Page 42 of The Breeding Cave
“I’m fine,” she said, wriggling in my arms.
I placed her belly-first on the rocks, lifting her hips out of the water, and I saw a huge bubble on her lower back from what looked to be like … a burn. I thought I had been too rough with her in the elevator, but I couldn’t have done this.
“Who did this to you?” I growled.
“N-nobody!” she cried, clutching her back as if she knew exactly what I was talking about. She turned over, fell down into the spring, and stared up at me, but the light was shining from overhead so she couldn’t see my face. But I could see the glow from my red eyes on her face. “It was nobody, I promise!”
“Who?” I snarled. “Who fucking did this to you?!”
“I was clumsy this morning,” she whispered. “I-I spilled hot tea on myself.”
“On your back?” I asked through gritted teeth. “You spilled hot tea on your back?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding and staring up at me through innocent eyes that I almost believed. “I spilled tea on my back. That’s what happened. That’s why my back is burned … I swear it is.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time, Yeosin,” I whispered, trying hard to contain my emotions before they claimed my beast and took hold of me. “And if you lie to me, I’m going to fucking lose it.”
“You’re going to lose it either way,” she said, scurrying back to the wall.
“Who hurt you?”
She gulped and shook her head. “I can’t tell you. I don’t want … I don’t want you to look at me any differently,” she finally whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She dropped her head and wiped a tear away with her shoulder. “I’m embarrassed, and if you find out …”
“If I find out who did it to you, I’ll kill them.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and snapped her gaze up to mine. “No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“They’re strong,” she said. “My ex-boyfriend was really messed up with them. They don’t care who you are or how much power you have; they’ll hurt you. And I …” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t want them to hurt you.”
Suddenly, my chest tightened, and I froze.
“I don’t want them to hurt you.”
What did she mean by that? Did she … care about me? Surely not. No, she couldn’t. And I couldn’t feel anything toward her. The only reason why I had gotten angry over this entire thing was because she was supposed to carry my pups.
Not because I liked her.
Really, I didn’t.
Not at all.
As I swept my fingers over her jawline and she leaned into my touch, my fingers tingled.
Fuck.
“Who are they?” I asked one final time.
“They’re part of this gang,” she whispered. “A clan.”
Fury overtook my beast, and I hurled my fist into the rock beside her. “The Dragon Clan?”
Her brown eyes widened. “How … how do you know about them?”
“Is that why you need the money in cash?” I asked.
She dropped her gaze. “Yes, but seriously, you don’t have to do anything. I just need the money in cash, and then everything will be settled. I swear, you’ve already done so much for me by providing me the money, and I?—”
