Sire growls, looming over us. “I’m defendingbothof you, and I will fuckingfinishboth of you if you don’t stop this shit right now.”
I drop my fist.
“Jesus.” Jace leans against the arched window, rolling his eyes. “They’ll listen to you but not me?”
Sire leans down, getting in my face, then Axel’s. “Because they know I’m fucking crazy when I’m mad, and nothing pisses me off more than our family fighting.” He thumps my forehead. “Get the fuck off him.”
I crawl up, relieved. I don’t want to hurt my brothers, but I’ll kill them for Alena.
I glance at Nash, pacing like a bloody lion contemplating my murder. Guess the only thing stopping him is that deep down, he knows I’d never hurt her.
“And you.” Sire puts his finger in Axel’s face. “You should know better.Imake the heads roll in this family, not you.”
“Did you know?” Axel spits blood on his carpet. “Did you know about him and Alena?”
“Yes.” Sire turns to Nash. “I’ve known Loch has been in love with Alena sincebeforeyou told him to guard her.”
He did? Shit. Was I that obvious? Asking about Alena at every kings’ meeting? Sitting in the back of Sire’s church when she’d go to his sermons? Volunteering to give up my dream to be a Marine so I could protect her?
Yeah, guess it didn’t take a fucking genius to figure it out. Just a brother who cares.
Nash charges toward Sire. “You fucking knew?”
“Yes.” Sire stands in front of me like I need his protection. I don’t. I’m ready to crack skulls for my woman.
“Because he loves Alena,” Sire reasons with Nash, palming his chest. “And that’s all you should want; a good man who loves your daughter and?—”
“I’d never let anything happen to her,” I interrupt.
The deadly, bloody glare I exchange with Nash holds over twenty years of trust built, of memories shared, of bloodshed together. He knows the kind of man I am.
The one who lives to love his daughter.
He can fight me over her, but I’ll fucking win.
“Um, guys.” A cute voice sings. I turn to see a tiny woman raising her hand. “Can we press pause on this beefy brawl while someone points me in the direction of a first aid kit?”
Axel points to the empty office behind her. “In the break room, on the right, under the sink.”
Sire winks at her. “Thanks, Angel.”
Ah, she must be Wren.
“No problem,” Wren chirps. “You know, it’s gonna be a bitch getting that blood out of the carpet.”
She breaks the tension in the room. I watch Nash exhale while Jace laughs. “She’s the smartest one of us all. She’s trying to fix this shit while y’all keep fighting about it, which is fucking dumb because you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
Jace is defending his heart and mine.
But Axel yells, pointing his finger at me, “Youwillmarry her! I won’t let you break her heart!”
What the hell? Why does Axel care so much about Alena? She’s mine.
“Fuck you!” I shout back at him, plopping down on his desk. It’s either that, or I’ll kill him and regret it. “I already bought her an engagement ring today. So, don’t turn this into some arranged marriage bullshit where you think you can tell me what to do, and I have to listen. I guarded her because Iwantedto. I was already in love with her, but then she fell in love with me, too, and now, we’re getting married.”
Have I asked her yet? No. Will she say yes? Please god, it’s my only wish.
But right now, the devil in me needs to tell my brothers to go to hell.
