His face twists in a familiar disgust, the kind I’ve earned over years of being the problem in every room. “I don’t enjoy seeing her manhandled,” he bites out, and there’s genuine anger in his voice. “I love her, and I’m fucking grouchy at waking up to chaos—that’s why. Since when do I owe you an explanation for a damned question?”
Unfortunately for him, I’m not the kind of clone that backs down from a challenge. I step into him, toe to toe, my chest heaving and my jaw set. A snarl builds up from my gut and curls out of my lips, a warning shot on the savannah before the kill. “You want a reason?” I say, voice raw with adrenaline. “Here’s your fucking reason: I’m half a breath from snapping, and you’re in my way. She’s to blame for this. Talia opened her yap, and since she’s my primary, I’ll deal with her.”
Behind me, Talia’s whole body is trembling. I feel the chill radiate through our bond. I don’t even know what started that conversation, or why she had to say the things she did. Except… she always wants the last word, and I always let her have it until it’s my turn to collect. The cat isn’t like me; she gets hooked by self-pity, and is always the one bleeding at the end.
My wife is so damaged by her fuckwit exes that she’s wearing a mask more often than she takes it off—I don’t know how Talia keeps missing that.
Sampson’s gaze sharpens, but he doesn’t flinch, even as I bare my teeth less than an inch from his face. He’s got the training to break my neck and patience I definitely do not have, but he’s soft inside, and I know where to hit. I don’t want to do it, but I will if it allows me to do what is necessary in this situation.
“That’s bullshit. You’re bullying her because you’re worried about my primary, not because you’re in the right.” His eyes dart to Talia just long enough to make sure this is still just family drama and not a murder-in-progress. “It’s not her fault she hit the wrong trigger; she didn’t do it on purpose. The woman has a habit of flying off the handle at the slightest thing. The rest of us don’t need to go off our rockers, too.”
Those words hit me harder than his fists could. I tamp down my reaction and paste on a grin, wicked and deliberate. “Since you asked, I plan on taking her home and punishing her like she does me when I’ve been a bad, rude man.” I lean forward, my bloodied fingers brushing his shoulder like a dare. “Are you going to stop me?” I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. “So I’m clear… that’s chaining her to the bed in the basement. You know how much she loves to be chained.”
The air in the room fills with tension as Talia lets out a thin, high whimper. I can’t tell if she’s afraid or ashamed, but that isn’t my concern right now.
Sampson’s hand closes around my wrist—careful so I can still break free if I want to make this a bigger scene. “That’s not how we do this,” he says, voice soft enough that I almost miss the threat. “You don’t get to decide what happens to her.” He turns to Talia, who is hugging the towel with both arms, eyes wide and red-rimmed. “Do you want to go with him?” he asks.
Talia’s face spasms. Her mouth opens and closes, a fish gasping for the right lie, but in the end she just nods, once, sharp as a trigger. Her voice is a whisper, “I deserve to.”
Something about her resignation and the way she refuses to look at him makes my blood cool a few degrees. I loosen my grip as I remember how much I love her, and that this is a show I’m putting on. She might have broken my wife last night, but I know she’s punishing herself internally more than anyone else could know. Even her husband, though protective, didn’t realize how badly she’s slicing herself up inside over her mistake.
That doesn’t mean I forgive her for it, nor that she’s off the hook.
My mate sees Talia’s hesitation, and he pounces. “If you touch her again, like that, you’ll answer to me,” he says, pulling himself to his full height. His shadow swallows the lamplight, and for once I see why everyone thinks he’s the alpha in the pack. “You’re not the only predator in this house.”
I laugh evilly, hoping to distract him. “That’s the spirit,” I say, lifting Talia’s chin with two fingers. “Maybe when I’m done with her, I’ll come back and deal with you.”
She shudders and looks away because she knows I won’t make good on these threats. Talia pulls the towel tighter, still refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. There is nothing left to say, so I haul her toward the door, and Sampson blocks my path, a wall of muscle and fury as his golden eyes meet mine.
My typically passive mate doesn’t budge an inch. He crosses his arms over his chest and growls low. “There is no way on this planet or any other I’m letting you do that. You’ll have to kill me first.”
Ooh, there’s some big balls in that statement; I like it.
Talia blinks at us, her stare blank and emotionless. She watches us as we square off, still not fighting my grip or my demands. That alone is concerning, but I’m waffling between wanting to throttle her and wanting to protect her from what might come when they see what her mistake did to my wife. We don’t have that long before she figures out what’s going on out here,
“Why do you need to make her hurt? If you damage her like this, we’ll all be fucked.” The artist glares at me as he continues to stay in my way. “She deserves a chance to make it right, not be locked up as punishment.”
Staring at him with golden eyes, I grin, a horrible idea flitting through my mind. “You were sexier when you were standing up to me, mate. Now you don’t want to pound me? How typical of a lazy hedonist.”
“I’m not backing down because you’re hitting on me,” he says stubbornly. “I’m simply pointing out that you just want to punish someone—anyone. Trying to provoke me proves it.”
I spin around, picking up my primary to set her on her feet as I shout. “It’s her bloody fault, Sampson!”
Our mate doesn’t bat an eyelash as he shakes his head. “Torturing her won’t fix the problem. You think you’re taking her to live out her worst nightmare? I think fucking not. What will the woman do if she comes back and you’ve got her mate chained in the basement because of her? You know what she’ll do. She’ll go on an even worse tear from the guilt.”
“Excuse me,” Talia says softly. “I hate to interrupt my impending torture, especially with all the threats and testosterone, but you both need to shut the fuck up.” Her husband’s jaw drops, andshe pushes the hair out of her face, turning to me. “Tell him the truth.”
My skull is ready to split open with the pressure. I know if I don’t, she’ll make it worse until I scream. “I was taking her back to our other house, mate. I wouldn’t hurt her. I was trying to protect her from this while I help her let go of her guilt. You beating me bloody because you thought I was being a prick would have been a bonus punishment for me.”
His eyes narrow, and he shudders visibly. “I… I can’t be part of that. Holy fuck. I can’t believe you…”
Talia’s eyes are full of pain as she watches his firm stance crumble into a mess all the sudden. “I don’t want any of this. I don’t want Taurus being a prick, and I don’t want you ready to kill each other. It’s stupid. I’m dealing with my emotions. We’ll have to deal with the fallout, but I want no more fighting.”
Her husband twitches a little and licks his lips before he murmurs, “We all will have to deal with the fallout from this bullshit, and it’s going to make everything worse. No one in this family made good choices today, it seems, except me. All three of you need to figure out your shit. I’m out.”
With that, he stalks past us both, slamming the door behind him as he goes.
“What just happened?” I ask my primary hoarsely.
