Page 57 of Daddy Frost

Kalen glanced at the bed and saw Elvine lying on her side with a grimace on her face. “You okay, hon?”

She nodded as she opened her eyes. “Just backaches, Papa Frost. As you can see, my baby hump is almost bigger than I am.”

Kalen hated to see her so uncomfortable. Even though it was so long ago, he could still recall how miserable Chelsea had been toward the end of her pregnancies.

He had nothing but the utmost respect for any woman—or man, since that was a possibility in his world—who willing endured that kind of pain to give birth to a child.

“I got her,” Arion said. “Go help the others.”

Looking around the room, Kalen couldn’t have been prouder of the mates who’d come into their lives. He cared deeply for all of them and would protect them with his life. He gazed briefly at Zyra, and his wolf snarled viciously at the thought of any harm coming to her.

“I love you,” he said to Delta, who had sat in one of the chairs across from the bed.

His mate’s skin blossomed with a deep blush. “Love you, too. Be careful, please.”

“Aww,” Elvine said then grunted. “That’s…that’s so sweet.”

With a determination to protect them, Kalen walked out of the bedroom and closed the door then waited until he heard the lock engage.

Once he heard the click, he took off to help Jax, Jaytee, and Casimir, flying down the stairs and heading out of the back door. In the yard were five men, vampires by the smell of them, battling it out with Kalen’s family.

Why did it always have to be vampires? It wouldn’t hurt to mix things up with a demon or rogue shifter every now and then. Kalen caught the blur seconds before one of the vampires attacked, slamming him into the wall next to the back door.

When the bastard reached for the handle, Kalen wrapped his hand around the man’s throat with a deep, deadly snarl and lifted him off his feet. “Son, you are about to become Satan’s bitch.”

With a quick jab of his clawed hand, Kalen yanked the vampire’s heart from his chest. Then he dragged the guy, his heart still gripped in his hand, to the center of the yard and dropped both.

“Enough!” His strong, authoritative command caused everyone to pause. “I will give the four of you five seconds to get off my property before I line you up, one by one, next to your friend,” he ground out. “Five.”

The biggest of the vampires, who’d been fighting Casimir, turned toward Kalen and sneered at him. “We’ll leave, right after you hand over Delta.”

“The only thing I’m going to hand you is your own heart to cradle in your hands.” Kalen stormed toward the guy as the fighting resumed, but the largest vampire simply stared him down. The dumbass son of a bitch had let Kalen walk right up to him, as if he was too dimwitted to realize that death was bearing down on him.

But Kalen didn’t yank out his heart. His rage demanded a cathartic release. He slugged the guy right in his face, causing the vampire’s head to snap back.

Then Kalen unleashed on him, going for blows just as Jax had when he’d beaten the living hell out of Akai before killing the man who’d tortured Arion for a decade.

Kalen’s father and uncles had taught him how to fight, how to look for weaknesses and exploit them. For decades he’d gotten his ass handed to him before he’d finally learned how to fight back.

Some might view those lessons as abhorrent, but at the end of the day, they were animals first, humans second. Not once had Kalen felt abused by his family. He’d been honored they’d loved him enough to turn him into the man he was today.

A force to be reckoned with.

And Kalen had loved his sons enough to do the same for them.

He lifted the big bastard up then drove his head into the ground, refusing to show even an ounce of mercy. Kalen’s honed muscles were fueled with aggression, with raw determination to keep his loved ones safe.

“Who sent you?” Kalen slammed his fists into the vampire repeatedly as the guy dropped to his knees. “Answer me!”

“L-Leo.” Blood poured from the man’s nose and mouth, and one of his eyes had swollen to the point it would no longer open. Kalen had also knocked out numerous teeth and broken several bones. “He needs Delta so he can barter with Whichello.”

That made no sense if the demon wanted both Delta and Leo dead. “What kind of barter?” Kalen demanded.

“Call off your people and I’ll tell you. I’ve already lost two family members.” He looked at the ground where the dead vampire lay. “Three. I don’t want to lose any more.”

Kalen wasn’t going to feel remorse for killing the guy. Not when the vampire had tried to get inside the house. He’d paid with his life for his stupidity. “If this is some kind of trick, I will make your death as painful as possible.”

The guy shook his head. “No trick.”

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