Violet Ashes: The Blood Ridge Alpha - Chapter 78: Chapter 78

Arsenial
All I can do is watch. She has each piece in the order she cut them, sitting on the table while she fixes the box they're going in with pink, sparkly tissue paper and glitter. Before she started, she put on music from her phone—a special playlist for this occasion, or perhaps just her favorite tunes. The song currently playing is a little- she's playing A Little Piece of Heaven, but Avenged Sevenfold. She's humming to it, nodding her head to the beat.
Mates are something that is preached to us from the very start. It's said that the person we are meant to be with brings out the best in us. And as I watch mine carefully place the pieces of the man she just cut up into the gift boxes, all I can think is that this isn't what I expected.
Is she supposed to bring out the best in me, or am I supposed to bring out the best in her? Because I can't help but want to test the limitations of what she can take. The idea I had for my life is shifting, and the limitations of a submissive mate are long gone. I want to see more. I want to know how far she's willing to go to get what she wants. I want a front row seat for the rest of my life.
"Hello?" she sings, catching my attention.
"I'm sorry. I was spacing," I sit up to give her my attention.
"All done. The cleaning crew will take care of all of this. Ready to go?" she asks nonchalantly.
"Have you eaten anything since you had a wrap for lunch?" I ask, jumping off the table.
"Creepy that you know that," she laughs, and just as she's about to tell me a lie, her stomach growls.
"Come on. I know a diner that serves this late."
"Miss Wilde," a girl in a hazmat suit approaches us.
"Yes?" she spins around to face her. The girl looks at me skeptically as she holds up a phone. "Mr. Taurus, what can I do for you?"
Mr. Taurus? No fucking way she has connections to the Korean Mob.
"Of course, I'll have my best guy on the job. No, it's not a problem. We've been friends for a while, and I do believe I owe you for the explosives a couple of weeks ago," she laughs casually. "Right, have a great day, Mr. Taurus. It's always a pleasure speaking to you."
"Would you like me to contact Stanley?" the hazmat girl asks.
"No, let me call the Rockstar first. Finish up here. I'll let you know what he says," she hands her the phone back. The girl bows and walks off. She comes back to me, or rather, her backpack beside me. "Give me a second, I have to call something in."
"Sure," I agree.
"Yeah, it's two-forty. I got a call from the Korean. He needs a job done. It's in a couple of days. Rome is busy, and I can't send Baby out. Next best thing for this is Stan." I hear a long groan from where I'm sitting. "I know," she laughs. "Your call. Maybe ask Crazy what she wants to do." There's a really long pause. "You're right, but we have the option now. If you don't want to send Stan, I can call the clones. No, I will not call Amelia, she's such a fucking pick-me girl. Call Crazy. You have five minutes before I call Stan.
"Because every time I call her, she shows up at my house unannounced. Your mate is her sister. There's someone who loves to hear about her recovery. She makes me feel bad about not going to therapy. If I wanted to fix myself, I would get a lobotomy. Thank you."
"Everything okay?" I ask when she tosses the phone into the backpack.
"Yeah, just trying to decide who to send. Promotions are cool until you realize you actually have more to do." She lifts herself up onto the table. "Do mind if we wait for a bit?"
"I do, but I understand you're working," I roll my eyes. She laughs at the words she said to me not that long ago.
"What did you need from Cruz?"
Everything in my body screams no. Selling guns within the city limits is an insane offense. I'm not sure I want to make her an accomplice to that, especially since the guns are going to the Alpha King's guard. Mostly, because if word got out to her father, he'd become a bigger problem than he is now.
"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you that," I admit.
"Like you're working for someone, not allowed?"
"Yes," I scratch the back of my ear.
"Hmm," she hums and nods. Just as I'm about to ask her what she means by that, her phone rings. "If this is a three-way call, I'm punching you the next time I see you, Rogue King," she answers. "Sweet, saved yourself a black eye. I'll let her know."
"Why did you hum?" I stop her when she hangs up.
"Huh?"
"You said, hmm. Why?"
She grins and laughs as she walks away. Drop it. Fucking drop it.
-No- Assail growls inside of me.
"No?"
-No.-
"This is our mate, dog. We have to drop it."
-No.-
"We can go," Violetta says, taking the backpack from the table. "Ready?"
"You have to tell me why you hummed," I shake my head.
"Seriously?" she grins, and it bugs me because it's become my favorite smile on her. Only when it's directed at someone she's being a little shit to.
"Seriously," I reach for her hand and pull her to me. I sit her on the table again and trap her here. "Why did you hum?"
"Your wolf is showing? You haven't told me his name," she cups my face gently. "Hi, handsome."
He flares at her acknowledgement. The demand for answers is all forgotten.
"Don't change the subject. That shit might work on him, but not me, Moonlight," I give her thighs a hard squeeze. She squeaks and tries to pull away. "Ah. Ah." I warn and laugh because the last thing I expected was for her to be ticklish. "Tell me."
"You don't strike me as someone who works for others. It's one of the reasons you were never recruited by the organization I worked for. You do things your way, regardless of the cost. You have a real vision. Something that drives you. It's just disappointing to hear you say that you can't tell me how to help you because you're afraid."
"I'm not afraid, and you forget."
"Forget what?"
"That even as an alpha, I am still a subject," and I am honored to have been chosen by the Alpha King to do this for him.
"Savage?" she asks. She says his name like she knows him personally, and then scoffs. "You get savage his weapons? That bitch."
"That is your King you're talking about," I remind her.
"Yeah, he is, and he's a fucking asshole," she snorts. "Okay, I won't get involved. I was just trying to help."
"By?"
"Getting you what you wanted."
"Now, why would you go and do that?" I laugh.
"To be helpful. When I'm stressed, I tend to become very moody. I like it when you're being creepy and cute."
"You know those things don't go together, right?" I smirk. She pushes me back and reaches for her belt.
"What are you doing?" I growl, looking over at the cleaning crew that's scrubbing her little work area.
"Proving you wrong," she says and pulls her jeans down enough to expose her leg. On her thigh, there is a Ghost Face tattoo. Only it's pink and meant to look sparkly. "How cute is this? Hmm? This is the cutest tattoo ever. Perry has the OG one because she didn't want to get the pink one," she laughs, pulling her jeans back up. "Cute and creepy. I hope people describe me as that."