As Viktor gazed deep into her eyes, he no longer wanted to conceal his past. He suddenly wanted to confess why he’d been so careful with her, why he hadn’t made his intentions clear.
“My pack lived in a small community in Russia. These were troubled times for humans—so much struggle and bloodshed. Among Breed, resentment grew when Shifters claimed more and more land. As you know, most countries enslaved us, so my homeland was a place of refuge. There were many immigrant Shifters who traveled from distant lands. Then war erupted and changed everything. My brothers heard of this America—a new country with much undiscovered land. They wanted a new life. You must understand, I respected and loved my alpha brother, but I also loved my country. I wanted to fight for what was ours. We did not part on bad terms, but it was very difficult without my pack—my family.”
“They left you behind? How dreadful.”
“I chose to stay. You cannot force a man to follow another. I had different dreams. My brothers had settled with mates. The hardest part after they left was the quiet.”
Viktor searched the room, wishing he could dull the pain. “We were separated for two hundred years. I received letters, but they were slow to arrive. We used birds where I was from. Shifters were paid good money to transport mail across oceans. But so much time had gone by. The little ones I knew had grown but remained in the pack. New ones were born. I was missing my family. Violence had exploded in Russia, and I was part of many strategic operations.”
Assassinations was what Viktor meant to say.
Lenore leaned back. “Let me guess. You dropped everything to live with your family. That’s so beneath you, Viktor. Why would you settle for following a Packmaster? Is that really enough to fulfill you? Didn’t you have greater aspirations?”
Viktor stood. “I wanted a normal life, but I struggled to learn this new country. They built the Keystone house when they first arrived and added more to it as the years went by.” He looked out the window, the memories flooding back in an instant. “I had no place in their new home. There is no honor in asking for a second chance. I wanted them to respect me as an independent wolf, but I yearned to be with family. English was not easy for me to learn, so I went many decades without knowing. There was no need with so many immigrants. I became a bounty hunter, which allowed me to travel and see this great land.” He reached up and gripped the brown drapes with one hand. “I thought if I could earn enough money and build a reputation, this would impress my brothers.”
“And did it?” she asked, still sitting on the floor.
He stared at a paper sack tumbling down the empty street. Shopkeepers were lifting the security gates to their stores and preparing for a new day. “Yarik did not want a lone wolf in his pack. Family is imperative to a Packmaster. His pack was traditional. So I would visit with them, drink with them, watch their children grow. Those were but a few short years.”
“What happened to them all?”
He noticed her reflection in the window when she stood up behind him.
“Tell me,” she pressed.
“It took me four long months to track down a powerful couple wanted for high crimes. They were not easy to capture. He was a Vampire and she a Mage. When I found the woman, I subdued her with a stunner and gave her to the Mageri. I did this without her mate’s knowledge so he would not run. I almost died the night I captured him, but by some miracle, I was able to impale him. After handing him over to the Vampire elders—”
“Wait, why didn’t you turn them in to the higher authority?”
“If you lived here at that time, then you remember they were not a trusting group. The Mageri hired me, but they had no authority over Vampires. The local elders were more than happy to take him off my hands for money.” Viktor turned his back to the window. “The woman was executed immediately. When her mate found out, he escaped. I did not know this until much later. I had gone back to Keystone for a brief visit before I found another job that would pay well.”
“I sense where this is going.” Lenore moved to the chair and gracefully sat, legs crossed. “Hell hath no fury like a Vampire scorned.”
“He slaughtered my family and signed his name in blood on the door.”
“Did you kill him?”
“Nyet. I sought justice through the courts.”
Viktor recalled the long train ride back after hearing the news. He remembered his heart sinking at the sight of blood on the gates. By the time he had made it back to Cognito, the cleaners had collected the bodies. Due to the sheer number, all were cremated. As the only living member of the Kazan family, Viktor inherited the entire estate. Years had passed before he could walk in the overgrown courtyard. That was where the children were herded and killed—the greatest atrocity of them all. No one knew the details of how the Vampires executed their attack, but his family had put up a fight. Several decapitated Vampires were found, others with limbs ripped off. In one fell swoop, his entire family was wiped out.
All because of him. Viktor had accepted the risk that those he hunted might track him down someday, but he never imagined they would go after his family.
Viktor still carried that guilt. Attacks against Shifters for property weren’t unheard of, but typically it was a land war with other Shifters. The Vampire authorities had deemed the assailants unfit and put out a bounty on their heads. It was no mystery who was behind the atrocity given the Vampire had signed his name in blood across the front door. He’d left that just for Viktor.
It took several decades for Viktor to capture them all, and he did it between jobs. Viktor received a hefty sum for each one. Those he turned in were charmed for information to be sure no one involved in the crime was missed. He turned them all in, dead or alive. When he finally captured the head Vampire, who would earn him his fortune, he kept the monster impaled for days while pondering what his brothers would have wanted.
In the end, the honorable thing to do was turn him in alive. When they announced the trial date, Viktor asked to attend. He wanted to see the animal face justice in case the death sentence was carried out swiftly, which it was. That moment brought him peace, and that was when he first got the idea about forming an organization.
Viktor closed his eyes and imagined the lush gardens in the courtyard—the sweet daffodils, the rosebushes that wrapped around the walkways, the Japanese maple trees swaying like fire against the blue sky. It had taken work to clear out the weeds, and he fertilized the earth with the ashes of his family. Viktor added the winged statues wielding swords as protectors—symbols of an ancient Breed rumored to have guarded mankind. They were the Breed version of angels, only feared. One statue in the garden symbolized the immeasurable loss.
Carrying on was his purpose in life, as was honoring what his family lived and died for—the idea of a better life. Every criminal he caught was one less tragedy that would happen to someone else.
After a long silence, Lenore stood before him. “The sun is on the rise.”
Viktor snapped out of his intrusive thoughts. “I am pleased your Vampire gifts have returned.”
She hugged his arm. “I understand you better now. Let’s find time this evening to talk more. Not about your past but your future. How does that sound, darling?”
