42. Out of her comfort zone.

Deangelo.

Luca had to drag me down with him to this party because in his words, “you need to get out more and have fun. Staying so focused on making the plans and working will do more harm than good, that is why you are literally always cranky.”

I set my fizzing glass on the table as I try to contribute to whatever it is that the men around me was talking about. The dance floor glowed as red and green laser beams shot out from the rotating lights in the ceiling. It was a luxurious party yet it was packed with people dancing and jumping to the DJ’s throbbing music. The floor pulsed beneath my feet, and the heat radiating from the mass was inescapable. My eyes roved over the tightly packed crowd. They reminded me of penguins huddled in the cold— on crack.

Another chick, the fourth if I am accurate walks up to me confidently and after the briefest of hesitations, she came to perch on the corner of the sofa right where I sat on, ankles crossed, hands proceeding to roam about my body. I shake my head politely declining her advances and she got up gruffly and left.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Luca yelled in my ear, giving me a friendly punch to the arm. His hazel eyes glittered in the dim light. “That was the fourth chick you turned down tonight, and we just got here.”

I shrugged. Saying that I was bored with the meaningless sex and monotonous flirting seemed pretty pathetic so I simply said nothing instead.

And then something walked in that finally caught my fancy, something beautiful. And I knew those legs and body from anywhere even while majority of her face was covered with a fashionable mask.

Elena.

I was surprised to see her in a gathering like this, not once did I ever think that Camila will be able to get her out of her comfort zone. She seem to always be contented with staying indoors with the kids and whenever she went out, she always has her face covered, I knew that she was of course trying to protect herself from being seen by the men who had once kidnapped her but it was still quite weird.

Damn. She was beautiful. Anything she puts on herself just always sit perfectly well on her even without her having to do too much.

She had a supermodel figure— tall and slender, but rounded in all the most alluring places. Her bone structure was delicate, but her depth less golden eyes were steady and unflinching. Her shiny red hair was clasped behind her neck. Her manicure and makeup were natural shades. Even her lipstick was a nude shade with only the barest hint of berry pink. Somehow that was more tantalizing than garish red, drawing my gaze back to her wide, lush mouth again and again.

She wore simple gold jewelry— hoops in her ears, a chain with an ornate knot that sat in the hollow of her throat and a ring designed like ivy that twined toward the knuckle on her middle finger. Her clothing was a sexy, white cocktail dress and the thin spaghetti straps did almost nothing to hold up her full breasts, but it fit perfectly, molding to her body, and it made her skin look darker than it actually was. Her shoes were a matching white heel with red soles.

She wasn’t even flirting like other women or overdoing her sex appeal, though. So I was not sure why I always felt such a tremendous pull towards her. She had accosted me the moment she moment she had entered into the gathering, quiet and graceful as a ballerina. Slithered, I had myself of her near-silent entry. I wanted to view her as a viper, like Midas.

She was too sensual looking to be a cold-blooded reptile, though. I couldn’t tell what she was beneath her understated, faultless demeanor. Inexplicably, a hummingbird came to mind, one that appeared pretty and small when she was still, but with a heart that was beating a mile a minute. I didn’t know anything, but I sensed the way she remained alert, ready to dart away at the least startling movement.

I even surprised myself with a fantasy of her long, slender legs squeezing my waist while I plumbed the depths of her sensuality, my mouth catching her cries of culmination.

A hot bolt of desire grounded itself behind my fly, causing the flesh there to twitch and thicken. I bit back a curse, completely missing what Luca was saying.

“They say Salvatore is in this gathering,” I finally out a voice to his moving mouth as I immediately snatch my eyes from Elena’s body.

“What?” I exclaim. “Alone?” I ask, hoping to get an affirmative answer so I could just claw the beast’s head off once and for all.

“Of course not, he’s not dumb.” Luca said as he looks in a particular direction and I follow his gaze only to see him seated at a corner with two other men.

I glare at the three men that were socializing and laughing as loudly as they could at a noble distance to me. I look at how happy Salvatore is with his position and life, oblivious to the one him and his pack left alive, their worst mistake ever and what would be their end.

My grip on the wine glass in my hand tightened, the glass cracking a little as fury shook my entire body, demanding vengeance and blood for the memory and repetitive words that had just gone through me. Loud screams rang in my ears, the familiar scent of blood penetrating my nostrils while various images popped in my head swallowed by pain and sadistic laughter.

Everything inside me screamed to shift and snap his head off then feed his carcass to wild animals, ending the useless life that shouldn’t have breathed this long anyway, but I restrained myself at the last moment. Certain beings do not deserve a quick, fast death, especially not this one. After all, my rules are very simple. You get what you earned by your actions, and do not cry for mercy when you displayed none through your life.

I swirled the glass in my hand, enjoying the sound it made and wondering about the power of water. It could adapt to any life circumstance, no matter what nature threw at it. If it meets cold, it becomes ice; if it meets heat, it becomes water; if someone uses fire on it… it floats in the air as steam, never letting anyone destroy it. There is a lot to learn from water and Mother Nature; unfortunately, humans are too stupid to take lessons from them. Instead, they destroy nature bit by bit, thinking it will never retaliate against them. But you can poke someone or something for only so long before the injured party decides to end the threat once and for all.

The heart in my chest has one purpose and one purpose only, to pump the blood in my veins. Otherwise, nothing but coldness resides in it, and nothing has the power to soften it. Because goodness cannot exist in darkness, and everyone looking for it there are fools ready to die.

I stand up and walk up to Elena to let her know that I saw her, “Elena? I am so very surprised that Camila succeeded in dragging you out of your comfort zone.” I said extra-warmly than I intended.

Ugh.

She did not say anything but only give a smile, “Be of good behaviour, Elena. I don’t want to be a party pooper so I will just leave you alone to enjoy yourself, I am here on a mission after all.” I said as he proceeded to leave, only to stop again abruptly, “oh and I would be quite careful too, this place has some predators.” I added with a glare at her as I straightened my tie and walked around her out the doorway.

Several minutes later, after socializing with people, I come across Camila who is of course in the company of a man, “where is Elena?” I asked, ignoring the man before her.

“Uh... I left her with you sir. I was about to to come to her when I saw you both together so I decided to just leave her be so she can socialize too.” She said and I glare at her.

“What in the gibberish are you even talking about? I did not even spend up to five minutes with her? So are you trying to tell me that you have not seen her in the past minutes, almost an hour that I had left her alone?” I almost yelled, but then I calmed myself down, Elena was not a little kid that needed babysitting but for someone who had brought er here, it was literally her responsibility to stay with her.

Camila got up instantly, “I will go look for her,” she said as she disappeared.

Minutes later, we meet up again after looking through the whole house and without even saying one more word to Camila, I rush out of the venue of the party in search of Elena. Whether or not Camila followed, I did not care enough to know.

I walked around for several minutes while calling Elena’s name but she was still yet to be found and at this point, I was getting livid, had she left again? Did the men she had been running from kidnap her right back?

Several questions ran through my mind as I ran around in the cold night, but then I heard a loud scream. The scream that rented the air was as good as a siren. Nobody screams like that unless it is terror beyond endurance and so I ran in the direction, it was an alleywa, one that led home.

I saw a man at the end of the alleyway, his clothes looked like they were once high end, but with enough wear and dirt anything can look like rags which was what was what it looked lie on him now. Rags. His skin was hidden behind layers of grime and his hair hung as a tangled mop of brown and grey.

I looked at his feet and I notice him bend down to take advantage of someone, I rush at him instantly only to find out that the person was none other than Elena. Her clothes had been ripped and her naked body was all out in the open.

Burning rage hissed through my body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off me like ferocious waves. Anger boiled deep in my system, as hot as lava. It churned within, hungry for destruction, and I unleashed it.

I rushed at the pig of a human and snap his neck rendering him dead in a twinkle of an eye and as I carried Elena in my arms after covering her up with my jacket, I had only one regret about the man I had just killed.

I should have castrated him first.