Fuck’s sake.
The smart thing to do would be to cancel the evening’s scouting mission, grab her when she left the bar, and bring her back to whoever had claimed her. It was his duty, and the little fool wouldn’t be safe on her own—especially not here, now, given the recent sightings of female demons.
The Breeder stirred, perhaps aware of his intense scrutiny, and suddenly her chocolate brown eyes flicked up, locking on him.
She stared at him, eyes widening as if she could sense his demonic nature despite the mark blinding her.
Kain held her gaze. It was too late to pretend he hadn’t been looking at her, and he was curious what she would do.
Her chest heaved with every shallow breath she drew, eyes darting from him to the exit.
When she grabbed her bag, tossed money on the table, and nearly ran for the door, he didn’t follow.
Every instinct in his body raged for him to take up chase—to take her, protect her—keep her safe, warm, fed. Fucked. But the way the poor thing had been acting, it was painfully obvious she didn’t want anything to do with his kind, and if he followed her, he’d have to capture her. Bring her back to whoever she’d escaped from.
Fighting back the overwhelming urge to give chase, Kain grunted with agitation and gripped the edge of the table until her lingering scent was too faint to reach his nostrils. He had no desire to force a girl into a lifetime of rapes, and as far as he was concerned, the fact that she’d fled meant that whoever had kept her had missed his chance at convincing her to stay as his mate.
Bringing her back against her will... He huffed in disgust before taking a deep swig of his whiskey, clearing his palate of the remaining taste of her. No, he had better things to spend his night on.
Like capturing the vile demon bitches who thought they could prowl his territory for easy pickings.
Kain’s agitation grew exponentially as he paced along the boardwalk, waiting for his underlings to arrive for the mission. They weren’t late—the arranged meeting time was not for another half-hour—but he’d been unable to focus inside the bar, his thoughts continually circling back to the little Breeder he’d scared off.
He’d thought some fresh air and patrolling might have cleared his mind, but as he stalked the pavement, the faint impression of her scent lingering in the air from where she must have passed more than an hour ago kept invading his nostrils. No demon would have noticed, not even a Lord like him, if not for his previous exposure, and he had to inhale deeply to taste her at the back of his tongue.
Irritated with himself, he stopped the full breaths he’d greedily been sucking in through his nose. Damned pheromones.
His body was tight with defensive reflexes ready to kick in at the slightest sound, and he knew it was because of the unmistakable touch of fear she’d left behind, as well as the terrified way she’d stared at him before fleeing the bar. That he was responsible for that fear didn’t seem to affect his idiotic instincts roaring for him to protect her, and he groaned when something deep in his gut tugged insistently in an attempt to make him follow her trail.
Maybe he should, just to make sure she at least got out of his area safely. After that, she’d be someone else’s problem.
Of course, that someone would probably bring her back to her mate, or keep her and fuck the living daylights out of her. But at least in the case of the former, she would be safe and off the streets.
His body had started moving down the boardwalk before he even realized it, gait smooth and fast as he tracked her delicate scent.
Yes, he would find her and bring her safely to the border of his territory, ensuring that no other male got his claws in her soft body...
The excited burn in his blood made him grit his teeth as he fought against the other instincts suddenly flooding up from the primal parts of his brain. He was hunting a Breeder, stalking her scent while she fled from him—he’d need to keep his head in the game or the girl would be out of luck, despite his best intentions.
He hadn’t walked far when traces of blood on the pavement caught his attention, his entire form stiffening at the odor that wafted up against him.
Her blood.
Mixed with…
Fury tinged his vision red as his instincts kicked into highest gear, overriding his self-control.
Female demons.
12
Selma
He was one of them.
Selma hadn’t needed her second sight to know—he was simply too big, and something about his looming form seemed off, as if too much mass had been pressed into the shape of a man. And his eyes...
She shuddered, forcing her legs to move quicker as she made her way across the walkway, cursing her decision not to park right by the bar. The sooner she got away from this place, the better, and having to run half a mile to get to her car wasn’t helpful.
