Clearing the last step, he first saw Ceric standing in front of the portrait of himself, smiling like an imbecile. He could just imagine the ribbing he was going to get from him about this. From the corner of his eye he saw movement. Burkhart and Brandr were standing together looking down at a painting of a naked woman, while teasing each other. As he stepped into the studio they all looked at him with very different expressions. Ceric had a boastful look on his face with a teasing glint in his eye. As Wulf looked at him he winked.

Shaking his head, Wulf looked at Burkhart who was looking at him with an envious look. Burkhart was the daredevil of the group always pushing himself to do the impossible. Wulf was sure if Burkhart had been human he would have died by now. He never took Burkhart for one that was pinning for a mate, but his look said otherwise. Thinking about it, he did not think that any of his brothers would have said that he was longing for his woman but in the end, he had been.

Wulf turned to look at Brandr. Women loved Brandr, but he ignored most of them. Brandr used women for sex and then tried to get away from them as fast as possible. He was now looking at Wulf with an air of dejection and even sadness. Wulf knew that Brandr was terrified of finding his mate after what had happened. Brandr’s brother had found his mate, but one of the Keres MC had killed her. His brother had lost it, he had gone out on a killing spree. We all tried to stop him, but there was nothing any of us could do, and in the end Brandr put an end to him.

“Thanks guys for coming. We need to get my woman’s things to the compound as soon as possible. I don’t want to be here for much longer.”

Burkhart nodded, while Ceric winked at Wulf saying, “You’re not going to get out of this one that easily Dude; come on spill the beans; we are all dying to hear about it.” Brandr smiled, shaking his head. Wulf had known they would be curious and that they were all going to tease him without mercy.

“There’s not much to tell. Her name’s Jasmine and we have bonded. And all you fuckers can keep your hands and eyes to yourselves when around her.”  Not a chance in hell was he going to tell them how out of control he felt when with her. He had always prided himself on control but now with Jas he had just lost all his willpower. He heard a noise behind him, turning, he saw her coming towards him. 

His heart skipped a beat and then started to thump as he watched her approach, he noticed that she had tied her hair up in a bun. Her cheeks were glowing and he realised that she was embarrassed. He smiled until his eyes lowered and he noticed how her T-shirt moulded her breasts. His mouth went dry, remembering the feel of them.

“Jas!” Why had she come down? He wasn’t ready to have other men around her.  Looking around at his brothers he noticed they were all scrutinising her. He felt such possessiveness; he just wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her upstairs again, he didn’t like other men looking at her. 

“This is all I need for now. If you are taking my stuff it’s basically everything upstairs and this painting,” she said, motioning to the portrait of himself that she had painted yesterday.

“Yeah, we can’t leave that behind, I have just the place at the compound where we can hang it,” Ceric replied laughing. Brandr and Burkhart, knowing that Wulf was being teased, snickered. 

“Very funny!” Wulf growled giving Ceric the finger. Walking forward, Jas stood next to him. Instinctively he put his arm around her shoulders bringing her closer to his side. 

“Angel, these are three of my brothers, they here to help with your stuff.”

“Hi, I’m Jasmine.” Automatically she moved to hug Brandr, as he was the closest. Suddenly she was shoved behind Wulf. He had moved so fast that she was startled when she heard him growl, standing before her, facing the person she was about to greet.  

“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” Brandr stated bringing up his hands. Wulf knew he was overreacting, but as soon as he saw that she was about to touch Brandr, he saw red. “Dude relax, your lady was just going to greet us. Weren’t you Sweet? She obviously doesn’t understand how possessive we men can be of our women.”  Ceric tried to diffuse the situation, knowing how on edge Wulf was.

“Yes, I was, I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to touch anyone.”

Looking back at her, Wulf noticed her shocked expression. “I’m sorry Angel, didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wasn’t prepared to have you around other men so soon.” He moved slightly so she had a view of the three warriors pointing to each one in turn. “Ceric, Brandr and Burkhart.” All three nodded. Bringing her hand to touch Wulf’s back she smiled at the men in acknowledgement.

“We brought you another helmet,” Burkhart said. Wulf loved motorbikes. He would rather be on a bike than in a car any day. The men knew that he needed the speed to put everything into perspective after getting himself mated.

“Do you like motorbikes?” Wulf hoped that she did, because motorbikes were one of his passions. When he needed to think or just get away he would get on his bike. He had three bikes and was looking forward to riding with Jas on them.

“I have always wanted to ride if that helps but never had the opportunity.” She could see that that had pleased him as his lips quirked not in a full smile but nearly. 

“Good you will be riding back with me. Guys will you be fine? I want to get her to safety as soon as possible.” 

“Sure, go ahead. We will get everything sorted, we’ll have everything there by tonight.” Brandr, already moving towards the steps replied. Wulf looked at Jas to see if she was watching Brandr. Women professed to love him. His looks complimented his personality. He had a hot temper with his dark brownish red hair and light green eyes so that with his olive skin, he stood out, but she was looking at her painting, not even paying attention to the men.

Escorting her out of the gallery he moved towards a motorbike that was parked at the curb. The only word that crossed her mind when seeing the bike was sexy. It was all matt black, but a bully of a bike. This bike complemented him so well she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Here, put this on.” He handed her an open face helmet, helping her tie the strap under her chin. He then got on the bike, tilting it slightly so she could get on. Once the bike was moving, she forgot about everything except the feel of freedom that she got as Wulf sped through the streets, heading out of the city. She could feel the wind on her face, it felt like flying. As they rode she relaxed the death grip that she had around his waist and started to enjoy the ride. They rode for about twenty minutes out of the city and onto a mountain pass. The area was beautiful. She had never had much opportunity to visit the outskirts of the city as she had never had her own transport or enough money. As they rode past row upon row of huge eucalyptus trees she could smell their perfume. She knew that she could ride like this throughout the day, that’s how enjoyable it was. 

They turned-in at huge gates that had appeared between the trees. He stopped just outside the closed gates looking up at the cameras. Jas heard a grinding noise; looking around him she saw the gates opening. As soon as the gates were open he took off up the driveway, if you could call it that. They must have ridden for about ten minutes before they came to a clearing, where she spied a huge building built into the face of the mountain with the Elementals MC logo of wings with the words Elemental MC below. Jas hadn’t seen the building from the road, because of the trees. Nearing the building he directed the bike to the right side where a double garage door was raising as they neared. Riding inside she gasped flabbergasted; no one would ever believe the size of this garage that was excavated into the mountain. There must have been about ten cars, if not more, in here and a lot of motorbikes too. This was crazy, whomever these men are they must have money.

Wulf parked the bike near others that were there, leaning it slightly for her to get off. “That was great, I would have never imagined the feeling of freedom I got on the bike. Thank you, Wulf.” Smiling, he leaned down to take her lips in a passionate kiss. A long while later he drew back before he lost all control. She was like a drug to him; the more he had the more he wanted.

“My pleasure, we can ride anytime you like.”   

She didn’t think that she would ever get used to the intensity of his gaze and the way he made her stomach flutter. “This place looks huge, you would never say from the outside what you can find inside. And all the work and money that must have gone into digging into this mountain. It’s amazing.” When he had spoken about bringing her to the compound she had imagined something like an army base, but this didn’t look anything like that. 

“Come, let me show you to your new home Angel.”  Wulf had started to relax now that they had arrived and he had his woman safe.

Walking towards a door at the far side of the garage Wulf put his arm around her pulling her close to him. The door opened before they reached it and a tall, handsome ‘god’ walked out. Jeepers, are all his brothers this handsome, this one had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. What colour was his hair? She could see different shades in the light, from dark brown to a very light blonde. He had an air of authority about him. 

“Welcome back brother.” The stranger greeted Wulf by stretching his right arm, Wulf clasped it by the elbow and the stranger did the same. She could feel the affection these two men had for each other. So far, all the men she had met wore similar attire, jeans and black T-shirts. She wondered if it was standard with them or just a preference.

“Draco this is Jasmine, my woman. Jas, Draco is our leader and my best friend.” She stretched her hand out to greet Draco but saw the look he threw at Wulf. Wulf nodded but she noticed that his jaw was clenched, once again she had forgotten about the no touching other men rule, this was going to be hard, she was an affectionate person and now she had to watch every move she made. 

“Nice to meet you Jasmine. Welcome to the compound. If you ever need anything just let me know.” Draco greeted, taking her hand.

“Thank you for allowing me to live here Draco.”

“You are with Wulf now, so there would be nowhere else you should be.” He smiled. Wow! He had a killer smile too. Not as blinding as Wulf’s but handsome nonetheless. As they made their way through the door and down a long corridor she could see pockets of light coming from openings in the ceiling. It was amazing how they had built this in the mountain. Walking around a bend, the corridor opened into a courtyard that had an opening in the middle of the mountain. Looking around, she noticed various corridors leading away from the courtyard. It was beautiful here; there was a small spring under a huge tree that now had small white and pink flowers. There was also a beautiful bench situated right under the tree. Looking up to the top of the mountain walls, she noticed that the opening of the courtyard at the top of the mountain had a type of metal grid covering the opening.

“This is so beautiful Wulf, I love it.” He had a tender look in his eyes as he looked at her. Whispering close to her lips. “Not as beautiful as you, you take my breath away!” Lifting his head he winked at her, his playful action surprised Draco. Wulf wasn’t the playful type. It was very rare to see him smile or even laugh. Just this little action made Draco happy to know that this mating might be a good thing for his friend.  

“If you will excuse me, I will see you later.”

“Wulf will I see you in the training centre when you’ve finished showing your woman around?” Wulf nodded, circling Jasmine’s waist, he led her towards a corridor on the right side of the courtyard. She saw a huge sitting room as they entered on her left, with dark grey couches and a plasma screen that took up half the wall. At a glance, she could see that it had all the latest entertainment technology. Guiding her onwards there was a closed door to her right. 

“Brandr’s room,” he enlightened her, as he noticed her glancing at the closed door. As they carried on walking she noticed that on her left-hand side there was a long window and inside she could see some type of an infirmary. Wulf stopped abruptly and she realized that they had reached another door on their right.

“This is my room, now yours too Angel.” Bending down he lifted her off the floor.

“Oh!” she gasped, as he carried her into the room. Inside he lowered her and used his foot to close the door. Looking around, she was surprised to see a huge bed in the centre with a dark grey cover and pillows. Besides that, the room was sparse. There was a TV screen on the wall and a stereo system under it. Walking towards one of two doors within the room; the door was slightly open, so she could see a bathroom with a shower stall and bath. Oh, the luxury! She thought. She headed towards the other closed door. In there, she found a walk-in cupboard the same size as the bathroom. Here she found various shelves; some had clothes, others had weapons and others were empty. At the far end, she spied a full-length mirror. Turning, she realized that Wulf hadn’t moved and was watching her with a closed expression on his face.

“This is all amazing Wulf, the way all of this is in a mountain and it’s like a little apartment block in here.”

“How did you guys find this place? And why do you live in a mountain instead of outside in the main building?” She had moved closer to Wulf and was now an arm’s length away. Stretching his arms out, he brought her closer to his body; she laid her head against his chest while he embraced her.

“It is safer here. More difficult for the Keres MC to sense any spikes in energy. The mountain blocks in the energy vibrations that might be produced here, and the trees all around us in the area too. That is why I brought you here, you will be safer than anywhere else. With our bonding, your energy level grew. If you were left in the open, the Keres MC would find you in no time.” He was stroking her back while he explained it to her. She was still amazed at how such a big man could be so gentle. Hugging him, she could feel his muscles rippling under his T-shirt. The feel of him was distracting. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed with him for the rest of the day. When had she become such a hussy? She needed to get her mind back on track.

“Do you think that maybe when my stuff arrives I could paint in the courtyard? It’s so peaceful and beautiful there.”

“Of course, you can. This is now your home, you can do anything you like. This is our room, when your stuff arrives you can also decorate as you please.” Looking around at his room he realized that it was very sparse and the area was quite big, bigger than the whole apartment where she had been living. Her things would fit-in just fine. 

“I have to go meet with Draco for a bit. When I come back I will show you around. Why don’t you relax for a bit? I won’t be long.”

Lowering his head, he kissed her until they were both breathless. He started to kiss his way down her neck until he reached her breast biting lightly over her top, lifting his big hand he fondled the other. She could feel heat gathering between her legs. She didn’t even feel him lift her top off until she felt the cool air on her skin. Her bra was next. He was staring down at her breasts after having thrown her bra aside.

“You’re magnificent, I love your breasts. I could kiss them for hours.” And he promptly showed her. She stroked his hair as he kissed, suckled and nipped, driving her closer to oblivion. 

“Oh! Wulf!” She was mindless with lust, but suddenly he lifted his head, just as there was a knock on the door. She noticed that he had his teeth bared and his eyes nearly closed as if he was ready to rip somebody asunder. 

“Fuck!” he growled. She smiled, stroking his face, whoever was on the other side knocked again. 

“Wulf, come on man, we’re waiting for you.”

“Bion. Piss off!” She started to giggle, she couldn’t help herself. He was not happy about the interruption; she wasn’t either but it was funny seeing him bent over her with a hard on and gritted teeth, with a murderous look on his face. 

“I’m not going anywhere until you have left this room.” They could hear Bion chuckling. Wulf gave her a quick kiss on the lips before getting up and walking towards the door.

“I’ll be back as soon as I kill that idiot!” He spoke loudly for Bion to be able to hear him. They heard him chuckling again. Bion was their medic at the compound, he was very good at healing and natural remedies. He was also the calmest of all the brothers. They usually teased him about his baby boy face with his longish dark blonde hair and dark green eyes. 

Wulf made his way to the door, opening it he glared. Bion was leaning against the wall next to the door, looking innocent. His eyes were twinkling as he looked at Wulf.

“Are you going to introduce me to your woman?” That was received with Wulf banging the door shut. They both heard giggles coming from inside which were drowned out by Bion’s chuckles. 

“Very funny!” Wulf growled adjusting himself, but the sound of Jas’s carefree giggles lightened his mood considerably. 

“What’s so urgent?” Wulf punched Bion on the arm to get him to stop laughing.

“There’s some Intel that has just arrived on Merdor, and you know everything about Merdor gets Cassius’s back up. Draco wants everyone there to update them.” 

They both headed in the direction of the training facility. If there was something on Merdor, he knew that everyone would be anxious to find out, especially Cassius. There was history with those two. Merdor had done enough throughout the years that all of them wanted a piece of him. They had to get rid of him, especially now with Jas, he couldn’t take a chance that Merdor and his MC would ever get close to her. Merdor was one of two evils, he was out to get all his brothers and anyone close to them. The thing with him was that he would always send others to do his dirty work. That was the reason why they kept on missing him. 

Walking into the training facility they found Cassius pacing. Draco was leaning against the facility wall with a bored look on his face. As they approached he noticed a look of relief from Draco. Cassius must have been giving him a hard time. “Sorry I’m late.”

“About time!” Cassius grumbled.

“Okay, as you all know we received a piece of Intel last week. I had Celmund follow it up and there’s a lot of movement in the area. Celmund will you give us an update?”

“Our Intel pointed to a warehouse in the industrial area, so I placed some cameras and heat sensors in opposite buildings. Every single time, there are about fifteen people within the building. They are definitely Keres men. The most important piece of Intel I got though is this.” Celmund pulled out a photo and gave it to Draco. Draco looked at it and then passed it on so everyone would see it. 

“You will see that the photo is of Merdor. He visited the warehouse, but he doesn’t stay there for long. I’ve been staking the place out for this last week and in that time Merdor has been there three times. Once he was there only twenty minutes, the other two he was there for about one hour.” All the men were standing with different expressions on their faces, but the feeling was the same. They all wanted to get Merdor. Cassius was still staring at the photo.

“The plan is to start by staking out the building, look for entrances, weak points, patterns. We must try to figure out what they are up to. I want two men always staking out the building, we will rotate every few hours. I don’t want any cowboys, we stick to the plan or we jeopardize the mission. Are you all with me?” Draco looked around, each one nodded until he got to Cassius.

“Cassius, are you with us? We can’t go in there with guns blazing, we need the info first. We need to know their routine so we can have a good chance of catching Merdor. You have to be in control, especially if you catch sight of Merdor.” Draco was making sure that everyone understood. He did not want this to go wrong, looking again at Cassius, he waited for his reply.

All the brothers knew Cassius was a ticking bomb. Since Merdor had captured him Cassius had changed, the only constant reaction from him was anger, there seemed to be no softness left in him. We had saved him just in time. Merdor had been trying to convert him into a Keres giving him more and more blood. Even now Cassius would push himself to the limits without taking blood, with the realization that he could very easily push himself over the edge.

He always hid behind his looks giving off an appearance of being unfeeling. All the brothers had promised vengeance when Cassius had been saved and the terrors of his capture had been revealed, but he had insisted that Merdor would be his. Only he would kill him, he had been relentless since his capture, trying to find Merdor.

“I’m with you,” Cassius confirmed

“Okay let’s plan.” They all got around the table where Celmund had laid down maps, photos, building plans. It was going to be a long night, Wulf approached his brothers to start strategizing with them.