BEAUTY & THE BRUTE

One

"We got a hit" someone yelled from the control room. Those that were dozing off jumped out of their chairs, those in the living room scrambled to get there and the enforcers outside dropped everything they were doing to go and see who it was. How long had it been since they last went hunting? Their excitement was almost tangible.

"Where is he?" Roman asked, strolling into the crowded room. Everyone moved instinctively, making way for him. Nigel, his Beta, took that chance to walk behind him. "Or is it a she?" Now that would make things more fun. He'd only caught one woman, a couple actually, and the husband had killed her before he could get his hands on her. Of course he'd paid dearly but to this day, Rome still held a grudge against him. It would be nice if this one was a woman. He wanted to know how long they could last.

"Sadly, it's a he"

"How many stars?"

"4.5?"

"Why not five?"

"One of his victims is in a comma"

"Okay boys. Go get him" his punishment would depend on whether the victim lived or died. He was a simple person. No one would ever accuse him of being complicated or hard to figure out "You know the drill Vic. Keep an eye on the patient and let me know if there are any changes"

"Yes, boss"

He spun around to leave but Nigel blocked his way "Move"

"What if it takes a year for the patient to wake up or die? Do we have to wait that long?"

"Are you new here?"

"It's just been a while, boss. I think people heard about us and started being careful. There's also the fact that the police are after us..."

"I do not care for your worries Nigel. Your job is to handle anyone who becomes suspicious of us. How you do it is none of my business" shoving him aside, he left.

On his way to the office, he bumped into Adelina. Roman inwardly cursed. He wasn't in the mood but he couldn't turn her down because he owed her a favor. Calling her a pain in the ass would be too much. She was more like an annoying fly he couldn't bat away. Their deal was he would go to her when he needed her. But lately, she started acting up because he'd indulged her for far too long. She thought she had the right to approach him whenever she felt like it. Giving her a once-over, he decided that this was the last time.

"My love, I'm horny"

"Oh yeah? I couldn't tell" he replied walking past her.

"Are you in a bad mood?"

"What do you think?" The truth was that he was bored with her. He craved something different. Something that would awaken every part of him. Not just his c**k.

"I think that I can fix your mood in just under thirty minutes"

"Later. Right now I'm kinda busy. We got a hit"

"Really? Okay then. I'll wait" she said excitedly. Probably because he was always fired up whenever he came back from hunting. The s*x was mind-blowing. That was a given. Closing the door on her face, he mentally went through all the unmated women in the pack. Trying to see if there was someone that made him feel intrigued. There wasn't. It looked like he'd been with all of them. Curse his rotten luck. He was going to have to steal his next lover from another pack.

Two days later, he was sitting on a chair in the red room. Behind him were a few enforcers and in front him, a man hung upside down from the ceiling. Stark naked. All his clothes, money and properties had been donated to goodwill. As of that moment, he didn't own anything. Not even a pair of underwear. Then again, dead people had no use for such materialistic things. Did they?

"What was his name again?"

"Davis"

"What was the reason?"

"f**k you. Do you think you can get away with this?"

That was the problem with humans. They didn't know their place. If he was a wolf, he would have already started begging.

"I don't think so, my friend"

"Then you better..."

"I know for sure that I will get away with it. Do you want to know why I'm sure?" Without waiting for his answer, Roman continued "The moment I set my sight on you, you were done for. No one will ever find you. I will give you what you deserve then after I'm done, they will burn your body. The ashes will be spread everywhere in this forest while your bones will be scattered for wild animals. To make sure no one ever identifies you, we'll grind your skull or bury it in our territory. Study shows human bones are rich in minerals. We could use some for our plants. Have you ever eaten human meat?" looking behind him, he asked "Boys, do we have some left?"

"Of course we do, boss"

"Get him a bowl of soup"

"I don't want it"

"Too bad you don't have a say in anything around here. What I'm interested in, is how you feel. When you were doing it, how did it feel?"

"How did what feel?"

"Killing. Why do you think you're hanging upside down in a cabin in the middle of nowhere?"

"What are you talking about?"

Roman chuckled "Are we playing innocent then? Good. I like it" he motioned for them to turn him. Those who played innocent lasted longer. Which meant he had more fun torturing them.

"Soup's ready, champ. We even warmed it for ya"

"I will not have any of that"

"Shaw, tell him where we got the ingredients for it"

"From our last guy. There was too much meat and we felt bad wasting it. So we skinned him, saved some for our future guests and fed the rest to wild animals. I bet it's delicious. I even added some herbs, boss"

"See how well you're being treated? Feed him. He has to stay strong for what's to come"

"Don't you dare..." Duke and Lupin held him while Shaw pried his mouth open, poured the soup inside and placed his hand over his mouth and nose to stop him from spitting out. Davis had no choice but to swallow it. When Shaw removed his hand, the guy gagged. Trying to throw up. Duke grabbed his hair and Shaw poured the rest of it down his throat.

"How is it? I hear monsters like you enjoy it" he was born a werewolf but he himself had never tasted human soup. Their wolves like the feel of warm blood against their mouth and dismembering their enemies. They didn't eat humans. Strong as his stomach was, he had to swallow a few times to stop himself from throwing up. Davis bent over, dry heaving "Y'all are nasty" he told his men shaking his head.

"We were just following orders. Shall we get started then?"

"Be my guest"

Lupin took out knuckle rings from his pocket and put them on. Duke landed the first punch, Shaw the second and Lupin the third. They took turns warming Davis up. Because this was going to be a long night. But Despite being excited about getting a hit, once the guy was in front of him, Roman lost interest in him. Unlike in the past, he wanted to finish the job as quickly as he could and go back home. The problem was that his boys were excited and he didn't want to disappoint them. Besides, he couldn't let anyone find out that he'd lost his edge.

Roman Vance, Alpha of Hell Manes, was widely known for one thing. Hunting and eliminating serial killers. Human or supernatural. Their race didn't matter. As long as they got more than two stars, they were dead. When he started out, he'd punished them according to the number of stars they got. But as years went by, his boys joined him and told him he didn't have to show mercy to killers. They killed mercilessly. Why should they die an easy death?

"Are you playing with him? Move aside" he said approaching them. His claws elongated and he made three long lines down Davis' chest. They were deep enough to make him cry out in agony but not fatal "I will scrape off your skin until nothing is left. The pain you put those victims through is nothing compared to what I'll do you"

Roman imagined Davis was Gayle.

With every scratch, he felt himself come alive.

This man had no right to breathe the same air they did.

After a few minutes, he was all fired up. Someone threw salt water at Davis's open wound. The man screamed. The sound music to his ears. He swiped his claws across his left cheek. The four of them worked on him and when he passed out, they waited until he came to, then continued. The torture lasted for five hours before Davis took his last breath. He went straight to the bathroom to clean himself off. As much as he enjoyed torturing those bastards, there was no way he would step a foot outside that door covered in their blood. To him, they were filthy. Everything about them disgusted him. Because they were all the same. They only chose to kill those that were weaker than them.

"I'm going to take a walk"

"Alright, boss. We'll let you know when we're done"

He left the basement. Roman had only taken a few steps when he heard the scream. His feet started moving towards the direction the scream came from. The closer he got, the stronger the metallic smell of blood got. He'd thought that the scent was coming from the house but he'd been wrong. The second scent hit him seconds before he saw her. Had he been that distracted? How could he not notice it?

She was covered in blood. His first thought was that she was hurt. Then it occurred to him that she was standing on her own two feet. Two men were lying on the ground.

Dead.

"Care to tell me what is..." Her knees buckled. Luckily, he was fast enough and he caught her before her body hit the ground. Looking from her to the dead men, he wondered what had happened. Why were they dead? And why was she covered in their blood? Had she done it? Lifting her into his arms, he carried her back to the house and lay her on the table. It was the only furniture in there. Together with a few chairs. Getting a wet towel from the bathroom, he wiped her face and hands then stood over her. Waiting for her to regain consciousness.

She slept for a good eight hours. And when she opened her eyes, Roman was a hundred percent sure she wasn't the same woman he'd met in the woods. Except for the fact that he'd stayed up all night watching her. And the fact that she was still his mate.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"What happened yesterday?"

Swinging her legs over the table, she got down and looked around "I don't remember coming here. Did you kidnap me?"

"Why would I kidnap you when I don't even know you?"

"Because we're mates. I probably rejected you. Didn't I? Is that the reason you kidnapped me?"

"I found you standing over two dead bodies. You fainted and I brought you here"

"I see" she ran her hands through her hair, straightened her bloody clothes then added "I don't have all day. Keep it short"

"Keep what short?"

"Your rejection speech. Or should I go first?"

"Not before you tell me why you killed those two men. Were they bothering you? Stalking you? Which pack are they from?"

"Are you sure there were only two this time?"

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