Page 20 of His Retribution

And now I have to pray to a Maker I no longer believe in that my light has not died a thousand times over because I have never been able to save her.

"This cannot be. This cannot be your C—"

My hand is on his throat in a split second. "Do. Not. Speak her name."

He nods, and doesn't fight me. Andrej knows I could snap his neck with a twist of my wrist, cut off his air supply and crush his throat with one flex of my fingers, but he also knows that no matter how mad, how crazed or distraught I may be, I would never truly hurt my dearest friend.

I release him from my grip and turn back to the cabin.

My beautiful blue light.

I pray she sleeps like the angel she is and by tomorrow night I'll figure out a way to bathe in her warmth once again.

"I don't know how… how she's here..."

Andrej claps a hand on my shoulder. "You saw?"

I nod. "It is her. Undoubtedly, it is my angel."

"On our property, no less."

Now this brings me some relief.

This is Dragovihk land, property bought by the brothers when they left our homeland and somehow my light has found her way onto it. She will be safe here. There are dozens of shifters on the property, powerful shifters that have added a layer of protection to the land. The perimeter is secure and riddled with magical boobytraps, regular patrols and hunts that allow for more security. And shockingly enough, my meager cabin is only a few hundred yards from here, close enough for me to hear her, to scent her, to know if she is in danger. She will be safest exactly where she is, and for that I am grateful.

I turn to look at my friend and the corner of his mouth twitches. "She will remain. The little one is of our clan just as you, so here she will remain."

Little one.

His name for her; their name for her.

They who need to know.

"We must speak with Kai immediately. The others need to know, we must—" Something occurs to me just as I utter those words.

When Kai and Milos returned home... their hushed conversation, their argument about me.

I can feel my eyes change, feel the red consume the ice blue. "Did you know?" I growl, my fangs elongating, nails biting into my palms as my hands roll into fists. "Did you know?!"

Andrej blinks but I can hear his pulse quicken ever so slightly. Not from fear but out of anticipation. He is priming for a fight, if needed, but still relatively calm.

He did not.

Andrej did not know my light had returned.

Which he confirms when he shakes his head once.

"But your brothers do. That's what they were debating when they came into the war room a few hours ago, was it not? They knew my light had come back to me and were not going to tell me for fear I may finally snap."

Not that Andrej can answer that.

Instead of speaking with them as asked, Andrej went to see his mate and their babe, ate dinner with them, then immediately went on the hunt with me.

"Havok..." he warns, my friend well aware of what comes next.

But I'm already gone.

I’m racing through the forest, images of my beautiful blue light standing in the rain playing on a loop in my mind. I push my body to the brink to return to the mansion at record breaking speed.