Cole rushed into Alexei's office, and Darren sank low in his chair with a groan.

"How nice of you to join us..." Alexei commented smoothly as he zipped up the spare pants he had Anna bring to him when we had arrived back at the house. He grabbed his dress shirt off the back of his chair, slipping his arms into the sleeves. I tried my best to not stare at his sculpted body as he laced the buttons through the holes. Our eyes connected for a moment, his lips lifting up in a smug smirk. I quickly turned my face away, puffing out my cheeks in frustration. 

"Anna said you ran into some trouble..." He made a face of disgust, "What happened? It smells like death in here." Cole asked with a tense voice, eyes searching over Darren as if he was concerned he might have a hair out of place. 

"That would probably be the zombies." Alexei commented with a matter of fact tone, as if zombies were something that he dealt with everyday. Cole tilted his head to the side in shocked confusion, "I'm sorry but did you say zombies?" 

Alexei took a seat behind his desk, chair creaking under the weight of his body, "That's what I said." 

Cole glanced around the room at the three of us, Darren and I still in our dirty clothes. He still seemed mildly confused over the concept not that I blamed him for that, "Is there anything that I can do to help?" 

Alexei twisted his chair back and forth with a look of boredom, "No the matter has already been handled. However, you can take your mate and get him cleaned up...his stench is beginning to bother me." 

Darren stiffened in the chair at his comment and I watched him push up out of his seat quickly, "You're a real asshole you know that?! No wonder my sister doesn't want you." I think that must have been the wrong thing to say because Alexei chair came to a sudden halt and he narrowed his gaze as he lifted his face toward my brother. I felt a wave for fear and adrenaline surge through me.   

Cole came to Darren's side in a rush of movement, grabbing him by the back of his neck. Darren sucked in a breath of shock. I could already image the sensations he was feeling, probably the same ones I felt when Alexei touched me. The grip he had on Darren was firm, looking just on the edge of painful, "You will not talk to my alpha that way." 

I pushed up out of my chair, calling on my magic, "Get your hand off my brother." 

Cole turned his face in my direction and flashed his canines, "Not this time little witch. You won't get in between me and what is mine." 

"Poppy, stop..." Darren says in a tense voice, "We don't need you losing control again." I held his gaze for a moment before I relaxed a bit more, lips pulled tight together. I didn't like this situation anymore than he did but he had a point, I didn't want to unintentionally harm him in my quest to rid us of our canine counterparts. 

Cole watched me closely with suspicion, hand still wrapped around the back of Darren's neck. Darren took in a deep calming breath, "I apologize for the comment, I may have overreacted." He was much more diplomatic than me, this moment was making that fact exponentially clearer. Cole let go of him as soon as the words left his lips. 

Darren readjusted his dirty shirt as he created more space between them, "That being said, If you ever touch me like that again I'll cut your hand off." He says it with a calm demeanor, "And if you ever talk to my sister like that again, I won't stop her from blowing your mangy ass away. Are we clear?" I have to choke back a laugh as I watch my brother hand this guy his own balls back to him, that he'd just verbally ripped off. Cole looked equally surprised by the words being thrown at him, the big powerful Lycan being taken down a few pegs by a human. 

"I asked you a question..." My brothers voice rose, his stance becoming a bit more aggressive. 

Cole looked toward Alexei as if he would tell him how to handle the situation he was now in. Alexei shrugged his shoulders, "Don't look at me. Answer the boy's question." 

He clenched his jaw tightly before meeting my Brother's gaze, "I understand." He practically spat the words out, as if they were poison that someone had tried to feed him. 

Darren  relaxed a bit, "Good. We'll talk about 'personal boundries' later." I was really trying hard not to laugh at how Darren was handling this huge bear of a male, "Right now I need a shower and clean clothes. I'm starting to offend myself to be honest." Cole stood there in uncertain confusion, I think his world must have shifted on it's access to find out that he might be the submissive one in this whole mating situation. 

Darren glanced over his shoulder at me, "You going to be okay on your own?" 

I gave him a look, "I can handle psycho without any help, thank you." 

He gave me a small smirk before turning back to Cole with a firm expression, "Well, do what your alpha bids. Take me to a shower." He waved his hand as if he were some kind of servant. I watched the way Cole's body tensed and his eyes narrowed into little slits. I doubted that Darren would get away with poking at him like that for long before he wised up. He turned away, the two of them leaving me alone with Alexei. 

We sat in silence for a few minutes, "Having some control issues, snowflake?" His question had me tensing up, "Magic not working the way it should? Maybe I can help you with that." I turned my face in his direction with a sneer of contempt on my lips. It was his fault that I was all screwed up in the first place, all this had started the moment we met. 

"No thank you. I can handle whatever issues I have on my own." I snapped back, "If you want to worry about anything it should be the fact that whoever tried to attack us, knows that we're with you." 

He pushed up out of his chair with ease, not looking the least bit concerned, "Your dark druid is going to have to send a lot more then a couple of zombies for me to give him a second thought. Right now, I only have one thing on my mind and that's you...and all the things that I plan to do to you." His eyes grew darker as he moved around the edge of his desk toward me. 

I took a step backward, not liking the way that he was looking at me, "You won't be doing anything to me, ever. Not as long as I have air in my lungs." 

"Says you." His lips twitched up into a wicked smirk and I took another step away, the small of my back colliding with his desk. I narrowed my eyes and lifted my chin, to look more threatening at the moment than I actually was, "I'd like to see you try. We know how well that has worked out for you so far." 

Alexei pressed me up against his desk, arms wrapped around either side of me--so I was caged in. Our chests were pressed into each other, "You have no idea what I'm capable of, snowflake." He reached out and brushed my hair back over my shoulder, the action caused my adrenaline to spike. His hand wrapped gently around the back of my neck, It was intimate and threatening action all at the same time, "I've been going easy on you, letting you believe you are a free bird...simply because I enjoy watching you flutter around. The pretty little bird has no idea of the cat who is waiting to devour her when she flutters too close..." 

He dropped his head to my neck, teeth scraping along the side of my neck, resting at the soft spot. A moan escaped my lips as my soul magic surged through me. My body was humming with unwanted delight. I clenched my hands tightly on the edge of the wood to keep myself from grabbing onto him. 

"You smell like jasmine and honey. I can't get enough of you." He growled into my ear. His canines pressed harder to my flesh and a sound of frustration and pleasure passed my lips. I couldn't stop myself, no matter how much I wanted to remain unaffected.

"I don't want you." I pressed out through gritted teeth. 

"You're a terrible liar. You might not like me very much but you want me. You want me very much." His arrogance made me want to punch him in his smug face. Yet, my body hummed with need and he growled low, "I will have you, snowflake. You can fight me as much as you like. In fact I quite like fighting with you but in the end you will be mine."I bit into my cheek as I pushed him away from me, and he let me. I basked in the freedom from his assault but my body mourned his touch.  

"Now, Flutter away, little snowflake. Flutter away while you can. Well talk about your dark druid over dinner." He gave me a toothy grin that had my blood running cold. I didn't waste another moment before I turned on my heels and ran out of his office. My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest as I raced through the hallway to the safety of my bedroom. I threw the door open and slammed it close behind me, locking it even though it seemed a bit redundant with the circle I'd cast the other day. 

My problems were beginning to stack up and the biggest problem wasn't the possibility of a dark druid. No, the biggest problem was whether or not I was going to be able to resist how much my body craved my psychotic mate. 

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Song: Prisoner- The Weeknd (Ft. Lana Del Rey) 

A/N:Things are heating up. :-)