Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LOCH
I love my brothers so much, I hate their asses sometimes. They take cock-blocking to an ungodly level because mine’s pent-up and in pain.
I groan, leaning against the kitchen countertop in my brother’s kitchen, drinking his coffee while I watch Sire make Mutt sit for a piece of rotisserie chicken.
I grumble, “Y’all are dickheads, you know that, right?”
Sire chuckles. “Not my fault that you have a death wish. You’re lucky Nash didn’t bust you Domming his daughter. Damn, your big dick is dumb.”
I roll my eyes. He’s not wrong. “You were supposed to be on your way to Georgia.”
He rewards Mutt’s obedience, feeding him. “You’re supposed to know better than to get your kink on with another king’s daughter.”
“You told me to woo her!”
“Woo her.” Sire grabs his steaming mug from the island. “Not strap her to an orgasm tower until she squirts on your face.”
We didn’t make it that far, but damn, I was getting Alena there. She was so fucking wet for me. I can make her do it; my brother knows I can.
Instead, I unstrapped her and rushed her out of the club. One of the bouncers gave me a trench coat that a guest had left behind. I wrapped Alena in it and drove her home to her father’s house.
Nash’s house.
Like we were teenagers, late for curfew because we’d been finger banging in my truck. Not grown adults, finally connecting and getting our kink on. Goddamn, I’ve wanted Alena for so long, this is bullshit.
“I’m telling Nash I love her.”
Sire laughs. “For the anger of men does not produce the righteousness of God.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Nash will kill you.”
“Why? He has no right. Alena’s an adult. She can fall in love with whoever she wants.”
He grins, skating right past my rage. “She loves you already?”
“Fuck yes, it’s starting to feel like it. It’s like we’re meant to be together, then destined to be torn apart. But if I tell Nash, maybe we’ll have a chance.”
He grins. “Maybe you don’t like breathing.”
“You’re confusing the shit out of me.” I grab my hair. “Are you telling me to go for it with Alena or back off?”
He walks my way, cupping my shoulder. “I’m being honest with you, that’s all. You love Alena, but so does Nash. And we all know we’re targets for him. It’s a matter of time before he finds us. It’ll be soon, I fear. Nash knows it, and so do you.”
Him.
He means Ruslan Kholodov. He’s hunting us.
I can sense a clock ticking down. More like a bomb that’ll destroy everyone I love.
“What do you think he’ll do when he finds us?”
Sire shrugs, nonchalantly, but it’s bullshit.
He cares. He remembers the man more than any of us.
“Same thing we’d do. Deadly vengeance. But his is evil.
Women and children: he doesn’t care. He’ll hurt anyone to get what he wants, and he wants us.
He wants his sons back, and he wants Mom. Dead or alive.”
My empty stomach twists. “So, you’re saying, back off. Leave Alena alone, and maybe he’ll never know about her and leave her alone?”
“No.” He steps back. “I’m saying do it right and give it time. Make sure Alena’s always guarded and is head over fucking heels for you, then let me help you talk to Nash.” He smirks. “I got a bulletproof vest in my closet.”
“Not helping.” I sag against his countertop.
“Not happening today.” He lowers his inked face. “You’re not telling Nash about Alena when I’ve finally convinced him to let the cousins back you up.”
I glance at the time on the microwave. “When will they get here?”
Sire turns to his phone, taps it, and reads a text. “Axel’s with ’em and parking outside.”
“Is Nash with them?”
“No, he’s with Mom. They’re at his place, squeezing Alena for more intel on that Sasha woman.” He glances up, his brows knitted. “You really think she’s an omen or something?”
“Can’t describe it, man. Except I was looking in a mirror and seeing her hell.” I shake my head, too many feelings tumbling through me. “Nash and Mom need to be careful. If they ask too many questions about Sasha, Alena will figure out what we do.”
Sire nods, processing. I swear there’s also a dark cloud looming over him as I sip coffee, my stomach souring.
Lying to Alena makes me sick. The closer I get to her, the more I can’t do it. I want to be honest with her. The truth scratches under my skin, and I need relief.
I need to be me.
Minutes later, it sounds like a slow herd of elephants trudging up the wooden stairs to Sire’s historic penthouse.
Axel strolls through Sire’s door, followed by Tweedle-deadly, Tweedle-dangerous, and Tweedle-destructive.
Bishop. Remi. Wilder.
They’re bikers, brewers, professional hitmen, and now my backup when I can’t watch Alena twenty-four seven.
Wilder goes straight to Sire’s refrigerator, yanking it open, then pulling back at the sight of chicken and salad. “The fuck, man?” He balks. “Yard bird and grass clippings? You got a religion against sugar now?”
Those two go back to juvie, where they met, and Sire shanked Wilder for stealing his cherry pie.
Remi stands by the door, his massive arms crossed. He’s a man of few words. Not sure if it’s the same for his IQ.
Bishop’s the only one who greets us like a gentleman, shaking our hands. A sly, slayer move. “Excuse my cousin. He acts like he was raised in a barn.”
“Cuz we were.” Wilder chomps on salad greens.
“We’re renting the cabin above yours.” Bishop goes straight to business, telling me, “We bought fishing poles to blend in and—”
“Don’t ride your hogs up the mountain.” I mean serious business. “We’ll hear you coming miles away, and she’ll notice you.”
“So lemme get this straight.” Wilder shoves more spring mix in his mouth. “We’re watching a woman who’s a forest ranger. But she’s also your secret Mafia princess who doesn’t know there’s a price on her head?”
Axel coolly seethes, “We’re not in the Mafia.”
“Pft.” It’s all Remi says.
“Uh-huh.” Wilder grins with spinach on his teeth. “And I don’t get a chub on my chopper.”
“You keep your eyes on her and your hands off,” I bark at Wilder, then glance at Axel.
He thinks I’m following orders when it’s my heart.
“There’s some shady shit going on in those mountains, and it puts another target on Alena because she wants to save every woman, when she’s already at risk because she’s ours. ”
Mine.
She’s mine.
“She’s a princess, the daughter of a king.” Axel blinks slowly at Wilder. “I don’t have to tell you what that means to us.”
That’s it.
Gasket popped.
Fuse blown.
I’m sick of this shit.
“No, but you have to tell me!” I explode at Axel. “Why do you care so much about Alena?”
Calmly, Axel replies, stepping to me, “Because we worship our queens. We kill for them. Die for them. They give us a family worth fighting for and keep us bonded. And Alena’s our first princess.
We pledge the same protection to her. You’re too young to remember what we went through, why we honor our rituals, and who we really are. ”
He might as well have punched me.
It’s my wound, whipping my head to the side.
Is it love or ludicrousness that I wish I shared my brothers’ memories and pain? That I wish I wore the same scars and woke from the same nightmares? That my head knows the risk we’re in, but my heart should be abused just like theirs?
I’m Ruslan’s son in name only.
Sire used to pick me up when I cried, while Axel took the beating from our father that my mom tried to get for Sire doing it. That’s the story Jace told me. Grant said Axel even slept in front of my crib. He’d take our father’s wrath to protect me from it.
Axel does everything to protect everyone.
I’m just so fucking in love and tired of lying. I want to be free. Free to love Alena.
“Hey.” Sire gets between us, his hands bracketing our shoulders. “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
“Amen,” Wilder crows. “Fuck, we ain’t even brothers. We’re cousins, and, yeah, we’ll beat the shit out of each other, but there’s love. There’s honor in blood.”
“There’s honor in women.” Remi shocks us, speaking up. “It’s why we protect them.”
“Alena is our princess.” Axel ignores them. He’s focused on me. “We’ll do anything to protect her.”
“But she’s my responsibility,” I fume, locked on his glacial eyes. “My friend. My purpose. My queen. I’ve sacrificed my future to protect her, so don’t come at me like I’m not her king.”
“We’ll each claim our queen,” Sire soothes.
“We’ll marry them, initiate them, form our bonds with them, have our kids with them— Ahem.
” He chokes. I raise a brow before he continues.
“But Alena is different. She’s not blood, but she’s our princess.
She’s not a queen, but she’s an adult. She belongs on a throne, but she’ll never be initiated, and—”
“And she needs to know who she is,” I interrupt. “Trust me. It fucking sucks being told who you are, instead of being who you want to be.”
Axel’s face falls, his icy eyes melting. He reaches around, grabbing my neck, pulling my forehead to his. “I’m sorry, man. Sorry, we were born into this shit, and I’m sorry for being a tough dick, trying to protect you from it. I wish there were another way.”
I grab him back, remembering everything he’s done for us—every day of my life.
Axel’s our King, the designated heir, because as a child, Sire didn’t want it. So now, Axel’s the first in line for our father’s bullet. Still, we protect our queens. Whether they’re our wife or not. Whether we’ve claimed them or we’re waiting for them.
“I know.” I squeeze his inked neck. “I’m thankful you’re my brother. Your heart’s in the right place.” I grin. “Just aim your ego in a different direction because I may be the baby, but I’m the biggest. You don’t want to rouse this little lion.”
He smirks.
I smirk back.
“Aw, ain’t that sweet?” Wilder drawls. “Now, ’bout these evil fuckers in the mountains.”