Page 46 of The Reaper's Vow

“Sit,” he orders, the single word carrying that command-edge that makes my pulse jump. I obey, perching on the cushion while he plops into the chair across from me.

“All right, kitten. What do you want to know?”

Karina

Damien’s long legs stretch out like he owns not just the room, but the ground beneath it. One arm drapes lazily over the armrest, the other resting on his thigh, and yet there’s nothing casual about him.

“This was your idea, kitten,” he says, his smirk slow and deliberate. “If you want to get to know me, you’re the one who has to start talking. Ask me something.”

I lean back against the couch cushion, crossing my legs to keep from fidgeting. What do I even ask a man like him? My mind is spinning with a thousand questions, but they all feel too invasive or too trivial. I've never been good at this—getting toknow people. I'm the one who sits in the corner at parties, the one who listens rather than speaks. It’s why I have avoided blind dates like the plague. Conversation starters are just not my cup of tea.

“Okay, um, tell me about your family.” Jesus. That’s what I start with? Why am I so awkward with this stuff?

Something flickers across his face—a tightening around his eyes, a slight clench of his jaw. “What about them?”

“Everything. Anything.” I shrug, trying to appear casual when nothing about this situation is casual. “You're an alpha's son. That seems like a big deal.”

“My father is Hudson Marek, Alpha of the Northern Territories. My mother, Helena, is his Luna. I have one sister, Bella.”

The way he says his sister's name—softer, almost protective—catches my attention. “You're close with her?”

“Was. She was kidnapped. Under my watch.”

My heart skips. “Is she?—”

“She's alive.” He cuts me off. “But she's not the same. None of us are.”

“If she was kidnapped, why are you here instead of with your family?”

The muscle in his jaw twitches, and for a moment, I think he might not answer.

“It was my fault. All of it. I was supposed to be guarding her at a pack gathering. She wanted to slip away to meet some boy she liked.” A bitter laugh escapes him. “I gave her twenty minutes. Told her I'd cover for her with our father.”

“Twenty minutes turned into thirty. Then an hour. When I went to find her, all I discovered was her scent mixed with blood and strangers.”

“That's not your fault,” I add, leaning forward. “You couldn't have known?—”

“I should have known. I'm the alpha's son. The future leader. I'm supposed to protect what's mine…I found her three days later. The guy she had met up with turned out to be a lower level alpha from a small pack. She was alive, a fresh mark on her neck. Had I been ten minutes later, he would have forced her into the full mating bond.”

The realization hits me like a slap across the face.

“That's why you get so angry when I waver.”

His eyes snap to mine, suddenly razor-sharp. “What?”

“You couldn’t protect her from being claimed against her will,” I say, the truth slotting together in my mind. “You’re terrified the same thing will happen to me.”

Damien goes completely still. The kind of stillness that makes prey animals freeze in terror. “Don't,” he warns.

But I can't stop, not now that I see it so clearly. “Every time I question what’s between us, I'm reminding you of your failure to protect her. Every time I push back, I'm?—”

“Enough.” He stands in one fluid motion, towering over me. “This isn't about Bella.”

“Isn't it?” I stand too, refusing to be intimidated even as my wolf cowers. “You're punishing yourself through me. Making yourself endure this because you think you deserve to suffer.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” But the change in his scent betrays him, sharp and tense—instinct recoiling from what I’m stripping bare, from what he’s terrified I’ll expose.

“I'm right, aren't I?” I press further, emboldened by the subtle shift in his demeanor. “You see me as your redemption for your father’s punishment.”