"I think I can get passed the guards..." Olive spoke through the earpiece that she shared with Anthony, Martha and Elijah. There was a thick, black metal door off to the left that was being guarded by two guards, decked out in military gear; ballistic vests, a nine-millimeter and a Gluck '19 sitting proudly on either side of their waists. It was the only door other than the exit in the big high ceiling ballroom of Killington Mansion that was being manned.
Lycans were extraordinary creatures. They're entire pack shared a mental link, one that only allowed their wolf side to talk to each other without actually talking. It was stronger than telepathy; it was a network of thoughts, motivations and feelings. One that helped aid their species' survival. If a Lycan was in danger and was in close proximity to the pack territory then any Lycan in that specific pack would sync in with that endangered Lycan and either call for help or help themselves. This closed circuit network was only available to members of the pack. So in laments terms two different packs had two different networks and if a member of the pack was exiled then their tie to the network was severed.
This covert way of communicating was unfortunately not accessible to their human side, which was why Olive and company had to speak through undetectable coms.
"I'm not sure Olive, we're supposed to be here for some light recon" Martha mumbled, hiding the fact that she was talking, by bringing a glass of champagne to her lips "I think it's best we keep a low profile and-" before getting the rest of her sentence out, Martha was cut off.
"Okay, I get that." Olive responded forcefully, maintaining her view of the two guards and the door they were protecting "but we don't know when or if we'll get an opportunity like this again." Pushing off from a table her and Elijah had been sitting at; she averted her eyes from the aforementioned guards and scanned the crowd looking for Lyle. Finally locking in on his location, Olive couldn't help catch him in a heated conversation with his husband, James and his brother Philip. "Guys…" Olive whispered into the earpiece, nodding her head towards the three men across the room.
Knowing exactly what Olive was hinting at, Martha, Anthony and Elijah all focused their attention to the men and used their heightened hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Nobody suspects a thing Philip, you're being way too paranoid." Lyle spoke through clenched teeth, a mask of a smile prominently on his face.
"You'd be an idiot not to be paranoid!" Philip barked back, not bothering with the pretenses.
"You're both making a scene" James chimed in, a bright smile blindingly covering his features.
"Shut up!" the two brothers responded in unison.
"Wow, what a way to speak to your husband." James muttered under his breath.
"You do realize twelve of my men are dead because of this fool's errand you are on! How do I explain to my superiors that one of our best field teams all died because you sent them to capture a thousand year old vampire?" By the terrified look on Philip's face, you could tell that he was way in over his head.
"Just stick to the cover story and let me handle the rest." Lyle spoke calmly "besides, you have to break a couple of eggs in order to make an omelet right?"
"Lyle, they found two of my men with their hearts punched right out of their chests. How in the world do you expect to capture on of these creatures let alone one that's lived a thousand years?"
"An unfortunate accident." There was a hint of annoyance in Lyle's tone.
Philip sighed heavily in response, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder "look brother, I promised you I'd protect you no matter what but can't you just forget about the vampires and use the species you already have? I mean, isn't the serum already done?"
"You're men served their country. They died heroes, but this is my life's work Phil, I will not half ass it," he mumbled rubbing the stress lines from his forehead. "And we both know that the serum only lasts five days before killing the hosts, Wyatt needs better results than that."
"And you know what he'll do if he doesn't get his results" James added as and after thought, shuddering. "I don't want to end up in that place again."
"You won't." Lyle spoke quickly; pulling his husband by the arm so that they were both face to face "I won't let that happen to you again…to us."
James nodded and leaned his face closer to Lyle so that their foreheads touched, his erratic heart calming staggeringly. The intimate moment was too much for Olive to watch so she turned her gaze away from the embracing pair and looked at her red tainted nails.
It had become an unsettling question to Olive how two people who undoubtedly committed numerous acts of evil could find the purest of love, in each other, when all she had was Elijah. What had she done to deserve a mate like him? Whose puppy did she drown in a past life, to be stuck with a man who she loved beyond words but couldn't allow herself to have?
The thoughts alone brought a wave of tears to the brim of her eyes, clouding her vision. One blink, and those tears would race down her face like rapids down a river but she couldn't allow such a weakness to be exposed. As subtle as she could, Olive turned her face from Elijah's view and wiped the tears before fixing a hard look on her face.
Although Elijah wouldn't admit it, he hadn't been watching the three men talk. His eyes were trained on Olive. Her demeanor, the way her eyes narrowed slightly in fifteen-second intervals when she focused on something for long periods of time. Or how she bit on her bottom lip and gripped the table to stop herself from confronting Lyle. He had heard – with his ears – the conversation but his eyes were listening to Olive. The only time he broke his gaze was when her intense stare broke away from the three men. Looking up at them, he noticed the intimate embrace, Lyle and James were sharing and how it seemed to affect his mate. He knew that these were the consequences of his actions manifested and it broke what little pieces he had left of his heart.
"I hope you're right Lyle." Philip doused the intimate moment with some reality "because, Wyatt will be the least of our worries if the vampire gets us first." And with that said, Philip left the couple and spoke to a man in a black military uniform.
"That was more information that I thought we'd get tonight." Anthony spoke when he realized that Lyle and James weren't going to speak on the subject any longer.
"I agree" Martha chipped in "now we just figure out, who Wyatt is."
"And the vampire they tried to capture." Elijah added.
"Or… I can go and figure out what's behind that door." Olive pushed "look, James has a key card in his pocket, I'm pretty sure I can swipe it and be in and out of there in minutes." There was determination in her voice and anyone who knew Olive, knew that she wouldn't be backing down easily.
"No." Anthony replied as soon as the words left his sister's mouth "don't push it. If you get caught, that blows all of our covers. There's too much at stake here."
"I know what's at stake!" Olive snapped back "contrary to popular belief, I know what I'm doing."
"I don't care. The answer is no." Anthony's commanding tone left no room to question. He was the next in line to the Alpha seat and in charge of this entire operation, no one. And I mean, no one, could challenge that.
But then again when did that ever stop Olive? A mischievous glint sat proudly on her face, signaling that she had an idea regardless of her brother's opinion. Olive skillfully removed her earpiece and placed it in her bra. She then placed a six inched diamond encrusted heel in the direction of the two men but was soon stopped by a colossal tattooed hand that gripped her arm, just above the elbow. Ignoring the electricity that sparked where Elijah held her, she suppressed a growl that grew from the base of her chest.
Eyes turning into slits, Olive glared vehemently at the hand with a single rose; inked on the surface, just below the knuckle. Letting her eyes roam passed the expensive Rolex watch, sitting casually on Elijah's wrist, to the crisp white button down that wrapped and clung itself around his broad shoulders hidden under a black suit jacket, to his hard statuesque face.
With their eyes staring intently at each other, an underlying challenge evident in the cold air between them, the room came to a standstill and the growl she had tried to suppress almost ripped out of her mouth. She eyed Elijah's hand again feeling her body heat up in more ways than one, her glare jumping back to his face. "Olive." Was all he said, expressing a silent warning through the cadence of his tone. She wasn't letting him in, not giving away a single motive or emotion other than complete disdain.
"Get. Your. Disgusting. Hands. Off. Of. Me." She gritted out through clenched teeth. Olive's level of contempt skyrocketed and she bit down on her jaw so hard that her teeth started to grind from the strain. "Don't make me reject you…again."
At her words, Elijah's entire body went rigid with palpable rage. The control that he had spent years perfecting, was being held together by a thin string, forcing his eyes to darken. Both Martha and Anthony had never seen her react like that, leveraging rejecting her mate. It was a line that both would never dream of crossing.
"Olive." Anthony cautioned, knowing that at this point his sister was going to do something crazy. Which was not exactly out of pocket for her but it surely would've caught the attention of the partygoers around them. That paired with Elijah's ever accelerating fury, was a recipe for disaster. "This mission is over. We're leaving." Anthony declared, leaving no room for protest.
Olive's fiery eyes tore - with much difficulty - away from Elijah and back to where Lyle and James had been standing. Both men had moved from their position and were nowhere to be found. Olive scanned the room twice but came up short. A tight, cold expression flooded her features containing a destructive hurricane of fury as she turned her heel to face the exit. Elijah's hand was still planted quite firmly on her arm, making no movement of release. "Elijah." With a tremor in her voice Olive warned him to remove it but he kept his composure cool, tightening his hold and guided her towards the exit.
Elijah had been suppressing a multitude of emotions, he was being openly challenged, and even though he knew that Olive was just lashing out because of their history, he couldn't suppress the urge to rip out her throat. No one ever spoke to him like that, let alone twice in a day. Deciding not to make a scene in front of strangers he continued guiding her to the exit, wanting to get home so he could deal with her there.
Once the four made it to their car, the air that surrounded them was hot with tension. No one bothered to say a thing, not while they were on the road. No doubt one whisper would cause a collision on the freeway that couldn't be explained.
As soon as the elevator opened up to their penthouse suite, it was World War III. Martha scurried her way to the kitchen grabbing the only food that could be prepared in less than two minutes – a packet of microwave butter popcorn. The whirling of the machine and popping of the corn were the only sounds being heard besides Olive's heels meeting the lament floors.
Elijah removed his tie with ease, tugging off his suit jacket and placing it on one of the couches. His temper not once calming, even through his movements were precise and controlled.
Knowing exactly what was to come, Olive removed her shoes and unzipped her black body hugging cocktail dress. Disappearing into her room for a quick second she stepped out of the beautiful dress and slipped on a pair of leggings and an oversized shirt. Marching back into the open space she found Elijah pacing by the elevator like a caged tiger waiting to be set free.
Oh shit it's about to go down!!!
Typing her hair up in a tight ponytail Olive spared a glance at Martha and Anthony who were cuddled on the couch in the space that separated her from her other half, munching away on some popcorn. As if she wasn't in a pot of boiling water she playfully stuck out her tongue at her best friend and casually rolled her eyes. To which, she got a giggle in return.
A low menacing growl from the other side of the room brought her attention back to Elijah. His pace quickening as the heat in his body rose the angrier he got. His eyes sporting a silver glowing color and his back tensed as his shoulders rolled forward making his body broader and bigger emanating a flare of danger. "I told you" Elijah muttered in a voice deeper than the pits of hell, his top lip curling, revealing his sharp canines "I won't stand for your disrespect." Flexing his hands in and out of tightly bound fists he continued "I told you, I was going to put you in your place."
Olive yawned, faking tiredness, her signature bored expression comfortably sitting on her face "dude, are you going to bore me to death with this speech or are we going to fight?"
Without a second thought Elijah sprung in the air, barreling towards her. Olive knew that at some point this was bound to happen. The first time she tried to reject Elijah was purely because her emotions got the best of her but seeing how those words had hurt him, she couldn't help wanting him to feel a fraction of the pain he had left her with. Elijah had never been one to take anyone's shit, not even Anthony's. Even as children he had an air of "no nonsense" around him like an aura. He was a Beta by blood and tradition, but the great thing about the Lycanthrope community, was that regardless of your bloodline you could rise up the ranks and become an Alpha. Not that Elijah wanted to become one but he was more than capable.
Watching as Elijah's body came rushing over to her, Olive took a small step to the side, angling her body just as he came flying passed her. Realizing that he missed, Elijah skidded to a stop and changed course sending a fist flying her way but with ease she ducked it. Elijah tried again, putting more effort behind his jabs but still catching air. Olive did two back flips and landed by the elevator door where he had previously been, a smug smirk flooding her features.
From the couch Martha marveled at the ease and agility Olive had managed to possess over her years of training. The only people who were bred for fighting, apart from the Lycans in the packs army were Elijah, Anthony and Alistair – Olive's twin brother.
Alistair was known as the fighter of the lot, he had gotten into so many fights as a pup and growing up that it wouldn't have been far fetched to extrapolate that he would end up as a warrior in the front lines of the packs defense. But he surpassed all expectations and ended up running the army and training up all the warriors under him. There was no combat style known to man or supernatural that he didn't excel in.
In the three years, post MIT, that Elijah had disappeared, Olive had forced her twin to teach her everything he knew. Which, to most, would take a lifetime but Olive was special and pretty soon she had become a force to be reckoned with.
Elijah stood perplexed, knowing that he had to fight smart and that meant clearing his mind of all emotions. He clearly had underestimated Olive's skill but he knew that he could beat her and he wouldn't stop until he did. "I thought we we're going to fight?" He taunted "all I see is you running away" he mused "as usual" he added, knowing he was getting under her skin.
Olive, falling for the bait, curled her lip and marched towards him. The two circled each other for a moment before Olive made the first move.
First mistake. Never make the first move!
Sending a fist hurdling towards Elijah's face, Olive wanted nothing more than to bash the smug look off of it. Emotions, obviously clouding her judgment. Elijah swatted Olive's hand with his right and grabbed her shirt with his left and flung her clear across the room till her back collided with the wall next to the elevator. Leaving an unmistakable dent in the wall and crumbling cement, Olive fell to the floor feeling her back ache from the power of the collision.
Sliding her arms underneath her body, she pushed herself to her feet and zoned her eyes on her opponent.
Oooooh Elijah you're gonna get it!
The one thing that was worse than physical pain - in Olive's opinion - was emotional pain. Physical pain can be cured with pain pills and time or if you were a Lycan; super healing but emotional pain had no recovery time. You either heal or you don't. And Olive hadn't healed from the heartbreak seven years prior. In her defense how do you heal when the only person in the entire world, the one person who was picked by the Moon Goddess to be your other half. The only person, who would understand you on a level deeper and purer than sex or a mere mental connection, chooses someone else. Having a mate was more than a relationship; it was a soul bond deeper than that of a mother and her child. It was a bond that was written in the stars eons before you even existed. Your mate was your life. When you inhaled, air not only filled your lungs but it filled theirs as well. When you were hurt, the pain your mate felt multiplied to a magnitude that could not be described in words. You were the moon and they were the sun, it was embedded into your DNA, no one else would amount or could compare to your mate but somehow Elijah managed to go against his very nature and share his himself with Mandy.
"I'm going to kill you." Olive declared pacing towards Elijah.
"Guys please just keep the destruction of the penthouse to a minimum." Anthony quipped from the couch, through mouthfuls of popcorn.
No one acknowledged him as the two circled each other once again. With a cocky bounce in his step Elijah threw a punch that was blocked and another that came to the same conclusion only to be punched in the chest sending him sliding a few paces back. Growling he came forward with more advances that Olive tactfully avoided, sweeping her foot and effectively dropping him to the ground. Using the momentum from having the upper hand, she piled fists to his face but was sent tumbling to the floor when Elijah grabbed her leg and rolled over, placing her underneath him.
A pang hit her chest as she felt his rock solid body hover over her. Pushing the feeling to the side she wrapped her arm around his neck and kneed him in the ribs. Elijah rolled forward escaping her striking blows, pushing off of the ground and bringing himself to his feet. From the floor Olive kicked her feet in the air using her hands under her to bring up her entire body. She spat out blood that she hadn't realized was in her mouth. When she was sent tumbling to the floor, she bit down on her lip successfully cutting it open.
"You look a little hurt there princess." Elijah announced a monstrous glint in his eye. Seeing blood made him hungry for more. Whenever Elijah fought he gave up a huge part of control and allowed his wolf to take over, but not fully giving in as to fully shift. That's what made him such a great fighter; he had the strength and animalistic instinct of his better half.
The word 'princess' hiked Olive's contempt to levels that she had never felt before. Her entire body shook, a wave of power making its presence in her body.
"What the fuck!?" Anthony jumped from his seat.
The building beneath her feet vibrated along with her body causing an earthquake effect that Olive was controlling. Her eyes turned white as her fists curled at her side. The glass of the floor to ceiling windows cracked, gathering everyone's attention. Martha peered through to the outside and saw the dark sky fill with thunderous clouds. "Oh no." She whispered, seeing the wind pick up and more clouds roll through.
"Is she doing this?" Elijah asked, all traces of anger gone and replaced with concern.
"I think so, I've never seen her like this before" Martha added in a haste.
The glass cracked again, the winds from the outside putting pressure and strain on the fragile material.
"Olive..." Elijah spoke softly, bringing his hands up in surrender - something he never did - but the hurricane of hurt standing before him wasn't Olive. Her brows furrowed supporting the scowl that was prominently on her face. "Olive!" He tried again.
"Don't fucking say my name" she seethed as a lightening bolt tore through the sky behind her followed by an eardrum bursting chorus of thunder. She screamed with all her might effectively shattering the glass behind her. Using her hands to guide the heat rolling off her body and the glass behind her she pushed the air sending all the shattered glass towards his direction. Elijah dropped to the floor successfully evading the sharp spears that flew past him and met with the wall. If Anthony hadn't had such quick reflexes, he and Martha would be caught in the crossfire. With a speed one could only compare to that of a flash he tackled his mate to the ground and protected her body with his own.
This was the first time since Olive's first shift and finding out she was blessed by the Moon Goddess that she accessed any of her other power. It was like a treasure chest that had been sealed and locked for a millennia had miraculously flung open revealing treasures of the unknown. The aftershock of the power alone sent Olive crashing to the floor, seizing all traces of the storm that had been brewing a few moments ago.
Silence. That was the deafening sound of chaos.
From his position on the floor Anthony asked "is everyone okay?" He pushed himself up to assess the damage and to find his Beta. Elijah had already gotten up and made his way to Olive's unconsciousness body.
Pulling herself up to a seated position, Martha shook small flecks of glass and idle pieces of popcorn out of her hair. Peeking over the couch she saw her mate and big brother hovering over her best friend.
Car alarms sounded off in the distance and she scrambled to her feet to look out and see the commotion. From her position where the windows previously sat, she saw that every building in close proximity also had lost their windows. Dropping to the pavement below. Injured bodies laid haphazardly on the floor, blood gushing from the cuts.
"Guys!" She called out "you have to see this!"
Anthony rushed over and saw the destruction left in his sisters wake "Jesus!"
"We need to get her out of here!" Elijah pressed, cradling her body close to his "her pulse is weakening!"
Elijah looked down at his mate, feeling the electricity sizzle at the collision of their flesh. Bringing a Herculean hand to push away the strands that covered her face, he let his hand linger on her cheek. She was so beautiful, her beauty never dwindling as she aged. Even as she lay there motionless, it was more than enough to send his heart aching at her flawless features. It was almost as if her beauty continued to manifest the longer she drew breath. Curling her closer to his body, he allowed himself a glimpse at her fading mating mark. Much to his surprise the mark was fading quicker than he had expected and he knew something was wrong. "We need to leave now." Elijah stood, not releasing her from the warmth of his embrace "guys! Right now! We need to fucking leave!"