Page 144 of King Alejandro

“Chris.”

“You need to prioritise yourself, too, Ri. I can’t have what has happened to Del to happen to you,” he said quietly, running his hand through his messy blond hair. I got up onto my knees, my legs feeling like jelly, and wrapped my arms around his shoulders from behind.

“It’s okay, baby. I can handle this,” I whispered, very aware of my nipples grazing against his back.

“Yeah, I’m sure, we all think that, but when shit goes down, we don’t even fucking realise where things went wrong. You know some of the reasons witches began hating werewolves? It’s because they’re always used as collateral damage,” he said quietly, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. My heart clenched. I understood him, I really did, but my family needed me.

“I know, baby, but Uncle wouldn’t allow me to-”

“Tell me, Princess, when stuff went wrong, who did Kia call first? Delsanra. Then what happened? She ended up in the state she is. Now that Dante may be in danger, who did Ray call? You. Fuck this. I’m tired of you risking yourself again and again.”

“Chris, it’s not like that. Ray has a witch mate, too, he understands how you must be feeling. Plus, I’m his sister. Look, we are all risking ourselves, doing the best we can, and I need to do my best too.”

“But the witches are always the first line of defence,” he responded quietly, removing my arms from around his neck and standing up. A flash of pain rushed through my chest. I hated when he was upset… and I hated it even more when he was upset because of me. “I’m telling Rayhan you’re pregnant when we get there,” he added quietly before he stormed out of the room, his anger palpable through the bond.

I closed my eyes, sighing heavily. I knew once he made up his mind, there was no changing it…

Responsibility

Rayhan

Ihung up the phone, frowning. We had five kids in the house, plus Delsanra. If anything went down…

I was glad Chris and Ri would be coming soon. It was just a little more security, although our own security was already at the max. Uncle Elijah was here, too. It should be okay, right?

For a second, I realised how Uncle must feel, knowing that everyone’s responsibility was on his head. I paced the lounge, running a hand through my hair. I needed to relax. There was no way the Djinn would come here. I had a strong feeling that he couldn’t, or, by now, wouldn’t he have already done so?

“You know, if you can’t take care of Delsanra, I wouldn’t mind doing it.”

I stopped in my tracks, turning and looking at Dante, who was standing there. His arms were crossed as he smirked smugly in the doorway to the living room.

“Don’t worry. I can handle my kitten,” I replied, giving him a cocky smirk back.

“Hmm, sure.”

“Why are you awake?” I asked, watching as he looked down the hall.

“I want hot chocolate. Shall I make you some?” He asked, surprising me.

“How about I make us both some?” I suggested. He shrugged as I walked past him.

“That’s better.” His cocky reply came.

This kid. You can love him and still get irritated with him.

Entering the kitchen, he got onto the bar stool. I saw the slight struggle it took him to pull himself up. Although he was fairing way better than Delsanra, who was unable to even sit up by herself, he was still struggling but hiding it the best he could. Just the thought squeezed at my chest.

I glanced around, spotting the hot chocolate machine, and took the milk carton from the fridge before I began looking for the hot chocolate sachets.

“Second drawer to your left,” Dante remarked

“You could have spoken earlier.”

“Well, it’s quite fun to see the Alpha of the Black Storm Pack search a kitchen,” came his snarky reply.

“You really are an asshat,” I replied, pouring the milk into the machine.

“I’ll have mine in one of those glass mugs once it’s done,” he stated.