Page 60 of A Shadow of Betrayal

“Where are they?” I snap at my brother as I glare at the empty road. All the Rangers that ran the closest portion of the relays have returned, but we are still waiting for the ones that started on the lower parts of the mountain.

“How would I know?” Creed snaps back, running a hand through his hair as he, too, stares at the road in front of us. “Why the fuck did you let her compete? She wasn't ready for that!” Creed suddenly says, walking over to me, keeping his voice down while still somehow yelling at me.

“It was a relay, Credence. If she can’t handle that, she shouldn't be here,” I say coldly, keeping my anger in check. It's grating on my nerves that he’s so obsessed with her. Sure, we’ve shared lovers in the past, but I don't like sharing things that are important to me. “And since you are still here and not stalking her through the damn trees, I assume you gave her the overlook. As long as she pays attention, she'll be fine. It has the least number of traps on the left side and then drop-off on the right. As long as she pays attention, she will be fine,” I mutter, straightening my jacket as I try to hide my nerves.

“She shouldn't be here at all, Nox. You know she isn't what the Seniorem—”

“What I know is that girl is here whether we like it or not and that I can’t get her out of here without raising some flags. She should be able to do more than the pathetic attempts she's been making. She's holding herself back and needs to be pushed to be better. If you cared about her well-being at all, you would understand that. It doesn't matter if she is here or back home; that fact remains the same.” Creed glares at me, his hands resting on his hips as his shoulders rise and fall with heavy breaths before he curses and starts pacing again.

I look away from him, trying to calm myself down, when I spot three more Rangers riding in, but I fist my hands at my sides when I don't spot Meyer's blonde hair.

“Why are you even here? You made it quite clear you don’t care about her well-being when you turned her care over to Monroe and then slammed me into her this morning. You knocked the wind out of her, you asshole. She can’t heal herself; you know that!” Creed sneers at me, picking a fight so that he doesn’t have to think about all the things that could have gone wrong with Meyer.

“I didn't mean for you to hit her,” I grind out, scanning the trees nearby for Razar. He’s also not back yet, and he should be.

Damnit! What if something went wrong?

“That was an accident,” I finally say, looking at my brother and frowning when I see true fear in his eyes. “Hey, she’s fine. Why are you so twisted up over it? Razar would have come back here and reported a problem if there was one,” I say confidently, even though I doubt the truth of my words. Out of the three of us, Razar dislikes Meyer the most, though I have noticed he watches her often. Not that that’s helpful. Having Razar’s attention can only mean one of two things. You are about to die, or you’re about to be in a lot of pain. And despite my cold behavior toward the girl, I don't want her to come to any lasting harm.

My Little Demon somehow crawled under my skin, despite my best efforts to keep her at arm's length. The feeling of her soft lips on mine. Her small hands as they threaded through my hair and fisted… her delicate moans as she trembled in my arms.

“Fuck!” I take a few steps forward, shaking my leg a little, trying to adjust my hardening cock, so it's not as obvious, scolding myself as I go. I have a mission to complete, and she's a distraction I can’t allow.

“Regalis,” Umbra Axford says, his voice holding a mocking tone as he walks up behind me, clasping a hand on my shoulder and making my hand twitch toward my knives. His blond hair is slicked back in a greasy ponytail, and I grimace at the stench of sweat and stale beer that lingers on Senior Axford's son. The man is technically older than me but acts like a child, and I can’t stand him.

“A pity that you lost. But it was a good try. It was only by three minutes, so don't take it too bad, my friend.” He chuckles as a few more Rangers in black and blue come up the path. I ignore him, trying to see if Meyer is in the group, but when I see Creed clench his jaw in frustration, I know she’s not there. “I saw your newest Ranger’s time,” the man winces, a pair of overly large teeth shining in the sun as he fakes sympathy for me.

I roll my shoulders back, willing my calm to remain intact.

“I mean, I knew the girl was slow… but damn. Father really should have let you send her off to the Siberians. She's pretty enough to produce some Hunters. I’m sure if you want her out of your hair, we could find a man to bed her easily en—” I snap out a hand, wrapping it around Axford's throat without a second thought as I slowly turn and glare at him.

“Are you truly foolish enough to threaten one of my Rangers in front of me?” I grind out, the fury building inside of me almost impossible to control. Magic burns through me, my skin itching with the intensity of it as Axford’s blue eyes widen in fear, and he brings his pathetically dull nails up to claw at my hand around his throat.

“Nox,” Creed says with a sigh, probably wishing we were alone so I could kill the man for his idiotic words. “Not here. We’ll let Raz deal with the problem later.” Axford gasps for breath; the mention of Razar has him wiggling like a worm to escape me. My eyes narrow on Axford as I roll my lips between my teeth, fighting the urge to twist my wrist to the side and snap the pathetic sack of meat's neck. Finally, I shove the waste of skin away from me, letting him topple back into the snow as I step closer, leaning down at him as he scrambles to push himself upright.

“I-I’ll tell the Seniorem of this. They will have you stripped of your title for your actions,” Axford rasps, his hand grasping his throat. I grin and step closer, making the man yelp and lean further away.

“Go ahead and try. Let me know how that goes for you,” I whisper, making sure only he can hear before I stand back up, eyeing the crowd of Rangers and Hunters I have drawn. “Axford, do us all a favor and fuck off. I don’t have the mental fortitude to deal with your particular brand of stupidity today,” I say, loud enough for everyone to hear. Then I walk back over to Creed, who watches Axford with a dark glint in his eye. I can see him sizing the man up, probably trying to rein in his own bloodlust and rage.

“What was Ranger Smith’s time?” I ask, frustration building back in me as the murderous rage slowly bleeds away. Creed winces, and I know it must be bad.

“Eighteen minutes,” he finally says.

“You're joking,” I mutter in disbelief. She had been doing better on her morning runs, and I was hoping to have her time under fifteen minutes. “You gave her the smallest leg of the course. How the fuck did it take her eighteen minutes?” Creed shrugs, looking like this information doesn't bother him in the least.

“And Razar?” I ask, and Creed shakes his head.

“I can’t sense him near. He’s still out. Depending on what happened, he may need the rest of the night to come back. It's been a while. He needs to hunt some beasts,” Creed mutters before his eyes widen, and he lurches forward. I catch him by the arm, stilling his forward pursuit as I look up and see a familiar flash of blonde hair.

Relief floods me, making my legs almost weak as I stride forward, making sure Creed stays behind me. I don’t need the other Seniors to gossip about my brother's newfound infatuation with the newest member of our Bloodline. Not that it's against the rules, but I try my best to keep all private affairs out of the public eye. I move around a group of Rangers dressed in yellow, then pull up short when I see who Meyer is riding with. Fucking Ranger Jennings has her wrapped up tight in his arms, with her sitting in front of him. My relief quickly morphs to red-hot anger as I stalk forward, glaring at the boy who thinks he can touch my woman.

Not your woman, a small voice says in my head. The one that wants me to be rational and not make a scene in front of people. But when the Jennings boy has the fucking audacity to jump off the horse and help her down, letting every damn inch of my Little Demon’s soft, curvy body run down his front, I lose all self-control.

“Ranger!” I snap, turning my anger on Meyer as she sighs and rolls her eyes in annoyance. Her fucking attitude toward me makes my palm itch to bend the brat over, and—

“What now, Umbra Regalis?” she asks wearily, taking me off guard by the lack of sass in her tone. I glare at her and then up at Jennings, who crosses his arms over his chest and plants himself behind her like a personal guard. Yeah, this boy just earned himself ten extra laps around the track tomorrow, and I’m going to pull him off her physical training. What the hell was I thinking, letting him be that close to her every day?

“Are you alright?” Creed asks, worry filling his voice as he pushes past me and grabs Meyer's bicep, pulling her into his arms. She goes willingly, not fighting his grip or flinching away as Creed gushes over her. Jealousy eats at me as I watch them. The way my brother whispers into her ear as she gestures down her leg and nods, letting him touch her cheek and then her hair. The way her body relaxes just the smallest amount, trusting Creed to keep her safe. Something that should be my responsibility since I am her Senior.

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