Page 105 of Tribute
Shock shuddered through him, and he stepped back before she turned and ran.
He walked over to the window and contemplated the tranquil lake. She didn’t want him to touch her now? Fuck that. If Aled and Anna had created a child together and theUngrichhad stolen it, what the hell was hesupposedto do?
He was still healing from his last encounter with the monsters and wasn’t sure if he could take another total immersion in their space. But could he leave any child of Anna’s with theUngrich, knowing that they’d want to use it to further their own horrific agenda? Maybe that was the real reason Anna wouldn’t talk to him. She wanted him to go back in there, but wouldn’t ask him to do that for her. He stared out of the window as the rain turned to snow. If it was his child, would he go? It could be his.
“Fuck it.”
The child might be half-Ungrich, but it wasn’t as though she’d volunteered to help create it. How the hell could Anna Lee regretthat? Maybe she was right and he wouldn’t understand at all.
He marched toward the door, only to find it opening. Aled came in, followed by Kai.
“Get out of my way,” Rehz growled.
Aled didn’t move an inch. “You made Anna cry. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Rehz tried to shove him aside and was blocked by Kai.
“Leave her alone, Rehz.”
“Neither of you has any right to tell me what to do with my female.”
Kai shrugged. “We do when you’re behaving like a complete dick.”
He flicked Kai a threatening glance. “I said keep out of it.”
“I could send Aled to comfort her if you like.”
With a snarl, he leaped for Kai, smashing his friend through a small table and down to the floor. He wrapped one hand around Kai’s throat.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Kai smiled at him. “Yeah, Aled would love to help. He’s got a thing about women that I don’t really have, and he’s pissed with me about Bron, so he might just want to teach me a lesson.”
Rehz tightened his grip. “If Aled goes anywhere near her, I’ll kill him.”
“Why, because you’re too much of a coward to deal with her yourself? And Aled isn’t so easy to kill now. That last visit with theUngrichchanged him. I’m surprised at you, Rehz Akran. I always thought you were the bravest male I’d ever met.”
“I am trying to give Anna space so that she can fucking work out what she wants me to do. I amtryingto be fuckingsympathetic and understanding.” He spoke through his teeth, emphasizing each word with a ferocious shake of Kai’s neck.
“Then you’re not doing your job.” Kai coughed out the words. “She needs to know that you care, Rehz.”
“Fuck you.” He dropped Kai’s throat and let his head bang onto the floor.
“Ouch.”
Rehz slammed his way outside, into the courtyard, taking deep breaths of the frigid night air.
Fuck them all. Kai was wrong. And worse, if Anna did want to be comforted, she’d chosen the wrong guy. He was too hard, too harsh, tooeverythingto even pretend to be capable of giving her sympathy in the way Aled would give it to her. Maybe she knew that.
Hell, of course she did. She knew what he was like.
He’d fuckingtrainedher.
Kai took a couple of exploratory breaths and gently opened and closed his mouth. Everything in his throat and jaw appeared to be working. Aled had already gone to check on Anna and was then going to bed.
“Are you okay?”
He looked up into the concerned face of Bron.
