Page 4 of Edge of Darkness

“I’m fine. Seriously, Kage. I’m fine,” Hudson said, eyeing Connie.

“Fine?” Connie bellowed. Spinning around, he stormed back to Hudson’s desk and slammed his hands down on it. Leaning over it, he stared at Hudson, smoke curling from his nose with every huffing breath he took. “Dammit to hell and back, you could have died! Do you understand that?You. Could. Have. Died!”

“Connie—”

Connie roared.

Okay then. “Look, I’m going to have to go. I’m fine, Conrad!” Hudson yelled in Kage’s ear. “No, seriously, the bullet barely grazed me. You act like it’s the first time I’ve ever been shot. Okay, why are you partially shifting? Good gods, my assistant seems to be having a mental breakdown. Talk to you later. Bye.”

As soon as Hudson hung up, Connie was around the desk. He prepared himself for shouting and angry words from Connie. He was certainly worked up enough for it.

Instead, Connie crawled into Hudson’s lap. Stunned, Hudson let him.

Collapsing against Hudson’s chest, Connie started crying hysterically. “I could have lost you. I could have lost you. I could have lost you,” Connie repeated over and over.

Holy shit, whatever he’d been expecting, it hadn’t been this.

“I can’t. I can’tdothat, Hudson. Don’t you understand? I can’t lose you. You’re everything. My everything. I need you, Hudson. Ineedyou. Without you, there is no me.”

Hudson knew then that whatever resistance he’d had against a relationship with Connie because they were not soul bound had just gone up in flames.

CHAPTER ONE-HUDSON

“IT’S OVER.”

Hudson sank into his desk chair, holding his cell phone to his ear. “What? What do you mean? What’s over? Kage? What’s going on?”

“Nox is dead.” Kage sighed heavily. “And he left a mess for me to clean up. Fucker attacked my mate and exposed us to a human before he drew his last breath.”

Hudson blinked several times in shock. “Are you okay? Is Austin? Do you need me? That bastard.” Hudson’s quiet workday had suddenly been turned on its ear.

“Yes, well, funny you should use that particular word. Nox really was a bastard, meaning that he was born outside of wedlock. Want to guess who his father was? I’ll give you a hint—it was mine.”

“Holy fuck, Kage.” Stunned didn’t even start to describe what Hudson was. “Are you telling me that Nox is—shit, I mean was—your half-brother? What the hell? And how the hell do you know this? Are you sure you can trust your source?”

Kage’s laugh bordered on bitterness. “Oh yes, I’m absolutely sure. Do you have time to talk? I kind of need to unload. Be warned, it’s a long story.”

“I have all the time in the world.” Even if he didn’t, he’d make the time. “Tell me.”

“I guess the best starting point would be to update you on what’s going on with Axel, because that indirectly plays into what happened. Have you ever heard of the Council of Wolves?”

“I have, yes. They’re a bunch of puffed-up assholes who think their shit doesn’t stink.”

“By the dead gods, you got that right.” Kage took a deep breath, then began.

The more Kage talked, the more Hudson’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t interrupt because he could hear how hard this was for Kage—his voice shook. That bothered Hudson tremendously. Kage wasn’t one to show his emotions freely.

The sheer audacity of Nox was breathtaking in its arrogance. And as much as Hudson hated to admit it, pretty smart too. Involving the human, Kit, that Austin was friendly with, was brilliant. Horrifyingly so. He felt sorry for Kit. What a way to get introduced to their world.

Nox was Kage’s half-brother. Hudson couldn’t wrap his mind around it. No wonder Kage’s emotions were all over the place. He’d gone his entire life without knowing this, and then to find out in such a way? Yeah. Hudson could hear the anger, but also the sadness, in Kage’s voice.

“I’m so sorry,” Hudson finally said when Kage wound down. “Austin really is okay?”

“Yes. He’s being observed for forty-eight hours. Terry is looking after him.”

For several minutes, neither Kage nor Hudson said anything. Finally, Hudson broke the silence, “I hate to say it, but at least it wasn’t you who ended Nox’s life.”

“I know.”

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