Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Can’t believe you would do that!” Alexandra shouts, rolling the sheet of paper into a ball and tossing it into Titus’s face. “Even if he got more heads, he would have been disqualified on the technicality! And now you ruined this year’s hunt for everyone!”
Titus whines like a damn baby. “Everyone would know—”
I spread my arms in disbelief, but then wince at the pain. “What the fuck, Titus? That is pathetic.”
When Damen growls and squeezes Titus’s neck again, Bree gets to her knees, and I’m impressed. I didn’t think she’d humiliate herself like this for anyone.
She clasps her hands together with a sob. “Please, Damen… I’m pregnant.”
Probably a lie, but I don’t blame her.
It’s like a scene from a renaissance painting. Two brothers caught in a fight that could end in death, the mother with hands over her face, a wife begging for mercy, and a father standing over his sons with a face carved in stone as he lets fate play out.
And I’m right in the middle like the one figure who can break the balance.
I slide off the bed on shaky legs and put my hand on Damen’s shoulder with a sigh. “Let your brother live,” I say. “He doesn’t deserve it, but you would always regret it if you killed him.”
“Yes!” Damen’s mother exclaims from behind her fingers. “And it’s Christmas after all, for god’s sake.”
Damen inhales, relaxing when I place my hand on his head. I see him. I know he’s furious because I’m hurt, but we’re together now, and I will take care of him too.
My man shakes his head. “So this was all because of the hunt?”
When Titus nods, Damen reaches to his side and pulls out a hunting dagger, making everyone go quiet. And yet, nobody dares intervene.
My man is the meanest of them all.
“Then we better make sure it won’t happen again,” Damen says, and with that presses his brother’s hand to the floor and digs the blade into the base of his trigger finger.
Only a small yelp escapes Titus when the digit falls off as if it were a stick of butter, not flesh. Another inhale. “You better mind him from now on, Bree, or I’ll come for the one on his left hand too.”
She nods and tries to catch the bloodied finger, but Damen grabs it.
“Don’t even think about it. This is my trophy,” he says with a snarl and gets up.
Titus groans, turns to his side, looking more out of it by the second, but as soon as the doctor gets a green light, she’s at his side.
It’s over.
I finally exhale.
Karl clears his throat. “Titus, you are banned from the hunt for five years. You will also be a witness at your brother’s wedding.”
His head jerks up, but his wife has the sense to force it down. Good.
“The wedding is happening tomorrow, by the way, so you better get well enough until then,” Karl adds, and I look up, floating in an unfamiliar warmth.
“Father?” Damen asks, pulling me close. He smells of blood and adrenaline, which is somehow even better than grapefruit and gunpowder.
Karl’s eyes settle on him, and both men regard each other for a full two seconds before it’s the father who speaks. “Thank you for sparing Titus’s life. I would have understood if you didn’t, but he is still my son. And speaking of sons—” His eyes settle on me next, and I have to force myself not to flinch when he taps my shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”
Chapter 25
Killian
I never really gave marriage much thought before. I’m twenty-one, my adult life has been a mix of upheaval, money struggles, and a string of bad boyfriends. When you spend so much time walking on the edge, it’s hard to think about the future.
But when I’m with Damen, I see the years ahead so clearly, so brightly. He’s someone I can trust and depend on. And even if ugly truths await me at times because of the nature of his job, he will not lie to me, I’m sure of that.
After all was said and done yesterday after all the mayhem and more pain meds for me, we settled into bed together, and I couldn’t have felt safer than in his arms. And that’s despite a person who wanted me dead sleeping under the same roof.
The whirlwind that is my life continues today after an officiant flies in by helicopter to marry us. We’re gathered around the antique carousel in the woodland clearing. It’s lit up so brightly, and while paint is still peeling off the wooden horses, they were polished, and each one has mistletoe tied to its neck. Holly and red bows transform the old merry-go-round into a temple to our young love. A bit of snow, barely a dusting, swirls in the air, illuminated by the light.