“A-a video?” I repeat, somehow stuck on that more than the rest of his statements. I kill for money should probably have been my first concern, but somehow that news doesn’t shock me as much. Volt possesses a lethal aura, one that definitely screams murderous intent.
“Yeah, I was using the camera in his computer to study his office layout and instead ended up watching his naked ass drill into a crying intern.” He shudders. “I didn’t actually need the extra detail to want to kill him as I tend not to ask questions, but I think I’ll enjoy making him suffer a little more.”
“Hence the reason I don’t think Clove should watch,” Tieran interjects.
“I’m not shy about who I am, T,” Volt tells him. “She needs to know who she’s getting into bed with, so why not show her?”
Tieran studies him for a long beat while I swallow, uncertain of how to feel.
Volt has a point—I want to know more about these men and their clan. My wolf already accepts them and considers them hers, but it would be nice to understand them better.
“Do you kill for fun?” I ask, interrupting the heated silence.
“Yes,” Volt says without remorse. “I enjoy it.”
“But you always have a reason for it, like the Senator raping women?” I press.
“I enjoy those kills more, but that’s not always the case,” he replies. “I take jobs to fulfill the lethal urges of my wolf and I never ask questions. But I almost always learn something about the mark that warrants their death, which is why I usually end up enjoying the kill. On the off chance I don’t, I make it quick.”
All three men study me, waiting to see how I’ll react.
I’m not quite sure how to feel.
Death is a part of life, and mortals tend to experience it far earlier than my kind. Shifters stop aging around thirty years old and many breeds can live forever, unless taken down by silver.
But he’s not talking about killing shifters, he’s talking about assassinating humans.
Because he’s paid to do it.
That makes whoever hired him the true culprit; Volt’s just carrying out the task. Wolves take down prey every day, and while we may be part-human, we are more animal than anything else. He’s using his skills to make money to support the pack, and also slaying whatever violent urges he seems to possess in the process.
I can’t exactly fault him for that.
And… “I’m guessing this is where some of your blackmail comes from?” The thought leaves me on a question, one I direct at Caius.
He grins. “Yes, among many other things. Typically, when someone deals in death, they’re playing with other darker schemes as well.”
“Which you use to extort money from them,” I translate.
“Not exactly. We mostly use it to maintain our favor for other business dealings.” Caius must read the confusion in my features because he continues speaking. “Say there’s a company we want to purchase and it’s going to the highest bidder. We may find ourselves as that highest bidder, except it’s the blackmail inflating the cost.”
“Or we don’t pay at all,” Volt says. “And it’s given to us as a gift for our continued silence.”
“That, too,” Caius murmurs.
“Why do you inherit companies?” I ask. “What do you do with them?”
“We repurpose them into legal organizations that we funnel money through,” Tieran explains. “And we employ people who need it.”
“Or keep the employees who were going to lose their jobs,” Caius adds. “It’s all a numbers game, but we make sure those who need our assistance receive it, all while funding our pack and keeping everyone comfortable.”
“But they all have jobs on the island, too,” Tieran points out. “And some of them help us run a few of the smaller corporations we’ve acquired. Nothing major, just business oversight and general management.”
“That’s in addition to the roles we talked about?” I ask Caius.
He shakes his head. “No, those roles are handled by select wolves on the island. But there are more who help with external affairs. For example, Alpha Dirk’s clan handles telecommunications both with our companies and on the island.”
“We have a whole security division as well that reports up through Alpha Duncan’s clan here,” Tieran adds.
“Duncan’s office is wicked.” Volt grins. “It’s where I go when I want to do recon because he has all the fun toys.”