Chapter 18
Narae didn’t know if she should try to fight Daemon off or submit.
With Bragga, she knew what was to come, so she never fought.
Fighting back had only served to hurt her worse in the end, but Daemon was different.
As he reached for her, she couldn’t help but raise her arms. Still torn between punching him or just protecting herself.
The decision was ripped from her as she was hauled across the seat.
In a move that was too fast and required too much strength, Daemon had her spun and plastered against his body, her back to his front.
His shoulders were pressed against the door.
One of his legs ran the length of the back bench seat while the other rested on the floor with Narae’s body between his legs.
He didn’t say anything, but Narae could feel his heart hammering against her back.
Hers was hammering too. Body tense, she waited.
After a few moments, Daemon’s hand lifted to gently smooth down her arm before stopping to rest on her forearm. At her ear, he breathed, “Relax. It’s a long drive. Just rest. You’re safe.”
Safe? She didn’t feel safe. She felt like she was in the presence of a highly dominant enemy Alpha while her own sinister Alpha was hot on her heels.
Her gaze sliced to where Daemon had ripped the rearview mirror from where it’d hung.
Daemon was acting possessive of her, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Bragga had started acting possessive of her, too, once he’d realized that Jury was really gone.
Behind her, Daemon adjusted himself, jostling her body as he got more comfortable, his arms both circling her now.
Narae sat tense. Experience had taught her to expect the other shoe to drop, but behind her, Daemon’s breathing slowed, then evened out.
It was soothing, in an odd way, and sitting in his warm embrace had her stiff muscles slowly melting.
“You need to let me go,” she said quietly.
“If you are who you say you are. If Jury is with your pack, taking me will only lead Bragga straight to her. I can’t have that.
She suffered to get free. We both suffered for her freedom. ”
Daemon gently ran his hand up and down her arm. “Letting you go won’t make a lick of difference. I left a calling card.”
Her mind flashed back to him leaving his blood at the scene.
“They know who took you. And they know where to come if they want you back.” His Hand stopped rubbing and gripped her hand, squeezing it gently. “And when they come to take you. I get to finish them. All of them.”
“We!” Thrall corrected from the driver’s seat. “You need to learn to share, Daemon. Some of us enjoy battle too. Besides, Koe’s gonna want his own retribution, which means Bragga belongs to him.”
Behind her, she felt Daemon shrug. “Not now. Now, it’s whichever one of us gets to him first, and technically, I’d get first rights.”
Silence hung heavy in the truck as Narae processed what Daemon just said.
He was telling Thrall that because he’d marked her, he got first crack at any male who threatened her or had mistreated her.
It’s how packs work, how matings worked.
And while she and Daemon weren’t fully mated, she was marked as his, which meant pack law dictated he had every right to protect and avenge her.
It had her wondering at Jury’s status. Was she a prisoner of the Allegiance pack?
A guest? She was pondering whether to ask and whether she’d get a straight answer, but something odd was happening.
The second she’d turned thirteen and had started her menstrual cycle, her wolf had gone on high alert.
She’d had to. The avalanche of unwanted male attention she’d received was topped only by the gross amount of inappropriate sexual advances.
No. Sexual advances was putting it too mildly.
They were sexual assaults. There were unwanted touches, inappropriate gropings, and even some full-on attacks.
The males in the Biters pack thrived on hierarchy.
The weaker you were, the more you suffered, which meant the females and young suffered the most. Honestly, Narae couldn’t recall the last time her wolf had been able to genuinely, fully rest comfortably.
Even while they slept, her wolf stayed on alert.
It had been an agonizing existence for them both, but right now, tucked into the back seat of Thrall’s truck with Daemon, her body wrapped in the warmth and strength of his, Narae’s wolf did something she hadn’t done in decades.
She lowered her guard and rested, dragging Narae into sleep with her.
***
Daemon had successfully slowed his breathing, but he was unable to control the erratic hammering of his heart.
It’d been beating like crazy since they’d engaged the Biters.
He’d assumed it was from battle, but now, he knew it wasn’t because his arms were wrapped around Narae, and they were well on their way back to his pack’s territory, but he couldn’t seem to calm himself.
Focusing on Narae, Daemon felt the instant she gave in and accepted that she was safe.
It took only a few minutes after that for her body to go lax and for her breathing to even out.
Her slight weight settled more fully against him as she drifted off.
She rested, and he concentrated. What was it about her that had him on high alert?
Too much was going on in his head. He was smugly satisfied with getting to eliminate a few of Bragga’s Biters.
He was shocked at Narae’s admission that Bragga would kill a few of his own just to test one of his pack.
He was pissed that Narae was worried Bragga would punish her.
And he was fucking livid when she’d whispered that she still hadn’t healed from the last time he’d hurt her.
That little admission had just about pushed him over the edge, and then Thrall had winked at her, and he’d lost it.
He had to have his arms around her. It’d been imperative.
And he didn’t know why. He just needed to touch her so his wolf knew she was safe.
Because yeah, her being in his arms was the safest place in the world for her right now.
His eyes sliced to where his fingers were softly tracing against Narae’s forearm. Instantly, he fisted his hand. Touching her like this felt intimate, so doing it while she was unconscious felt wrong.
Heaving a weighty sigh, he tried to come to terms with the gravity of what he’d done.
He wasn’t worried about Bragga or his Biters.
Not in the least. In fact, he was looking forward to them coming to Allegiance territory.
A reckoning was required for how both Narae and Jury had been treated.
His only concern was convincing Koe to let him have Bragga.
He doubted it’d happen. He’d seen the way Koe looked at Jury when he didn’t think anyone was watching.
His Alpha had a thing for the little Biter.
Glancing down at Narae, he understood it.
Wondering how he already felt so protective of Narae, he was pulled from his thoughts by Thrall’s hissed, “What the fuck were you thinking, man?”
Tearing his eyes from Narae, Daemon frowned at Thrall’s profile.
He knew what Thrall was asking. And honestly, he had no idea what he’d been thinking when he’d marked Narae the way he had.
There hadn’t been any thought to it at all, just action, just feeling.
The instant he’d laid eyes on Narae, he’d felt connected to her.
Like he’d known her his whole life. The fact that those Biter punks were abusing her had ripped Demon from hiding.
In their estimation, the best way to protect her was to make her theirs, so they had.
It was done. There was no taking back a mate mark, no unringing that bell.
Gaze sliding back down to Narae, he wondered if he would undo it if he could.
Inside, Demon snarled and snapped at him for the affront to Narae.
And Demon was right. Daemon didn’t get to ponder his actions when Narae had gotten zero say.
He’d simply taken without any regard for her opinion.
It had been wrong. In his haste to do what he’d thought was right, he’d fucked up.
As was his life. Daemon typically acted first and thought second.
It’s why Thrall was a Beta. Koe knew it was damn near impossible for Daemon to be rational when emotion was involved.
It was difficult to temper himself because Demon was constantly fighting for control.
It was a ceaseless and exhausting battle, one that left little concern for the consequences of their actions.
Demon gave zero fucks because, in his estimation, he was unbeatable and therefore answered to no one.
He wasn’t wrong. Demon wasn’t a shifter like the others in the Allegiance pack.
He wasn’t a shifter like any other shifter in existence, and he knew it.
The knowledge made him unpredictable and unstable.
Even Daemon had trouble controlling his inner beast, and what they’d done to Narae was proof of that.
Ripping his eyes from Narae, he frowned at the road as regret seared him.
He shouldn’t have bitten her like that. He’d forced himself on her.
He’d taken away her say. He was no better than those fucks in her pack, regardless of Demon’s belief that they’d done the right thing.
Even now, the cab of the truck was perfumed with the scent of Narae’s still-drying blood on her shirt.
He’d done that. He’d given her another injury to add to the multitude her pack had already given her.
“She’s pretty,” Thrall muttered from the driver’s seat.
“Don’t!” Daemon snapped with far too much venom.
“Geez, calm down! I’m just trying to… I don’t know. Make you feel better?”
“I’m not regretting my choices, asshole. I’m regretting how I went about it.”
“Oh.” Thrall responded dumbly. “Well,… Ok.”
“And it’s a fucking insult to her for you to try and placate me with something so fucking shallow as her looks.”
“I didn’t… I wasn’t, man…”
“Yeah,” Daemon snarled, cutting him off. “You fucking were and don’t do it again.”
Thrall threw up one hand and hissed in response, “Well, if I do something right today, just fucking punch me in the face!”
“Keep your voice down,” Daemon growled. “You’ll wake up my…”
The truck fell silent a moment before Thrall whispered, “Mate.” His face split into a shit-eating grin as he continued with a reverent tone, “Holy shit, bro, you have a goddamn mate.”
The words had Daemon falling silent as understanding slowly dawned.
He’d taken a mate. Right or wrong, he’d claimed Narae, which meant he was responsible for her now, forever.
The stark realization had his gut twisting, and whether it was from fear, regret, or something else entirely, he wasn’t certain.
What he did know was that inside of him, Demon wasn’t opposed to the idea.
In fact, the damn wolf was preening himself in satisfaction like he’d done something remarkable.
Hand settling on Narae’s thigh, he wondered if Demon had.