Chapter 37 Kain
Kain
“You know what will happen the moment this gets out!” Kain threaded a hand through his hair in agitation as he stared at his father. “A Breeder with power? Someone will try to kill her. I won’t allow it! I’d rather let Naharan get away with treason than put Selma in more danger.”
Kirigan lightly tapped at the glass of bourbon in his hand. “Nothing you do will stop this from getting out. We left way too many of the Queen’s subjects alive for this not to spread like wildfire. We’re better off nipping it in the bud and facing the royal family head-on.”
“You mean confront them? Publicly?” Kesh cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “That will lead to—”
“A coup.” Kirigan smiled wryly, though it didn’t touch his black eyes. Nothing did anymore. “We have one of the Stones of Power and your mate killed the reigning queen. She does have a legitimate claim to the throne, despite being a Breeder rather than a demon.”
“You’re mad. I’m not bringing her to Europe, and I have no desire to challenge the royal family in their own territory.
We may have one Stone, and I am sure we will have supporters once we divulge Naharan’s treason, but they have the other two Stones and it’s their home,” Kain said.
As much as he wanted to tear the prince limb from limb, it wasn’t worth risking his mate’s life.
“All I want is to find somewhere safe to bring up my family.”
“That’s the point; nowhere is safe until we have dealt with the threat of the traitorous royal family.” Despite the nature of the topic, Kirigan’s tone remained calm. “You will never find a safe place for that girl unless you seize power over those who would harm her.”
“Fuck!” Kain slapped his palm against the nearest wall hard enough for the structure to shake. He was right—his insane monster of a father was right. Unless he established himself at the very top of the food chain, they would always be looking over their shoulders.
If they seized control of the demon world, not only would they annihilate the threat of Naharan, but they would also curb the fear of a Breeder with power by making her Queen, thus establishing her in a position of authority—even if that would initially cause an uproar, especially among the demon females.
“We don’t have to go to Europe,” Kesh said, his brow wrinkled in thought.
“We make our claim here. We find Naharan and make his crimes public, then execute him and claim dominion over the Northern Americas in the process. If the rest of the royal family objects, they will come to our territory and we will have the advantage. Or they give up control of the New World and we still accomplish what we set out to do.”
“It is a good plan,” Kirigan agreed. “If you truly care for the Breeder’s safety, you will do this, Kain.”
Kain grimaced. “I will think on it. When I return, I will let you know what I’ve decided.”
Without waiting for further input, he turned and walked out of the library.
As a Lord, he’d always had a natural inclination toward leadership and domination, but he’d never had any desire to rule more than his assigned city.
After Selma… Well, shit, he’d hardly had time to adjust to having not only a mate, but also a child on the way.
Yet every fiber of his being longed to be with her—to create a future with her.
Ruling a continent was not on his list of priorities.
Still, he could see no other way to ensure her safety. Even without her disturbing powers, he would need to kill Naharan to ensure the snake never tried to touch her again, and killing royalty… that meant war.
He hadn’t had time to talk to her yet, to try and figure out where the fuck the destructive light within her came from.
Though he would have preferred to keep her in his arms, he’d needed to discuss their next move with his brother and father first, and Selma was clearly still more than a little unsettled at their demonic forms.
So instead of keeping her by his side where she belonged, he’d locked her in his old room to give her a little peace—a peace he now had to break. She deserved to know what was happening, and he would need to mate her again.
As much as his cock appreciated that prospect, his heart twisted unpleasantly.
The pure horror in her eyes when she’d woken up and seen his true face would haunt him for an eternity, and knowing he would have to mount her while she was still able to see him like this caused dread to nestle in his gut.
Yet he would do it to save her life, even if it would cause irreparable damage to their fledgling relationship. Even if she would never be able to return his love after being made to mate with a monster.
Kain paused in front of his bedroom door and raised a hand to rap against the wooden surface with a knuckle.
“Kain?”
His name on her sweet voice made him smile, even if she did sound wary.
“Yeah. Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
When he opened the door, she was sitting on the wide four-poster bed with her legs folded beneath her, looking as lovely as ever.
She drew in a deep breath at the sight of him, her brown eyes widening, but at least she didn’t cower, scream, or even look away.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” Selma gave him a weak smile, and he could see the tired lines already marking her pretty face again. Not being seeded while he’d been captured had taken its toll on her newly pregnant body.
“You should have let Kesh mount you. He told me you refused him.”
He frowned at the thought of another man on top of her, but he’d sent her to his brother with the expectation that she would belong to Kesh forevermore.
He hadn’t expected to make it out alive, and despite his rage at the prospect, she would have been in much better condition if his brother had fulfilled his duties between her thighs.
She flushed. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t about to have sex with anyone else, especially not your brother.”
His possessive nature purred at her statement, but he knew he had to make her see sense, should the need for her to accept another demon ever occur.
“Should something happen to me again, you need to allow it. Your life is more valuable to me than anything else. And if I die, I would want Kesh to provide for you.”
Selma frowned. “Nothing more will happen to you. Promise me.”
The sore thing in his chest—the place that connected him to her beyond anything he could ever have imagined—spasmed at her demand.
Perhaps her need to see him safe was born from a place of realizing he would always provide her and their child with safety, but it nevertheless warmed his very core to know that she wished for him to stay alive—and with her.
“I can promise you that I will do anything and everything in my power to remain with you for the rest of eternity. But we still have dangerous times ahead, little one. This business with Naharan…”
“You will have to kill him.”
The way she said it, so completely calm, made pride swell in his chest. She was tougher than he had ever thought a Breeder could be.
“Yes.”
“I killed Marathin.” She caught his gaze and held it. “He was scheming with the Prince, but planned on double-crossing him to steal me away. He tried to rape me, and that power inside of me you saw at the queen’s palace awoke. What does that mean for the contract he had on my soul?”
“My father told me as much. It means you’re free. The only thing that can break contract magic is the death of the demon who created it.”
Despite his pride in her, Kain’s lip pulled up in a snarl at the mention of the scum who’d tried to lay a hand on his mate.
For her sake, he was happy she was the one to kill him—the quiet strength that radiated from her now wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t put an end to the monster herself.
Still, every cell in his body ached to maim the man who’d hurt his mate.
“I hope it was slow and painful,” he added.
A smile ghosted across her lips. “You’re very demon-y when you say stuff like that—while looking like this.” She made a vague gesture toward his horns.
Kain snorted and eased himself down on the bed next to her. She didn’t flinch at his proximity, but he noticed she kept a hesitant eye on him.
“I know this is hard for you. It would have been easier if we’d been together longer and you had known me better before you saw my true form.”
She rubbed a hand over her belly and sighed. “Apparently Maell wasn’t kidding when he said I’m extremely fertile. What happens now, Kain? With Naharan and… and my powers? I’m not an idiot—I understand we’re in pretty deep shit.”
We. Even when he was in his demon form, she accepted that they were a unit with a shared future. It occurred to him that while neither of them had wanted a mate, they were both remarkably quick to accept their new bond. Surely it couldn’t all be hormones? It didn’t feel like hormones.
“We go to war,” he said softly. “There’s no other way.”
His mate nodded, her lips narrowed in determination. Yes, she’d grown infinitely tougher since he'd found her alone and scared in that warehouse.
“If you are Queen, no one will question your powers—even if you are a Breeder.”
She looked at him then, something he couldn’t quite identify shifting in her eyes. “And you? Will you question them?”
“There is nothing to question,” he said.
In reality there was much to question, but he didn’t want to rattle her any further. As brave a front as she was putting up, it likely wouldn’t take much more before she’d break.
And he still needed to mate her. Whatever that powerful light within her was, they would have to talk about it later.
She looked like she wanted to interject, but when he paused to let her speak, she didn’t. Instead her shoulders slumped, the dark circles underneath her eyes seeming more bruised than ever. She needed him.
“Selma… We need to make you better, little one.”
She shrugged and attempted to straighten, but he could still see the strain on her face. Their previous seeding had not been nearly enough to make up for her depletion of energy, and he suspected that her usage of the powerful light hadn’t helped things.
“I’m okay,” she said, though her gaze slipped from his to where her hands lay in her lap.
“You’re not okay. I need to take you again. And I will need to do that every day until he is born.”
She paled noticeably, and Kain’s heart sank into his stomach. If he had to force her, he would never be able to look at himself in the mirror again, but he would do anything to save her life. Even this.