The Alpha Target

Ten

After hours of scouring the area, the team had finally concluded they needed to head home and reassess the situation. Rocco had searched the surrounding areas with the support team for any indication as to where Knox and his men may have taken the women, while Cora and her team tried to track the tyre treads of Knox’s bike.

The d**k had managed to vanish into thin air, not leaving a single trace of himself behind. Cora couldn’t believe it. She wanted to kick herself, and then violently kick him. It was deeply infuriating that he not only continued to escape her grasp, but somehow managed to achieve the impossible. Every. Single. Time. No doubt he’d be feeling a smug sense of accomplishment right now, just as she was sure he did when he’d uninvitedly decorated her bedroom.

Cora headed back to the warehouse to meet up with the others as she reluctantly admitted defeat for the evening, though promising herself she would get to the bottom of this whole disarray one way or the other. With every step there was a crunch. Ash. Dust. Remains. Cora still hadn’t been able to wrap her head around the whole ordeal.

Nearing the warehouse, the heady scent of smoke was again thick in the air. Picking up her pace, Cora rushed back to building she’d not too long ago been blasted away from as the fresh scent had alarm bells ringing within her.

“Head back, now!” She order the team through the earpiece.

A few steps later, Cora’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as the remains of the warehouse were now up in flames, disintegrating any evidence it had been there at all. Heavy grey smoke rose into the sky, forming a mushroom shape above the warehouse. The sound of glass shattering amongst the raging flames sounded around her. The flames grew angrier and brighter as they seared the air as if it was intent on shattering the universe by burning apart every atom.

The fire crackled and snapped, looking alive as it danced and swayed with the wind, devouring everything in its path. The heat from the flames were so intense sweat started to build along Cora’s skin. Water started to prickle in her eyes as the smoke emitted a smoggy haze throughout the area.

Cora hissed as ash burnt against the skin of her arm before something shiny captured her attention. Hesitantly, she stepped closer to the shiny object, attempting to inspect it with her stinging eyes. Only dread filled her when she recognised the shiny black business card instantly. Reluctantly, she picked up the card she instinctively knew had been left solely for her and turned it over to read the message he had left behind.

I’ll gladly set the world on fire and let it burn into nothing but destruction and chaos around us before I let you escape me, little rose.

*

Cora had taken an unnecessarily long shower when they had returned back to the HQ, desperate to wash off the lingering effect he had on her skin. But he was just like the flames she had left behind, so dangerously consuming she had no choice but to submit to the chaos it promised as it washed over her.

She was yet to know what he wanted from her, why he was toying with her. The devil never hesitated, he just took like he owned. Because in a sense, he did. Cora should be scared, she should resonate with the fear that the reasonable side of her pleaded for her grasp. But Cora had lived through fear. She’d lived through death. And meanwhile, she’d survived.

And with the devils target on her back, she still stood tall and very much alive. Perhaps he was trying to drive her to become clinically insane, perhaps he was like a cat who liked to toy with their prey before finally submitting them to a painful end.

Or perhaps he didn’t want to hurt her at all.

The evenings events weighed heavy on Cora’s mind as she slowly fell to sleep, begging for unconsciousness to take over her as she left the day behind. And that had happened, at least for a short while.

Three hours later, Cora’s eyes snapped open as she laid in her bed. Darkness still invaded her room, but her heart was strangely thundering in her chest. The feeling of being watched had woken her, forcing her into alert as she sat up in her bed. Though there was no one there in her room, she could feel penetrating eyes burning deep into her skin.

Attempting to even her breathing, Cora turned her head right as movement from the corner of her eyes snagged her attention right outside her window. Her head snapped in that direction and her eyes zeroed in on whatever she just saw. It was nearly pitch-black outside save for the moonlight and the single light outside the HQ door.

Another flash of movement caused her to nearly plant her face against the glass. It was a person, walking towards the building, having emerged from between two larges trees. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits when the person’s shape becomes more apparent.

Knox.

The son of a b***h had actually come back.

Cora gripped the handle of her trusty knife in her fist and settled it on her lap, as she sat on the edge of the bed and watched him right back. As he neared, her heart pounded in her chest, matching every step he took towards her.

She stood and closed in on her window. She didn’t know what she was doing exactly, perhaps provoking him? Daring him to come inside? If he did, she had the right to defend herself.

Knox stopped about twenty feet away, his face hidden under a deep hood. Though unable to see his features, Cora knew it was him. She felt it with every single fibre of her being. That, and the fact her wolf seemed to be doing somersaults, the kind of reaction she had only when he was near.

Cora watched as he widened his stance, as if he was getting comfortable, while he plunged a hand into his hoodie pocket and pulled out something she couldn’t see. It wasn’t until she saw him flick a lighter, enunciating his impossibly sharp jawline, where she saw the cigarette sticking out of his mouth. Knox lights the cigarette, and then the flame went out, leaving nothing but his moonlit silhouette and a blaring cherry.

He stared at her.

She stared right back.

Without looking away, she grabbed her phone from the end of the table, preparing to call the head of security. She looked down to unlock her phone, and when she glanced back up, her thumb freezes. The moonlight spilled over his silhouette. And with perfect clarity, she watched him slowly shake his head at her. Warning her not to do what she was about to do.

Her heart lobbed around in her chest, pumping erratically. A low heat sparking in the pit of her stomach, her mouth drying as the burn descended between her thighs. She was glued to her spot, panting from the heady mix of fear, irritation and arousal. Her cheeks burned from the shame, but the feeling didn’t dissipate.

Despite not pressing the call button, she pressed the phone to her ear. Evidentially there was something wrong her. She was playing with fire. The more she provoked him the more likely he was to come after her. But she couldn’t stop herself. She couldn’t stop the sharp thrill she felt as she pushed back. It was as addicting as it was stupid.

She couldn’t see his face under the deep hood, but she knew he was smiling at her. But knowing that didn’t give her the reaction it should. She should be repulsed. She should be scared. But what she was feeling was the urge to smile back.

She should close the curtains and do the both of them a favour by cutting them both off from their silent war. But for some unknown reason, Cora couldn’t get herself to move. Couldn’t get herself to press dial on the call button. To do anything that would classify her as intelligent and having some common sense. Those things were non-existent as she stared out at him.

Then, her phone chimes in her ear. Her brows plunge and she hesitantly pulls the phone away from her ear to look at the message.

UNKNOWN: Am I supposed to believe that you’re on the phone with security? I think my little rose is a liar.

Oh, no, he didn’t. Angrily, she typed a message back.

CORA: Want to find out?

UNKNOWN: Yeah, I do, actually. I’d love to punish you later for it, too.

Her thumb froze over the letters. Her head snapped up and she stared into the depths of his hood. His phone perched in his hand, waiting for her response. The lighting on his phone was set to low, though the dim glow casted enough light to show her his wickedly sharp jawline and a portion of his smirking lips.

So, doing what any sane person would do in this situation, she lifted her hand and flipped him the bird. f**k you, asshole.

In response, she saw his thumbs had begun typing again, his smile growing wider.

UNKNOWN: I plan to.

Her wolf purred at that, but Cora only growls. Like hell he’d f**k her.

He was challenging her, and… she liked it. But she couldn’t convince her fingers to move, despite how much she wanted to know what he would do. So, Cora breathed in, and again pretended to have called security. She probably should have actually done it, but something deep inside her told her not to.

He stuck around for another fifteen minutes. And during that time, Cora finally looked away. It had felt like a game almost, and she had always been a sore loser. With a final smile, she watched him type out a quick message and her phone buzzes.

And without a concern in the f*****g world, he slowly turned and walked away. The darkness reached out and grabbed hold of him swallowing him into the depths until he had vanished completely.

Finally, she checked her phone.

UNKNOWN: The more you disobey me, the harder your punishment.