Page 13 of Not a Gift

I switch off the living room television with a sneer before tossing the remote on the couch.My gaze drifts to the large picture window, snow already covering every available surface, the mountain white in the distance.My fists clench at my side with the need to do something.

Anything.My dragon tries to force his way out for the tenth time in the past hour, and this time I almost lose the battle.I know he wants to protect her and so do I, but I can’t just burst into her life.

Slipping my phone from the back of my jeans pocket, I scroll to Lyrik’s number—the one she didn’t give me—and stare.I hit the “call” button for what is probably the hundredth time and listen to the ringing down the line.She hasn’t answered in two days, and I doubt she will now, but I still try.

“You have reached the voicemail box for Lyrik...”

Her recorded message drones.I end the call after listening to the rest.Restless energy thrums through my veins.

“What are you doing?”my father questions from the doorway.

I didn’t even hear him come back home.I am so lost in my worry for Lyrik that I have all but blocked out the rest of the world.Her reactions when she was here before bother me and the fact that she all but fled, running from a place that was once her home, has been driving me crazy.

“Does Lyrik still visit you?”I ask instead of answering his question.

He looks shocked that I would ask such a thing.

“Why would she?”

“Because she is family,” I reply automatically.

“No, Malichai.She was my wife’s child, and my wife has been dead for many years,” he says stiffly.“I fulfilled my promise.I raised her, but she isn’t my child.”

“You’re a fucking asshole.”I glare at the man who calls himself my father.“If there was ever any doubt in my mind, you just erased it.”

“What are you going on about?”

He looks at me like I have lost my fucking mind.

“I left this house to get away.From you.I did the right thing so I wouldn’t disappoint you again,” I say, my voice clear as I lay out my truth.“I gave up the only thing I ever wanted so it wouldn’t affect you.”

“Malichai...”he starts, but I cut him off with a glare.

“For years, I have been forced to listen to you and all your ridiculous opinions.Now it’s time for you to listen to me.”I wait to see if he will cut me off again.When he remains silent, I continue.“I’ve been in love with Lyrik for as long as I can remember, and you...”I shake my head to clear the rage.“I gave her up so she could have the life she deserved, so I wouldn’t disappoint you yet again.When her mom died, I left her here, knowing you would be here for her, that she would have some form of family.And now you tell me she has been alone all this time.”

“You love her?”he asks with a disbelieving chuckle, not addressing the fact that he all but abandoned her.

“Not that you would know anything about love,” I sneer.

“Well, you can have her now.She can be a gift to you on the day you take your position as the head of the Black family,” he replies with derision.“She’s a decent lay.”

“Excuse me?”

The words are barely above a whisper.He can’t be serious.A haze of red clouds my vision and I know that one of us will die before the day is through.My dragon has fallen silent in his rage, and I know the moment he tries to break free, I won’t hold him back this time.

“What?You think I’ve lived in this house for years with that teenage pussy strutting around here, barely dressed, and I never took what was offered?”

I snap.I circle my hands around his neck and slam him against the entryway wall, sending plaster falling to the floor.I didn’t even realize I was in front of him.

“You touched her?”I ask between gritted teeth, my dragon already halfway into the shift, my anger allowing him to step forward as rage overtakes any logical thought.

He laughs, even as his face changes color.“I did more than touch.I fucked the cherry right out of her,” he boasts.He doesn’t struggle or try to stop me.His arrogance and the fact that he doesn’t believe I will harm him, keeping him calm in the face of my rage.He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does.“And if you were a real man—”

The words die on his lips.My fist in the center of his face silences him as blood spurts everywhere.I can’t make myself stop and soon enough I am kneeling over his prone body.I’m not sure if he is alive or dead but I can honestly say I don’t care.He was a fucking monster, and I left her alone with him.How did I not know?What else did he do to her?Dark thoughts swirl in my mind as I stare down at his prone body.

My dragon recedes, allowing me control.His lust for vengeance has been temporarily sated and he is back to worrying about Lyrik.A situation I will be remedying as soon as I can.

“Dante!”I call out loudly, knowing the man is still somewhere in the house.

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