The Princess & Her Alphaholes by Renee O’Roark
Chapter Three
Present
Azlan Deth
She sat in the back passenger seat with the window partially down, her hand outside as it moved up and down on the airstream. The ends of her hair blew wildly in the breeze as it swirled around the car. If it weren’t for the elastic in her hair, I was sure that she’d end up with a mop. Much the way her sister’s had always looked.
I grinned. Remembering what that mop of hair looked like as her body laid prone and broken at the bottom of the stairs sent a strange surge of pride through me. The second time I’d successfully protected Xan. I had a very specific tattoo for that. There was one for the dog I’d killed, too.
Over the years, I’d spent hours watching Xan. Thankfully, she was used to it by now. So, me sitting here staring at her didn’t bother her in the least. I doubt she even realized I was looking at her anymore. She wrote it off as just part of who I am. Really, it’s part of my obsession with her. Not for the first time, I wondered if it’d scare her away to know how deep and dark my thoughts really went. And that all of them were centered around her.
I was about to send my tattoo artist’s daughter through school after this trip. Each death would need to be memorialized in ink. There were still patches on my back that needed to be filled in, left blank specifically for this purpose.
Maui said it best. The tapestry on my skin gets filled in when I earn them.
Xan rolled up her window and shoved the strands of hair back from her face. Both Wade and Issy glanced back at her in their mirrors.
She looked at me. “Where are we headed?”
I pulled the tablet from the pocket in the back of the driver’s seat. Opening a file, I handed it to her so she could study the image and file of information. She cringed as soon as she saw the name. I had a flashback to when we pulled her out of the guestroom closet after a day of hiding so she wouldn’t have to go to school.
Her eyes were troubled when she looked at me again. “I don’t really want to visit Berta.”
“It’s not that kind of a trip, love. We’re far too late for an apology.”
She studied me for a minute before asking, “Are we going to blow her up, too?”
A rush of excitement pulsed through me as she included herself in the ‘we’ of this trip. I smiled, sure it was filled with psychotic intent.
“No. Berta requires a much more hands on approach, don’t you think?”
Xan bit her lip. My gaze was drawn to the action. I swallowed, wanting desperately to take that lip between my own teeth and see what kinds of sounds I could pull from her throat. I met her gaze again.
She nodded and turned back to study the page on the screen, filled to the brim with information. This covered such details as different hair styles, makeup design, and fashion sense she’d changed over the last three years. Her employers, the places she shopped, where she’d lived. Who she interacted with, the places she hung out. Basically, all of her habits and movements.
Somehow, strangely enough, the third school after she was transferred from our town was the magic one that made her get her shit together. Thirteen was my lucky number when it came to finding the right foster family. Twelve was hers when it came to finding the right school.
Berta had also managed to pull some decent grades. She graduated at nineteen, a year later than she should have, which was quite remarkable since she’d failed every grade up until 9th. The system simply pushed her through, not wanting her hanging around any longer than she had to.
She’d gone on to receive her master’s degree at age twenty-three and was a scientist at a local research facility. Surprisingly enough, she had a promising future. Her research was cutting edge, on the brink of finalizing the early steps to colonizing other planets. Most of the work was theory only tested in a lab to simulate an atmosphere similar to ours but with a terrain like Mars.
It was actually fascinating. I’d stayed up many nights reading through the theories and her work. Too bad someone else was about to take her place as the lead on this project. Berta would not be reporting to work again after tomorrow night.
We arrived at the hotel during late afternoon, an hour and a half outside the research facility where we’d be picking up Berta the following evening. We’d be driving almost four hours until we reached Berta’s final destination the next night, and then driving straight through. Issy and Wade needed their beauty rest to drive the rest of the night and throughout the following day.
It was only a precaution, since I was sure Berta wouldn’t be found for days. And if she was recognized by the time I was done with her, it would be many weeks. Still, we were going to put a day’s distance between that location and where we pulled over again. The route was a big cluster of zigging and zagging, with a loop thrown in there just for fun.
The hotel room wasn’t anything fancy. A decent, clean room with two beds and a clean bathroom. That was important. Above all else, I looked for cleanliness. The idea of sleeping where someone else slept made my skin crawl. Such were the necessities of travel. It wasn’t like I could carry a mattress around.
We ate dinner and headed out to a theater performance that evening. It was amazing how much lighter Xan felt, now that the suffocating shadow of Brennan was gone. Wade had been keeping up on the headlines. They didn’t have a ‘person of interest’, even though there were several different pieces of footage showing figures moving around the property during the days prior. Even at that, they were sure it was a faulty switch on the boiler.
Yeah, I’d done my research.
We took turns passing through the bathroom that night before crawling into bed. Xan dropped on the bed next to Wade, which was probably the safest place for her. Wade had this weird thing about him where he wasn’t interested in sex.
No, seriously, he had little interest. Sure, the urge struck him every now and again but generally, he’d go weeks without it if we gave him that opportunity. He was good about letting us take him, though. I was sure it was because he wanted to be with us and since we wanted to have sex, he’d participate. It wasn’t like it was broken. His dick worked just fine. But there were more important things, as far as he was concerned.
So, Xan in Wade’s bed meant she wasn’t going to have a hard on pressed to her back all night. And she probably wouldn’t wake up with his dick tenting the blankets next to her, either. Wade was like Issy and I in that he wanted Xan in the worst way. But, again, it wasn’t about sex to him. He’d have her. Many times over, but he wanted to be with her more than anything.
By morning, I had a raging erection that I didn’t bother hiding. It had been days at this point and my sex drive was high on a normal day. But we weren’t about to push her, and we didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Xan finally sat up at eight that morning. I’d been awake for more than an hour with my dick straining to break out of my shorts. Wade had been awake, too, but that fucker was reading comfortably with his nice, flaccid, pleasantly cupped dick, not bothered in the least.
She looked at Wade and grinned. He smiled back.
“I’m getting in the shower,” she said as she turned to slide out of bed.
The girl wore these shorts that barely covered her ass cheeks and there were no underwear lines in sight. And her tank top was barely holding anything in with the way it was twisted. Her long legs swung over the side of the bed. She looked at me with her crazy beautiful eye, scanning down to my problem before looking at Issy next to me, who was sharing the same problem.
She grinned and hopped up, leaving the room. The soft click of the bathroom door had me sitting straight up and shoving Issy from the bed.
“What?” he said, but I was already yanking his shorts down. The hunger in his eyes only made mine burn hotter.
I shoved him somewhat roughly to the chair, pulling his legs so his ass was hanging off the edge. Dropping my shorts, I knelt in front of him as the shower turned on. We waited as I held his legs so his knees were almost at his ribs. Our gazes locked.
And we waited.
Finally, the water broke as Xan got in the shower. I listened to the pattern of the water for a time before deciding that was all the patience I had.
Gripping my dick tightly with one hand, I started to shove myself in Issy’s tight little ass. I glanced at Wade. He was watching us and smiled when I looked at him. He enjoyed watching to some extent. Oddly enough, it rarely got him to the point where he wanted to join us. He just liked to watch.
I turned back to Issy. His eyes were shut, his jaw clenched. I shoved inside him in three long, rough strokes. I meant to still after that. Let him adjust. I wasn’t a small man by any means, and it was always somewhat uncomfortable for Issy to begin with. As I said, small, tight ass. The pausing was usually so I could just bask in the sensation of him strangling me.
But I was already out of my mind with need so there was no pause. I thrust in three, four, five more times, making him grunt and catch his breath with each. I let go of his legs, leaning over him on my fists to either side of his head. He opened his eyes and our gazes locked. I paused then, only for a moment, because I enjoyed looking into his eyes when we were like this.
When he was beneath me, submitting to me. Letting me have my way with him as I pleased.
And, although we weren’t ones to talk about shit, I was sure as I looked in his eyes, I could see that he felt for me as I did him. The little smile he gave me in this pause as we held each other’s stare was almost as if he were confirming my thoughts.
I smiled back. Or at least I think I did. And then I started plunging into him again. Xan didn’t take long showers. I didn’t want to take a chance on freaking her out in case she wasn’t down with this. Fuck, I hope she was.
Issy closed his eyes, biting his tongue. I could tell by the way his jaw was clenched that I was rougher than I should be. He wasn’t exactly a quiet bottom. That should have made me take it easy. To help him keep quiet. But I was too wound. Too deprived. Too hungry.
I closed my eyes, letting the pleasure build. Feeling my cock pulse with every deep thrust. Hearing Issy’s choked back grunts. Damn he felt good. Some days it felt like that first time back in high school. Somehow, I’d managed to get Issy in bed without meaning to.
No, wait. I think I’d meant to. It was hard to recall. Was that before or after I acknowledged that he wasn’t just the boy next door who had a little stepsister I was obsessed with?
Anyway, it took me weeks of barely restraining myself from hurting him. I was just so fucking hungry for him.
Oh, that’s right. That meant it was after I admitted I loved him. Admitted it to myself, anyway. On the off chance that he just wanted to fuck, I didn’t actually tell him.
But yeah, it felt like that. Trying to restrain. Trying not to hurt him. Trying to please us both before we were caught.
The heady feeling filled my head and I pounded harder into him. At his gasp, I opened my eyes to see him jerking himself. There really wasn’t anything hotter than that. Watching as my hard, thick dick disappeared inside him as his hand went all well-shaken drink on his cock.
He threw his arm over his mouth to muffle his moans as he squirted up his chest. It covered his neck and dripped over his shoulder as he emptied himself with barely restrained noise. There really wasn’t a better feeling than knowing you’d pleased the person you love.
Well, maybe the feeling of taking a piece of shit’s life who’d hurt someone you love. That might be better. Or the same. Okay, maybe not better than an orgasm but right up there.
That is probably one of the things a psychiatrist would say made me a psychopath.
Between watching the bliss of Issy’s release, the satisfying feeling of knowing Brennan was blown to pieces, and my own heady need building, I bucked myself back and added my cum to Issy’s. I was a much quieter climaxer than him but even so, I was panting when I finished.
I rested my forehead against his. He leaned up to kiss me. I forgot how good he tasted. When he backed away, I pulled his face back up with my hand under his neck and claimed his mouth again. I appreciated that both boys let me take control. Perhaps they knew that it was a sick drive within me. That I had to have it, or I was likely to become unhinged. Neither put up a fight in anything, letting me do what I needed to do.
Maybe that was why I wouldn’t hurt Wade or his family. They saw my need for control and dominance and let me have it. That didn’t mean I didn’t have rules and expectations placed on me. It meant that they understood and made allowances to bring me comfort.
Or maybe it was what made me love them.
I released him before I worked myself back up again by kissing him. As I said, I have a very high sex drive. Issy was usually pretty enthusiastic to accommodate me and enjoy it but I could be turned on again pretty quickly. That wasn’t an option right now. Xan had finished her shower.
I grabbed my shorts and wiped us both up. We’d managed to pull on new shorts just as Xan opened the bathroom door. We were going to have to find a place to do laundry soon.
* * *
I spent the rest of the day entertaining Xan while Wade and Issy slept. They’d be doing the driving. We window shopped and for real shopped and ate whatever we came across that looked good. We stopped at a circus and Xan stared wide-eyed at the acrobats. Though she wasn’t at all impressed by the trained animals. She wasn’t a big fan of training animals or keeping animals, other than those that were domesticated.
We brought take out back to the room and ate dinner before we were ready to go. Although we paid for two nights, we wouldn’t be staying the night. We also weren’t checking out so there was no real record of when we departed.
The four of us dressed in black and left through a back alley where the streetlights were dim or out, waiting to turn on the lights until we hit the main road. We drove in silence for quite some time, Xan watching the landscape pass by at seventy-five miles an hour.
It didn’t take the whole ninety minutes planned to arrive at the facility. She worked in a big building in the middle of the city. It was new, state-of-the-art, but built in a part of the city that they were trying to restore. Which meant the surrounding area wasn’t the safest or best lit. That worked well for us.
Issy parked in the alley next to the research facility, the one Berta walked through to get to her car every evening. And on Tuesdays, Berta always worked until eight. We’d checked to make sure her vehicle was in its usual spot before parking. With fifteen minutes, I painted the white skeleton mask on my face, blacking out around my eyes and mouth. I stuck my hair in a messy man bun and pulled up my hoodie. Wade pulled one of those black socks over his face, which, in the dark, made his hood look empty when up.
“Don’t move much,” I told Xan.
She nodded, though just a little, as if the movement was too much. I smirked at her and climbed out, Wade doing the same. Wade knelt beside the front of the passenger side of the car, completely hidden from sight but affording him a clear view. I stood off to the far end of the car, hidden in the shadows of a recessed doorway.
At exactly 8:07, Berta rounded the corner into the alley, waving to a colleague. She turned and headed deeper into the shadows, not looking around in the least. With her phone in hand, she turned it on, the screen lighting up her face and dimming her eyesight. Very unwise when you’re walking alone at night in a dark, unused alley in the bad part of town.
I stepped in front of her, my hands behind my back. She didn’t see me until I was less than five feet away since she was so absorbed with her phone. Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth to scream but did so too late. Wade was already behind her, his gloved hand over her mouth. I closed in then, taking a leather belt and shoving it in her mouth before binding it behind her. We jerked her head forward, bringing her chin to her chest, and Wade slapped a patch on the back of her neck.
It was less than thirty seconds later that she started dropping. Wade zip tied her hands as the trunk of the car popped open. I slid her inside, tossing her bag and phone next to her. The patch would last for three and a half hours, making sure it had worn off and she was fully awake by the time we got to her final destination.
I shut the trunk, smirking at her passed out form. Body number one: owned.
Wade sank into the front passenger seat while I rejoined Xan in the back. Issy continued driving through the alley with his headlights off. When it was clear no one was on the back street, car or person, he turned them on and headed out toward the west, far out of the city.
Xan was quiet as we drove. She didn’t speak or look anywhere but out the window. Again, I questioned whether it was a good idea to take her along. I meant for it to be closure, but perhaps pictures would have sufficed as confirmation of their deaths. And that they suffered while they died.
But she needed to get away from Brennan. And Brennan needed to die. We couldn’t just drop her off somewhere while we cleaned up the nightmares from her past.
“If we’re not going to blow her up, what are we going to do?” Xan asked, her gaze finally turning from the window and looking at me.
“Set her on fire,” I said matter-of-factly.
She raised a brow. Even in the dark, I could see it. I smirked, wanting to lick her face. Soon. Soon, I’d lick her everywhere.
“And then what?”
“Watch her burn to death.”
Issy let out a quiet huff of amusement
“And… then what?”
“What do you mean? She’ll be dead. That’s one more person off my list.”
“Shouldn’t it be my list?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I have a list of people from your past that put you through unnecessary trauma. I wasn’t able to fully deal with the situations then, but I am now. I’m rectifying my shortcomings. You can add someone if you’d like. Or multiple someones.”
She considered me for a minute. “Are we killing them all? Everyone on your list?”
I nodded. Xan mirrored the movement. Rain started pelting down on the car. She looked at the roof warily. “Does this change anything?” she asked, pointing to the roof.
I smiled. “Nope. Rain was in the forecast purposefully.”
Xan nodded. “Okay.” Her quiet voice was filled with uncertainty.
“You don’t have to get out of the car,” Wade said. “You don’t have to see.”
“I want to watch,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Issy asked. “It’s not something you’re going to forget.”
“How many people have you watched burn to death?” she asked Issy, turning to look at his profile.
Issy smiled because we all knew she would not be expecting this answer. “Three, Xan. And no, I haven’t forgotten anything about those deaths.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“We all had pasts to settle,” Wade murmured.
“And we needed some practice,” I said.
Xan sighed and turned back to the window.
We’d left any signs of civilization a while ago. Now it was empty fields and a decrepit house every once in a while. Issy pulled off the road and turned his headlights out, driving along the packed dirt drive through the one-time corn fields. In the back, partially blocked from view by a line of trees, was a shed that was on its way to collapsing.
Right now, it was a drenched shed. One that wouldn’t burn too quickly.
We parked on the far side where it would be completely out of view from anyone who happened to look in this direction. As Issy put it in park and killed the engine, we heard Berta’s muffled screams. I handed Xan a pair of foot coverings and gloves.
“Should I hide my face, too?” she asked as she slipped both on.
I shook my head. “No. I want her to recognize you and know why she’s dying.”
We finished and got out, shutting the doors quietly. Issy popped the trunk and our passenger no longer looked like a respected, upcoming scientist. Hair disheveled, clothes a mess, makeup running, face covered in tear-streaks. I grinned, sure that the look – with my hood up and face paint – was more horrifying than recognizing your captors.
I pulled her out roughly, setting her on her feet and shoving her to the barn. The rain pelted down on us, soaking through our clothing pretty quickly. Issy pulled a lantern from the trunk and shut it, following us to the barn.
The lantern illuminated the inside of the barely standing barn. It was surprisingly low on leaks. The remains of hay were dry. As were the debris from when the barn was in operation. Wade checked on the stability of the center post and nodded. He shut the door behind us to keep the light from causing too much attention.
I unbound Berta’s hands and ungagged her.
“I have money,” she said immediately. “I can get you anything you want.”
I rolled my eyes. Xan crossed her arms, leaning her weight on one hip.
Issy shook his head. “Why is it everyone thinks it’s money we want?”
Berta’s eyes widened.
“Do you know this girl?” I asked, gesturing to Xan.
Berta’s eyes glanced her way and back to me as she shook her head.
Wade sighed, picking up a rusted machete. He flipped it in his hands as he approached Berta. She took several steps away but wasn’t nearly quick enough to dodge Issy’s ready grasp. She hadn’t realized the three of us had surrounded her. Wade slapped the end of the handle on the side of her head. She cried out, trying to drop to her knees. Issy grabbed her by the hair and yanked her face back up.
“You best look closer, Berta. You spent half a school year terrorizing her,” Issy growled. He wasn’t so good about keeping his emotions in check. I grinned.
“I was a troubled child,” Berta said. “I’m sorry. For whatever I’ve done to you. I was a horror, I know. But I’m not like that anymore. I’m better.”
“So nice for you,” Issy said. He must have gripped her hair tighter because she choked on a gasp.
“What about all the girls you bullied? How are they faring?” Wade asked, his voice much calmer than Issy’s, though I could hear the strain in it.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her attention moving to Xan. She knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere reasoning with the men. But perhaps she could get a response from the softer female. The one who hadn’t said anything. “I’m sorry. Please. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Can you give me back the half a school year you made me too afraid to leave my house?” Xan asked. “Did you know I stopped eating for a while? I was in therapy for my eating disorder. I was too afraid to eat, sure you’d somehow managed to poison it and I’d end up in the hospital. Or dead.”
I looked at Xan. I knew about the eating disorder, of course. I had never heard about the rest of it. By the looks both Issy and Wade gave her, they hadn’t either. It was something she’d kept to herself.
“Alex… I don’t remember. But your last name was Hale, right?”
Xan nodded. “So glad I managed to leave an impression.”
“I am truly sorry. I came from a bad home and all I knew how to do was hurt other people.”
“At least you apologized,” Xan said. I couldn’t tell by her tone whether she was serious or sarcastic. Clearly, I’d spent far too long out of Xan’s company. I no longer knew her every little tick. That would have to change. She looked at me. “Do it.”
“No,” Berta cried. “Please!”
Wade and Issy tied her to the pole while she screamed and struggled. The three of us piled hay and other highly flammable material around her feet, along with her bag and phone. Perhaps this was feeling too ‘witch trial’ for her, or maybe she recognized what was about to happen to her.
Issy and Wade moved to stand on either side of Xan. It was my turn. They’d get theirs soon but this one was mine. I hadn’t been able to end her all those years ago. I tried but I would’ve risked being taken away from Wade and his family. From the girl and her stepbrother next door. I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I am now. No one can take me from them anymore. No one.
“Please!” she begged between sobs.
Here’s the part that Xan really didn’t know about. The reason Issy and Wade had seen three others burn to death. I’d needed practice. They’d had people from their past that they needed to get rid of.
I smiled, a look I was sure was truly unsettling. Perhaps even frightening. Moving my hand from within my pocket, I opened the palm to her, showing her that it was empty. Taking a deep breath, I let my rage reach the surface. That part of me that was only ever barely in control. The part that was always just right there under the surface, peeking out.
What made it so difficult was not controlling the amount of fire I made. Yes, you read that right. This was the part I’d needed practice controlling. A spark lit in the palm of my hand. It danced like a sparkler before it grew into a true ball of flames.
Berta’s eyes widened. And she started to scream. I dropped the fire at her feet and watched as the material surrounding her, old and dry, burst into flames. The flames spread, creeping at her feet. I blew a second fireball in her face. Her screams rang in the air, filling me with a sick satisfaction.
I backed away, pushing the three of them behind me and out the door. We watched Berta scream as she burned to death through the door that we’d mostly shut. Through just a crack, the fire danced, grew, stretched to reach the roof.
“This isn’t just for me,” Xan said, leaning back into Issy’s chest. “It’s for all the people she tormented.”
She was wrong. It was only for her. But if it made her feel better to think of it differently, that was fine by me.
When Berta finally stopped screaming, Wade shut the door the rest of the way and we headed for the car. Issy deposited the lantern in the trunk. Wade sat Xan inside the backseat and took the foot coverings from her shoes before she turned in. The three of us did the same, tucking them inside a toiletry bag along with our gloves. I washed off the face paint as Issy started toward the opposite side of the field with his lights out.
Xan kept watch on the barn through the rain. The fire hadn’t gotten big enough to call attention to itself yet. It would. In time. We’d be long gone.