To the Edge and Back [The Royal Wolves] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Honor James

  “I am going to kill the fucking bitch and make you watch.” It was the only warning that Janos had before the Wolf twisted quickly. Smashing the window to the truck, he reached in and wrapped clawed hands around Mina’s throat, squeezing and laughing as he did so.

  Everything happened so quickly that Mina pushed Katherine down and onto the floorboard, and as her vision swam and turned gray, she reached out and clawed at the mans eyes before pressing her fingers into the sockets. She felt ill for what she was doing and only vaguely heard the screams of the Wolf before everything went black and she passed out from lack of air.

  Lashing out, beyond caring now, Janos shoved his hand into the man’s back, through the ribs, and sank his claws into the heart. Squeezing as he pulled him back, he tossed him aside before pulling open the door to the car.

  Katherine was screaming as she watched Mina decimate the Wolf’s eyes and Janos finish him off. She moved to the seat beside Mina and as she sobbed, patting her new mother’s cheeks, begging her to wake up.

  “Mina, baby,” Janos whispered, knowing the threat was down and out. Gently he turned her over. “Mina love, come on, honey, open your eyes for me please,” he begged her, cupping her head in a hand as he gently stroked her cheek with the other still with a little smeared blood. He’d wiped off what he could, but he was more concerned for her.

  Chapter 45

  Mina’s eyes opened. Vision was gray around the edges and when she went to speak it was as if she had swallowed a broken bottle. “You okay?” That was all she could get out. That was for both of the people who meant the absolute world to her.

  Nodding with tears in his eyes as she woke, Janos carefully pulled her to him and held on for dear life. “We’re fine,” he breathed out, holding her to him, his heart racing a mile a minute from the fear that was now alleviated. “God, Mina,” he said before he was too choked up to say anything else. Reaching out, he gently touched Katherine’s shoulder. “You okay?” he asked her softly, his fingers brushing down her arm lightly, careful not to put too much pressure on her.

  Katherine nodded and launched herself into the arms that were holding Mina, demanding her place where she belonged, held onto and loved by her new parents. Mina’s eyes burned with tears when she whispered, “Benedek is going to be pissed. You broke his car.” She vaguely heard sirens. Even as she started to slip back into unconsciousness she heard the police approaching rapidly. “Don’t let them take you from me, Janos, please,” she begged.

  “He’ll get over it,” he told her as he kissed Katherine’s hair lightly and then Mina’s lips as he felt a man approaching, and unfortunately, he was human.

  “Sir, step away from the woman and child,” came an all-too-human voice of the male behind them, gun drawn and held level to Janos’s chest.

  Feeling Mina protesting, he shook his head. “Stay put, love,” he said and carefully moved, keeping his hands in the open even as he winked at Katherine.

  Stepping back, he turned slowly, keeping his movements controlled and unthreatening. “Is there a problem?” he asked in a pleasant tone, not even looking at the dead body all too clearly in the open.

  The cop saw the blood on Janos’s hands and front and said, “On your knees, sir.” He pressed the mike on his shoulder, calling in a homicide to the station. “I need you to step further from the vehicle, sir,” he threw in. The woman looked pale and the child looked terrified. He was there just in time to save the woman and child, if not the man lying with his heart beside him on the sidewalk.

  Rolling his eyes, Janos did as he asked even as he saw someone who could save his butt and make his life miserable coming up the sidewalk. Going to his knees, he interlocked his fingers behind his head and crossed his ankles. Living with a cop had taught him a few things. “If you wouldn’t mind, I really don’t feel like being shot, hurts and all that,” he said pleasantly as he lifted his chin. “Hi, bro,” he greeted Miklos.

  “What did you do now, Janos?” Mik asked as he took in the situation and the trigger-happy patrolman. “Take your finger off the trigger, Peter, because if you shoot him he won’t be the only one going for your throat,” he said as he went to the car. Crouching, he touched Mina’s cheek. “You okay, Mina?” he asked, frowning at the bruises on her soft skin.

  Mina’s eyes cracked. “I’m good, Miklos,” she whispered and smiled for her brother-in-law, or soon to be whatever one would call him. She knew Miklos from the way that Janos spoke of him and the many photos around Janos’s home of his family. “This is Katherine. We’ve decided to give her a family and home.” It hurt to speak, but with Katherine hiding behind her back and just under her arm, she had to say something.

  Smiling at the little girl, Miklos winked. “Hello, Katherine,” he said gently before looking back to Mina. “I think that’s a good idea,” he told her softly.

  “Uh, hello?” Janos called, keeping his eyes on the patrolman. “I’m the one in trouble over here.”

  Peter frowned and moved his finger from the trigger but kept it trained on Janos. “Do you know this man, Detective Farkas?” he asked, knowing just what Miklos was, and if they knew each other, odds were that the man on the ground named “Janos” was a Wolf, too. If Janos was a Wolf, then that meant the human justice system couldn’t do shit, that was unless the man he killed was a human.

  Standing, Miklos nodded. “He’s my brother, Peter, and I’ll be very upset if you shoot him for protecting his mate from an attacking Wolf of a pack that wants us dead.” All in one sentence he cleared his brother of everything and basically told the young patrolman that if he did anything he himself would be facing Wolf justice. Moving past Janos, Miklos leaned down and looked at the body with disgust. “Damn, Janos.”

  “He was threatening Katherine and Mina,” Janos pointed out. “You saw what he did to Mina. I had to get him off of her.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m just amazed you didn’t shred him, too.” Mik wasn’t really considering the young eyes that even now were taking in too much. “Get off your knees you goof, before I smack you myself.” Waving off the patrolman, Miklos crouched to get a better look at the Wolf. “He doesn’t have any pack identification,” he murmured as Janos moved closer.

  “Hunter,” Janos murmured softly, knowing what that meant. Turning, he let his eyes trail over the gathering crowd and beyond. “We’ve got another one,” he hissed, his eyes locked on a man just beyond a woman and her child as they stood trying to see what was happening.

  “Peter, put up the barricades and cover the body. Let the coroner know we’ve got a Wolf down. She’ll need to follow our protocols on the disposal,” Mik said, getting back to his feet and turning to look at the Wolf Janos had identified as the other Hunter.

  Mina moved slightly and looked into the crowd. Holding Katherine close to her, she kissed the top of the little girl’s head. She wanted to wash her hands. She felt part of that man’s eyes on her fingers, under her nails, and she was desperate to get it off of her. “Miklos, Janos?” she whispered, feeling uncertain and both terrified and protective as both men stood close to both she and Katherine.

  Reaching out, Janos lightly touched Mina’s hair, his fingers stroking through the silky strands. “It’s okay, love,” he murmured softly, moving even closer to her. As they watched, the Hunter slid back into the crowd and vanished. “That won’t be the last time we see one,” he said to his brother.

  “No it won’t,” Miklos agreed before moving away. “I’ll alert the others,” he said and then started doing his job.

  Mina looked up at Janos, frowning. “One, can we please leave? Two, I want to know what that was about, and three, please kiss me, Janos.” The last demand was whispered even as Katherine looked around Mina and Janos and toward Miklos, watching him as he began his work.

  “Yes, later, and definitely,” he breathed, bending down and kissing her hard. His hand was gentle on her cheek but his lips demanded to know she was alive and well. “I love you, Mina,” he murmured against her mouth
before lightly biting her lip.

  “I love you, too, Janos.” She smiled, feeling Katherine reaching out to pet Janos. “I think that we need to get our daughter home, Janos. Will you have Miklos clear the way for us with her?” she asked and cleared her throat. “No more chatting for me for a little while, okay?” It was hurting. Each word she whispered was killing her.

  Nodding, he kissed her again gently, his fingers sliding up and down her throat as the anger surged again. He should have been faster. He should have known that the bastard would go for his mate as a bargaining chip.

  “I wuv you bof and I sowwy they comeded for you, too.” She bit her lip and her little lip trembled. “They all confuzzled an looking fer somefing to truth.” The little girl was just putting out random bits of information as she spoke.

  Turning his head, he smiled at Katherine. “It’s okay, little one, but we’re going to head home and get you settled in.” Of course he still had to tell Ben that his truck was busted, again. “I’ll be right back,” he murmured before he headed for Mik.

  Softly he explained what was going on with Katherine, and after a time, his brother nodded slowly and told him he’d stop by the house later to get some more info. Relieved, Janos went back and climbed into the SUV. “All right, first things first, we need to take Uncle Ben’s beaten up truck back to him, breeze through at high speeds, and if we are really lucky, we’ll be speeding for home before he goes out and sees the damage done to his truck.

  Mina grinned and shook her head. “We will make a call to that boutique, have them bring a bunch of clothes of all kinds for our Kitty Kat here.” Her head leaned back against the head rest, and holding onto Katherine she continued, “We will ride like this for now, Janos. Just get us back, please?” She didn’t want to let go of Katherine, not with as badly as the little girl was shaking.

  “I will, love,” he told her, gently reaching over to touch her cheek. Pulling away from the curb, he drove slowly, his eyes moving constantly and looking for everything and anything.

  Parking a few moments later, he got out and moved around to her side. Taking Katherine from her, he pulled Mina close to his side. “We’re going straight through and out the front. Pray to anyone and everything he’s with a client,” he murmured, guiding her to the door.

  Mina frowned and sighed. “Tell him to take it out of my pay.” It was her fault after all, kind of. “I will be working for him for the next hundred years for free, but I don’t like seeing you upset, Janos.” She reached out and touched him, Katherine stretching her little hand out as well, laying her hand on top of Mina’s and letting her fingers fall between Mina’s fingers.

  “Uncle Ben won’t be too a angry, will he?” Katherine asked simply.

  Turning his head, Janos smiled. “Not too much,” he said as he kissed both hands lightly. Ben would be all calm and understanding until he got Janos alone and reamed him out for being irresponsible and a slacker, the usual. Rolling his eyes as he continued to lead them through the back of the store, he stopped with a wince. “Hi, bro.”

  “Janos, Mina, little one,” Ben greeted, stepping out of the shadows, his arms crossed and that big-brother look firmly on his face. “So, Miklos called,” he said, watching his brother squirm and pale. “He had an interesting story to tell me that seemingly involved my vehicle, again.”

  Katherine, god love her brave little heart, stepped in front of Janos and wrapped her arms around his legs behind her. “You can’t be angree wif my new daddy Janos, Uncle Benny, a cause he was a just a pretekting my new mommy Mina and me from the hunter woofie whose a swearching for the fingy that willl give fem memories a back.”

  Staring down at her, Janos grinned, putting a hand on the top of her head. “Ditto what she said, bro.” He grinned evilly at his brother.

  “I wasn’t planning on doing anything to Janos, little one. I just wanted to make him sweat for not taking care of my car again.” Ben crouched down so he didn’t tower over her and smiled. “I love him even though he’s a complete pain in my behind more often than not. I wouldn’t hurt him, honey. I was just teasing, promise.”

  Katherine’s lower lip quivered and she whispered, “If I had a brofer I would pretect him an not tease him a cause teasing words hurt as much as hits and kicks and bites do.”

  Mina’s heart clenched. With that simple statement Katherine summed up her life, and it made her hurt for the little girl, desperately.

  Chapter 46

  Janos crouched down and lifted Katherine to his knee. “Honey, it’s okay. In my family teasing is just fine. We do it out of affection, not to hurt anyone. Ben would never hurt me. He’s my big brother and will always protect me,” he told her softly. At her glance to Ben, he saw his brother nod. “See, he loves me. I love him. We tease each other because we’re a close and loving family.”

  Katherine looked up at Janos and then Benedek. “You promise?” she whispered, and when both men nodded, she nodded and hugged Janos’s neck tightly, holding onto him with little skinny arms, demanding that he never, ever let her go.

  Mina touched Katherine’s head and smiled at Benedek. “Did we mention that we have decided to adopt Katherine?”

  “No, I think you may have left that part out,” Ben said with a smile. He was happy for them all. “You’ll be perfect parents, I think,” he told her softly as he stood. Moving closer, he kissed her cheek. “Congrats, Mina, if you need time you go right ahead and take it. But now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and cry over my car and curse Janos’s name behind your backs.”

  Mina laughed and shook her head. “You are a silly one, Benedek.” She touched his cheek and nodded, the action making her wince in pain. “Thank you, Ben. We will take our little one home. For now I will stay home with her.” She touched the bruises on her neck. “When this is all gone, all right?”

  Nodding, he touched her neck. “Put some lotion on those after a bit of ice to keep the swelling down. One other thing, clean up the scratches, darling,” he murmured and then moved off, snatching his keys from his brother’s hand.

  Shaking his head, Janos stood with Katherine attached to him. “I’m never ever going to live this down,” he moaned softly. “The last time was ten years ago and he’s still ticked about it.” Sighing, he rubbed at Katherine’s back gently. “Come on, let’s get home,” he said softly, looking to his mate. “We need to get you looked after, baby.”

  She needed to be looked after because each breath cost her, she was more than a little sick to her stomach, and needed desperately to be clean again. She could smell the other man on her and it really, really was not what she wanted. “Come on, take us home please, Janos?”

  Pulling her to him, he kissed her head lightly. “I love you, baby,” he whispered against her hair. Pulling her with him, he led her through the shop to the street. Unlocking the car, he let her slide into the seat. “We’re going to the hospital, Mina,” he told her as he got Katherine to let him go and convinced her to sit in the back seat. “I want a doctor to look at your throat. Besides, you might need something for the swelling, love,” he said when she turned in protest to him.

  Her eyes narrowed on him and she hoped she was giving him a dirty look, but she was also relieved. Pain medication and something for the swelling might be very good indeed. “All right,” she muttered even as Katherine got settled into her seat and buckled in. “But only if you will promise to ensure that our child has a full wardrobe from the skin out by nightfall. We will get her everything from panties and girly things to heavy overcoats and shoes.”

  Lifting a brow, he grinned. “Done,” he told her. “Wonder which of us is going to whine the most,” he teased her softly. Leaning in, he kissed her gently. “I love you, baby. Thank you for agreeing to this,” he murmured, lightly touching her cheek. “I really am worried about you, but thank you for not making me do something I’d have really, really regretted later.”

  She smiled and closed her eyes. Leaning against the headrest, she waited for them t
o be on the move before she slipped off into a very light sleep, the only way to combat the pain she was in.

  Katherine saw what was happening and said, “You don have ta get me nuffin, Daddy Janos.” She was squeezing and wringing her hands. “I don’t need nuffin.” She needed everything but she refused to ask for anything.

  Turning in his seat, he looked to her and frowned. “Honey, I know I don’t have to. I want to, all right?” he asked her, softly reaching out to touch her hands. Catching one, he lightly rubbed his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. “I don’t do anything without wanting to, Katherine. You’ll learn in time.” He winked at her with a grin. “I only do what I want. I want to get you things and we will do that while Mina gets looked after without ever having to leave her side,” he said, already planning.

  “How are we supposed to do that?” Katherine asked softly as she watched. “But okay, if you you wanna I cen do fat.” She smiled at him and then looked to Mina. “Is Mommy Mina gonna be okay?” She was worried about Mina, just as Janos was.

  Smiling, he squeezed her fingers gently and then turned around. “Yeah, baby, she’s going to be just fine. We’re going to get her some medical help and then we’re going to take her home to take care of her.”

  Starting the car, he headed for the hospital, his eyes moving over to his mate, constantly reassuring himself that she was alive and well. It took some time, but he got them there and soon enough had her in a room waiting for the doctor.

  Sitting with Katherine on his knee, Janos pulled out his phone and got onto an online ordering site. “All right, now then, what do you want, darling? Or rather, what do you need so that Mina doesn’t string me up for going overboard?” he asked as he scrolled through the clothing line. “Dresses, pants, tops,” he started listing the little girls’ items as he came across them.