When the Wolves Cry (Twin Flames Duet #1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

JAX

Five fires in the past year have been written off as negligence. Her grandparents make it six. The difference is five young women have been reported missing within seventy-two hours of those. They were either the homes of their families or their own personal homes.

If the same plan was set for Tala, she would’ve disappeared within the same time frame. So… what’s different?

I need confirmation that Pyro is in fact Brutus Tuffin. But with the bright red fucking dots, it’s a given.

Dogfighting wasn’t too bad here in Anchorage until his arrival. There’s dog mushing, but those dogs have the time of their life hauling sleds through the snow. There were also no fires covered up, girls randomly vanishing. The timing of events is too convenient to be a coincidence.

The man that killed my father—is also going after my girl.

A soft knock comes from my office door. I glance away from the double stacked fifty-seven-inch monitors that have been burning into my retinas, over to the knock that hasn’t let up.

“Just come in, Leon,” I huff.

There’s no reason to continue knocking after three knocks.

He slowly opens the door like he’s worried I’m going to be naked or some shit and walks in with an awkward smile and a brown paper bag. “You’ve been in here for twelve hours, man. You know how many long pisses I’ve had to watch of Sirohi’s? Five, man… Five.” He stares off, as if watching a dog take a piss is taxing, then sets the bag down on my desk. “Anyways, we went to that taco and crab joint that’s right by the inlet, picked you up some blackened salmon tacos.”

With how busy I’ve been, Leon’s taken it upon himself to be Sirohi’s babysitter. Not that I mind. I appreciate it.

Sirohi hauls ass past him, water dribbling from his mouth, and sets his chin down on my knee. I scratch his head, watching my gray sweatpants gradually turn charcoal in color. “Thanks, Leon.” Leaning back into my chair, I rub over my glitching eyes and point to my monitors. “Here are your cameras. They’ve been performing well. I haven’t noticed any lagging or anything.”

He walks around my desk with a pep in his step, eyes twinkling with the excitement of getting to keep his head.

She’s dressed and doing her makeup in her bathroom.

He’s cool though. Even if she was doing something for my eyes only, he’d look away.

He smiles brightly, rubbing his hands together like a fly. “Ah,” he breathes elatedly. “I did good! You did good! No surprise there though. You had chicks drooling down their faces and following you class after class in college.”

My brows furrow. “I don’t remember that.”

He shrugs. “You had murder on your mind, man. Chicks wer e? diggin’ your scary scowl.” Tapping his fingers annoyingly, he hums in thought. “What was her… Oh! Viola Saunders! She was weird as fuck about you. I remember she-”

“Leon,” I growl, wanting to rip my eyes out. “Is this important? Because the girl on my monitor is. I don’t give a fuck about the irrelevant bitches from college. I care about hunting down the fucker that’s going after my girl and her family.”

He cringes, scratching his buzz cut. “Ah… I’m sorry, man. Anything I can do to help?”

“Just keep searching for the forums and encrypted chats. I have reason to believe it’s Brutus.”

“No fucking shit.”

I pull up the document I’ve been putting together, just to keep my shit straight and compile everything in one spot.

My servers are wall to wall encrypted, impossible to get past. So, even if someone caught wind of me being on to him, they wouldn’t be able to do fuck about it. I’d like to see someone try and come after me. I’d find humor in it.

While he reads it over, I start tearing into the tacos.

Sirohi’s beady eyes are peering up at me, knowing I don’t give his spoiled ass scraps. My freezer’s overflowing with just the meat I use for his raw diet.

“You’re on to something,” he draws out, still looking it over.

I clean my teeth, tossing the foil into the brown bag. “I need to shower,” I sigh heavily.

His brows raise, a wrinkle running over his forehead. “You need to sleep, dude. Unless Mija here likes your dark circles.”

“I’m sure she does,” I counter. “Besides, I don’t have time for that shit. There’s not a chance I’m letting her wander around a chaotic place without being close enough to step in. I don’t trust that he doesn’t have dogs working for him.”

“Where is she going?” he asks.

“A fall festival.”

“Can I go?”

I stare at him, trying to find the drop of patience I have left. “I’m not your keeper, Leon. Do whatever the fuck you want.”

He clutches his sternum, pretending to be wounded. “Do you talk to her like this?”

“I haven’t talked to her.”

His jaw drops, and he slaps his hand over his mouth, pointing to the monitors with his free hand. “You’ve been watching a chick you haven’t even spoken to?” he asks, words muffled behind his palm.

I’m not explaining myself to him. Instead, I maintain eye contact until he backs away in horror and leaves my office.

It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m simply just trying to give her some time. But I think that time has run out.

I look back to the feeds, biting my lip over how crazy her curves are in tight, black jeans. I don’t even have an up-close view of that shit, and I can see the stark contrast between her waist and hips.

The camera’s hidden in crispy ass roses on the farthest wall of her room. It gives me the widest, highest shot without invading her privacy.

I guess that’s a bit contradictory.

Not a fan of the many flesh suits walking around. I’ve been doing my best to ignore them, tracking every divine movement she makes.I’ve seen her entertain a kid, get free food, and flash Nadia a look of disgust after her eyes landed on Blaze Hendrix.

I found that interesting.

Not only the fact that my girl wasn’t interested in whatever the fuck her feral friend said, but the way Blaze has been stealthily watching her.

I know who he is. He knows who I am. He’s friends with Travi s? Guildon. They’re often in the tunnels selling blow or getting their asses handed to them in poker.

So, I’ve been watching my little wolf. But I’ve also been watching the way Blaze is tracking her.

Taking a drag next to some ride that’s tossing around the meat inside bags of bones, I wait for Tala and Nadia to get inside the bar canopy, then put my cigarette out on the bottom of my sneaker and shove it into my denim pocket. “Come on, boy,” I grumble, making long strides towards the roaring bonfire.

Sirohi keeps up with me, dodging th e? dumbasse s? stumbling around and aiming for Blaze who’s on the phone—and watching her stand in line.

I round the fire and stalk up behind him. “What are you doing?” I ask gruffly, ripping his phone from his hand and noting Travis on the line.

He twists around, eyes bugging out and hands shooting up in an awkward surrender. “What do you mean? I’m just hanging out,” he lies.

My lip twitches, feeding into a snarl. I hold his phone up to my ear and ice the fucker out with daggers. “Whoever’ s? first at telling me why my girl’s being watched—gets to live.”

“I was just helping Travis,” Blaze rushes.

“Oh, you motherfucker!” Travis shouts through the speaker, instantly hanging up.

It’s cool though. This dude’s about to shit himself.

Blaze takes a step back into Sirohi’s trap, prompting a low, vicious growl from him. “Don’t waste my fucking time. I’m not opposed to adding your corpse to that bonfire.”

“I-I can explain,” he stutters.

“So do it!” I bark, lip rippling.

He flinches. “I’m just supposed to watch her! Travis cut me a deal and said I’d get a lifetime supply of Bolivian blow if I kept her in my sights.”

“For fucking what?”

“I-I don’t know. All he said was for future personal reasons.”

It’s not a crush. They’re up to something.

Tala’s already grabbing her damn drink. I quickly scroll through his phone, only seeing disgusting texts that require bleaching my eyes t o? unsee. “If I catch your dumbass doing it again, I’m punching a hole in the ticket I’m giving you.” I whistle for Sirohi and walk away before all these people end up witnessing me tearing his eyes out with my fingers.

“Uh… Can I have my phone back?”

“Yeah, sure, man.” I twist around and launch it at his face.

It cracks him in between the eyes hard enough to whip his dome back. He grunts, throwing his hands to his bleeding face, and I turn my ass around, stalking towards the siren getting away.

I still need to look more into Paxton Levine. I got far enough into research to know he works a t? Wyvern’ s? In k ? on the strip in town and he gets the highest bids on his sculptures at th e ? Haunted Gala of Arts .

Once I have Tala a few feet away, I slow my pace down and pull my mask out from my hoodie pocket, watching as she stops and bends over to pick up the trash Nadia dropped.

God, the way she laughed when Nadia almost pissed her pants. I knew it’d be infectious. It’s as smooth as smoke and comes out so naturally.

While slipping my mask on, I catch some punk staring at her ass as she walks away from the trash can. He’s in the middle of shoving popcorn in his mouth, letting it fall out and cling to his beard.

I glower at him, standing still as stone. He finally meets my eyes and scurries off, tripping over his untied laces and eating the pavement. I walk up to him, stepping over his body and intentionally crushing his butter fingers under my heel.

He screams in agony. But there are a lot of screams around us. It gets lost in the symphony—and I carry on my merry fucking way with Sirohi at my side.

I pull my mask all the way down and watch Tala hug Maverick through the little slits. I remind myself they’re just friends. Though, I still get smacked with jealousy and force myself to look around, so I don’t rip his arms off.

It’s been a month, and I haven’t gotten to feel her.

I’m slowly closing the distance between us, jaw ticking over his hands caressing her back. It pulls the hairpin trigger holding my patience together.

She tears away from him and stumbles onto her ass, and I tilt my head, curious as to how she’s already buzzed.

I’m too pissed to find humor in it right now.

With only a few feet in between us, he helps her up and she instantly bolts. Right into the maze.

Maverick spots me.I get a glimpse of his amused nod before running after the raven silk swirling around in the fog. She’s pretty fast on her feet. It’s thrilling. Fireworks begin exploding under my chest, zipping down my abdomen and fueling my goddamn need for the vixen.

The eerie music and shrieking swell inside my head, fading into nothing but white noise. I’ve been right on her sexy tail since I ran in after her. Close enough to reach out, cage my hand around her throat, and back her up into me.

I slow down as she darts ahead and runs into a tunnel.

Don’t fucking do it.

The Devil wants me to. I? nee d? to.

Sirohi sits on his haunches outside of it, and the rope tying us together begins pulling me in. I can barely fit in this goddamn thing. The hay’s scratching the top of my head. It’s easy to ignore when my slit vision is zeroing in on how fast her heart is racing for me.

Her feet shift, telling me she’s about to try and escape, and she sprints for the other end. It just pumps my dick harder while I easily stride up behind her.

I don’t mean to, but I finally reach my arm out and feel her tight waist on my palm. All my carnal desires combust and pump my muscles.

It’s fucking kismet. Her and I.

She yelps, and before I can process what the fuck I’m doing with this girl, I have her pinned against the wall and her wild hips in my hands.

My heart’s slamming in my ears, guiding my head lower to see her pools of honey and rosy lips.

I’ve never been this close to her. And fuck if she’s not a damn sight that steals my breath and weakens my knees.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to touch me,” she wavers raspily.

I note her arms resting on mine, her sharp nails embedding into her palms. “Hmm,” I growl. “You’re right, little wolf. I’m not.”

Realization widens her sultry pools of honey, and she reaches up, her fingers sliding under my mask. Making my heart palpitate.

She’s touching me.

And God, it feels like little stars dancing on my skin.

“You see me all the time, but I don’t see you,” she whispers.

With her hypnotic eyes locked on my lips, she wets her own. It warrants a smile on my face. I know she’s wondering what they feel like. “Do you like what you see, baby?” I ask, stepping closer into her open legs.

“I’m not impressed…Yet,” she says deftly.

She wouldn’t be opening her legs more or breathing heavily if she didn’t. My little wolf shamelessly eye fucked me when she threw that door open. But I guess she still doesn’t realize it’s me. Yet.

I bend down into the intoxicating scent of warm vanilla that envelops her. Close enough to feel her pouty just barely brush mine. “Take it off. If the saddle doesn’t impress you, I’m sure the ride will, Tala.”

I have to put distance between our mouths. I want her begging for it before I feed the hunger. So, I draw back a bit, keeping my composure as her fingers glide up my face. She’s piecing it together, her heavy lids slowly rounding with every inch revealed.

Once the mask is off, it becomes torturous to not cup under her ass and haul her up into me.

I have my full vision back. And I’m seeing her the closest I ever have.

She’s unbelievably perfect. There’s no possible way this girl isn’t a specimen sent from Venus.

“You killed Liam, brought me flowers, left the dog tag?” she murmurs, holding her hands up like she’s fighting the urge to grab me.

“Yes, ma’am,” I drawl, hungrily gazing at her lips.

They’re so full they protrude out, crafting an indent around her top lip that I could easily get my teeth around, draw it into my mouth, and taste the coconut that’s glossing it over.

Needing more of her, I run my hands from her hips to her waist. A groan forms in my throat from how unholy it feels. It almost fucking slips out as she whimpers right in my face.

Fuck.

“I have to go,” she rushes.

I’ll catch her again. I know she wants it just as badly as I do now.

I remove my hands from her little ribs, backing away and giving her the space—to run.