A/N: I am a mind-reader. I know. I know what you guys are thinking. What is wrong with this girl? did she not say she would start updating by January 1st? 

Guess what? I want to know what you like about this first chapter. What you dislike. Hopefully, you will stay with Draco until the end of his journey. Let me know your thoughts about this.

Enjoy!

Total words: 20,902 as of now. This chapter is just 3.4k words.

*********

The gun clicked as I placed the weapon on my shoulder and looked through the lens. The night protected me like it always did, shrouding me with its shadow. Despite the moon shining bright out, no one could spot me.

It was not arrogance that ran through me. It was confidence. How many times had I aimed my gun at my targets at nights like these?

Too many. Far too many that I gave up counting them. While I did forget many of my targets, I would never forget the first. That night was tattooed in my memory.

I could still recall with precise clarity of the pale, wrinkled skin, the red lips that turned pale blue and that hollowness in the eyes that had once been lovely. The first person I had killed was a female who escaped Summer Coven's Omicron, Dave Chaiwong. She had been his sex slave and when she found that she was pregnant, she had escaped. 

The warlock came out of the cabin just as I had predicted. Smirking, I exhaled and fired the gun. It recoiled with a velocity that would have dislocated my arm if I did not have enough practice.  And Lawan, my mentor made sure that I had enough practice.

A bullet through his head. The warlock did not hear a thing and he just hit the ground with a soft thud. Had this been a normal bullet, his magic would have protected him. But I used the bullets that could penetrate through any kind of barrier. 

This would be when the guilt came up. This warlock was a good guy. Someone who worked for the Royal enforcer. He came here to check the flesh trade that reigned ever since the royal family died. He came here to save the innocents. 

I should do better. I could do better. But between my mother and this noble warlock, I would choose her any day.

I glanced at the window of the cabin. Within thirty seconds, other enforcers assigned for this mission would come out and try to track the killer. I had to escape within that period.

I sighed and began packing my gun into the bag. I had escaped in much less time, and these thirty seconds were a luxury to me. Just as the screams of a werewolf tore the silence of the town, I opened the door to the terrace and began to walk down.

My watch beeped and I pressed a button to quieten it as I took my phone out and sent a text message to the witch who had asked Dave, my employer, to take care of this. And Dave being Dave, sent me to kill the warlock.

I would not ask my employer who hired me and who my target was. The less the connection, the easier for me to kill. 

Look how that turned out. 

But Lana just had to tell me who I was dealing with tonight. She whispered in my ears about this warlock along with the dark promises of what she would do to me tonight. I shuddered. I did not want to meet. Ever.

Forest View Street, I typed. Walter Rossi is dead.

With that, I threw the burner phone in the trash that was placed on the third floor of this motel, removed my gloves and pocketed it.

Bling from my other mobile told me that the transaction was complete and I had an extra one million nyota in my account. As I walked down, a loud blaring noise echoed from a room on the first floor that must have dulled that werewolf's scream

I shook my head and came to the ground floor where the receptionist gave me a long hard stare.

"Who are you?" she asked, tapping her cigarette on the ash-tray.

I gave her my charismatic smile and pointed to the symbol my shirt had. "Mattie had called me saying the dish was down. Came to check the connection."

She nodded. "Is the television working again?"

I shrugged. "I check the problems with the antenna, not the television. From what I saw, the dish was perfectly fine. Call the maintenance for the television."

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "I will let Mattie know that."

"Good night," I smiled at her as I made my way out of the motel.

My motorbike was waiting for me faithfully where I had left it. Immediately, I removed this salesman's shirt, took my grey shirt from my bag and wore it. The other shirt had to be burned. I stuffed it into my bag. Next, I took the jacket I loved and slipped it on.

Taking the keys from my pocket, I ignited it.

I took in a deep breath as I wore my helmet. How long would I have this transient freedom? How long till I go back to the Summer Coven?

Just thinking about that coven was enough to make me retch. Did that coven have vampires? They had monsters. Only the Epsilon and the Thetas of that coven gave me some consideration. The Epsilon was the one who took care of my mother when I was away.

Shaking my head, I revved up the engine and drove with all I could into the inky, unknown night.

********

"Again?" the bouncer asked when he saw me. "Thought you told us that you won't be back for another month."

It was not on my mind to come here. I just wanted to go back to Summer Coven and crash into my bed. But that little fucker sent me an urgent message to meet him tonight. I had to know the urgency of that message. Was it a body-hiding urgency - something I could help in or I dyed my hair the wrong colour emergency? 

I shrugged and pulled the zipper of my leather jacket down. "Thought so too. But Omicron gave me a task tonight. Since the site was near, I thought, why not check in?"

Zeke grinned at me, his blue eyes matching his bye hair. This boy surely loved his contacts and his dye.

"Wait for me?" he said. "My shift ends in another half-an-hour. I want to hear it all from you."

For some reason, he listened to my rants. To the horrors of my mission even if he threw up later.  Told something along the lines of getting it out of my chest. But if I had my way, I would just quietly take my drink Peggy gave me and try my best to forget the rush I felt when my bullet took someone's life.

"Whatever, man," I muttered as I went in.

The disco lights were bright enough to blind me. The smell of alcohol, sweat and sex was mixed with lies, fake promises and betrayals.

Had I been a male of my past, I would not even dare to step into such a place. What more? I would have not even taken such a career. I had been a computer wiz back in my days and I would have been working at some company developing an app or something. Not use my skills to crash a defence system or hack into some high-profile companies.

Life sure has its own way to fuck you up.

Peggy saw me and she rolled her eyes at me. Her black hair was messy but knowing her, she could have taken hours to get that hairstyle. And her eyes, so much like my mother's softened when they landed on me. Right from the way they looked to the way they grew up, no one could say that they were sisters. 

Kessa, my mother was abandoned to her pack while Peggy was protected and cherished. It was not until too late that Peggy knew that she had an elder sister. When Peggy found us, Kessa was already in Summer Coven's lands and her life was screwed. 

Next to Peggy stood her mate who was a burly male with a friendly smile. Neil was an amazing bartender. 

I made my way to the counter, past the females and the males who decided I was up to the game tonight. If only they knew what my bag had.

I knew what a sight I must be. That motorcycle rider with dark leather pants and a leather jacket worn over a white shirt. A silver chain hung over my neck, and my finger had colour bands taped with three silver rings. My hair which was dark enough for people to mistake it for the night, did not help my image especially when it fell over my forehead.

I had been to far too many places like this to know what those people thought about me. Many times, those females and males had thrown themselves on me. It got dramatic pretty fast.

But thankfully none dared to touch me. Touch repulsed me. Perhaps it has something to do with Lana, but it did. While touch soothed the nightmares of many, it brought me nightmares.

"Peggy!" I greeted.

"Draco!" she admonished. "What are you doing here? Another mission?"

Neil took a glass. "Isn't it so soon? You had one just three days ago."

He then put two ice cubes in the glass and mixed my favourite drink. 

I gulped the contents. If only this alcohol could burn my memories as it burnt my throat.

"Dave suddenly came to me this afternoon," I said. "What else can I do?"

"Leave it! And Neil, Rodney was asking you," Peggy said. "How is Kessa?"

I closed my eyes. Ever since I changed my profession, Dave stopped touching my mother. But he still held an absolute hold over her life and death. I tried defying him once. I had to admit my mother to a hospital for two weeks as a result. My mother had been a werewolf and still, her faster healing had not been fast enough.

My mother hated what I did to make sure that she was alive. Each time I picked my gun, she would withdraw herself mentally. I did everything to keep her alive, but was she truly living? 

Peggy must have noticed my wince. She cleared her throat. "Where's that idiot?"

I managed a smile at her. "Zyon?"

She scrunched her nose. "Yes. He is supposed to be here. Sleeping away again, I bet."

I shook my head when a hand patted my shoulder and the person sat next to me. "Came!"

I suppressed my shudder. These people did not know and I wished to keep it that way. The Summer Pack was more of my family than Summer Coven would ever be.

Zeke gave that childish smile with dimples at the hard female. Peggy shook her head and left us alone.

"So," he dragged. "What brings the mighty Draco Stykes to Summer Pack?"

I closed my eyes and gave him a long look. "Did... did you look into what I asked you?"

Zeke's smile vanished and a frown took its residence on his face. "I did. Allen is safe... for now."

I sighed deeply. Zeke and Zyon were the only ones outside Summer Coven who knew about Allen. Others never knew Allen's existence. Even Rune did not know anything about him. 

With that question, I filled that blue-haired bouncer with what had happened that night. 

That warlock I had killed tonight had a name. Walter Rossi. He had a family. A mate. Two kids. A fucking life insurance. A promotion if he had completed this mission. A promotion that would have enabled him to have a safer life. 

Zeke gave me a sideway hug and held me tight as if I needed to keep myself together. As if this mission killed some part of me.  

Taking the last swing of my beer, I was about to leave when that familiar presence came up behind me.

His hair was dark as coal and his mismatched eyes never failed to stun me to this date. That crimson and azure looked purple under the dancing lights in the otherwise dim-lit room.

"Leaving without meeting me?" he asked, letting out a yawn.

I could just shake my head at him. Zyon was a male referred here by Winter Coven's Omicron. That was the reason why he even got a job here. Or the only reason he was here without working and still had a residence without paying rent.

"Peggy said you were sleeping," I reasoned.

Zyon snorted. "I was just playing games."

I chuckled. "When have you not?"

He huffed and sat next to Zeke. Upon seeing him, Neil came up.

"Good. Go take your job," the bartender said.

"What?" Zyon moaned. "I just came down."

"Your shift began fifteen minutes ago," Zeke said. "Tony is watching for you."

Grumbling, Zyon got up and walked towards the door. Waving my hands at the three people, I left the club to catch up with Zyon. After all, he was the one who sent me a message to meet him tonight. He motioned his head towards the exit and I nodded. 

"Draco!" Zyon called when I sat on my bike. "Wait!"

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Your next mission," he began.

"What about it?" I asked.

Zyon shook his head. "I can literally see all your missions, Draco. You survive at the end of them all. That's why I leave you be. But the next one, your future is blank to me."

I simply stared at him. He saw how each mission ended each time? This was the emergency?

"What?" I croaked.

Zyon nodded. "I can see the near future of the people close to me. And I do see yours frequently 'cause you are always in the line of dying."

Yes, that was exactly what I wanted to hear.

I cleared my throat. "So... you allow me to go on these missions only because I survive in your visions?"

Zyon nodded like a kid. "Yep. That's the only reason why."

"But you are telling me that my future is unpredictable from my next mission onwards?" I asked.

He nodded again. "True. That's why I am trying to stop you."

I snorted. "As if I can change my future. Even if you see me die, I would take this mission. You know what Omicron Dave is capable of."

Zeke, Rune and he were with me when I admitted my mother to the hospital. 

"How... how is she?" Zyon muttered. 

He was not asking me about my mother. He was asking about my best friend's daughter. My best friend who died protecting me. 

Zyon inhaled. "At least is she alive?"

I looked away. That much I knew. That was all I was allowed to know. 

Answering Zyon with a silent nod, I left for my coven, hoping my mother would be waiting for me with the tomato soup that I loved the best.

***********

As I parked my bike, I reinforced a lesson I learnt when Omicron Dave took me and my mother. Life was never fair and would never be.

Epsilon greeted me when I was about to enter the building that housed the ranking member's office. Rune gave me a curt nod before he neared me.

"Draco," he muttered, keeping his hands in his pockets.

His brown eyes that had the shade of the chocolate a child would be seen running with held anxiety. His jet-black hair which he usually kept in place was all messy and strewn over his face. As much as the male was strongly built, his features were soft as a rose petal. And his dark skin that did say to everyone that he was from Summer coven, appeared pale.

"Did you even feed?" I asked him.

Rune shook his head. "Does not matter. You know how Dave is on these days. Especially when he goes down to meet Aiko."

I knew how Dave was on these days. The days he went down to the prison to see Aiko, my best friend's daughter. He would be livid after coming up. He wanted to break her, but Aiko was not someone who could be broken. She continued to remind him of how her father, Sean had defeated Dave in a challenge and the only reason Dave was our Omicron was because he had killed Sean using underhand methods. 

Usually after coming up, Dave would rut his sex slaves, as if he could take his anger out on them. As if nonconsensual sex would prove him to be a male worthy of leading a major Noble Coven.

"Did-" I began, searching his face for an answer.

But all I saw was exhaustion. "No, Aiko was resilient as ever. I honestly don't know how she is holding up without feeding for six months."

I gasped. As much as I was an unshifted werewolf, I have seen what lack of blood does to these vampires. It was quite similar to a werewolf for going days without shifting. They lost their minds.

"Six months?" I exclaimed.

Rune nodded. "Six. You heard me right. When Dave saw that she was alive, he lost it. He nearly killed Jenna."

Jenna was a witch who was brought to our coven with a slave collar and paraded naked because she had defied him for buying her. He wanted her to be grateful for buying her. For sterilising her without her consent.

As much as Dave did not touch my mother now, I could never know his mind. He might just jump back into his routine back when I was not an assassin.

I got off my bike and slung the bag on my shoulder. "My mother-"

"-Kessa is fine," Rune assured me, raising his hands to pat my shoulder. But then he must have remembered how specific to touch I was.

"Rune," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "What about the thing I asked you last month? Will it be possible?"

He inhaled sharply. "After seeing Aiko, even if it is not possible, I have to make it possible."

"Why-"

A glare from him cut me down.

I could only restrain myself. Any action now would prove fatal to my mother. Or Aiko. Or us.

"I will report," I mumbled to Rune.

The Epsilon took a step forward like he wanted to hug me but still gave me space. I had the choice to decide but was I comfortable to hug him. I moved an inch towards him, close enough to feel his warmth and breath his citrus scent, but still maintained my distance. 

Understanding flashed on his face before he moved farther away. "Dave is in his office with Zoya. I linked her, she will make your conversation smoother."

I smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, dude."

He shrugged. "No problem. Zoya knows what happening, unlike the rest of the coven members. She is your mother's friend. She will help."

While I could get Dave's fangs off my mother, I could not do the same for Zoya. 

With that, Rune left the building, whistling a soft melody. I knew he tried his best to make Aiko and my life better, but nothing could be done. After all, if we were to break Aiko out of the prison, Dave would know. He was the Omicron of a Noble coven and had connections that could kill us before our escape. Only if I had connections stronger than Dave's could I save Aiko and my mother and leave.

The glassy moonlight kissed Rune's form as the shadows of the night gripped him in their strong arms and hid them from the world outside. As much as he was tall, he looked like a defeated male. 

Sighing, I pressed my thumb against the biometrics and the main door opened for me. Masking my fear, I took the stairs. Perhaps I could pin the blame of my heart racing on climbing the stairs and not on the fear of meeting Lana. But who was I kidding? Her perfume saturated this building. I could even face Dave, but never Lana.

When I reached the fourth floor, I scented three scents. Dave, Lana and as Rune promised Zoya.

Through the glass of his office, I could see Dave feeding from Zoya. Lana was reading a newspaper. I knocked on the door and waited behind it.

Seconds passed before a loud growl was heard and a gasp echoed. No... Zoya had not felt pleasure when Dave fed on her. He was a bastard who got off other's pain. Usually, when vampires took blood, they tried to give the blood donors pleasure and some went as far as giving them the experience of sex. 

"Who is it?" Dave snarled. 

He must have known from my scent. I did not mask it. 

"Draco," I answered, trying to calm my heart down.

How I wished I remained a kid waiting for my mother to set dinner.

"You," he sneered. "Come in."

I unlocked the door with my fingerprint and iris scan and entered the office.

Lana smirked at me. She was an example of someone dripping with seduction. Her bright red lips, lush bronze mane and curvy body. Had I not known what she was capable of, I would be worshipping her.

I knew that power she possessed and I was terrified of it. Lana knew that and enjoyed, revelled in my fear. She, like Dave, was addicted to fear. She thrived on it. 

"Did you get the job done?" Dave asked.

Zoya shut her eyes and inhaled sharply. I could hear the fast pace of her heart and the irregular breaths. Her fangs were out and from the way they refused to go back in, I knew she was thirsty too. But Dave would not let her have any blood soon. He would allow her to consume just the amount to survive and that too from a blood bag. And for a vampire to drink from a blood bag was akin to force a werewolf to perform in a circus. Shame. 

"Yes," I said, clutching the straps of the bag.

I had sent him and the witch a message, but from the way he looked at me, I knew he did not check it.

Dave then leant forward and took his glass of rum. Smelling the alcohol, he emptied the contents in one go.

"Aiko is alive," Dave commented.

I knew what he wanted. He knew I cared. He wanted to see me break. 

"Is she now?" I asked, trying to control the flight or fight reaction of my body. I had to be calm now, not react.

"She is," Dave said softly. "Surprising, isn't it? For a young female of her age, she does control her thirst for this long. How long is it again, Lana?"

"Six months," Lana answered. "She survived only on water and gruel."

I resisted the urge to clench my fist. Only if I had some power like these vampires, I would be able to save my mother and Aiko and go to the Summer pack. But I was a werewolf who had not yet shifted. Even among the werewolves, I was considered weak. Considered. While it was true that I could not shift to another form, I was damn strong in my human skin and could beat the shit out of anyone.

And in times like this when I wanted to growl, I knew that a beast was thriving under my skin. It had just not decided what form it would take. 

Dave smirked and he glanced behind me at my personal tormentor. When her hands touched my shoulders, I knew I was done for the day.

Zoya tried to calm Dave down by running her hands over his chest, but that Omicron kept leering at me.

Lana then pushed the bag from my shoulder and pushed me onto a chair. Biting her lips, she straddled me, purposefully rubbing her crotch against mine. 

Seeing that familiar grin, I felt my heart drop. My torture was about to begin.

*******

What do you think of Draco, Peggy, Neil, Zeke, Zyon and Rune?

Like what you have read until now?

As said, I will start my regular updates from January 1st... until then, you may get random updates like these.

Until next time,

~Quill