Page 14 of A Surrender Of Hope

“Boys!” Elaine shouts, standing back up. The air around her simmers with power, making me chuckle when the boys stop arguing and look at her with white faces. There’s a reason I selected Elaine to lead the Hunters. Her magic is incredibly strong for an Umbra Hunter. “What in the world are you doing, Theodore?” she hisses, striding into the room, anger blazing as she grabs the pillow her son is holding before whacking him over the head with it. “Jordan is still healing. Why are you upsetting him?”

“Me?! He was trying to kick me out of his room! You said not to leave him alone,” Elaine’s son snaps, pouting as he rubs his head.

“Right, well, it looks like your hands are full. Good luck with that,” I say as I set the lamp on the ground and grab the doorknob, nodding to Elaine when she sighs and waves me off. Shutting the door, I rush back down the hall, flexing my fingers and letting my magic creep forward, knowing I’ll need it for dealing with my Little Demon.

Opening my door, I pull up short when I see Valen sound asleep with Meyer sitting on the bed beside him. My brother’s pale skin has a bit more color, and I heave a sigh of relief, knowing Meyer is doing more for my brother than I ever could. It was a lie when I said Valen was in control of his Shade form earlier. Not only had Valen gone silent the moment after he eradicated the enemy on the field, he withdrew.

One of my gifts is emotions. As the heir and eventual King of Versipillis, I have the ability to not only feel others’ emotions but control them as well. They hover around the person like a halo, brightening with the happier emotions and darkening with the bad. Valen’s emotions went from despair, pain and panic to anger. After that, there was nothing. He was a blank slate. It’s like he turned everything off, and I can’t find a glimpse of his feelings.

“How did you manage that?” I ask, nodding at Valen while shutting the door quietly behind me.

“I knocked him out,” Creed admits, and Meyer flips to look at him so fast I’m worried she might snap her neck.

“You what?!” Creed leans away from her anger, looking slightly worried as he eyes her.

“Well… yeah. He was pacing the floor in front of you, and I swear his eyes crossed twice, and his fingers were sparking green with his magic. I think he’s had a total of an hour of sleep in the last forty-eight hours. He wasn’t going to sleep without some help. It was a simple spell, is all.”

“He gets night terrors,” Meyer whispers with concern, and I frown. I look at Valen and wonder why he hadn’t told me about that. “What if he has one and can’t wake up?”

“He does?” Creed rasps the question, brows furrowing as he looks down at a peacefully sleeping Valen. I reach out with my magic, thrilled that I can feel Valen a little more than I had been able to an hour ago. Whatever shield he has up is still in place, but it’s slipped slightly in his sleep, allowing me to monitor him.

“I’ll watch his emotions until he wakes. The first hint of distress, I’ll let Creed know to wake him. This is the most relaxed he’s been since…” I trail off and inhale a shaky breath, deciding not to finish that sentence. No one here needs the reminder of her death and how it affected us. “This is the safest and best thing for him right now. My magic can't heal exhaustion. Let himsleep,” I tell her, moving over to her side, the physical urge to be next to her is so strong I have to grind my teeth and fold my arms in order to not scoop her up and hold her against me.

The need to soothe and remove the confusion and fear I feel drifting from her is palpable. I have to remind myself that messing with her emotions without her permission isn't something I can do.

Not yet—not until she knows what I’ve done and understands the primal needs and urges I have to care for her. Unfortunately, for male Demons, completing the mate bond makes us more territorial than normal. It’s worse the younger we are—when our power is still new to us—so most males wait until they’re older. My arrangement with the Brakatise’s daughter was made the moment I was born, but it wasn’t to be fulfilled until I reached the age of one hundred and twenty-five. Not because that’s what our families wanted, but because that’s the age most males have enough control over their physical urges to not be a menace to their mates and people around them.

I knew it was going to be hard. Father said he waited until he was over the age of two hundred to mate Mother, but this… This is like a living hell. I simultaneously want to care for my brothers, while also wanting to tear their limbs from their bodies to beat them with. And that’s with our damn Legion bond in place!

The absolute willpower I had to use when Meyer reached out to touch Ranger Jennings stole my breath from my lungs. I hated myself for being so damn weak in that moment. She hadn’t even done something that would normally set me off. The flirting I normally witness between her and the two young Rangers has been more than a little trying to watch, but I’ve been able to control myself. Now I fear I’ll have to talk to Elaine and warn her about this. The last thing I want to do is kill her boys in a fit of jealous rage.

“Thanks,” my Little Demon whispers, giving me the smallest smile, and I can feel my insides melt like a damn sap. I always teased our father for the way he rolled belly up the moment Mom batted her eyelashes, but now I understand. I’m pretty sure I would tear my heart out and gift it on a damn silver platter if Meyer asked it of me.

Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! This isn’t good. Ignoring her thanks, I frown and hold my hand facing up toward her.

“Hand,” I demand, knowing I sound like an ass, but not able to apologize for it as black magic sparks in my palm. I have too much to do, too much at stake to let this Little Demon distract me right now. I need to control myself and get our problems out of the way in order to give her a life where she can not only live, but thrive. The world as we know it now will chew her up and destroy her, and I simply can’t have that. I have to keep Meyer at a distance and make sure things are handled in the correct way before I can do anything about the mate bond thrumming in the air between us. For her safety and those of this realm and my own.

Meyer frowns, but surprises the hell out of me when she listens and places her hand in mine. Her sudden shocked expression tells me the move surprised her as well, and I brace myself for the anger I feel boiling up in her.

“Why are you always an ass?” she asks, voice calm despite the anger I feel from her. “Just when I think you might have some redeeming qualities, you flip a switch, andbam, asshole Lennox Regalis is back in all his glory.”

I bite my tongue, refusing to play into her verbal battle, knowing I deserve her anger as I let my magic flood her body. I almost groan as I clasp her small hand in mine, my eyes threatening to close in ecstasy as my magic fills her. The action is something I’ve done multiple times—since this damn girl can’tseem to stop getting hurt—but it’s changed since mating her; the feeling has become almost intimate in nature.

I feel her tense as a wave of arousal courses through her; her breath hitches, and her tight nipples pebble against the fabric of my shirt. I can’t help the smug smirk that crosses my face as I look from her hand to her face, cocking a brow at her before gesturing down to her hard nipples. And despite knowing I shouldn’t, I can't help but tease her. I want to get that fiery reaction, the fight that I crave most—the battle between us I’ve grown to love so much.

“I don’t think you mind too much. Do you, Little Demon?” I ask, keeping my voice low as I lean forward, making her eyes widen in surprise as she jerks back, trying to keep space between us. That, unfortunately, triggers my fucking caveman side; before I can think rationally about anything, I growl at her, the sound is low and threatening, demanding her submission. Meyer’s eyes light up, the green color brightening, and I inhale sharply at the flare of suddenly powerful magic that cords around my own, challenging me to back down and making me flinch in response.

“Meyer!” I warn, my eyes shifting to that of my Beast as she glares up at me with zero fear or hesitancy in her eyes. Dammit, if that doesn’t turn me on more than anything else.

“Let me go,” she snarls, trying to yank her hand out of mine before I even have a chance to heal the rest of her weak and sore muscles. I shake my head, desperately trying to grab at the fading strands of my control, hating how my mate wants space, yet loving her free and powerful spirit.

“Uhh, maybe…” Creed starts, but his concerned voice is merely an annoyance I ignore.

“Never,” I rasp back, the word is not a threat, but a fucking promise. When she tries to yank out of my hold again, my control snaps like a weak, pathetic string. Meyer shouldn’t wantspace from me! She is mine, and I am hers! Fuck space and fuck keeping her at a distance. Clasping her hand tighter, I yank her to me, tugging her off the bed and into my arms where she fucking belongs. I love the outraged screech that falls from her soft pink lips from the action.

“Nox,” Creed hisses in warning as Meyer’s face flushes, her knee rising in defense. I barely shift in time to miss a blow to my balls, and I glare down at her, the fury in me is so damn hot I feel like I’m about to shift!

“Get out!” I bellow at Creed when he dares to move toward us.

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