by H. D. Gordon
The sky continued to darken, the stars blinking into view as the moon glowed from behind thin, shifting clouds.
At last, we came to a structure much like all the others. It was little more than four thin walls and a slab of metal for a door.
My nose twitched, testing the air. When I picked up the distinct scent of my little sister clinging to the wretched place, my eyes flared Wolf-gold, and a deep growl rumbled up my throat.
Eli said, “Dita, perhaps we should—”
But I did not hear the rest, because I was busy ripping the pathetic door off its hinges and discarding it in my wake.
The inside was just as pitiful as the out, and in the one-room, dirt-floor shack, I found my sixteen-year-old sister curled up with Kellan Kant.
It was as though the earth were rumbling beneath me, my blood rushing in my ears as I took sight of them.
Delia’s eyes widened in fear as she realized who had found her. She untangled herself from Kant and held her palms up and out.
“Dita, please,” she said.
I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. My eyes were glued to the male cowering behind her back. “Go home,” I said between tight teeth, and my voice was so deep and menacing that it hardly sounded like my own.
“I won’t let you hurt him,” Delia said, refusing to budge.
It was an effort to pull my eyes from over her shoulder to stare at her. “Let me?”
Tears erupted from Delia’s eyes. “Please,” she begged.
“Fine,” I said, my voice flat and cold. “Then stay.”
I shoved my sister aside hard enough to remove her from my path, but not hard enough for any real damage, and was vaguely aware of Eli catching her in his arms and holding tight before I reached the bastard male.
Kellan made to run, but I was too fast, and I slammed my fist into his gut hard enough to make him double over.
Behind me, Delia screamed for me to stop, her tone ear-piercing in the small space.
When Kellan Kant straightened, his eyes were also glowing Wolf-gold.
I grinned at this. “Good,” I said. “Let’s not make this too quick.”
He struck out, trying to backhand me with his large knuckles, but I caught his wrist and twisted, snapping a few bones there without much effort.
An uppercut at full strength sent him flying into the rear wall of the shack. The structure collapsed instantly, and his large body went sprawling into the dirt, nearly knocking over a burning barrel in the process.
There were gasps from the people watching, but I couldn’t care less. My vision was tunneled in like an arrow on target.
I stalked over to the male still scrambling to get up, murder in my eyes.
He tried to get away, but a knee to his face laid him out flat again.
“Stop!” Delia screamed from somewhere off to the side. “Dita! Please stop! I’m pregnant!”
The world paused and tilted. Rage so hot it could scorch the earth filled me as my eyes found my sister, and I saw on her face that it was true.
A moment later, I was gripping both sides of Kellan’s worthless head, a heartbeat away from snapping his neck.
Then Elian was in front of me, his beautiful hazel eyes bright with concern, though his face was carefully calm.
“Dita,” he said gently but firmly, “Look around, darling. This is not the time, nor the place.”
Whatever expression I wore had him swallowing hard.
“Let me take you home,” Eli whispered. “Both of you.”
Slowly, as though a tide within me were receding, I blinked and took in the surroundings.
Supernaturals of various sorts were standing all around, watching in utter silence, looks of horror on their faces.
I released my hold on Kellan Kant, dropping him into the dirt where he belonged.
And I let Eli take me home.
Chapter 17
No one spoke a word for the entire carriage ride home, and as soon as we arrived back at the house, Delia jumped out and ran inside, tears still streaking her face. I did not try to stop her. I only sat in Eli’s carriage, feeling numb and cold and tired.
Delia was pregnant.
I could not seem to process it.
“You should have let me kill him,” I said.
Eli was silent for moment, and I didn’t want to look at his face. I didn’t want to see what judgment would be there. I barely knew the male, and he had almost just witnessed me murder another Wolf, along with learning that my teenage sister was pregnant. I didn’t want to guess at what he must think of me, or why I should even care.
“If you had,” he said softly, “the Guard would’ve put you to death.”
I didn’t say anything to this, but I had a feeling he was privy to the thought going through my head that perhaps death would be easier. It seemed life was a constant battle, and I was growing weary of fighting.
I opened the carriage door, getting ready to hop out and face the family with what I had learned, but Eli said, “Do you want to go inside just yet?”
I paused, sitting back on the seat again. “I’m not sure I want to go inside ever,” I admitted.
His smile made my stomach flutter, and I was glad for a feeling other than anger, guilt, and disappointment.
“Will you let me feed you, then?” he said. “You must be hungry.”
I glanced back at the house, where lights were filling the multiple windows as Delia’s arrival was no doubt causing a stir among the others.
I looked at Elian, and the appearance of those dimples decided for me.
“I’m always hungry,” I said.
Eli moved closer as he leaned out of the carriage to instruct the driver and closed the door. “I could’ve guessed that,” he whispered, and the carriage kicked forward into motion.
The sight of the glittering lights of Cerys in the distance was breathtaking, the vantage point perfect. Around us, the land was dark and silent.
The great Cyrsian Sea stretched off to the east, the motion of it lulling and the air crisp. To the west was endless forest, and small towns dotted the places in between. These towns were connected by mostly dirt and sand roads that webbed across the land in varying directions.
I’d never seen the place from this high up, and decided it was worth the thousand stairs we’d had to climb to get here. On top of that, the exertion of doing so had burned off some of the steam that I’d been overwhelmed with as of late.
The top of the lighthouse was closer to the heavens than I was comfortable with, and the winds up here tugged at my clothing as if with greedy fingers, but behind the glass, in the little room where the lighthouse keeper could sit and watch the world in relative safety, it was admittedly stunning to behold.
“It really is something, isn’t it?” I said, more to myself than anything.
Beside me, Eli nodded. “I suppose it is.”
I looked over at the Demon. “What did you mean when you said you might have guessed that I’m always hungry?” I asked. “If I cared about such things, I might be offended.”
Eli grinned and leaned back on the bench we shared. “It was less a reference to your appetite, and more one to your ambitions.”
My eyes narrowed, but I had to stop them from lingering too long on his lips. “And what do you know about my ambitions, Mr. Elian?”
He shrugged and offered me another strip of thick jerky that was delicious enough to make me consider licking my fingers.
I took it and devoured it while he answered.
“Only what I hear whispered,” he said.
I considered this answer, supposing that I had known the arrival of my family and our purchases of property would spark some conversation, but because we’d kept mostly to ourselves, in nearly three years of living here, this was the first time I’d encountered it.
“Do you make it your business to listen to whispers?” I asked.
“I suppose any good business person does.”
We were sitting on a bench behind t
he glass window, the world spread out at our feet and a basket of food propped open between us. The moon and stars hung over us, the only things above our heads. The little watch room was equipped with a cot, a table, and the bench upon which we sat, along with a panel of buttons and levers hung upon the wall that used to control the functions of the lighthouse.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked. “What do you want with me? And I’ll hear it in your heartbeat if you lie.”
Eli didn’t look surprised by the question. He only raised a brow and leaned back in his chair. “No, you wouldn’t,” he said. “I make far too many deals with Wolves to be given away by such things… But in all honesty, I don’t know. I guess I just keep finding myself with you… and also wanting to be with you. That’s not common for me.”
The way he spoke the words was cool and easy, but I found my stomach fluttering again nonetheless.
“It’s not common for me, either,” I admitted. “Most of the time I like to be alone, and the rest of the time I spend with family.”
One side of his mouth tipped up, but it was not a smile. His hazel eyes scanned the ocean beyond. “Me too,” he said. “Except for I don’t have a family.”
There was a thawing sensation in my chest, and I had to swallow before I could speak.
“Since we’re being honest, it’s probably easier that way,” I said. “As me and mine have so wondrously demonstrated this evening, family can certainly complicate things.”
Eli flashed his beautiful smile, one that had surely aided in securing the affections of the various females I’d seen at his side. I noticed my fist clenching a little at this thought and relaxed it. Of all my flaws, jealousy over a male had never been one of them.
“Easier, maybe,” he agreed. “But not many would argue better.”
“What happened to them?” I asked.
He was silent for long enough that I wasn’t sure he’d answer.
“I lost my mother, father, and brother when I was a boy,” he said at last. “There was no one else.”
My throat tightened. “I can’t imagine.”
I really couldn’t. It made my problems feel small, stupid.
Elian sipped at a glass of wine he’d brought along with the food in the basket. “It was a long time ago.” He smiled again, and I got the sudden urge to kiss him, but didn’t. “Hardly hurts anymore,” he added.
Though he was right about his heartbeat remaining steady, I knew this was a lie.
We sat in silence for some time, but it was not uncomfortable. It also allowed me to work through the contents of the picnic basket, to eat and drink an amount that made me feel warm and content.
“And your parents?” Eli asked after a while. “What happened to them?”
“How do you know they’re not around?”
Eli shrugged. “The way you talked to your sister, it was how a parent would address a child.”
This intuitiveness impressed me, but I didn’t say. “My mother died giving birth to my youngest brother, and my father is… a world away. Likely drunk out of his mind at any given moment.”
Eli nodded once, and I was glad when I didn’t glimpse any pity on his handsome face. “So you steer the Silvers ship, then.”
It wasn’t a question, but I sighed and answered. “I’m not sure how worthy of a captain I’m proving to be.”
He was quiet a moment. “I guess we’re all just doing the best we can. And it seems both you and I were forced to grow up well before our time.”
I’d never heard it put like that, but I supposed this were true. I had been forced to grow up quickly. In fact, my childhood had been stolen from me the moment my mother had died, even if I hadn’t known it yet. I hadn’t just had to raise my siblings, but I’d also had to raise myself.
I looked over at Eli, with his light brown, smooth skin and disappearing dimples, and supposed my story was no sadder than his. As an orphan, he’d also had to raise himself.
“How old are you?” I asked.
His hazel eyes flicked over to me. “Twenty-nine,” he answered.
Five years older than me, then.
“Are you trying to have sex with me?”
Eli nearly spat out his wine, looking startled for once, and adjusted his jacket as he resettled himself in his chair. I bit back the smile that wanted to upturn my lips.
“Why?” he said, clearing his throat. “Are you trying to have sex with me?”
I pretended to consider. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Duel dimples appeared with the wideness of his grin, his straight white teeth flashing. “Well, you let me know when you do, and then I can decide as well.”
I chuckled at this, trying unsuccessfully to quell the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I couldn’t ever remember feeling so… feminine in my whole life. I wondered for the first time if this was a dangerous road I was treading.
“What’s going on between you and Carson Cartier?” Eli asked, going very serious all of a sudden and startling me with the abrupt question, as I supposed was karmic justice.
My back stiffened. “What have you heard?”
“That you’ve refused to buy the moonshine for your pubs from him.”
Now my stomach twisted for other reasons. “Is this such common knowledge?”
“For those in the right circles, yes. Until you and your family arrived, Mr. Cartier’s was the only wealthy and notable Pack in the area.”
My brows went up. “And that’s what people think we are?” I asked. “Wealthy and notable?”
“Aren’t you?” Eli countered.
I snorted. It was funny how much things could change in the course of a few years.
“Depends on who you ask.”
“He’s a dangerous person,” Eli said, turning toward me and unknowingly making my heart skip a beat despite the seriousness of the topic. “I’ve known him for years, and I’ve seen other Alphas try to take him on. He doesn’t take kindly to opposition.”
I folded my hands in my lap, pulling my gaze away from Eli with some effort, and stared out at the churning sea, at the blanket of stars hanging above.
“In my experience,” I said. “Alphas never do.”
Eli seemed to relax a little, and the urge to touch him came over me again, but I ignored it, as I did with most of the emotions that scared me.
“So then I don’t have to tell you to be careful where he’s concerned?” Eli asked.
My hands slipped into my pockets, where they rested over the butts of my duel irons.
“No,” I said. “No, you don’t”
Chapter 18
As much as I may have wanted, I couldn’t avoid home forever.
Eli and I sat for a while longer before he took me back in the carriage. The return ride seemed tense somehow, as if there had been a shift between us, something both large and small, depending on how it was examined.
When the carriage came to a stop outside the house, I stared up at the place a moment before climbing out.
“Thank you, Mr. Elian,” I said. “I’m not sure why you should want to, but you seem to have a knack for keeping me out of trouble.”
I couldn’t breathe for a moment as he leaned forward slowly and placed the gentlest of kisses on my forehead. I could not remember the last time I’d been kissed that way.
Before pulling away, in my ear, in the slight foreign accent I was becoming increasingly fond of, Elian whispered, “Will it be quite the occupation, then, Miss Silvers?”
Before I could think of any kind of response to this, Eli climbed back into the carriage and bid me goodnight. I stood on the gravel drive before the house until the carriage had trundled out of sight, unsure what to make of anything.
But the reprieve was over, and it was time to face the reality of the situation. In the gigantic house looming before me, I had a little sister who was pregnant, a little brother who could not seem to keep himself out of trouble, and an older brother who wanted to negotiate his way into a comfortable pos
ition under Carson Cartier’s thumb.
And on top of that, several mouths to feed and people who were counting on me to do it.
It was an effort to force my feet into motion, to climb the steps of the porch and let myself into the house.
Inside, the foyer was dark, the hour late, the sun not far off from rising.
Naturally, the only ones up were Cora and Cecelia. The Vampires preferred to sleep during the day.
The ladies both gave me sympathetic looks as I climbed the steps in the foyer and checked in on the twins before going to my own room. Seeing Ada’s and Ana’s peaceful little faces was always a balm to the soul, and mine certainly felt as though it had been scorched as of recent.
I shucked off my boots and guns, my jacket and pants, and climbed into the fluffy comfort of my blankets and mattress. I hadn’t slept here for weeks, had taken to being on the roof in my anxiety to look out for things, but I slipped into a deep rest and didn’t bother coming out of it until late the following day.
A week passed.
Things settled down at the household as the news of Delia’s pregnancy spread through the family. One thing that made it all more bearable was the reassurance I got from the others. Everyone agreed that we were more than capable of helping Delia take good care of the child, and I supposed this was better than pointing out that my sister had just made a decision that affected all of us, though no one more than her.
With Devon making decisions as far as our businesses went, I decided to work on other projects I’d never had time for before. I began taking the twins and Delia to school again, and though the latter generally just ignored me, the joy of the former two made the trek worth it.
I also was able to spend more time with Nyla, Zara, Cora, and Cecelia, and since the four of them had been overseeing the protection of the property, I got to take a deeper look into how we ran the estate and help optimize things.
