The Lycan Kingpin's Captive: A Baby For The Beast novel Chapter 49

I look over at Niko with a frown on my face. We’ve stopped in front of the gilded gates where the Elders supposedly live and from what he’s told me, they don’t know he’s here. I suspect he’s about to retaliate for what happened, but I cannot be sure.

“Are you going to tell me why we’re here?” I ask, a sliver of unease slipping down my back. “You haven’t mentioned a thing and to be honest, this is all freaking me out.”

It’s nearly 8 PM; the Gammas are on foot, Maxim is overseeing things back home and Ares is asleep on the backseat in his little chair. Why would he have the Pente out here with us if it wasn’t an infiltration? What does Niko have planned?

Niko reaches over and touches my chin. “Do you trust me?”

I scoff. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I trust you!” I say, then he leans over to place a kiss on my lips.

“Then trust me now. No matter what you see or hear in there, trust me and my words,” he says cryptically and gets out of the car. Walking over to where Ares is, he removes him from his little seat, and hands him over to me with a warm blanket.

I hate being out here in the cold and dead of night with him, but Niko has something planned so I should just trust in him for now.

Taking my hand, he leads us up the stone steps to the mansion while holding something in his other hand. I feel the Gammas are close, but not too close to cause attention to be drawn to them.

I don’t see any guards stationed around the perimeter at all, which I thought was odd until I see Ghost slip around a corner and realize something that makes my heart drop.

Nikolaos might be taking out the Elders tonight.

“Not a word, little rabbit,” he says as he opens the front doors. He knows me so well already that he can pick up on my thoughts and it makes me smile even as unease sets in my heart.

His loud footfalls echo throughout the mansion and yet I still see no guards approaching. The place feels more like a museum than a packhouse - art displayed everywhere, antique furniture and unique contraptions I realize are all torture equipment.

Oh, gross.

We turn a corner where I hear voices; then he walks into what seems to be a dining room where four people are seated having dinner together. They seem ancient, graying, and well dressed; but they jump up when they see Niko, surprise and some fear in their scents.

“What is the meaning of this, Nikolaos?!”

“You can’t just barge in here!”

“Where are the guards!”

They all clamor to get their annoyance and surprise out, the looks on their faces now becoming masks of anger. While they’re looking at Niko with disgust, no one seems to notice me.

Niko lets go of my hand and takes a step toward them with the bag in his hand. “Karras Elders, forgive me for simply barging in while you’re having dinner together. But you’ve given me no choice, seeing as you’ve refused to see me for the last week.” He says, maintaining his smile.

One of the women scoffs. “So you decide to sneak into our home like this? Unforgivable!” she says, slamming her fist on the table while one of the men steps forward.

“Care to explain what’s going on?” he asks, looking down at Niko as if he’s trash. “Is this your so-called surrogate and bastard?”

I can feel him bristle, ready to tear them apart, but then he chuckles, looks back at me, and winks.

“Indeed,” he says. This is when Niko reaches into the back bag and pulls out something that makes me dry heave - two severed heads - then he throws it on the table in front of them.

“I’ve also come to return what’s left of your daughters,” he says, and screams erupt around the table. One of the women screams so loud that she tumbles backward, while the man holding her looks at the heads with a blank expression.

“What is this?” he whispers, white as a sheet.

Niko gestures for me to approach, then he places an arm around me. “I’ve kept my end of our agreement; not only do I have a Luna, but an heir,” he says proudly, then his voice drops low. “But if I so much as suspect you might be in my territory, I will not hesitate to do to you what we did to your daughters.”

He doesn’t wait for them to respond, he simply walks out with no fear and his head held high. I’m really not sure what the point of this interaction was, so I turn to Niko with a frown on my face.

“Did you need to do that?” I ask as we walk down the steps again. “You dragged us out of here just for that?!”

Niko chuckles and shrugs. “Oh, you mean this?”

I’m about to ask why he’s smirking when my heart nearly bursts out of my chest at the explosion behind me. I hold Ares close while my jaw drops open at what I’m looking at - Niko has just blown up the mansion with the Elders still inside.

Flames burst through the windows, and from here I slowly hear the four heartbeats slowing down and reduced to nothing.

“Niko!” I try to keep my horrified voice low, but he simply shrugs and pulls me close while we walk away. “What the hell was that?!”

“Did I forget to mention they were in my territory?” he says, grinning and I remember his last warning to them. I’m still shaking as he walks us to the SUV, uncertainty gnawing in my gut. This isn't good!

“But what if their children attempt to get revenge for their deaths?! What happens to us?!” I now shriek, knowing this can’t be the end of it, but Niko cups my face gently and kisses my forehead.