and I knew I’d righteously pissed them off.
So much for their magic elixir.
“Come on,” I growled and motioned with my hands for them to try it. “You think you’re so high and mighty, right? So, why don’t you fucking show me?”
Muscles roared and moved first, and I ducked out of the way of his meaty fist before he could take a swing at me. He staggered forward at the lack of target, and he slammed face first into the brick wall.
I smashed my clawed fist into the back of his head and pressed his face even further into the wall. He growled as I dragged it down, and the heavy scent of his blood assaulted my nostrils. It was more sour than the pool on the floor, and I guess that was a sign of him being more juiced up than the wolf I’d already killed.
The other two were snapped out of their stupor and charged over to me. Baldy grabbed my arms and tugged me off the wolf I’d pinned against the wall, while the other one slashed his claws across my stomach.
I roared as my skin tore, and I felt the rage inside of me burn even hotter than before.
Josh, let me help you! Mia shouted down the bond.
No, I growled back as I tried to break free of their grip. I’ve got this.
Josh, let me get out of this goddamn car, please! she pleaded desperately.
I didn’t want her getting caught in the crossfire, but I knew she could handle herself, and a little extra help wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to take these guys out as soon as possible, and considering I’d only taken out one so far, having her here would be worth it.
Alright, I said down the bond. You can leave. But if it gets too hairy, you leave me behind. That’s an order.
Fine, she replied quickly before the bond went quiet.
I could hear her scrambling out of the car, followed by the sound of her footsteps running toward us down the twisting alleyways.
I focused on the wolf in front of me who was gearing up to slash me again. The muscular one had pushed himself off from the wall and had harsh slash marks down one side of his face, which dripped with bright green blood. One of his eyes was swollen, while the other one glared at me piercingly.
I waited until the short wolf raised his hand up to slash me before I pulled all of my weight down. The bald wolf who had been holding me leaned forward from the weight, and his face was clawed as Shorty swiped.
Baldy yelped and released my arms before he stumbled back, clutching at his torn open face.
“What the fuck, Lincoln?” he shouted as his hands became slick with black blood.
“Oh, shit,” Shorty said as he realized what he’d done.
I didn’t give them another minute to collect themselves. These guys were fucking idiots, and I knew the only thing they had against me was numbers, but that had never stopped me before.
I swung my leg around and kicked Shorty’s legs out from under him. He fell to the ground with a thud, and I dug my clawed hand into his ankle and pulled him toward me.
Shorty roared in agony as the bone popped out of place from the sheer force. Before Baldy could recover, and before the meaty wolf in front of us could do anything about it, I slammed my claws into his stomach and pulled. Shorty spluttered on a mouthful of black blood as I grabbed a handful of his guts and tugged them out of him.
“No!” Muscles yelled, but before he could start to retaliate, Mia suddenly leaped over me and slammed into his chest.
Muscles fell back against the ground and was at her mercy as she started slashing and hacking with her clawed hands. It was incredibly hot, but I didn’t want to leave her to deal with that asshole all alone.
I completely ripped out the intestines of the short wolf and threw them against the wall to our left. His bright green eyes were wide as he gasped for breath before his whole body fell limp. Then I turned my attention back to Baldy, who was still cradling his torn face. I shot my hand out and throttled him, and he looked at me with wide eyes as I pulled him up.
His legs kicked out, and his hands clawed at my arm as he tried to get me to let go, but it was fruitless. I glared at him and ground my teeth down so hard it felt like they were about to shatter into pieces.
“Tell me who Mitch is,” I growled. “Tell me where I can find him.”
“Go… to… hell…” he gasped out.
I tried to use my mind control to get it out of him, but I was either too distracted by making sure Mia was okay, or their minds were harder to penetrate than Henry’s. It was like an iron wall inside his head that I couldn’t get past no matter how hard I pushed.
I snarled in annoyance before I slammed him into the brick wall. He let out a strangled cry as his skull cracked against the stone, and I pulled him back only to slam him straight back into it again.
The wolf groaned as his bones crunched beneath the weight of my palm, and his green eyes rolled into the back of his sliced-up head. I grunted as I pushed my full weight into him, and his head finally cracked like an egg against the brick wall.
I grimaced as brains and mush splattered onto the arm of my suit, but I didn’t have time to really care about that.
Not as Muscles grabbed Mia’s hand in his and threw her off him.
“Hey!” I shouted as I let Baldy drop to the ground and rushed over to my final opponent in a blind rage.
I threw myself down on top of him and started to beat him to a pulp. Mia had already done a number on him, and his face was weeping with bright green blood.
“Tell me who Mitch is,” I demanded in between punches. “Tell me, and I’ll let you live.”
It was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that. He stared up at me through those evil green eyes and didn’t answer anyway.
“Tell me!” I growled and grabbed a fistful of his bloodied black shirt.
Josh, do you need help? Katie’s voice asked frantically down the bond. We can come to you if you need us.
No, we’ve got this, I replied. Don’t worry.
Are you sure? Luke asked in a worried voice.
I’m sure, I said firmly. Stay put.
I turned my attention back to the fucked-up wolf beneath me, who was chuckling hoarsely through mouthfuls of putrid-looking blood.
“You goddamn son of a bitch,” I hissed as I slammed my fist into his face again. “Just tell me!”
“You… aren’t gonna get shit from me, Alpha,” Muscles spat mockingly. “So… you might as well just kill me.”
I tried to enter his mind and use my mind control like I had on Baldy, but his mind was just as impenetrable as the other wolf’s.
“Goddamnit,” I grumbled as I realized there was no way I was going to get any information out of him.
“Josh,” Mia said as she picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her skirt. “What are you going to do with him?”
I glared down at his sniveling face and squeezed my fists tighter around his shirt. I couldn’t just let him go. He’d crawl straight back to Mitch or whoever it was behind this thing, and he’d get juiced back up all over again.
I could see his open wounds trying to heal themselves already. The green blood surrounding the cuts and welts oozed and glowed as the skin slowly started to stitch itself back together, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he was fixed enough to fight back.
I slid my claws down even more and hovered my fingers above his swollen green eyes. The evil grin never left his face, even as I started to lower my nails down, and he rasped out a mocking laugh, right up until I shoved my fingers through his sockets.
His eyeballs squelched beneath my fingers, and I grimaced as I felt them pierce through his brain. His body went completely limp, and I pulled my hand back and wiped the green ooze onto my ruined suit.
“Josh,” Mia whispered behind me. “Look.”
I turned to see her pointing in front of us, and I followed her finger to the back wall that had been blocking us in.
There was another message spray painted onto the brick wall, this time in bright green paint. I was completely baffled by how I hadn’t noticed that, but part of me wondered if the hooded figure had done it while we were fighting. I had been so wrapped up in taking these guys out that it was possible for me to have missed it, not to mention the guy was clearly pretty damn good at moving around undetected. I still couldn’t even get a scent on him, though that might have been due to the pungent stench of tainted blood hanging over the alley.
How it got there wasn’t the most troubling thing, though. It was the message written on the wall.
Like Father, Like Son.
I climbed off the muscular wolf’s corpse and wiped my hands on my pants as I stood up to my full height and faced the wall. Mia joined me at my side and grabbed my hand in hers as we took a step closer.
There was no doubt in my mind that this was personal now. ‘Like Father, Like Son’ was clearly meant for me, and this clearly had something to do with my father.
I knew Mia couldn’t deny it either, and the blonde squeezed my hand as some small form of comfort.
“We should go,” she said softly. “We don’t want to be caught up in this.”
“No, you’re right,” I agreed and forced myself to look away from the brick wall. “Let’s go home.”
I started to lead the way out of the alleyway and far from the mangled corpses of those juiced-up assholes. I couldn’t believe he had gotten away from me again. I don’t know how he did it, but he was slippery, and it was starting to really get on my nerves.
Not to mention the fact that I’d ruined a perfectly good suit fighting those guys. I couldn’t wait to get back home and take a long, hot shower and scrub the green goo from my skin.
We navigated our way out of alleyways until we finally reached the street, and I knew we probably looked like complete maniacs emerging from an alleyway covered in black and green blood with our clothes all torn.
I spotted two cop cars a little way down the road parked up on the curb, and I felt my blood run cold. One cop was leaning against his door talking into his radio, and I quickly pulled Mia down the opposite side of the street so we could get the hell out of here without being questioned.
“Hey, hey, hold up!” the officer shouted as we started to walk away, and I immediately tensed up. “Turn around.”
Mia and I held our hands up and slowly started to turn around, just like he asked. The police officer had his gun pointed at us with shaking hands as he looked at our bloodied outfits.
“P-Put your hands on your head!” he ordered.
“Take it easy,” I said as I followed his orders. “Let me explain myself first.”
“Don’t fucking move!” he shouted in a quivering voice.
I looked at Mia out of the corner of my eye, and I could tell she was nervous. I gave her a reassuring nod as a silent sign of comfort. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, especially not anything from a cop.
“Listen to me,” I said slowly. “My name is Joshua St. James. I’m the CEO of Lunar Corp., and this isn’t what it looks like.”
“St. James?” a voice called out from another cop car down the street.
“Yeah!” I shouted back and tried to look over the cop who had a gun pointed at us.
“Johnson, put your gun down,” the voice said sternly as it quickly approached. “That’s an order.”
