Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“She put her teeth on me, Cain.”
“Don’t use my first name. You’ve lost that privilege.”
“You don’t understand. She bit me. I don’t mean nipped. I mean she wanted to take a chunk out of me. And her eyes… there was something in them.”
Isabella is shaken up, which is surprising because nothing ever seems to make an impression on her. She’s the bane of Abel and Bardo’s lives, the most challenging orphan in our pack besides myself.
“Let me see.”
She shows me the bite. It is well placed in the fleshy part of her arm. It looks deep. It broke the skin in a few places. I can see the intent to hurt in it, and there’s even a chance it will scar.
I feel a burst of pride. My little mate is starting to bare her teeth quite literally. This is not a bad thing. She didn’t shift and attack. She bit back at a comment that was unnecessarily cruel and entirely disrespectful.
“Looks like you got what you deserved.”
“She’s not what you think she is,” Isabella whines. “You’re not understanding me. When she bit me, when her teeth met my blood, I felt it. She’s not like us.”
“That’s been apparent from the very first time we met.”
“No. I mean we all thought she was a silly domestic puppy, but she’s not. I’m telling you, Cain. You don’t have a helpless little dilute on your hands. She’s something else.”
“I think I would have noticed that in the mate bond.”
“Maybe not. Mate bonds blind us. They’re powerful enough to make people overlook all sorts of faults and flaws. That’s literally what they do. I don’t have a mate bond with her, and I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with her.”
Isabella is really laying it on thick. Her eyes are wide, her tone is earnest. She looks and sounds scared, but suffice it to say, I am not open to feedback that suggests my mate is anything other than made for me, or made for Denholm.
“In that case, I advise you stay away from her and refrain from sharing your opinion. I can make both easier. You can report to Linus and help him with the categorization of the library. He was saying he needed someone young and strong to help him move the books.”
“You’re making me do manual labor?”
“You’re lucky I’m not sending you to the dungeon. You deserve it. Next time you antagonize my mate, that is what will happen. Thirty days in a cell. No right to appeal.”
Her eyes grow wider still. “But what if it happens by mistake?”
“Stay away from my mate, Isabella.”
I turn and walk away, aware that I am letting her get away with this somewhat, but meaning every word. Isabella has been warned. If she runs afoul of my mate again, she will truly suffer.
“Report to Linus,” I say over my shoulder. “Tell him he can do what he wants with you.”
“Oh gag,” I hear her mutter under her breath.
My jaw tightens. I can’t change the habits of the pack overnight. Isabella is a problem that should have been dealt with long ago. The truth is, we feel sorry for her. Her younger sisters all found their mates in their early twenties. Isabella is twenty-five and going slowly mad with unrequited desire. That’s why she’s such an irritant. She needs to be pinned down and fucked until she has a civil tongue in her head.
I find my shadow, Bardo. He returned from St. Infernus and has not had much to do since then. I’ve kept him close because of all the unsettling events that have taken place recently. Denholm doesn’t usually have this number of guards. I called them in once I knew my mate would be in the fortress. They watch every window, every door, every entrance and exit. Their job is to keep her from leaving again.
Some might say Kira is a prisoner, but I am trying my best to ensure that she does not notice it. A gilded cage might be a cage, but at least it is comfortable.
“Bardo, can you please keep an eye on Isabella? I don’t want fighting in the pack, and I know she’ll cause trouble among the other females. I want her out of the way, and out of trouble.”
“Out of the way I can do. Out of trouble, not so much.”
“Just keep her away from Kira, and ensure she reports to Linus. I want her well occupied.”
Bardo nods. “Understood.”
CHAPTER 13
Kira
I’m happy. For the first time in my life, I feel as though I truly belong somewhere. Cain has gone out of his way to ensure that Denholm is a welcoming place for me. I haven’t seen Isabella in weeks, not since she took that dig at me about my previous home life.
It really does feel like a previous life now. I wake up next to Cain every day, and I go to sleep with him every night. He has redefined what it means to exist. I don’t have to prove myself to him, and I don’t owe him anything.