She’d always known Lionel was a coward. When he’d stabbed her, she’d lost her confidence, and he’d capitalized on it. He would have killed her if it weren’t for Koe.
Koe… Memory drifted over her like a feather brushing skin. Something had happened with Koe. Concentrating harder, she kept thinking of Koe until it all came back. She’d turned onhim. She’d squared up against Koe! Heart hammering, now, her gaze slid back to Daemon.
Is that why he’s so angry?
Had she fucked up? Had she attacked Koe? She’d been in wolf form, she was hurt, and she couldn’t shift, and Koe had been commanding her, but she’d refused. She hadn’t attacked Koe, but she hadn’t obeyed him either because she’d been holding her ground, waiting.
Waiting for what?
Waiting for… Daemon! Her wolf had needed Daemon to bring her down, and he had. He’d come for her, and she’d collapsed into him. It was the last thing she remembered. Looking at her hands now, she wondered how or when she’d shifted back to her human skin.
Her eyes went back to Daemon as he lowered his arms and stalked toward her. Her knee-jerk response was to apologize.
“I’m s-sorry.”
His frown deepened, his voice was gruff when he said, “You fucked up.”
Lowering her head, she tried to ignore the throb of pain at the base of her collarbone where Lionel had stabbed her.
“Weren’t you told to remain in the house?”
So, that’s what he was mad about. She’d defied orders. “They were burning your home,” she argued, “Daemon, I just…”
“You should have let it burn,” he roared, cutting her off and making her wince. “I don’t give a fuck about that cabin, Narae.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I should have obeyed.”
“And I don’t give a fuck about your obedience either.”
Shaking her head, she huffed, “Then what? Why are you so mad?”
“I’m mad because you got hurt!” he raged. Stalking closer, his hands fisted and unfisted like he wanted to grab her. “I’m mad because you thought I cared so much about some fucking cabin that you risked yourself to protect it. I’m mad that I wasn’t there to protect you.” His face was red, his eyes glistening with fury. “I’m mad that fuck Lionel touched you! Do you know what could have happened?” he bellowed. “What almost happened?”
“It was just me,” she countered. “I didn’t put anyone else at risk.”
“You’re not fucking listening,” he roared, then turned and punched a hole into the wall. Sheet rock rained down on his arm as Daemon pulled his fist from the wall, then planted both hands on it. Head lowering, his shoulders rose and fell with his rapid breathing.
Narae stared at the expanse of his back, his powerful muscles pressed against his black t-shirt. Afraid to say anything else, she didn’t.
When Daemon spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
For me?
“I stopped praying for you years ago.” He turned to face her, his expression solemn, all the anger gone. “I asked Koe to lock you in the cells beneath the compound.”
That information was startling.
“I wanted to protect you however I could, but Koe said you’d hate me for it.” He shrugged, “And I didn’t fucking care. Ifit meant keeping you safe, I didn’t care if you hated me forever.” He crossed to tower over her. “But he said Jury wouldn’t agree, and he wasn’t going to lock up his Luna. He said that the two of you would be trapped if the house were breached, and he was right, so I agreed, but I never thought…” His words tapered off.
“I couldn’t let them win,” Narae offered tremulously. “They’ve already taken so much from Jury and me. I didn’t want them taking more. I couldn’t allow it. And I know it was stupid. I knew it was stupid when I was racing to your cabin. But I couldn’t stop myself, Daemon. I didn’t want you to lose something just because you all had welcomed us in. I didn’t want your home burned to the ground just because you tried to do a good thing. I didn’t want…”
When she didn’t finish, Daemon ordered, “Didn’t want what?”
“I didn’t want you to resent us. To resentmeif something bad happened, if you lost something important to you.”
He barked a humorless laugh. “Are you fucking kidding?”
Her head whipped up, eyes locking on his.
