Page 39 of Claimed By the Damned

As soon as her hands were wrapped around the plastic, she chucked it over the rail. “We can always find other ways for you to relax.”

He grinned at her. “Like sex?”

She giggled. “I have a feeling that would be a lot of sex.”

His grin widened like a cat who just cornered a mouse. “Little bunny, are you saying you can’t handle me?”

“I’d like to think I can, but seeing as how this thing between us just got started, I’m not sure yet,” she admitted with a shrug. She rested her head against his shoulder, snuggling into his warmth. “Do you really think you can stop, Knox?”

His shrug pressed against her cheek. “I’d do anything you asked me to do. I’d kill for you. And if you’d let me, I’d start with your father.”

“You already killed for me though,” she pointed out with a poke to his pec. She sighed. “Sometimes I wish it were that easy. If he weren’t around, then we could be together without fear of him finding out.”

“I could make it quick, you know.” His words were a deep rumble. “Painless.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “Why do you want to kill him so bad, knowing the kind of trouble it would cause you?”

She couldn’t believe she was actually having this conversation. Sure, she had nearly killed her father herself once, but she hadn’t been able to go through with it. She had thought that would be the end of it, but now Knox was offering to do the same thing, and she was surprised that she was actually considering it. Or at least, part of her was.

“Because I know you’ll never have peace with him alive. And the way the asshole treats you . . . has it ever gotten physical?”

She flinched and looked away from him. To be honest, she wasn’t sure what she should tell him. She hadn’t told any of the guys the extent of her father’s abuse because she was ashamed and embarrassed. That, and she didn’t know how Knox would react to learning the truth, especially in his current state.

“There are ways for me to get away from him without you having to kill him,” she said, completely dodging the question. “I’m just worried about him finding out where I went and then coming after you guys.”

“Don’t worry about us,” he quickly said. “You mean taking you and moving away?”

“Not moving away, I wouldn’t ask you or Zeke to do that. You guys have a life here. But . . . I’ve been considering leaving the pack and becoming rogue for you guys.”

His eyes lit up. “You’d leave the pack for us?”

She nodded. “I would have already if I wasn’t so paranoid about him.”

“Technically, he can’t touch you if you decide to leave. If he does, he would be the one sparking a war.”

“My father plays by his own rules, Knox.” She sighed heavily and pushed her hair away from her face. “I’ve never told anyone this, so please don’t repeat it, but sometimes, when he gets bored, he sends his enforcers out to cause trouble with rogue shifters just so he’ll have something to do. He instigates things just so he can kill them and say it was warranted.”

A growl rumbled in his chest. “Then I suppose he’s lucky he hasn’t found us yet.”

“It’s not the whole pack, though,” she quickly added. “There are a few who enjoy the trouble he causes, but the majority of them are good people and are stuck because he’s the alpha. If a war ignites between us and them, then some of those innocent people are going to die, and that is something I won’t be able to live with.”

She could see his mind working while his eyes looked over her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I have no doubt,” she replied. “Come on, let’s go back to bed and get some sleep. It’s late.”

Without argument, he lifted her up, carried her back inside, and laid her down in the bed. He scooted in next to her and pulled her close. He said nothing else before he drifted back to sleep, but she couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he was thinking.

Chapter Seventeen

Drake

Drake ground his teeth as he waited for the coffee pot to finish brewing. He hadn’t been able to sleep well after his conversation with Zeke at the strip club. And on top of that, he had been forced to work the bar alone. Neither Zeke nor Knox could be found anywhere. It seemed like he was running the bar alone a lot these days, and it irritated the hell out of him.

The pot finished, so he poured himself a cup into his waiting mug and took a scolding sip, all the while wanting nothing more than to kick their asses. Deciding that he would do just that, he set the mug down and went in search of them. He stopped at Knox’s bedroom first, but he wasn’t in his bed.

Flexing his jaw, he turned toward Zeke’s bedroom and opened the door, ready to give him a piece of his mind. But before he could open his mouth, he spotted three figures in Zeke’s bed.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Drake said loud enough that Knox, Amara, and Zeke startled awake.

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