A Key At Last

CHAPTER 7:

Lucien's POV

I stayed in the shadows at the edge of the ballroom and watched everything as it went on within the room. The chandeliers threw light across the floor, but none of it reached me from where I stood in the shadows, and I liked it that way. I could see them, but they couldn’t see me.

My eyes were fixed on Damian in particular. He walked through the crowd with Jason at his side, looking like the perfect gentleman, but I knew him better, and I knew the beast hiding under the business three-piece suit.

Then I saw what caught him, A girl! She moved between tables with a tray, quiet and almost invisible to everyone else. Her beautiful hair was pulled back neatly, and she kept her eyes down, but I saw the way Damian’s head turned everywhere she went, and I could feel the shift in the air even from here.

“Well, well,” I whispered. “You found something, didn’t you?”

I kept to the downwind. I wasn’t about to let him smell me. A wolf like him could pick up a scent in a second so I stayed still, then slid a step to the side when the breeze changed.

The girl walked past a group of men, and I saw as one drunk idiot grabbed her arm and said something that made her face pale, but Damian was on him in seconds. He didn’t raise his voice, but every guest nearby froze and then when the sound of bone snapping filled the hall, I grinned.

“Still the same old Damian,” I said under my breath.

I saw the tray crash to the floor, and Damian caught the girl before she fell, and I felt a pulse run through the room, sharp and hot.

Mates huh?

I tilted my head.

“So that’s it,” I murmured in amusement. “You finally found the one.”

The girl, someone called Ivy, if my ears were correct, pulled free and ran, and Damian tried to follow, but she was already gone. He stood there with fists tight, scanning the steps, and I almost laughed.

“Poor wolf,” I said. “Already losing her.”

Then another scent reached my nostrils, faint but sharp. It was Blood!

I stopped breathing for a second, and I tasted the air again, slow and careful. No mistake, it was fresh and was coming from the woods behind the hotel.

I looked once at Damian. He was still staring at the night where the girl had disappeared, and he had no idea.

Moving like a shadow, I slipped out a side door as the cool air hit my face and I crossed the lawn. The music from the gala faded, and the smell of blood grew stronger with each step.

I darted into the trees, fast and silently. I didn’t want anyone knowing I’d been there, and a few minutes in, I found her. It was a girl, maybe from the party, lying in the dirt with her throat ripped open and blood-soaked the ground around her.

I crouched.

“Well, look at that,” I said quietly.

I studied the wound and could tell it was not a blade, but it was claws, big ones too. I bent lower and breathed in Damian’s scent. And under it, the wild smell of his wolf.

A slow smile spread on my face.

“Damian, Damian,” I said. “Couldn’t hold it, could you?”

I stood and brushed leaves off my coat as I walked around the body, testing the air for anything else, but there was nothing worth my time.

I looked down at the girl one last time.

“You picked the wrong night to follow someone,” I told her.

Then I ran, faster than any human eye could track and by the time I reached the city, I already knew what I wanted to do next.

My nightclub stood in the dark streets with lights flashing and bass thudding through the ground. People waited outside, desperate to get in, but my guards straightened and parted quickly as I passed.

The place was alive with music, smoke, perfume and lights, you name it. Strippers in the most exotic outfits swayed on low stages, and girls leaned over tables, laughing with men who would pay for the night. A few of the girls spotted me and rushed over.

“Lucien!” one called, throwing her arms around my neck.

“Dance with us,” another said.

I smiled, smoothly and easily, but I shook my head. This was the life.

“Not now, ladies,” I said. “Later.”

They pouted but stepped back.

I crossed the floor to the guarded door, and the two men there opened it without a word as I walked through into the VIP room.

Couches lined the walls, and a bar gleamed in the corner. A few strippers still danced for my men, but the moment I entered, they all looked up.

“Boss,” they said together.

I raised a hand and went to the biggest couch, and I sank into it, stretching an arm along the back, and then I glanced at the dancers.

“Out, Cobin, come here,” I said.

They hurried away, leaving only my crew and Cobin, my second, who stepped forward.

“Boss,” he said.

I rested my head against the cushion.

“I want something,” I said. “Information.”

“About what, Boss?”

“A girl,” I said.

His brows went up.

“A girl?”

“Yes.” I let the word hang. “From the gala tonight.”

“Name?” he asked.

“Ivy,” I said.

He scratched the back of his neck.

“With all respect, Boss, that’s not much to go on. I’ll need more than a first name.”

I stared at him coldly.

“Then check the list of waiters at the gala tonight, moron.”

Cobin raised his hands.

“Alright, alright. No need to bite.”

I smirked.

“Be glad I’m feeling generous.”

He hesitated.

“Boss, if you don’t mind me saying… you’re acting strange. What’s with this chick? Are you falling in love?”

I laughed coldly.

“Love?” I shook my head. “Not even close.”

“Then why the sudden interest?”

I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees.

“Because she isn’t just a prize,” I said. “She’s a key.”

Cobin frowned.

“Meaning?”

I smiled wickedly.

“Meaning I’ll be her nightmare…”