Hendrick sat slumped in the chair, barely able to hold himself up. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his mind was still trying to process what had just happened, even though he knew very well what he had just faced.
He coughed violently, his throat sore and his eyes closing.
He felt like he was either about to faint or go meet his maker when a sharp, brutal slap landed across his face, snapping his head to the side from the force.
That opened his eyes instantly, bringing him back to the reality of things, and before he could react, Aiden gripped his jaw tightly, forcing him to look up as he purposely dug his thumb into Hendrick’s cheek to inflict more pain on him.
“You know damn well not to piss us off,” Aiden said lowly and deadly, his eyes turning darker than they already were.
“I could kill you right now,” he muttered and increased the pressure of his grip as Hendrick just sat still, whimpering and knowing better than to resist, his eyes wide and bloodshot.
“Aiden,” Bryan called out, his voice calm and telling him to control himself.
Listening to his brother reluctantly, he tightened his grip some more before shoving Hendrick’s face away with a low growl.
Hendrick gasped and cradled his sore cheek, feeling like his heart might actually fall from his mouth.
“Go and get everything you need to start the process of sending the money back,” Bryan ordered, his voice unnervingly composed.
Hendrick swallowed hard and nodded quickly as he trembled.
“Your laptop must be here, right?” Bryan asked.
“Y-yes!” Henry stammered, and before Bryan could say anything else, he bolted from the chair, stumbling as he ran to his bedroom, to get it.
His legs felt weak, his body still tired and drained from the torture, but the fear of having to go through that again or much worse, shot some adrenaline into his system.
Inside his room, he scrambled to grab his laptop and external hard drive. His fingers shook as he unzipped a black bag, pulling out the equipment he had used to siphon the money for months.
Hendrick could barely think straight, his hand slick with sweat, gulping constantly as he carried everything back to the living room, looking so pathetic.
He placed the laptop on the table, quickly plugged it in, and went to work.
His hands hovered over the keyboard for a second as he tried to calm himself, especially with the eyes that bore into his body, before he started typing.
He accessed a secured server where he had hidden the transactions under the fake business accounts, and one by one, he retrieved the stolen funds and started transferring them back into the correct accounts.
He deleted the fake invoices, revered fraudulent vendor payments, accessed the offshore accounts, and wired the funds back under direct oversight.
As he did all that, his vision got a little blurry, and the terror mixed with exhaustion that he was currently feeling made it difficult for him to focus, but he rubbed his eyes hard, trying to shake off that dizziness.
“You better not be stalling,” Ryker warned as he watched Hendrick’s every move. “You f*ck this up. We f*ck you up in many ways you can never imagine.”
“I’m not!” Hendrick yelped and swallowed hard again, speeding up.
Just as the last transfer was processed, a warrior quickly emerged, standing in front of the door. “Alphas, we have a problem.”
“What is it?” Aiden asked, noting the urgency that came with that sentence.
“We are under attack,” the warrior said.
“By whom?” Bryan demanded.
“Vampires,” the warrior answered, hesitating only a second. “They took us by surprise and have invaded the pack.”
Not wanting to waste any more time, as this was going to be war, Aiden turned sharply toward Hendrick, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.
“You must be one very lucky man,” he muttered, his voice deadly calm, which made Hendrick flinch, but he wasn’t done.
“Nothing is stopping me from killing you right now. Nothing,” Aiden said and stepped closer, his presence suffocating Hendrick the more. “But when you are done with that”-he motioned toward the laptop-“which I am sure you will be done with, do yourself a favor and hide.”
Hendrick nodded frantically and swallowed thickly. “Y-yes Alpha.”
“Good. I don’t have the time for you today,” Aiden leaned down and told him. “Like I said… You are one lucky motherf*cker.”
With nothing else to be said, Aiden, Bryan, Ryker and the warrior left, the screams in the pack growing louder as the pack was now under siege.
As they stepped outside, the scene before them sent fury straight into their systems.
Women were running, children were running, old men were screaming and pushing, some carried their babies, smoke in the air as if someone were setting the whole pack on fire and this just made Bryan’s eyes darken. He was in the mood to kill a lot of those blood suckers.
Immediately, he connected to the pack mind link.
“All warriors, listen to me. Protect the women and children first. Get them to the safe house immediately and make sure some warriors stand there to guard the place. Fighters, retrieve your weapons, and form a defensive perimeter around the main grounds. No one gets through, and if they do get through, or they already have… Kill them all!”
“Yes, Alpha!” the warriors responded collectively.
Just as Bryan finished issuing the order, he felt a sudden gust of wind pass them, and that was when he knew they were there.
Five vampires stood before them, their eyes filled with so much hunger, fangs exposed, faces twisted in malicious grins, and their muscles coiled, ready to kill.
The moment Aiden took a step forward, they attacked.
The first vampire lunged at Bryan but was met with an attack head-on.
Bryan punched the vampire so hard in the chest, sending him flying backward. The vampire crashed into a wooden pillar, snapping in half on the strong impact.
The second vampire tried to take advantage of Bryan’s momentary distraction, but Ryker picked it up.
He ducked, pivoted, and slammed his elbow into the vampire’s rib, a sickening crack following and just as fast as the crack was heard, Ryker gripped the vampire’s head and twisted it.
SNAP.
The vampire dropped to the ground…
Lifeless.
As for Aiden, he was merciless, catching the vampire that rushed to him mid-air and twisting his body as he plunged his claws straight into the vampire’s gut, watching as the vampire choked, blood spilling from its lips as Aiden then yanked his hand back, tearing out flesh, organs, everything, before it dropped to the ground, now dead.
They were not done, though; two more remained.
One went for Ryker, while the other went for Bryan, lunging at him.
Bryan dodged, spun, and delivered a kick so brutal to the vampire’s kneecap, shattering it on impact.
The vampire screamed out from pain, falling to the ground, but still, with all that pain, he tried to move, wanting to kill Bryan, except he didn’t get that chance.
Bryan grabbed him by the throat, lifted him up so effortlessly, and then slammed him head-first into the ground.
A split second later, Aiden drove his claws through the same vampire’s skull, ending him painfully.
“Empty brain for a stupid vampire,” Aiden muttered as he licked his lips, his, and Bryan’s eyes too dark as they both turned to see Ryker finishing up the last one.
Ryker had grabbed the wrist of the vampire who had attacked him as it tried to claw at him, and forced the vampire to the ground.
With one vicious movement, he tore the vampire’s throat open, letting the blood that gushed out pour on his face and all over his body.
The vampire’s body twitched, then stilled and Ryker stood up, turning around to face Bryan and Aiden, now covered in blood.
“That’s five,” he muttered. “I’m sure this is just the beginning, and how the f*ck… are they out in daylight?”
“Well,” Bryan chuckled, stepping over a corpse,
“They have daylight rings.”