Page 51 of Knot Enough
“What?” His anger didn’t scare me. The direction of this conversation did. He slapped my hand away.
“You heard me. You haven’t said it. Not since we found out who she was, not when we confirmed her story, and not when you tore her bleeding heart out of her chest just a few minutes ago. So. Say. Her. Name!” He said the last bit through clenched teeth.
It had been a long time since I’d felt the effects of Kane’s bark. And it was because of her. I kept her at arm’s length and denied her of any comfort my alpha instincts craved to give her. I pinched the bridge of my nose. The same instincts that told me to fight him for control. The disrespect commonly seen between alphas in the same pack never had a place in ours, and it never would.
“I don’t deserve to say her name. And I won’t try to earn what I don’t deserve. We need to bring Kim and Nox to justice first. Their killer walks free. I can’t just forget them and be happy with someone else. And neither should the rest of our pack.”
My words sobered him up. Kane closed his eyes, and the muscle in his jaw ticked. “Now that we know the truth, what are we going to do about Valerie?”
“There’s no need for any of you to touch her. You guys handle her pack. Leave the bitch to me,” I hissed.
“You’re already in deep.” He said as he walked toward the chair and sat in it.
“That’s the point.” I rested my head back on the wall. “Valerie’s on borrowed time. We can’t move on until she’s dead.”
“When?” Kane asked. This is what I loved about Kane. He was the head of our pack, but we ruled together.
“Two days,” I murmured, the words a promise.
Kane whistled. His shoulders slumped, and a few minutes passed between us. We stared at each other as Lena’s muffled cries floated down to us. Kane sighed.
“Okay. Two days.”
TWENTY-SIX
“Lena,” I growled, widening my stride to catch up to her pace. She’d run out of the room too fast. My cock hardened watching her scamper away from me, her sweet ass inciting a primitive need to hunt her, pin her down, and fuck her.
She needed to know she belonged to me. I gritted my molars, keeping a tight hold on the urge, caught up to her, and grabbed her arm before she disappeared down the hall. She jerked her shoulder out of my grip, but she stopped trying to get away. Fuck, I hated when she pulled away from me.
“He doesn’t mean it.”
She whirled on me. Her eyebrows furrowed down, and although anger glittered in those beautiful brown eyes, so did hurt. And it gutted me.
“Did you not fucking hear him?” Lena hissed, tears glittering in her eyes. She turned on her heel and shoved past me and entered the bedroom, pacing near the window before turning to face me. Oak moved to the edge of the bed and sat stiffly, watching her with as much focus as I.
I moved forward, and she backed up. Nothing else could have hurt me as much as watching her retreat from me. I took a deep breath.
“Rath . . .” I started. She needed to understand the man. He was not good and he’d hurt her, but at his core, he had his reasons, even if I disagreed. “He’s?—”
“Axe!” Her hands balled at her side, and her chest pumped. She looked like a cornered little kitten, and I didn’t want to push her while she was so on edge.
I sighed and scrubbed my scalp with my palm. I fucking hated this. She shouldn’t be in this much pain—pain inflicted by her fucking mates.
Sickness swelled in my throat. I’d hurt my mate, and I’d remained in the same house as my pack mates harmed her too. I was no better than the monsters that hurt my mother. I’d had no power back then, and I’d already failed her.
When neither of us said anything, she started pacing again.
“Stop, Lena,” Oak murmured. He reached her, and she flinched from him. Oak balled his hands at his side.
I fixed my attention on the base of her throat. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. The very words spilling from her mouth were the least I deserved. She confirmed what I believed about my failures. I was no better than them.
“Tell her,” Oak said. I ignored him.
“Lena, you are all that matters to me, please talk to me,” I said desperately. I rocked my weight from one foot to the other.
“Axel struggles with rejection, Len?—”
“Stop,” I interrupted. The fucker better keep his mouth closed.
