Page 9 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Hearing Kai’s confirmation, the guys’ shocked expressions melt to one of outrage and anger.

“No fucking way!”

“Damn it!”

“So much for an easy deal.”

“We can still…”

“Don’t finish that sentence if you want to walk out of here with two working legs.” Kai growls at Jax’s comment.

Jax throws up his arms, losing his playful demeanour.

“Well? Then what are we going to do?”

“She’s our mate, doesn’t mean we have to accept the bond.” Axel leans back against the wall, crossing his arms. His expression holding nothing but arrogance and disgust. A far cry from the sweet, stubborn boy I knew.

“What about the agreement?” Luka ignores Axel, turning to Kai.

“We need this.”

Kai stays silent, his piercing stare cutting through me, attempting to touch my tainted soul and uncover all its secrets.

I fist my hand to stop it from pulling the robe tighter around me and giving me some cover against those knowing eyes.

“If we don’t go through with it, you know what will happen—” Jax grits out before Kai cuts him off. “I know how important this is to us all.” His eyes narrow on me.

“For now, we’ll stick with the plan, just slightly modified.”

Kai nods his head to himself. “I’m sure we can come to some agreement that suits us all.”

Their back-and-forth bickering was giving nothing away and irritating as hell. What plan? Any of their plans usually involved intricate pieces and a big mess. Even as kids, they were always looking ahead for something new to accomplish.

“What the hell are you all talking about?” I ask, my curiosity overshadowing the premise of being here.

“Ah, she speaks.” Jax grins at me, a twinkle in his eyes.

I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not your fucking mate. You all must have hit your thick skulls on the way in here.”

I couldn’t be their mate. We would’ve known when we were kids, wouldn’t we? We were always inseparable, but that’s how childhood friends are.

Rion’s chuckle is humourless.

“She has some bite.”

“I can’t be, that’s not possible!” My calm mask cracks some more. My chest gets tight as my cold indifference falls to the floor beneath me.

If they’re right, my plan will be ruined. All those months carefully planning every little detail, wasted.

“You are, most definitely, our mate.” Kai says, his nostrils flaring as his eyes pulse an eery red glow.

No. This wasn’t happening. I take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. My mask forming once more. If what they said was true. I’d figure it out. Like always.

“Fuck!” Axel shouts.

“Can’t believe we found our fucking mate,” Jax says, a crazy smile turning to a slight frown, realising where he is.

“In this hellhole no less,” Axel states. He always was a moody son of a bitch. I narrow my eyes at him. Of course, this place was a shit hole, but they’ve been here all of two seconds.

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