Dangerous Games: Chapter 9

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it was a long time coming. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments down below. Your feedback is important to me.

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Chapter Nine

“WE’LL BE LANDING IN NORTHVIEW IN ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES.”

Even with the pilot yelling into the headset Ethan could barely hear him, so Ethan gave him a thumbs up to show that he heard him. The small plane carrying him and the pilot flew smoothly, but seemed to make more noise than a jumbo jet. Not that he was complaining, given the choice between quiet and rough or loud and smooth, he’d pick loud and smooth any day.

Looking out the small side window; Ethan could only see an ocean of trees below, passing hills and valleys were the only indication that they were actually moving. In the far distance mountains pierced through the trees like islands in the ocean. So despite the pilot’s claim that they were landing in thirty minutes, Ethan couldn’t possibly see where.

“ARE YOU ALSO MY RIDE BACK TO PORT IRON?” Ethan yells through the headset.

“YEAH, BEEN PAID THROUGH THE WEEK TO BE ON STANDBY FOR YOU.”

“THE WEEK?”

“GOT PAID EXTRA TO NOT ASK ANY QUESTIONS.”

Getting the pilot’s not so subtle hint, Ethan sits back and nods. It almost felt like he was on a regular job, if not for the fact that his client was Sera. Just thinking her name had Ethan remembering the events of the previous night.

***

“You want to hire me?”

“Well, maybe not hire, since that implies I’m going to pay you.” Sera corrects.

“No, even if you were paying, still no.”

“This isn’t a request.” Sera states in a hard tone.

“No.” Ethan repeats in the same hard tone.

“I’m getting tired of your disobedience.”

“And I’m getting tired of you thinking you own me.”

In an instant Sera was in Ethan’s face.

“You DO belong to me, and it’s about time you understood that. I don’t think you realize how considerate I’ve been when it comes to you. I didn’t kill DeMarco or his men because I figured you knew them, and I didn’t go after Erik myself because I heard he was your friend. But maybe I should, maybe I should start cutting out everyone you know until you have no one left but me. Maybe I’ll start right now with the two next door.”

The menacing tone in Sera voice left no doubt in Ethan’s mind that she wasn’t bluffing, she would destroy everyone and everything he holds dear to get to him. Ethan had to stop himself from shaking, but still, he wouldn’t give in.

“Try it and I will fight you every step of the way. I don’t care what you are, you will not hurt my friends.”

As Ethan and Sera glared at each other the air between them began to sizzle but not from anger, heat spread through Ethan’s body, and he was hit with a hunger he had never felt before. Sera’s hand began tracing the outline of his pectoral, reminding him, that except for the towel wrapped around his waist he was completely naked.

Ethan’s body begins to tremble as her hand moves slowly downward.

“Stop.” Ethan grunts as he forces himself to step away from her touch.

“No.” Sera replies as she grabs Ethan’s arm and pulls him into a kiss.

He tries in vain to push her away, but his body quickly submits to her touch, his arms instinctively wrapping around her neck pulling himself closer to her. The taste of her filled him with a sensation he couldn’t properly describe. It was like he had been lost in a desert without water and he hand finally found a spring.

Ethan’s head is suddenly pulled back, exposing his neck, which Sera proceeds to lick, suck, and kiss. Ethan lets out a moan as she trails kisses along his jaw before retaking his mouth. Ethan is startled when he feels his back being press up against the wall. When it came to sex, Ethan had always thought of himself as a dominant, but right now he felt as if he were being devoured, and he liked it. Feeling faint and out of breath, Sera finally stops her sensual assault to give Ethan time to breath. Finally having a moment to think, Ethan tries to regain control by getting away from Sera, but she stops him by caging him in with her arms.

“Let me go.”

“Never.” Sera whispers in his ear.

Pressing her body against his, Ethan began to feel his control slipping.

“Please.” He begs breathlessly.

With a frustrated sigh Sera lets her arms drop.

“Everything you need is in the folder on the bed, I’ll be in touch.”

Without another word Sera walks out of Ethan’s room and out of his apartment. As soon as Ethan hears the front door close, he drops to his knees as his body begins to shake uncontrollably. All the fear and excitement had triggered his flight or fight response, flooding his body with adrenalin. After a few moments, as the adrenalin starts to wear off, the shaking stops, and Ethan is able to stand.

Without even looking at the folder on the bed, Ethan could already tell this job was going to be trouble, but he really didn’t have a choice. Looking down at himself, Ethan goes back into bathroom, steps into the shower, and turns the on the cold water all the way.

***

“WE’RE LANDING, SO GET READY.”

The pilots voice cuts into Ethan’s thoughts and brings him back to the present. As the plane starts its decent, Ethan can vaguely make out a small airfield ahead of them. Though he was confident in the pilot’s abilities, Ethan still braced himself for the landing. The plane landed smoothly and came to a stop just as gently. Impressed, Ethan grabs his bag and opens the latch for him to get out.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Ethan asks.

“I told you they paid me through the week.” The pilot answers.

“Exactly, you’ve already been paid.”

The pilot scoffs, “What, you don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone who’s name I don’t know.”

The pilot looks at Ethan, and after a few seconds grins.

“Morgan.” Says the pilot, extending his hand out to Ethan.

“Ethan.” Ethan replies, grabbing the outstretched hand.

After a quick firm shake, Ethan gets out of the plane, and makes his way to the small arrival center to find a ride into Northview.

Looking outside his hotel window Ethan was surprised by how lively Northview seemed to be given its small size.

‘Focus.’

Walking over to the bed, Ethan opens his bag and takes out his black clothes and his Red Eye mask. He also takes out the folder Sera had left for him; inside was all the information he had for the job he was given. The target was a diamond necklace with a large purple gemstone at its center. The owner of the necklace was showing it off at a party being held in manor a few hours’ drive from Northview. From what he could gather in the report, the party seemed to be a gathering of sorts for specific people within some type of organization. The report didn’t mention the name the organization, but they did name the position of the people the party was for: pack leaders.

According to the report, security was being handled by their own people and they apparently had highly trained wolves with them. Now, the report only said that security was being handled by highly trained wolves, but Ethan chalked it up to a typo. Still, with animals in play Ethan had to be careful, their sense of smell and heightened senses made sneaking into places like this a nightmare for thieves like him. Thankfully, there should be a package waiting for him at the local post office that should help with the smell problem, courtesy of Sera.

Looking at a picture of the necklace Ethan can’t help but wonder what this job was really about, the necklace WAS beautiful, but Sera did not seem the type to care about jewelry.

“What are you really after?” Ethan contemplates to himself.

Suddenly a thought came to Ethan, what if the jewel wasn’t for Sera. What if the jewel is really for this council she and the others seem to answer to? If that’s the case, then he may still have a hand to play.

Looking at the clock, Ethan starts to get ready, by the time he showered, dressed, picked up the package, and drove out to the manor it was already late. The moon was out, but clouds kept passing overhead, which was perfect for Ethan. He made sure to park the car a good distance away from the manor to not be seen. Opening the package Sera had sent, inside was a small vial with some sort of powder and a note. Opening the note, it reads:

This powder will hide your scent from the wolves, pour it over your head and body. If worse comes to worse, show the card included in this letter to the one called Silverblood.

Looking at the card, its edges were intricately designed with symbols Ethan didn’t recognize, and an ornate moon in the center of the card was also surrounded by these strange symbols. Ethan places the card in his back pocket, before grabbing the vial and bringing it up to the light. It didn’t seem all that special, but given what he’d seen of Sera so far, he didn’t question its authenticity. As instructed, he pours the powder over his head and body, and just to be safe he pours some on his mask a well. Going over things one last time, Ethan looks at the layout of the manor he had been provided. His best chance of getting inside was through the cellar door at the back of the manor, but Ethan was having second thoughts about that. Especially since there was no intel on where or when the necklace was going to be shown. Still, he would stick to the plan for now. Lastly, Ethan opens his bag and checks the assortment of flash bangs, smoke bombs, and tear gas he brought. If all goes well, he’ll hopefully not have to use them, but he needed to be ready for the worst-case scenario. Once he was satisfied that everything looked okay, Ethan closes the bag and gets out of the car.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Taking a deep breath Ethan puts on his mask and walks into the woods, it didn’t take him long to reach the manor, it was the only bright spot in a sea of darkness. As Ethan got closer to the manor, he became confused, he saw no wall or fence and the forest went all the way to the back of the manor. And despite the report’s claim of security, Ethan saw no one patrolling the perimeter or even any stationary guards on watch. Still, to be safe Ethan kept his presence hidden, for all he knew he caught them during a shift change and they could be back any second now.

A howl breaks out and Ethan is reminded of the wolves, but as long as he stayed quiet and the powder Sera sent him did its job, he should be fine. Upon reaching the back of the manor, Ethan saw that the manor’s grand appearance and design provided him with plenty of hand and foot holds to climb. Deciding to go for the roof instead of the cellar Ethan is about to climb when he hears voices. He quickly hides in a nearby brush and watches in utter shock as group of seven to eight people exit that back of the manor and proceed to walk towards the woods completely naked. He’s even more shocked when a second group of naked people come out of the woods and meet the first group.

‘What the fuck??’ Ethan can’t help but think to himself.

A man from the manor group and a woman from the forest group begin to talk, but they were far, Ethan could barely hear them.

“How’s it going in there? Asked the woman.

“A bunch of Alpha’s glad-handing each other, how do you think it s going.” The man responds boringly.

The woman laughs and others from the group start talking as well, so Ethan couldn’t make out anything else after that. After a few minutes, the manor group heads out into the forest while the forest group heads into the manor.

‘Finally.’ Ethan rejoices internally.

He begins to focus his breathing and once he was ready, he makes his move. Quietly running towards the manor Ethan is able to quickly scale the wall and make it to the roof within seconds. Carefully sensing his surrounding Ethan makes sure the roof is clear before making his way across to the skylight above the dining hall the party was being held in. With a bird’s eye view of the party Ethan had better chance of finding the necklace.

Remembering the two groups of naked people he saw earlier Ethan braced himself for a crazy sex party as he carefully looked down at the party. But surprisingly there were no naked people, in fact the party looked rather upscale with men in black tie attire and women in evening gowns. Relieved by the one eighty turn of events, Ethan began using his ability to scan the people at the party, checking each one for the necklace. But after a few seconds began to notice something strange about the people below. They all seemed to emanate a rather strong aura, but it was more than that. Unlike when he used his ability to see Sera and saw how she glowed brightly and unrestrained; the people here seemed to be wilder. Ethan couldn’t explain what he was feeling, but he was certain of one thing, these people weren’t human.

Ethan continues to scan the room and is surprised to see what seems to be a family of three, a man, a woman, and a little boy. The man seemed to be older than he looked considering his graying hair and the woman looked younger than she was with her clear skin and lush red hair. The little boy with them had brown hair and looked to be about nine, but what really caught Ethan’s attention was the fact that he was human. Ethan continued to scan the room, but the little boy seemed to be the only human in the entire manor. The man and woman emanated a strength that easily outpaced most of the people in the room, but Ethan could feel none of that in the little boy. But it was clear to anyone who saw them that they were a family, the love in their eyes as they looked at each other and the little boy, left no doubt he was their son. Perplexed, Ethan watched as the little boy walks over to a man and tries to greet him. Only instead of greeting him, the man backhands the little boy away knocking him to the floor. Anger floods Ethan’s veins, he wanted to go down there and break the man’s jaw. He watched as the man who knocked the little boy down started to talk, making Ethan want to hurt him even more.

From the corner of his eye Ethan watches as the boy’s father goes up and decks the man in the face knocking him to the ground. Which made Ethan want to jump up for joy and scream yes from the top of his lungs. But that feeling is quickly replaced with utter shock and astonishment as he watches the boy’s mother transform into a giant horse sized wolf.

“What…the…fuck?”