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“This isn’t a game,” he said. “I’ve never played with you for sport, Tempest.”
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Do you think I’ll take you back?”
“I’m here to make you understand,” he shouted.
“Save it,” I said. “I’m done allowing you to make me do things.”
“Fine,” he said. “What about them?” He gestured toward the ceiling, to the upstairs where my parents and brother still lay.
“I can take care of my own.”
“Can you? Whatever’s afflicting them is a darker magic than you’ve ever seen,” he said.
“I don’t know that it’s magic,” I said.
“Pat said Dragonblood didn’t help. Didn’t even make a dent. I suspect, if anything, it made them worse. I know what that means even if you don’t.”
I got in his face. His breath was hot against my cheek. His animal lust poured off of him even now.
“I don’t trust anything you say,” I said. “You’ve never told me anything but a lie, Anson.”
I reached up, ready to claw his already scarred face. He caught my wrist.
“If you’re going to do that,” he said. “Make it count.”
I jerked away from him.
“This is fae magic, Tempest. I should know.”
“Did you do this? Did you poison them?”
Anson went very still. “I won’t ask you to trust me,” he said. “But I’ll ask you to listen. Whether you like it or not, you’re out of options and time.”
Fae magic. It’s what Pat had said too. What Jarred suspected. Anson must have seen something in my expression. His shoulders sagged, and he took a seat in a leather chair against the wall.
“I don’t have time to argue with you. I need you to respect my wishes and leave. My father banished you. I’ve banished you. If the packs were at full strength, they would have torn you to bits by now.”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “They’re not. Pat’s done a good job keeping that little secret. But it won’t stay secret forever. Word’s going to get out. There are shifter packs in all directions that will come here, ready to fill the power vacuum.”
“Then they’ll have to contend with me!” I said, letting my fangs drop.
“You gonna take on an entire pack by yourself? It’d be a fair fight, sure, if it was just the one. But they won’t stop coming. And you’re still one hell of a prize, Tempest.”
He licked his lips. Naked lust made his eyes glint. It stoked that fire deep within me. In another second, I’d either need to kill him or fuck him.
“Not if word gets out, Tempest,” he said. “When.”
“Is that a threat?” I said. “You’re going to resort to blackmail now?”
“I swore to you I’d never let another Alpha try to claim you against your will. I keep my oaths, despite what you think of me. I’ll keep this one.”
“I don’t need your protection,” I said.
He was on me then, going toe to toe with me. “Yes. You. Do!”
“Fuck you!”
He snapped his jaw, letting his own fangs drop. Then, he took a huge breath, fighting to settle himself. He turned his back on me. “I’m not leaving,” he said. “Not unless Pat asks me to. Even then, I won’t go far. I’ll patrol the perimeter. But you need more from me than that.”
