.Chapter 17-2
The casual use of my name instead of my title made my lycan snarl with rage. “Kane?” I growled, my voice dropping to the dangerous tone that had once made grown men piss themselves. “I am your fucking king.”
The last word came out as a full snarl, my eyes flashing red as my wolf pushed closer to the
surface.
“You haven’t been a king for a very long time,” Mal said, his own voice taking on an edge of steel.
Now move.”
He tried to walk past me, clearly intending to head toward our camp, but I stepped into his path. There was no way in hell I was letting him get anywhere near Simone. I couldn’t let my son get his hands on her, not after everything he’d already done.
I needed time. Time to warn Simone to run, time to face these men on my own terms. This
wouldn’t be an easy fight, I knew how skilled Mal was, how well-trained all of these lycans were.
But that wasn’t the real issue.
The issue was that these were my men. People I’d once trusted with my life, people who’d served the crown faithfully for years. I didn’t want to kill them, since they were only acting under my son’s influence. The pleas of the first enforcers I’d killed still haunted me, how they’d wished for death instead of carrying a will that wasn’t their own.
I needed to proceed carefully, find a way to neutralize the threat without causing permanent
damage.
“Don’t,” I said, raising my hands in what I hoped looked like surrender. “You want Simone? Fine. I’ll bring her to you. Stay here.”
Mal’s eyes blackened for an instant and then narrowed suspiciously. “And how do we know you’re not lying?”
I forced my expression to remain calm and reasonable, even though every instinct I had was
screaming at me to shift and tear their throats out for threatening my woman.
“You know me, Mal,” I said, meeting his gaze directly. “Do I look like I’m lying?”
It was a complete bluff, and I was counting on our years of friendship to sell it. Mal had always been able to read me better than anyone, but I was hoping that whatever magical influence he was
under would dull his perception.
He studied my face for a long moment, and I could see the internal struggle playing out behind his
:::00 20
O
r
12
”
Chapter 17 2
eyes. The conflict was there, buried under layers of magical compulsion, but it was still there.
Finally, he gave a tight nod.
“Five minutes,” he said. “If you’re not back with the girl by then, we’re coming for her.”
Chum
I nodded and turned away, forcing myself to walk instead of run back toward our camp. Every step felt like an eternity, and my lycan was clawing at my mind, desperate to get back to our mate.
I broke into a sprint as soon as I was out of their sight, my heart pounding with the need to reach Simone before they lost patience and decided to follow me.
But when I burst through the trees into our small clearing, I came face to face with a pale, wide-eyed Simone who had clearly heard every word that had come out of my mouth.
Comments
LUCK DRAW >
Vote
105
|||
