CAELLUM’S POV
I couldn’t shake off the fact she went on with her plans after I warned her against it. Not to mention how she did that without mentioning anything to me, before, during and after the operation.
She had waited a total of two days before deeming it wise to inform me. Not only did she keep it from me but she made my subjects do the same.
“What happened?” I seethed, eyes roaming between the trio of Naledi, Marcus and Korah. The latter having the decency to look a bit remorseful.
“We did our job. We brought that psychopath down. I don’t see why this is a problem.” Naledi’s tone was flippant.
I could tell she wasn’t happy that I broke up the little torture Luka Donatello party going on in her basement. The dude was now chained in an underground dungeon she was not supposed to know about.
Hence how I knew she didn’t do this on her own. The presence of accomplices. I’d pick Korah if you asked me. She was the only one who’d been there before. Witnessed my craziness back in the day.
“You don’t see how this is a problem?” My tone was incredulous. “Granted, you caught Luka. Brought him back to the mansion and kept it so for a few days while having the underworld think he had been kidnapped with me as the main suspect.”
“I’m sorry, but is that a problem?” Naledi scoffed, “I thought you ran things around here. This is your territory. What danger could a little rumour with your name on it do to you?”
“And what use is Luka lying half-dead in your dungeon when the girls have been evacuated from the cave? What is your genius plan towards getting the girls back?”
A smile lit up her face. “You see, there is this farm that Luka once brought me. I figured it was his sick way of threatening me before I saved his life and gained his trust.”
I waited impatiently, wondering where she was going with this.
“Three days ago, I caught news that Luka evacuated the girls, and visited your mansion.”
“Who told you?” I interrupted, looking between them.
Since when did they report to her about me? Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
“You don’t need to know, darling.” She mused, “Thankfully, I caught that information. If I didn’t, Luka would probably be planning his next shipment. And we don’t want that, do we?”
“Get to the point, Naledi.”
She sported an eye-roll at my tone but I didn’t care. “Hearing that they evacuated the girls to an unknown place gave way to the birth of a killer idea. I decided if we were going to stop the senseless acts of Luka and save those girls, I needed to eliminate Luka. And I just did that.”
I remained silent as she recounted the events, shocking me to the core.
“I had Marcus glamour Korah to look exactly like me and placed a call to him, asking to meet.” She chuckled, “I sure as hell underestimated the power I had over him. I didn’t realise how easy it would be to lure him to a hotel.”
“It must have given him a kink to be invited to his own hotel, man walked into it without a moment’s thought. I had Korah meet him there as me and after she did her job bringing him down, I had Marcus send him over here using a spell.”
My eyes widened as I looked at the two warlocks who were supposed to hide themselves and protect their powers. “You had them use magic outside?”
“Thankfully, Marcus was able to pull it off. You can’t imagine my joy when I saw an unconscious Luka appear right in front of me. The rest they say is history.” She finished with a satisfied look on her face.
“And the girls?” I asked yet again, impatient yet stunned at the sheer prowess she exuded in bringing him down so easily.
“He dropped them at a farm where he rears animals,” Marcus answered. “The place has a high security and with the uproar about Luka’s disappearance, it’s hard to gain access.”
“That’s where you come in, Alpha.” Naledi purred, “If you could arrange for your men to get down there and recover the girls, we will be fine.”
I didn’t know what to feel. My tongues were tied and I gauged them with a new regard. “You have everything planned out,” I say, looking at her thoughtfully. “You planned and executed all of this within one day.” Now I felt proud.
It was fucking hard not to when she was exuding all the things I wanted in a woman without even trying. I knew I was a gone man when pictures of me pressing her to a wall, dominating and having my wicked way with her fleeted into my head.
Damn the fucking mate bond for messing with me at such a time, I was fucking here to scold her and yet I wanted to give her a pat on the back and if she would let me, a good fuck too.
Naledi’s voice was music to my ears. “Someone had to bring him down, and I swore I’d be the man for the job.”
Her eyes were intense and in that moment I wondered. I fucking wondered if there was even the littlest chance she’d been thinking what I was thinking. If there was even the littlest chance that she could feel it too.
The urge, desire and need to have her in the most intimate ways.
I nodded, clearing my throat. “This farm, where is it located?” I gritted, trying to get back to business.
She seemed a bit downcast at my tone but shook it off in seconds. “I’ll send the details to you.”
I nodded, searching for the right words to end this. “I will not stand for you acting out without informing me again, Naledi,” I said in a tight tone, irritated at the thought of just how much she’s flaunted my orders within the space of a few weeks. “And that goes for you both too.” I snapped at them and they bowed their heads in shame.
“While I go out there and see what I can do about the girls, you can all resume your little torture party with Luka Donatello.” My eyes narrowed as I took in Naledi, “Try not to break your toy before you grab a chance to play with him.”