Koe watched Jury stalk toward the compound, hand in hand with Narae. Guilt bit him hard. Not because he’d lied to Jury, because he hadn’t, but because the omission felt like a betrayal. Angry eyes sliced to Daemon. “Does it bother you that Narae’s going to have to lie to cover your ass?”
Daemon shrugged, eyes intent on Narae. “She ain’t gotta do shit. I’m not worried about Jury’s wrath.”
And that pissed Koe off. He wasn’t about to allow Daemon to be flippant about Jury’s feelings. “You worried about Narae’s acceptance of you? Because if she doesn’t accept your mark, or if Jury talks her out of it, they’re both likely to want to leave here. Do you fucking care about that?”
Thrall tried to intervene, “Koe, enough, man.”
But Koe’s words had Daemon sobering, his gaze going introspective.
“Yeah, you didn’t think about that, did you?” Koe accused, voice dripping venom. “No, you just saw something you fucking wanted, and you took it.”
Daemon’s head snapped up, and he turned and went chest to chest with Koe. “I’ve never taken anything that wasn’t mine.”
Koe raged, “Until now!”
“She’s mine!” Daemon roared, the words echoing across the field, causing Narae to slam to a halt. Dameon didn’t see her look back at him. It was just a brief glance before Jury tugged on Narae’s arm, and they continued on to the manor.
“Guys,” Thrall pleaded. “Enough.”
Koe glared at Daemon, and Daemon glared right back. “You better fucking mean that,” Koe snarled and turned to stalk toward the manor.
Alone with Thrall, Daemon watched his Alpha walk away and muttered, “I’ve never meant anything more in my goddamn life.”
Thrall stepped up to stand beside Daemon, watching Koe cross the field. After a moment, he clapped Daemon on the back. “Well, that went better than I thought it would.”
Daemon shot Thrall a dark look, and Thrall quickly removed his hand from Daemon’s back, holding it up in a show of surrender, then gesturing toward the manor. “We’re all gonna be under the same roof and all breathing. That’s a win in my book.”
Daemon rolled his eyes, a growl rattling a way up his throat as he followed Koe with Thrall on his heels, babbling about, “This’ll be fun, bro. Like a sleepover, but with girls.”
Chapter 24
Sitting at an ornate dressing table, Narae was impressed as she eyed Jury’s beautiful room. It was like something she’d only seen in magazines. “And they just let you come and go as you please?”
“Yeah,” Jury responded, pacing away from the window, still wound up. “But who cares! Why did Daemon mark you? What happened exactly?” She turned and pinned Narae with hard eyes. “Did he attack you? Was this against your will?”
Narae’s expression went deadpan. “Have you met me?”
That had Jury pursing her lips, her tense shoulders falling. “Yeah. But I’ve met him too, and from what I hear, he’s…”
Curious, Narae prodded, “He’s what?”
“Scary. He’s got a monster inside him.”
“Demon?”
Jury’s mouth fell open. “You know about Demon?”
Narae shrugged negligently. “We ran together.”
“You and Demon. Your wolf and Daemon’s?”
Narae nodded. “They let me out of the truck as we arrived in Allegiance territory so my wolf could run.”
“Really?” Jury’s tone was filled with delight, “She got to run? Like run, run?”
Narae nodded, concern marring her features. “Have you not been allowed to?”
“I never asked. I just assumed it’d be a no. And I wouldn’t dare venture that far by myself.”
