KAGE HEARD what Isadora, and most likely every
paranormal in that room heard—the distant rumble of motorcycles. And that meant
only one thing: the Crimson Fang pack had decided to make an appearance.
“Kage? What’s going on now? Who or what is inbound?”
Austin asked quietly.
“The Crimson Fang pack. Let your hearing extend and
concentrate. Listen for the low rumble of motorcycles,” Kage said.
“Gotcha.” Austin closed his eyes, a frown line appearing
as he concentrated.
While Austin tried out his new hearing ability, Kage
studied the room. Every table was in quiet discussions. It was extremely hard
to keep a conversation private around a group of paranormals—almost impossible
actually, and those here wasn’t even attempting it.
“Oh wow, I can hear them!”
“They’ll be here shortly.” As Kage suspected, he
wasn’t the only one concerned with the pack’s arrival.
They were troublesome, there was no denying that. He’d
already been annoyed by one paranormal tonight. Raven was lucky Isadora had
stepped in before Kage had. It appeared he was destined to be annoyed yet
again.
Austin studied Kage for a minute. “I take it the fun
and games are not over yet?”
“Oh, no. They’re just getting started.”
Everybody was tense again, but this time for a
different reason. Denisha was correct when she called the Crimson Fang’s thugs.
Their alpha was an enormous human who’d been turned in
the late 70s. The male was covered in tattoos, had hair halfway down his back,
and sported a potbelly.
None of that made the alpha trash, of course. It was
the unscrupulous behavior, amoral actions, and the pleasure he derived from
other people’s suffering.
The rumble of motorcycles died away and silence
prevailed in the restaurant. Scowling, Isadora drifted to the front so she
could unlock the door.
After a few moments, Kage could hear the clop of boots
on expensive floors. Two enforcers walked in first. Following them was another
man. Neither of the three were the alpha, at least not according to the
information Kage had.
They also had allowed their wolf to be very close to
the surface, which annoyed Kage because it was nothing more than an
intimidation tactic.
If the low growl from Li Li was any indication, she
agreed. The wolves surveyed the room then the two enforcers walked to the empty
table reserved for them. The third man remained where he was.
“I’m Dutch, the Sergeant at
Arms for the Crimson Fangs.” Dutch’s gaze landed on Austin. “What the fuck
is a human doing here?”
“Look, you overgrown puppy—” Denisha started.
“Lieutenant,” Kage said, softly.
“Yes, Elder.” Scowling, Denisha sat back in her chair
but continued to glare at the newcomer.
“You will, of course, forgive my lieutenant’s
reaction. She and Maia are very protective of Austin.” Kage stood. “I’ll let
your lack of respect slide since you just arrived. This time. This is my bonded
mate. I know you understand what that means since you’re a werewolf. At least
you should.”
Dutch snarled, his upper
lip exposing a fang.
“Careful, Dutch. You
don’t want to piss off the shadow demon.”
“Fuck,” Maia muttered. “Fuck.
Is that—”
“Yes.” Kage’s stomach
dropped.
He knew that voice—it had
whispered sweet nothings in his ear, that had promised things and not delivered,
and had turned Kage’s world upside down a lifetime ago.
Kage’s nightmare strolled
into the restaurant. Axel Scheffler was still tall and lean, was still insanely
sexy, and was still the very definition of trouble.
Once upon a time, there
had been a compatibility between the two of them. Daemons believed that Fate didn’t
arrange one certain person for their kind like it did for werewolves and
vampires.
If a daemon was attracted
to someone by scent, it meant that person was compatible—they could be a
mate. Both parties got a choice, which a Fated mate did not. Which meant a
prospective mate could also walk away if no bond was formed.
There might have been compatibility
between Axel and Kage, but they fought like cats and dogs. Axel made it very
clear that, as a werewolf, he knew Kage was not his fated mate, and that
Axel would mate with the person who was, if he ever found them.
That hurt, but Kage
understood. But since Axel was compatible, Kage hoped Axel’s future mate would
also be compatible. He and Axel were in a relationship, so why wouldn’t this
future mate not also be compatible with Kage?
But even if they weren’t,
Kage was willing to try to make something work anyhow, because he truly cared
about Axel.
That was Kage’s first
mistake. Axel might be gorgeous on the outside, but he was rotten to the core. The
ruthlessness Kage could handle. Kage had killed when needed to and never lost
sleep over it.
But Axel’s exaggerated
sense of self-importance, his entitlement, the expectation to be recognized as
superior, and the belittlement of anybody who wasn’t a wolf, were only a few of
the things Kage eventually could no longer tolerate. Especially that last one.
Kage had ended things. Axel,
being Axel, did not handle it well. How dare Kage end things? No one walked
away from Axel, Axel ranted. He’d shifted and attacked. Of all the things Kage had
been expecting, that certainly had not made the list.
They tore up Kage’s
penthouse and beat each other bloody before Kage finally use the shadows to
dump Axel on the other side of the hemisphere.
Yes, he abandoned the
werewolf on the other side of the fucking world. Maybe that had been a bit
dramatic, but at the time Kage had been pissed and hurt—mentally and physically.
Axel had accused him of
all sorts of ridiculous things and attacked him, something that had taken
Kage years to get past. Had he loved Axel? At the time, Kage thought he had,
even though his relationship with the wolf had been toxic. He’d figured that
out in retrospect.
Their relationship had
ended one hundred years ago, and Kage had no regrets. Trying to make something
work between them would’ve eventually ended with one of them most likely dead.
Then Kage had met a small
human boy being abused by his father, and Kage had taken up the role of
protector. He became the monster under the bed in order to protect Austin.
Kage waited for the child
to grow into a man so he could claim his mate. Funnily enough, it’d been Austin
who’d finally moved their relationship along. Not Kage. And he had never been
more grateful that Austin had accepted the shadow’s embrace.
Axel’s short brown hair
was styled becomingly, but the short beard was new. As were the skull rings and
bracelets. He wore what Kage assumed was standard biker uniform—black boots,
jeans, a white T-shirt, and a leather jacket. And sunglasses. The fucker was
wearing sunglasses in the restaurant.
Unlike the humans,
werewolves didn’t wear a biker vest or cut to display their patches to show their
affiliation. The last thing werewolves wanted was attention from the human
police.
“Where is Alpha Whitlock?” Li Li demanded. “And who are you?”
“Alpha Whitlock is dead,”
Axel answered as he came to a stop next to his table. “My name is Axel. I
challenged for the position of alpha, and I won.”
Shit, shit, shit. Axel
won? Kage didn’t like the sound of that at all. That meant the slimy bastard
was back in San DeLain now.
“Why have I not heard of
this?” Li Li snapped “There are only two packs in San DeLain, and as an alpha,
I should have been told.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,”
Axel answered nonchalantly. “I’ve had more important things to handle.”
Li Li climbed to her
feet, her eyes also transitioning to yellow. “More important than contacting
the only other alpha in this metropolis? Are you trying to be insulting?”
Axel shrugged. “I’m not
trying to be, no. It happened yesterday. I’ve been busy, but I did plan to
extend the courtesy of letting you know. Consider yourself told.”
A low growl escaped Li
Li.
Within a space of a few
minutes it had become glaringly apparent that Axel had not changed at all. Nothing
and no one was more important than him and his business.
There were leaders from a
vampire’s coven, a werewolf pack, a dragon’s court, a merman’s colony, a
gargoyle’s clan, and a daemon’s clan. Plus, an arachne.
And already Axel was
causing trouble.
Isadora cleared her
throat. Li Li glanced toward the other woman in the room. Frustration crossed
Li Li’s face, but she sat down.
“We will discuss
your lack of manners later,” Li Li said.
“Whatever.” Axel glanced
toward Kage’s table. “Well now. Hello, love. Long time no see. Tell me, who is
this lovely, lovely human sitting next to you?”
Kage purposely kept his
face blank, even though it was the second time a paranormal in the room had
made reference to Austin. “My bonded mate.”
Axel sprawled in his
chair. “A mate, huh.” His fingers drummed on the pristine white tablecloth. “Imagine
that. Are you going to introduce me?”
“Absolutely not. Not only
am I not going to introduce him to someone like you, I’m going to give
you fair warning right now—you look at my mate wrong, and I won’t just deposit
you on the other side of the world this time, I’ll make you disappear.
Permanently,” Kage added.
Dutch snarled, baring his
fangs at Kage.
Kage fought not to let a
partial shift overtake him. That would show Axel that he’d managed to get under
Kage’s skin. And that puppy next to him. “Do you understand?”
Kage didn’t scream his
threat or yell. He didn’t growl or snarl. Instead, his voice was deadly soft.
“Oh, I hear exactly what
you’re saying.” A slow smile crossed Axel’s face. “Very clearly.”
“Well, since we’re being
clear and all, you should know the Fire Court considers Kage’s mate an honorary
friend. He has my protection,” Hudson added. “And that of my court. Just in
case I wasn’t clear.”
Hudson crossed his arms
over his chest. Conrad and the other two dragons copied him.
“I like the boy too,” Isadora
said from the bar. “I usually stay out of other paranormal’s business, but I
feel the need to make my position clear also.”
Seemed like it was pretty
clear where they stood. The show of support from Isadora floored Kage.
She wasn’t exaggerating when she said she didn’t involve herself in the
goings-on of the paranormal community. Austin must have really made an
impression on her. He wondered how his mate would feel about that once he figured
it out.
“Very touching,” Axel
said, the smile gone. “Anyway, onto more important stuff. Why the hell am I
here?”
