Goya looked back at Sin.
You may stay here with this enclave, if that is your wish,he offered this softly, ignoring the grumblings from some of his clan.
You are far from home, cub, and you have traveled long and hard on your own. This can be a refuge for you and the human, if you both so desire. This can be your family, if you let it.
Sin looked steadily back at the Tiger King but did not indicate one way or the other what he thought of the Beast’s offer.
Take it!Zai shouted at him through their mind link.
Take the fucking gift for what it is!
But Sin pretended not to hear him, stoically facing his challengers.
The tiger inclined his head and sat back on his haunches. All of the rest of the attending Beasts backed up slowly to give the contestants a wider berth.
And the King of Beasts said:
Begin.
Chapter Fourteen
“Dragons have no weakness, save one. Their One Chosen Mate is both the source of their limitless strength, as well as their ultimate downfall…”
—From the lost oral fables of Immortals
Ben called it before the bloodbath started.
There was only one way this could have gone, of course—with Sin giving those four felines a beatdown they wouldn’t soon forget.
Ben slid a quick look at the Tiger King. He must have known it too, else he wouldn’t have allowed an unfair match of four against one.
Right?
Goya’s impassive face gave nothing away. He looked almost bored as Sin tossed the jaguar head over tail with one mighty flick of his head, then swatted three long stripes into the lion’s flank before rounding on the panther who was nipping at his heels.
The lioness growled and hissed but wisely stayed back, waiting in a tensed crouch for the right opportunity to strike. She’d learned the hard way, after all, having been the first to experience the liger’s fury when he bit almost all the way through one of her shoulders.
It was like watching a full-grown Main Coon batting at newborn Teacup kittens. The size differential might be a little exaggerated, but the efficiency with which Sin dealt with the accusers wasn’t.
He seemed to be toying with them, honestly. He would let them come close, get a swipe or two in, before he unleashed thepain.
As violent and as bloody as it was, fur flying, teeth flashing, roaring, hissing and growling—Ben shouldn’t have enjoyed the show as much as he did. Maybe it was the time and place, but he was feeling a little bloodthirsty after what those felines said about Zai.
Ben shook his head at them.
He meant what he said to the Tiger King. It was one thing to carry out orders because of one’s role, in the middle of war; it was quite another to brutally torture an unarmed prisoner. If Queen Gaia had still been alive, Ben would have been first in line to advocate for her to get her comeuppance.
But Zai was not the same.
Everything Ben had seen about the Hunter proved it. There was an innate sense of honor about the Dark One. A protectiveness in him that he tried to suppress.
Perhaps such leanings were considered weaknesses in this ancient, tumultuous time. Maybe it went against the typical vampire’s grain.
Despite his attempts to hide it, Ben had only seen goodness beneath the gruff armor the Hunter always donned. Despite his circumstances, however he’d existed as the Blood Moon Queen’s henchman, he still tried to do the right thing in the end. In his own way.
That took courage and some ironclad cajones. Ben respected and admired it.
He’d seen the struggles first hand within Ere. How the Black Dragon had triumphed over everything he’d been through, all of the sacrifices he’d made to protect those he cared about…it was nothing short of heroic. Miraculous.