Demon’s eyes slammed open, instantly locked on her.
“Sorry to wake you,” she breathed.
He didn’t move, just stayed where he was, gaze intent on her.
“If you can, I’d like some clarity, please. I need to know what’s coming next so I can prepare. I’d like to be ready for whatever it is I’m about to be hit with.”
Demon stalled only a moment before slowly getting to his feet. A smooth shift rippled through him, and then Daemon was standing there. Jean-clad legs splayed like tree trunks, massivebiceps and shoulders hugged by the form-fitting black t-shirt he wore, Narae’s gut clenched at how attractive he was.
He paced to her dressing table, his long legs taking the distance in just a few strides before his hand gripped the dressing chair. Lifting it with ease, he carried it to the bedside and set it down before taking a seat, arms crossing as he looked at Narae.
She struggled against the distraction of his muscled frame, so she tried to focus on his face. He had impossibly dark hair like Jury's, but his eyes were a spring green, a color Narae had never seen before. He was beautiful.
“Where do you want this to go next?” he asked in his low baritone.
She snorted. “I’d like to come out of this alive. Jury too.”
His response was an immediate, “Done.”
She shook her head. “You can’t promise that. You don’t know what’s coming.”
He angled his head. “And you do?”
“Yeah,” she huffed. “Bragga and his pack of absolute moral-less cretins.” She stalled a moment, almost reluctant toadmit the next, but knowing it was only fair. “It’d be best for your pack if you let me and Jury leave.”
“Best for who?”
Delicate brows spearing down, she frowned. “For you.”
“You’re not worried about yourself? You’re not worried about Jury?”
That had a humorless laugh chuffing from her. “I’ve spent my entire existence being worried about Jury. And I am now more than ever. But that doesn’t mean I have to bear the burden of getting your pack slaughtered just to save ourselves. We can take our chances on our own. We’ve survived together so far. I’d just ask that you let us go soon. We’re gonna need as much of a headstart as we can get.”
Lowering his arms, Daemon sat forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees as he blinked at her. “You’re not giving us much credit.”
“How many of you are there?”
“I told you before,” he responded, “twelve.”
Narae pursed her lips, shaking her head, eyes dropping to the comforter covering her legs. “I was hoping you were downplaying your numbers. Without Jury and me, there are twenty Biters, including the six females, who will be forced to come and fight as well. Females in the Biter pack aren’t afforded the same rights but have the same expectations as the males when it comes to war. But know this, the women won’t want to fight. They’ll do so because they are forced to. You’re massively outnumbered, and I don’t care how tough you all think you are, your power can’t beat the math.”
Canting his head, Daemon asked, “Youdidsee what we did to those punks at your firepit?”
“They were new. Untrained. The remaining males are all Enforcers.TrainedEnforcers.”
“Why don’t you let us worry about them. Because here our females aren’t expected to participate in battle.”
“Again, we’re not your females,” she countered.
Dameon fell silent, his chin dipping, his gaze hard on hers from beneath furrowed brows as a growl rattled its way up his chest. “That mark on you says otherwise.”
“Yeah,” she fidgeted nervously. “We should talk about that too.”
He drawled, “Talk.”
“So, the urgency of the situation obviously forced you to do something you normally wouldn’t have done. It was…an accident. I don’t know the rules in your pack, but I’m sure that if you petition your Alpha, he’ll…”
Daemon cut her off with a growled, “No.”
