Chapter 1

(Sebastion POV)

I stood at the top of the hill overlooking the valley below. My pack was prospering. The construction of all the new buildings is coming along great. The new hospital was the first to be fully finished. All the medical equipment and supplies arrived yesterday morning. Both doctors and a team of nurses spent all day setting up the building to their satisfaction.

The house I had built for the Murphys was almost complete, along with a few other houses. There was more construction to be finished, but I know with time everything will work out to everyone’s needs. Everything within the pack was going according to schedule. I have high hopes that we will complete it by fall. Winters here can be harsh, so I would like most of the housing to be completed before the first snowfall.

Arianna said there might be a need to hire a second construction crew. I looked into her suggestion this morning. There is a crew from another pack willing to help. I will call them after we get the new hospital open later this afternoon. Arianna is throwing an opening day barbeque for the pack to celebrate the new hospital and its doctors.

I know after everything that I have gone through over the last few weeks, that a pack gathering will do me good. I hope that I can finally convince Jace to leave the house. We had some minor success while Rayne and Parker were still here. The shifter has a way with children that surprised me. Parker put Jace at ease. Made him smile and laugh.

For that, I will be forever grateful to him. Parker shifted into a small pony and gave Jace rides around entry hall of the mansion. Watching the pony rides gave me an idea for Jace’s birthday party. I will have to speak to Arianna about that tonight. There was so much to do and so little time to do it in. I looked down at my watch and swore loudly.

I was going to be late for the opening of the hospital. Then after that I had to go to Portland. There were changes happening there that needed my attention. Arianna would have to go with me too, I required her signature for the new hires. She was also going to be interviewing my new assistant.

That is a position that I am not keen to fill. My last assistant was nice and all, but she was very inefficient at her job. The mess she left would take my new assistant months to fix. I sighed as I took one last look at the construction below me in the valley, then turned to make my way down there. My twin will curse me out for sure if I am late for something this important.

Once I arrived at the new medical building, Arianna gave me a withering glare that spoke volumes. I was five minutes late. With a sigh, I walked to the front of the gathering crowd. This was going to be a long day.

“Welcome everyone. We are happy to have this new facility up and running. With both hospitals, we can treat more patients as needed. There is so much more in the works, but as you can see the construction is still underway for all of that. Tonight,” I turned to look at my sister, “We will have a bonfire and barbeque to celebrate, thanks to our lovely co-Alpha, Arianna.”

There were some cheers, then we cut the ribbon. I shook so many hands I was going cross-eyed. I glanced at my watch, groaned when I noticed the time. Arianna and I needed to get on the road. Portland is a long drive, so I mind linked her to let her know that I was going to get changed and that she should too.

With a wave to the crowd, I turned to walk towards the pack house. My mind focusing on the changes we are making to the security on the building of Drakos Enterprises. So many things had been brought to my attention that I never would have imagined existed. Vampires, witches, more wereanimals than I ever dreamed of. A trip down to Shadows’ Retreat was in order soon. But first I need to see to the security of my businesses.

Rayne suggested palm and retinal scanners, Parker suggested heat sensors. Arianna and I let all the human employees go with very good financial severance packages. I know that not all humans are bad, but I am not taking any chances.

Over the last few weeks we replaced every human with a werewolf, though I am open to potential employees of other species. My security team was installing the scanners today. All the new employee scans were already on file, but they would be tested later as they leave for the day. After learning what was out there hunting supernaturals, I will take every precaution to protect my family. That was why I also ordered the heat sensors installed in the metal detectors. Werewolves, shifters, and other supernaturals ran at higher temperatures than humans.

If a human tries to enter the building, there will be an alert sent and the metal detector will go off. I will protect my employees, my pack, and my family at all costs. The Collectors will harm no one I care about.

Once dressed, I grabbed my keys and mind linked my sister to let her know that I would be at the car. Twenty minutes we were finally on the road. Time to go see the progress my security team is making. I grimaced as I remembered the second reason I have to go into the office today. To hire a new personal assistant. This was going to be an endless day indeed.

(Irina's POV)

I stood at the small fountain in the entrance square of Drakos Enterprises. The building was tall with dark glass shining in the sun. Looking up to see the top floor, my neck hurt with the effort it took. The building was easily twenty stories tall. No doubt the boss’s office would be on the top floor.

My mission is to get in and secure the job as Sebastion Drakos’s personal assistant. The position has been for the last six months. Vicktor had made that happen. He paid off all applicants to turn the job down when they were offered the job. He needed it clear for me to be in place.

I had been doing surveillance every day for the last week. Looking for flaws with the company’s outside security. Today things were more active than usual. The front entrance was tighter with security. Double the amount of guards. From their scent, they were all werewolves. A team of techs is installing what looked like retinal scanners, palm scanners, and what looked like metal detectors at the main entrance.

My mind was in turmoil on what to report to Vicktor. The plan is for me to mask my scent and go in as human. All the times I have come to the office before there had been many humans on staff. Today there were none that entered or exited the building. Every single employee was a werewolf. This was very unsettling and terrible.

Was Drakos Enterprises changing over the employee roster to prepare for something? Did Sebastion and Arianna Drakos know that something was coming their way? If so, how could they have known? No one in Vicktor’s organization would rat them out.

The wind suddenly picked up around me. Carried with it was the most enticing scent that I have smelled since the death of my mate. Hank died to protect me and our daughter. He failed. A growl bubbled up in my throat as Anya, my wolf, became restless. The wind picked up again, wrapping my long blond hair around my shoulders like a cloak. The scent was getting stronger, coming closer to where I stood at the fountain.

The smell of jasmine and vanilla hit my sense like a punch in the gut. What I thought would never happen was coming true. The Moon Goddess was giving me a second chance. Why had she chosen now of all times? Would this second chance be able to save me and my daughter from Vicktor’s clutches?

I turned my head to look behind me, my breath caught in my throat as the air was suddenly knocked from my lungs. There he was, the very man I came here to get close to. The one wolf in this world that was given to me by the Moon Goddess, was the one my master wanted for his collection. What a horribly ironic world.

Sebastion Drakos walked in my direction, unaware that his mate was within a few feet of him. I masked my scent well, smelling of a human woman. The cheap drug store perfume covering any lingering scents. He looked so fine in a grey pinstriped suite. His dark brown hair was loose to brush against his shoulders, making my fingers itch to smooth the silky-looking locks down.

As he approached me, I had to close my eyes to suppress Anya. She wanted to take control and claim our mate. It took all of my willpower to force her back down. There was more at stake than our mate. My life was on the line. My daughter, Zasha, was Vicktor’s prisoner. She was an innocent pawn in Vicktor’s game.

I will not risk my daughter for Sebastion Drakos.

I am not here for him as a mate.

There is a mission to do, and I will not let some fickle mate bond ruin it.

Moon Goddess be damned.

(Vicktor's POV)

I watched Zasha play chess as the classical music played over the room’s built-in speakers. I have to admit, when I first found the girl, I was only using her as leverage to keep Irina in check. Over the last year, the girl had grown on him. Her mind was an amazing thing. Zasha has an eidetic memory, memorizing everything she saw. I used that to my advantage in many business deals.

Thanks to Zasha, I had blackmail leverage on many clients and so many of the elite rich people who paid to see his collection. I will use the information I have if any of them told of what I am doing. What the organization I belong to does, to human law, is illegal. We don’t see it as that, because these filthy creatures are not human. Our laws will not apply to them.

Yet, if what we do is known to the world, our money will dry up. The world will know that supernaturals exist. They will no longer be a treasured prized that all the rich bitches out there will pay to see. So, I collect information to ensure that my way of life stays just the way it is. Rich.

These creatures are less than me. They do not deserve to live among humans like me. All of them deserve to be in the cages I put them in. I look down at the file on my laptop. Sebastion Drakos. He was not the most powerful Alpha werewolf that I have come across, but he was one of the richest in California. His twin is a secondary goal of mine. Two Alpha’s are better than one.

I plan to get them both into my collection, then I will make him give me all his assets or I will wipe out his pack. Sebastion has a son. I will use the child if I need to. I will get what I want in the end. I always do. I will always get what I want.

I put Irina in place to hide in plain sight next to him. She will pass as human with the ability to hide her scent. That was a surprise to me. Knowing that there are werewolves out there that can do that, gave me another idea. Find more of them, add them to my collection, then break them down like I have the others. Then I can use them against their own kind. Use them to track my acquisitions.

Wouldn’t they love that? Being tracked down by those who they think they are safe with. I let out a laugh as the irony of the idea sets hold in my mind. Oh, I am an evil bastard. With this thought in mind, I grab my suit jacket off the back of my office chair. I have places to be before I check in with Irina. I need her in place for most of my plan to succeed, but I have other back up plans if she cannot secure her task. I would hate for her to fail.

“Zasha, we have places to go, my dear,” I say as I walk to her.

Her little face looks up at me as she stands. Unspoken questions written on her face, but like the smart little girl she is, Zasha says nothing. I take her small hand in mine, then I lead her to the elevator. While Irina is in the field, I will keep Zasha close to me at all times. Irina will do anything that I ask while I have Zasha.

Sometimes I dislike that I need it as leverage, but their two escape attempts prove they needed it. I will keep Irina on a tight leash, and I will use her daughter to do it. I looked down at Zasha as we stepped into the elevator. Her little face was innocent, but her eyes were so adult like as she looked up at me. An unwelcome feeling settled in my heart. It happened often when I am around her.

I squashed the feeling down. It made me weak, and I will not let the feelings Zasha brings out in my change how I live my life. I sometimes reflect on those feelings. Sometimes, they are almost fatherly, protective. I hate those feelings for this creature. She is not my child, and I will not love her like one.

I push the feelings down as the elevator reaches the ground floor. It is time to get my plans for Sebastion Drakos secured. So, I will take Zasha to Drakos Enterprises, let Irina see her daughter by my side, to spurn her to do what I tell her. Then I will go to my meetings to set up another branch of Collectors. Soon we will have collections in every country.

There will be nowhere those filthy bastards can hide. I will make sure of it. We will all make sure of it. I will not back down from my goal to one day have all supernaturals in cages like the animals they are.

If they resist in any way, then they will be destroyed.

Authors Note

Hello, I hope that you have liked the first chapter of Sebastion's story

Please follow me on instagram: northrose28

There I will give updates as I post new chapters, and answer any questions you may have.

One differnce with His Redemption from Her Returned Mate. I have decided to write in the first person POV

Also please note that this is not a romance novel, it is a drama.

North Rose