“Ye’re Luna’s brother, family by default. So respect, yeah, ye get that because of her. But as King of the Scottish Clan, I’m here to take over. Ye can join us or fook off… respectfully.” Banner gestured behind them toward Odhran. “He’s been patient enough. We all have. This is yer territory, but we’re no’ playing by yer rules anymore, Adryan.”
I said nothing, didn’t show any emotion. Of course I’d expected this would be the eventual outcome—a confrontation between the wolves. And although I wasn’t a male who got easily taken off guard, Banner showing up was a surprise.
Although maybe I should have predicted this. He was an alpha—their head alpha—and if the roles had been reversed, I would’ve done the same thing. Hell, look at the off-the-rails shit I had done when my niece, Ainslee—Banner’s daughter—had been taken by her over-four-hundred-year-old, crazy-as-shit Lycan mate.
Banner had every right to kill me for going against his direct orders. But he didn't, and truth be told, I would do it all over again, just because that’s who and what I was.
A rule follower I was not, and neither was Banner.
“Yeah,” I said, looking at all the wolves, sensing my soldiers waiting for my orders.
“Ye risked a fooking all-out species war… again, Adryan,” Banner said low, no hint of aggression or emotion, which was surprising seeing as he was just as volatile as I could be and didn’t give two shits about hiding how he felt. “If ye weren’t Luna’s kin, if ending ye wouldn’t break her heart, I’d kill ye myself, right here and now.”
I sobered and straightened, taking a step closer to Banner. I stared into his glowing blue eyes, letting mine flare red. “You could try.” I flashed them one cocky grin, which I knew would piss them off. “But you and I both know I’m not easy to take out. I bite, motherfucker.” The heavy silence that followed only lasted a few seconds before I nodded. “We’ll do this tonight.”
“Do what tonight?” Odhran interjected and stepped forward. “Ye’ve been pulling us all around by the dicks this entire time, no’ understanding the urgency, knowing full well why I,” he shouted and slammed his fist against his chest over and over again, “needed tae do this. And still ye were fooking us over with the ‘my territory, my time and rules’ bullshite—”
Banner lifted his hand to silence Odhran. The other wolf looked at his king and gritted his teeth but otherwise stayed silent.
“Come on. We’ll go over all this shit and a solid plan before heading out.” I gestured for them to follow me around the side of the house and toward the back. I didn’t wait or look behind to see if they’d obey.
The most selfish part of me wanted to keep the knowledge of my mate a secret, something only I would ever know. I wanted to protect her always, keep her away from the dangers and violence that made up the world I lived in… that made up me. But I knew I couldn’t keep that secret hidden for long, not when the primal—animal--part of me also wanted to brag, to show the world I had the most perfect mate imaginable.
I was at war with myself.
I pushed all thoughts of my mate out of my head, knowing I didn’t want any part of her around this bullshit.
Once again my heart did a funny thing in my chest when I thought about Kayla and protecting her. I lifted my hand to rub it over the otherwise useless fucking organ.
I let my emotions go the cold, hard route, letting myself become utterly void.
I let myself become the male I was to my core.
25
Kayla
I didn’t know what woke me, but the feeling of someone watching me definitely had consciousness slowly coming on.
I took note that I was naked and in Adryan’s bed still, achingly sore in all the right places. I smiled, stretching and feeling that discomfort settle right between my thighs, around my throat—hell, all over. It was a reminder of how much my vampire pleasured me, how he’d taken control of the situation and given me exactly what I needed. What I’ve always needed.
And as I woke fully and opened my eyes, blinking a few times, I stared at the wood-beamed ceiling. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel guilt or shame or any negative connotations about what I wanted out of life.
Adryan satisfied all my needs, mentally and physically… especially the latter. And although I didn’t fully understand everything that was happening in my life right now, it wasn’t hard to comprehend all the truth he told me. Sometimes you had to take a leap of faith that things would just work out. Even if those things involved a dominant and arrogant vampire.
I brought the sheet up to my neck and held it against my chest as I lifted my upper body and looked around the room. I expected to see Adryan sitting in that chair pressed in the corner of the room, the shadows hiding him, his focus right on me like the predator he was.