Page 48 of Brutal Mate

“Ferals are humans turned and uncared for. They become more beast than human, and their humanity slips away. Eventually, they are driven mad by the intensity of their shifts, and they have little to no control over when those shifts come. Some die of natural causes, but many cause too much trouble, becoming murderous and bloodthirsty, and the ones that come onto a pack’s territory are usually hunted down and executed.”

With every word he spoke, Miley wished she hadn't asked the question. She felt the heat draining from her face and guessed from Kane's expression that she had grown unbelievably pale.

He stepped forward and gripped hold of her forearms. “Now, do you see why we must return to Nightstar?”

Miley closed her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. Once, she might never have been able to imagine anything worse than returning to Nightstar and laying eyes on her appalling excuses for parents again.

But Kane's explanation had painted an all too vivid picture of what might happen if she didn't.

“Miley?” Kane said gently. “Do you see now?”

When she felt his fingers under her chin, she forced her eyes open and looked at him. The concern in his gaze was painful to witness.

She nodded slowly. “I'll go back on one condition.”

Kane bared his teeth at her as if he didn't like the sound of that. “What?”

Miley gulped, unable to believe what she was about to say. “Promise me I won't have to go back there.”

Kane's eyes darkened, and it was abundantly clear he knew exactly what she meant.

“You'll never have to set foot near your parents' house or the hardware store again,” Kane vowed to her. “Nightstar Manor will be open to you forever. My pack will be your pack.”

Was that a flash of uncertainty she saw in his eyes?

Before she could question him on it, he gripped her face in his palms and kissed her hard beneath the light of the full moon, a promise on his lips. Miley only prayed that it was one he would be able to keep.

Chapter 17 - Kane

It was a huge relief to Kane for Miley to agree to return to Nightstar, and yet all the way home, his anxiety grew.

The only thing that kept him anywhere close to calm was Miley leaning against his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The only woman he'd ever had on the back of his bike before was Bonnie, and that had been a matter of life or death; Quinn was the woman in his life, and she deserved to be respected. He wouldn't just let anyone ride her.

And yet, here he was, with Miley cozying up to him. It felt strange. It also felt right.

It made him all that more determined to make Jack see sense when they returned. What if the alpha rejected Miley from entering the pack?

It didn’t bear thinking about, and so he forced the thought away, refusing to think about it again until he finally stood in the woods outside the manor with his men around him.

It had been a long ride back from Grandma Peters's farm to Nightstar, and he left Miley resting in his room at the manor, but this meeting with the most senior members of his pack couldn't wait.

“How is she?” Jack asked, sitting on a boulder with one knee up to rest his chin upon it.

“Troubled,” Kane shrugged as the others approached through the trees, taking seats on fallen logs or perching against tree trunks all around him in the clearing that had become their meeting place.

“Who wouldn't be, having to marry you?” Will scoffed and Kane threw him a glower, growling low in his throat.

“That's not the reason I brought you all here,” Kane said, glancing around the men who had laughed at Will's jest. “It's far more serious than a marriage arrangement now.”

Jack's foot dropped to the ground, and he growled, “What is it?”

Kane closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.

“The night before she went missing…” he began, eyes still closed. “The night I reported seeing those three werewolves on our territory…”

“Kane, spill it,” Jack growled again.

Guilt clawed at Kane's insides. He had reported seeing the three werewolves, leaving out the fact that Miley had been there in the hopes of saving her a little trouble. Yet it appeared he had only made things worse.

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