by R. E. Butler
She sighed and rubbed her cheek on his shirt. “You can lose it around me. It won’t change how I feel about you. And maybe I’ll punch something, too.”
She made a fist and jabbed the air with little pow pow sounds. It was enough to break the tension he felt and he laughed. Lifting her face, she smiled at him and he kissed her. “You’re so precious to me. Whatever happened to the house, the important thing is we weren’t there when it happened and we’re both fine.”
“Things can be replaced, but not people,” she said.
Indeed.
She opened a portal into the backyard of the house and they walked through. Zander and Caleb were there with Acksel and Sam. Ren shook their hands. “Before we go in, tell me what you saw.”
Zander said, “We’ve been patrolling this street every two hours. When we came by at three a.m., everything was fine. At five a.m., we saw the front door open. And not just cracked, but wide open, as if someone left it that way on purpose.”
Caleb nodded. “Zander called Sam who called Acksel, and we scouted the perimeter first and then went inside.”
“I’m sorry this happened,” Sam said. “We smell wolves in the house, but not anyone we recognize.”
“I think it’s safe to say someone was watching your house and waited for the patrols,” Acksel said. “It looks like they’re sending a message.”
“Who?” Kismet asked.
“I’d guess Stef and her pack,” Ren said.
The question was just what message the crazy female was trying to get across. It was telling that she’d waited until he was gone to show up, but whatever she was trying to prove, she’d only ruined his house. She hadn’t harmed him or Kismet.
“Let’s see what was done,” he said, giving Kismet’s hand a squeeze.
She walked with him through the back door. She gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth as they surveyed the damage. Everything was ruined. It looked as if someone had come in with a bull dozer and tried to wreck the house. They moved from room to room, finding the same story in each one – every piece of furniture was broken, and there were fist-sized holes in the walls and doors. Even the windows were broken.
They returned to the family room, where his flat-screen television was shattered and hanging from the wall by the cords.
Acksel cleared his throat. Ren looked at him, both appreciating and hating the sympathetic look his alpha gave him. “I’m fucking sorry to both of you. I thought increasing the patrols was enough, but it clearly wasn’t.”
Ren shook his head. “It’s not your job to watch my house. I should have taken Malachi up on his offer to put in security before we left for the fae realm. At least there would have been a warning when someone broke in.”
Kismet brushed at tears on her cheeks. “I should have come right back and done the protection spell.”
Ren drew her close and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours either,” she said.
“The fuck it’s not. For some reason, Stef has a hard-on for me and isn’t taking a hint. I need to make myself very clear with her.”
“What?” Kismet asked, her voice a suddenly-enraged whisper. “You can’t!”
Ren looked down at her. Her eyes blazed with fury and he could feel heat along her shoulder blades and knew she was moments away from letting her wings out and looking like an avenging angel.
“I’m not sure what she’s trying to prove, but her end game is for me to mate her and become alpha male of her pack. She’s been told twice to move on, and now she’s come into our home and destroyed everything. It can’t stand like this. It’s a challenge and I need to meet it head on.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Like fuck he’d let her anywhere near Psycho Stef.
“No, you’re not. But I won’t go alone, I promise. If something happened to you because of this, I’d never forgive myself. Stef thinks she’s an alpha, but I’ll prove her wrong.”
“I’m with you,” Acksel said.
Ren had expected as much. The damage to Ren’s house was as much an affront to Acksel as if Stef had punched him in the face. She’d been warned to stay out of Wilde Creek, and either she or her pack had come in and deliberately flipped Acksel off. He couldn’t let it go any more than Ren could.
“The sooner we get on the way the better,” Ren said.
“I’ll call Lucian, he’s a good male to have in this situation.”
“Yeah. I’ll call Malachi to stay here.”
“I don’t need babysitters,” Kismet said.
“It’ll make me feel better,” Ren said.
She made a face. “Oh fine.”
“Wow, she’s a lot more agreeable than Brynn,” Acksel said. “I’ll grab the others and we’ll meet back here in an hour and head to Payler.”
“Thanks, Acksel,” Ren said.
The alpha nodded and left. Ren could hear the conversation outside as he explained their plans.
“I don’t like this,” Kismet said.
“Which part?”
She rolled her eyes. “All of it. I don’t want you going to see her without me.”
“There’s going to be a fight, sweetheart. If I’m worried about your safety, I won’t be at my best. I want you where I know you’re safe. Let me put down the threat and come back to you.”
She blinked at him a few times and sniffled. “Are you going to kill her?”
He exhaled and let his thoughts roam for a moment. Would he kill a female who threatened his mate? Abso-fucking-lutely. Would he give this bitch a chance to leave and never return? Yeah, he’d offer that first. If Stef was smart, she’d bail. She did not want to go against him or his pissed-off wolf.
Ren cupped her face and kissed her tenderly. He could taste the salt of her tears and feel the anguish in her heart through their connection as truemates. “I’ll do whatever necessary to keep you safe, sweetheart.” He pressed his hand gently to her belly. “You and our little ones.”
* * *
Ren didn’t really know where to start in the ruins of the house, and he kind of just wanted to head to Payler to kick Stef and her pack to the other side of the world. His wolf paced, furious. The house was their den. No wolf worth their fur would purposely ruin another wolf’s home. It was just a shitty move. And what the fuck was her problem, anyway? Why couldn’t she take a hint and find someone else to bother?
That was the million-dollar question.
Which he wouldn’t give two fucks about, if it weren’t for the fact she refused to slink away into the dark and leave him and Kismet the hell alone.
“I wish my powers were something along the lines of lifting heavy objects,” Kismet said suddenly.
He turned to face her in the ruined family room and couldn’t help but laugh. Pulling her close, he hugged her hard and said, “How do you do that?”
“What?”
“Know just what to say to change the mood?”
“Intuition I guess. Or I’m just that awesome.”
She lifted her head and wiggled her brows at him.
“You’re definitely awesome.”
“I’m in good company.” She turned her head and looked at the room with a sigh. “What should we do first?”
“Well, I’ve only got about forty-five minutes until I need to leave. I’m going to call to have a dumpster delivered so we can just toss everything into it, but that will probably take a day or two. In the meantime, I can haul out the furniture to the front yard and you can grab trash bags in the pantry and load up the lighter-weight things.”
“Okay.” She rose onto her toes and brushed her lips against his. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“Me, too, sweetheart, but it’s not your fault.”
“Or yours,” she pointed out.
“Fucking feels like my fault.”
“It’s absolutely not. You can’t help being irresistible.”
He grunted but didn’t hide his smile at her sweet words.
He didn’t feel very irresistible right now. He felt like his past had painted a giant target on his mate, and nothing filled a mated male with more rage than worrying over his mate’s safety. He opened the front door and propped it open, then returned to the family room and lifted the easy chair that before – when he was alone – had been the place he spent most of his time. Now that he had Kismet, they spent time on the couch where she could cuddle up close to him and invade his space in the sexiest of ways. The bottom of the easy chair fell off and narrowly missed his foot.
He carried it out to the front yard and set it down, then used his cell to call Dade, to find out who he used for dumpster delivery.
“Heard about your house,” Dade said. “I’ll call for one to be delivered for you.”
“I can do it,” Ren said.
“Nah, it’s just easier if I do it. We have an account with them since we use dumpsters from time to time. What size?”
“Pretty much everything’s trashed, so I’d guess a big one. I have no idea the size.”
“Gotcha. I’ll see if they can get one delivered today. I’ll send over some omegas to help, too.”
He opened his mouth to say he didn’t want any help, but the reality was that he and Kismet had literally no home in Wilde Creek until the house was emptied and repaired.
“Thanks. We’ll stay at the apartment in the shop until the house is in order again. I’ll be leaving soon to take care of this problem, but Kismet will be here, along with Malachi, Zander, and Caleb.”
“Who’s going with you besides Acksel?”
“Lucian and Sam I suspect, and probably a few other protectors.”
“If you need me, give me a holler.”
“Will do.”
Ren turned toward the house. Something caught the corner of his eye and he turned to look at a wolf who trotted toward him. The wolf stopped with his head low and his gaze on him. Ren canted his head and listened intently. He could hear Zander and Caleb talking at the back of the house.
This wolf wasn’t anyone he knew.
The wolf growled, and several other wolves prowled out behind him, followed by the males he’d seen at the restaurant with Stef. In that moment, he realized the broken-into-house had been a trap that he’d willingly walked his mate right into. There would be no meeting in Payler with Stef. She’d brought the meeting to him.
“Kismet!” Ren yelled as his wolf rose to the forefront, his claws and fangs erupting in preparation for a fight. “Stay inside!”
Chapter 16
Kismet shoved a broken lamp into a trash bag and groaned when the sharp edge tore the bag.
“Damn it.”
She dropped the bag and pulled another from the box, snapping it in the air until it opened. She carefully placed the torn bag inside the new bag and picked up the larger pieces of ceramic off the floor. A picture frame that held a childhood photo of Ren and his parents was broken. She undid the back and removed the still-intact photo and carried it into the kitchen, where the table was miraculously unharmed. She set the photo on the table. She picked up one of the broken chairs and two of the legs clattered to the floor. It crossed her mind to wonder why the people who had done the damage had left the table alone, but she decided she didn’t really care. It wasn’t like she could get confirmation, anyway. They’d probably been in a hurry to avoid being caught by the patrols and had done the damage where they could in the time allotted.
She hefted the chair in front of her and walked out of the kitchen and toward the front door so she could toss it in the pile Ren was making with the furniture. Although the circumstances sucked, she’d marveled at his strength. He’d lifted a freaking recliner like it weighed nothing and carried it out of the house without breaking a sweat.
That was her male.
Sexy beast.
She was about to step onto the porch with the chair when she heard Ren call her name. It wasn’t a sexy way, but the one word was full of fear, and she’d never heard that from her mate. She crossed the threshold to the porch as he finished shouting, “Stay inside!”
She froze. Wolves stalked toward her mate along with males she recognized from the altercation at the restaurant. Around the corner of the house, Zander and Caleb rushed forward and joined Ren, their claws and fangs visible. She stepped further on the porch, wanting to help but not sure she could do anything but get in the way.
Call for help, damn it!
She turned to race into the house when Stef appeared between her and the doorway. Where the hell had she come from?
“Hello, usurper,” Stef said.
The female looked dressed for battle in black leather pants and a black tank that highlighted tanned skin and muscles.
Kismet’s hands tightened on the broken chair. “Get out of my house.”
“Oh, you mean my future mate’s house? Nah. I’ll stick around. You, on the other hand, have two seconds to leave and never return.”
Fury trickled through Kismet. Stef was delusional. Only a giant asshat would try to separate a mated pair.
Kismet let her wings free. They slid through the slits in the back of her shirt and stretched out behind her.
“I won’t tell you again,” Kismet said. “Take your pack and get the hell out of Wilde Creek.”
“Kismet! Run!” Ren shouted.
She couldn’t stop herself from glancing behind her. Wolves leaped at Ren, their claws curled like knives and their jaws wide, revealing sharp teeth. She felt the whoosh of air behind her a second before something slammed against her head and knocked her off the porch. She lost the grip on the chair as she fell, her wings curling around her in protection. She hit the ground hard and landed on her left wing, which cracked with a sharp sound and sent pain shooting through her. She rolled off the damaged wing. Her arm tingled as the magic within her wing seeped into her body.
Stef waved a chunk of wood tauntingly in the air. “Shoulda left, bitch.”
Kismet rose to her knees and clutched her now-numb arm. The pain would continue to radiate down her body until she was incapacitated by the numbness that followed.
Stef jumped from the porch and landed solidly. “I knew the moment I saw you that I’d take you out. If your mate was smart, he would have left you and spared you. But he didn’t. My males will subdue him and eventually, he’ll break and realize he was destined to be with me as my alpha counterpart.”
A sob wanted to tear through Kismet’s chest, but she held it back. Snapping herself back to awareness, she did the only thing she could think of – lured Stef away from the house. Kismet rose to her feet and opened a portal.
“Come and get me, bitch,” Kismet taunted as she flung herself through the portal and landed on the dirt and sand of the training compound.
Stef cursed and jumped through the portal. Kismet heard Ren call her name as the portal closed; she couldn’t keep it open when her body screamed in pain.
Kismet hobbled to a stand, her left side almost entirely numb. The broken wing was literally bleeding magic into her body like a toxin. She needed to see a healer soon, but first, she had to deal with the crazy bitch who’d caused so much trouble.
“I’ll open a portal and you can pick up whatever’s left of your pack and hit the road. You don’t think about me and Ren, and you never, ever come back to Wilde Creek or interfere with our lives. I’ll let you live, but this is your only chance.”
Kismet wasn’t a killer. She’d never killed anyone or even been in a position to have to make that choice. But she knew in her heart of hearts that Stef wouldn’t leave quietly. The mistake had been letting her live in the first place, but how could anyone have known just how batshit crazy she was?
Fangs and claws erupted from Stef’s mouth and fingers. “I don’t know where we are, but I’ll kill you slow no matter the location. Send me home and walk away from Ren or stay and die. Your choice.”
“The fuck is going on here?” Kismet’s father demanded as he jogged to them, stopping at her side.
Th
e soldiers in training had stopped to watch the proceedings and joined in a circle around them.
“She’s trying to kill me,” Kismet said.
E’lahn’s eyes narrowed and he turned his head slowly to look at Stef. His wings were out, bristling in the sunlight, the copper tips glowing like they were molten. “Is she now?”
“Dad,” she said, her left knee going numb. “Let me do this.”
“I was planning to. Don’t fail.”
“I won’t.” At least she thought she wouldn’t. There was really no choice, anyway. She wasn’t about to give up Ren.
“Better be quick or you’re going to lose your wing.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kismet shrugged off the injury and took the sword her father held out to her. He’d taken it from one of the soldiers. It was heavy, but it was similar to the one she’d used when she’d learned how to fight and defend herself. Her father had given her the knowledge with a hopeful you might never need it, but it had lain there dormant in her mind for just such a moment as this. Her father stepped away from her, far enough to let her fight but close enough to step in. She knew Stef might have designs to kill her, but no way her father, or the soldiers, would let it go that far.
She hoped Ren was okay. As soon as she could, she’d help him. If she could walk, anyway. At the very least, she’d ask her dad to go help her mate kick ass. Which she was very certain he was doing right then. Ren was second in the pack for a reason, and no assholes with chips on their shoulders would derail him.
Kismet brandished the sword as renewed strength filled her with determination. Her powers weakened because of her injury, but she could still open a portal and send Stef back to her own realm. And she could definitely send this bitch to the afterlife if that was the route she chose. “Leave or die.”
“You first,” Stef said, her body morphing as she changed forms into her wolf. With a snarl, she leaped at Kismet, eyes glowing with hatred and jaws wide.