I blinked at the words on my screen, not quite sure how to respond to the message I’d just received. “Uh… it’s my brother, Jacob.”
“I thought we got rid of them,” Kyren growled.
“So did I,” I sighed, then put my phone back into my pocket.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Kyren from asking more. “Mi lobo, what do they want?”
I shrugged, taking the glass from his hand and walking over to the tray of drinks. I gave the glass another generous pour but didn’t drink it.
“Did I tell you that I was engaged?”
I could feel Kyren’s presence behind me as the room darkened. I slowly turned and leaned against the side table, letting my eyes find his in the growing shadows around him.
“My dad arranged it with another pack long before we met.”
The shadows lightened slightly.
“Well…” I blew out a breath. “My brothers didn’t just come here to make me take over the alpha position. They wanted me to complete the agreement my dad made with that other pack.”
“Which was to marry one of their wolves?”
I nodded. “The alpha’s daughter.”
“And you told them no, correct?” he asked, unsure of his words.
“Of course I did!” I waved a hand in the air. “That doesn’t mean they listened. Or even care what I want. It’s all about duty and continuing the family line for them. Which I wanted no part of.”
“So what’s the problem?”
I sipped from my glass, letting the liquid burn my throat as it went down. “Apparently, I’m off the hook because the bride is missing.”
The shadows completely disappeared from the room at this point, Kyren’s expression more quizzical than anything. “Well… that’s convenient.”
“Isn’t it though?” I sighed and sank down into the opposite chair once more. “A lot of convenient things happening today.”
Kyren cocked his head in question.
“Well, you know Jack saw you in that alley.” I waited for him to nod. “Then you probably guessed she called the hunters to come do the clean-up.”
“I would expect nothing less of her,” Kyren grunted.
“Then she wanted to leave right away without putting up a fight to find out who the vampire was and why you killed her.” I arched a brow at him, pointing a finger with the glass in my hand. “Does that sound like our girl?”
“No.” Kyren’s eyes narrowed. “No, it doesn’t.”
I blew out a long breath, getting tired already and then downed the rest of the drink as I stared into the fireplace. “I just hope that she stays out of trouble and lets the hunters do their job. I’ve had just about enough of her turning up hurt to last me a lifetime.”
Kyren’s shadows wrapped around me, a comforting warmth embracing me. “Me, too.”
Chapter six
Jack
OnceIwasableto untangle myself from my dads’ vigorous inquiries — seriously it was as if I was on trial — I tried my best to be nonchalant as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom and closed the door behind me.
My mind raced with the events of the day. The image of the mangled and dismembered body lying in the alley was burned into my mind. I could still smell the sickly sweet scent of the vampire’s blood, see the crimson color dripping down the wall from each meticulously drawn letter of the message Kyren had left.
The hunter in me screamed for me to run to his house and demand justice for what he had done. Not that the Hunter’s Guild particularly cared much about vampire-on-vampire crimes. Still, my skin itched for the hunt.
