The Vampire's Tainted Mate

Chapter 3: A New Client and a Contract Breaker

Logan stood at the bar counting money from the till before closing The Vixen for the night. He had to move quickly or else he couldn't leave the club, which wasn't on his agenda for the night. It had been a long shift and it was an hour before sunrise. Once he was sure it was all counted for, he shoved the cash into a zippered leather bag and put it under his arm.

He made his way through the club, hugging the perimeter, until he reached a massive red door that opened to his office. He rarely spent time in that room. The only time he found himself in there was before and after his shift.

He walked over to punch a code into a safe, opening it afterwards to place the till inside. He shut it and made sure it was locked again before walking over to grab his black leather jacket from the back of his office chair.

He shrugged his jacket onto his massive shoulders and left his office, taking his keys from his pocket. The club was so calm with no one inside of the place but him. A wave of relief washed over him as he took solace in the moment of silence. A moment when all he could hear was the creaking of the building and not the incessant conversation and moans from the patrons that gave him a feeling of relaxation.

His gait sped up as he walked to the backdoor, punching it open with his elbow. The door gave after an initial rough shove and a gust of cold air hit his chiseled face. His obsidian hued motorcycle sat beneath an old streetlight and beckoned for him to come closer. All he wanted to do was get on her and ride her home to do what he loved most: photography.

His frame nearly filled the doorway as he walked through it, turning around to lock the door before walking further into the parking lot. A gust of wind billowed up and carried a scent on it. A musky scent that made his skin crawl and made his blood boil. It had no right to be there, no right to step foot near his club. There was no mistaking the smell for anything else but what he thought it was. The pure and recognizable wet dog smell made its way into his senses and a low growl ripped through his chest.

“What's a werewolf doing in my territory?" He nearly spit the words past his clenched teeth.

He parted his lips and bared his fangs before tilting his head up to sniff the air again. It was still there, lingering and taunting him. Suddenly, a familiar scent wafted in. A floral perfume that spiraled and danced around the pungent scent, making him growl lower.

'Her,' he thought as he savored her scent marking the one haunting him.

He hopped onto his motorcycle, jammed the key into the ignition, and kicked it to life, growling, “d*mn dog."

Logan took off, trying to ignore the two scents that had mingled together around him in the parking lot. Gwen may not be his problem, but the beast encroaching on a contract between the immortals and the wolves mattered.

He threw the bike around a corner, cutting down a street and into the winding dirt road that led to a Victorian mansion in the woods that he shared with his clan. He needed to forget about the girl and the other issue as fast as he could. No one could know the affect a mortal had on him. It would be seen as a weakness, and he couldn't have that.

He parked his bike and turned it off, taking the key from the ignition and pocketing it before storming up the small case of creaking stairs to throw the doors open.

His feet carried him to a room in the back of the house that was small but lacked windows. It was secretly tucked away behind a hanging tapestry from when one of his clan members were alive. His hand trembled on the door handle as anger boiled through him. Thoughts of how a wolf could have broken the contract to walk onto their land only made him more furious. The fact that he didn't notice or had failed to protect their land made him even more so. It was his job, his duty, and in his eyes... he had failed. He gripped his hands into fists, causing his knuckles to turn white.

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down enough to focus on what he wanted to do. His thoughts kept revolving around wanting to track down the culprit and take him out, but he knew better. It would be too rash. So, he cleared his throat and threw open the door to his developing room where he processed film from his camera.

He shut the door and walked over to work on the photos, pulling them from the liquid with tongs and looking at them underneath a light. Each frame was filled with life, from animals to mortals enjoying themselves. It was everything he wanted in life right there frozen in time for him to stare at at his own leisure.

A knock sounded on the door as he hung up a photo, letting it drip.

“Come in," Logan called and picked up another soaking wet photo from a pan of liquid as the door creaked open before closing shut.

“We have a job," a female voice spoke as her heels echoed on the tile flooring.

Logan grunted and nodded, clipping the next photo up onto clothes pins. She sighed and walked over to grab his wrist, taking the tongs from his hand. She pointed them at him, smacking him on the shoulder with them. “Gonna need you to focus on me for a moment and not just grunt."

Logan sighed and spun around to face her, crossing his arms over his chest, “What do you need, Trix?"

“Your undivided attention. I'm needy," Trix teased him, and he rolled his eyes. “In all seriousness, I got word of a job and I need you on it with Alex."

He growled, “Alright, fine. Just hold on and I'll meet you in the study."

“Excellent. There is good money in it. Maybe it'll help you buy a nice expensive rare steak, since you love them so much over the real deal." Trix smacked him with her hand before passing him back the tongs.

“Don't make me bite you," Logan playfully threatened her and bared his fangs with a hiss.

“Don't threaten a woman with a good time," she smirked and winked at him.

“Will you just get out of here," Logan sighed and rolled his eyes, taking the tongs and finishing up what he was doing while she left the room.

He made sure everything was safe and sound before opening the door to leave.

The tapestry flapped against the wall as he walked out of the room and headed down the long hallway to the study, where he was to meet with his clan to go over the next job. The wooden floorboards cried beneath his black leather military styled boots with each heavy step.

He approached the study and found his best friend, Alex dismantling guns to clean them. Trix was busy looking over a log and keeping track of the money that they were laundering, as well as, keeping track of inventory to know how much they had to push.

A decanter of crimson liquid sat on a vintage gilded drink cart, and he took it up, uncorking it to pour some into a crystal glass. He capped the decanter and set it back down onto the cart with more force than he meant to.

“Jeez, break my grandfather's decanter, why don't you." Trix teased Logan once more and made Alex laugh.

“He wouldn't know how to be soft and gentle even if he tried," Alex joked, and Logan shook his head.

“Not in my job description," Logan plopped down into an oxblood leather armchair with his glass to his lips and his left leg hoisted over the arm of the chair with his right boot on the ground.

“He's not wrong," a woman with dark braided hair and a beautiful warm complexion spoke as she leaned on the massive banquet table with files spread in front of her.

“That's my girl, Cleo," Logan pointed towards her with his glass in his hand. “Always on my side."

“I'm not your girl," Cleo argued, and Alex snickered.

“You know one day you're going to find someone and settle down with them for an eternity," Alex stared at his best friend, Logan. “You can't deny that."

“I want nothing to do with anyone at the moment. Being married isn't everything, Alex. I have a million other things that I would rather do than settle down with someone." Logan brought his glass to his full lips to take another long sip of the metallic liquid.

Cleo walked up to Logan and clapped him on the shoulder. “What about that woman at the club last night? She looked more than satisfactory for you. You seemed very interested in her. Been ages since I've seen your eyes shift."

“She's just a mortal. There is nothing important about her," he stood his ground and downed the rest of his drink before standing up to fill his glass again.

Cleo shrugged and walked over to grab the file on the table, slamming it down to make a point. “New client!" She cleared her throat as she grabbed everyone's attention in the room, “He has only one interest with us and that is an abundance of guns." She peered around the room, locking her serious emerald hued gaze with everyone in the room. “Anyone got a problem with that?"

“No," Alex shook his head, and Trix shook her head 'no' in response to Cleo.

“Good," Cleo put on an overly friendly smile before shouting, “Logan!"

“What, woman?" Logan groaned and walked over to the table, slamming his hand down on top of the open manila folder and pulling it closer to himself with an unamused expression.

Cleo peered up at Logan, “I need you to go with Alex to talk to our client, Mr. Morgan, and give him what he needs. He's ordered quite a tall order from us, and I need to make sure it goes without a hitch. We're not just talking a case of arsenal; we're talking several cases of guns and ammunition. Can you handle that?" She peered up at Logan, watching him flip through the laminated pages in the file.

“Alright, what do we need to do?" Logan peered up at her as Alex stepped up behind him to join the conversation.

“I need for you two to take the SUV with the cases of ammo and ARs to Mr. Morgan's estate. Once you get there, tell the guard at the gate that you have a delivery from Raven Industries for Mr. Morgan. The guard should know to let you two in." Cleo flipped open a map of the estate to show them where they are to enter. “Once inside, Mr. Morgan should meet you outside in the courtyard. You'll take the crates inside and continue business as usual. I want no blood spilled, got it?"

“Yep," Alex nodded and gestured towards his best friend, “Can't promise he will keep to that though."

Logan punched his best friend in the bicep, making him grunt and hiss in pain. “I'll behave."

“You better. This deal involves a lot of money." Cleo stared Logan down to make sure he knew how serious it was. “One wrong move and I'll make you wish you never f*cked up in the first place."

“I got it," Logan raised his hands.

“Good." Cleo pushed the map towards the two men before looking at her smart watch. “I need this done tonight. You have all day to prepare and be ready. Drink up, get changed, load up whatever weapons you need to protect yourself, and move out. Trix and I will watch from here on the surveillance cameras. I want you two to take them this time. No more f*ck ups like last time." Cleo gestured between the guys and heard them growl. She set two small black cameras down onto the table. They were small enough to hide in your clothing.

“It wasn't that bad," Alex argued and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I had to come in and save you two. Don't tell me it wasn't that bad. You two idiots nearly cost me a vacation," Cleo placed her hands on her hips.

“You want the job done or not?" Logan crossed his arms and searched Cleo's face, setting his jaw.

“I want it done, but not done sloppily. Wear the hidden cameras," Cleo pointed at them and turned back to look over what was on the table.

Logan sighed and yanked one of the small cameras from the table before walking off to get ready for the job, mumbling about how he knew how to do it and didn't need someone telling him what to do.