Page 88 of Aine

The beasts inside turn to look with raised eyebrows and poorly concealed smirks, but I hold my ground. Damien’s eyes narrow, his spine straightening as he turns to the man behind the desk.

I can practically feel the anger seeping from him as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a few coins. They clink loudly against the counter as he tosses them down. The man scrambles to grab them as they bounce around, and the outward disrespect Damien has shown has me wondering just how often the beasts stay here without paying.

My anger only continues to flare as I turn to the man behind the counter. “How many times has he paid after staying here with his prostitutes?”

The man pales as he glances between Damien and me. I don’t even have to look at the giant beast to know he’s absolutely seething. When the innkeeper doesn’t answer, I shift my question to Damien.

“How many times have you skipped out on the bill after staying here with one of your prostitutes?” I ask.

If looks could kill, I’d be long dead. Damien’s lip curls as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large handful of coins.

The muscle in his jaw twitches as he sets them on the desk.

“Satisfied?” He breathes deeply, referring to the public humiliation I’m forcing him to endure.

I nod, feeling no better as he turns and heads outside. Despite the loud noises and distractions the city offers, I’m unable to stop thinking about Damien as he leads us into the woods and shifts. The beast yips and nips at my ankles when I don’t move to approach him, and I resist the urge to scream as I throw our bags over my shoulders and climb onto his back.

I hope he can feel my anger and disgust as he begins the journey back to his pack. Unlike last time when I tried to absorb the image of the woods flying past us, I bury my face in the beast’s fur and cry silently until we arrive.

He comes to a slow stop as we enter the space behind his home, and I waste no time clambering off and ripping his bag off my body. I throw it to the ground as I hug mine to my chest and march inside the house.

Damien yells my name and asks me to wait, but I ignore his calls and continue to my room. Well, continue to the room I’ve been forced to live in. Alex stands in the kitchen in only his underwear, looking shocked as he glances between me and the angry Damien on my heels.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asks, laughing as I stomp past him and head upstairs.

Damien says something about opening the windows and airing out the place, but I could care less about the smells only the beasts can sense. If Alex and Olivia want to have dirty sex all over this house, all the power to them. Hopefully he doesn’t get bored and kill her as Damien so loves to do to my kind.

“Aine, please stop and talk to me,” Damien shouts as he follows me up the stairs.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“You can’t just expect me to change tradition at the drop of a hat. We can come up with an agreement for next year.”

I know I shouldn’t let him keep distracting me as I turn to face him.

“Like what?” I snap. “That you only killteninnocent people? Or that you target only the old ones who have little time left anyway?” I scoff and spin back around. “I’m not interested in speaking to you.”

Damien continues to plead as I enter my room and slam the door. I’m sure Olivia and Alex are having a field day with this, and as I think about Damien’s assistant, I’m turning around and ripping open my door once more.

I’m met with the chest of my mate, and I take a step back so I can look into his eyes. I want to see his face when I make my demand.

“I want to see my parents.”

His expression alone gives the answer to my unspoken question. They’re dead. He’s killed them all. Everyone in my village. That’s how he got our leader’s binder.

“Go fuck yourself!” I shout.

His eyes widen at my words, and my knees waver as I slam the door in his face.

Sleep doesn’t come to me that night, or the following.

I lie in bed staring at the ceiling listening to him stomping around hour after hour. He can be angry all he wants, but I’m not leaving this room until either he’s called off the hunt or is gone. I don’t want to see him.

My muscles ache when I sit up and move to my window, watching Damien as he walks out of his office in the direction of the house. His eyes meet mine as he senses me, prompting me to pull away and slam the curtains closed.

He looks just as pitiful as he did this morning when I caught him sneaking into my room. I was prepared to scream, but he set the food on my desk and left before I could get anything out.

I considered leaving it untouched to punish him, but my hunger won out and I ended up scarfing down everything on the plate.

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