Kael
Timothy’s head snaps to the side and blood pours from his lips.
“Kael.
I am your cousin.
Why are you doing this?”
I hit him again for good measure, before wiping his blood from my knuckles and turning to my uncle.
“Hector, Hector, Hector,” I taunt him, but he isn’t even man enough to meet my gaze.
The father and son duo wasn’t hard to pull out of hiding.
All I had to do was dangle a little bit of money in front of their faces and they ran to it like the fools they are.
They had wrongly assumed that their little attack left me so injured that I would be in the hospital for months.
Hell, that might have been the case if it weren’t for Lily.
If she hadn’t ruined all of her clothes, bandaging me and dragging me to the safe house, I might have died, but Hector and Timothy don’t need to know that.
Now, they are tied up in the basement of another safe house.
One that isn’t only used for this purpose.
It stinks of stale blood, wolfsbane, and silver, but I have gotten used to the stench.
In fact, my wolf almost yearns for it, because he knows we will get to have some fun.
I kneel down in front of Hector and force him to look in my eyes.
“Did you really think your little stunt would work?
Better yet, did you really think that you would get away with it?
That I couldn’t track down who planned the attack on me?”
Blood dribbles down his chin when he opens his mouth.
“I already told you.
I don’t know what you are talking about.”
I groan as I get back to my feet.
“I had plans on killing your son, but he is family, like he has so generously pointed out every five fucking minutes tonight.
So, I think I will let him live.”
Timothy exhales a sigh of relief, but it is short-lived.
When he sees me twirling my silver dagger between my fingertips, his face pales again.
“This?” I hold out the dagger so he can see it.
“Nothing much.”
He doesn’t believe me, and I don’t blame him, because I do plan on cutting up his pretty face, so everyone will know not to fuck with me ever again.
I open my mouth to tell him my plan when my phone buzzes in my pocket.
“Hold please,” I joke.
I pull out my phone and see a text from Lily.
‘I am lonely and hungry.’
I smirk at my phone and tuck my dagger under my arm as I reply.
‘There is food in the kitchen.’
A pouting emoji shows up on the screen.
‘I don’t want that food.’
That tugs my lips into a full smile.
I don’t know if she meant it the way I am perceiving it, because there is definitely something I would like to fill her pretty little mouth with, and it is not food.
‘Send me a list, and I will pick it up after work.’
She sends a smiling emoji, and I tuck my phone back into my pocket.
When I look back up, I see that Timothy and Hector are eyeing me suspiciously.
Quickly, I wipe the smile from my face and point the dagger at Timothy.
“I was going to carve up your face,” I tell him.
“But I am in a good mood.
Take this as a warning.
If you come for me again, I won’t be as kind.”
I turn to Ethan, who is watching from the corner of the room.
I toss the knife in his direction.
“Carve my initials into their chests before you let them go.
Make it deep enough to scar.
I have somewhere I need to be.”
”You said you weren’t going to do anything,” Timothy whines from behind me.
I spin around and kick him over.
His chair hits the ground with a thud, and his head bounces off the concrete.
“Are you calling me a liar?” I snarl.
“I am not touching you.
Ethan is.”
I leave the basement with a smile on my face.
I hum my favorite song as I waltz through the aisle picking up her favorite things.
Something about her puts me in a good mood, but it’s not just that.
I want to be around her.
I feel stronger when I am closer to her.
Everyone is watching me as I shop.
I don’t know if they recognize me or if they are just intimidated by my size but it doesn’t matter.
I would shop for Lily in rogue territory if that was the only place that carried her favorite things.
I would do anything to keep her happy.
As I stand in line with her favorite snacks in one hand and a cake in the other, I smile at the pretty cashier, and I can’t remember the last time that I smiled at a stranger.
After bagging all my groceries the little woman, smiles again, and slips her number in with my change.
Normally, I would drag this woman out back and fuck her senseless, but not this time.
I slide the paper back to her, and she frowns.
“No offense, but I have someone waiting for me at home.”
She sighs and tucks the paper into her pocket.
“I hope she is worth it.”
I grab my bags.
“You have no idea.”
My phone digs again when I sit behind the wheel of my car.
I hope it is another text from Lily but it is a message from Ethan instead.
‘Meeting moved to seven tonight.’
His text almost ruins my mood.
Almost.
I dial his number as I pull out of the parking lot.
“That time doesn’t work for me,” I say as soon as he picks up the phone.
I can hear him smiling on the other end.
“Do you have something better to do?”
I laugh.
“Yeah.
I need to go home and water my Lily.”