Page 35 of Benicio

“Like I said, I just took over,” Hound argued.

“Which means you bear the responsibility of your men,” Rayne said. “You are accountable for their actions, just as I am for my men and Eleazar for his coven. If your men fuck up, you shoulder the blame like any leader worth his salt.”

David flew down the stairs when Hound leapt toward Benicio. He shouldn’t have worried. Benicio grabbed Hound by his throat, immobilizing him. When David stopped in his tracks, Matteo was right beside him, as if protecting him.

Too bad Matteo hadn’t been there to protect David from his upbringing and those who treated him like crap. That would have been nice.

Then again, David was who he was because of his past experiences, good or bad. They helped shape him, and if he hadn’t become that person, Matteo would have never sought him out and David would have never met Benicio.

His mate.

The man who meant everything to him and he would die defending.

Benicio finally dropped Hound. The guy crumpled lifeless to the floor. Then Benicio whipped his arm out and then in a circular motion around him.

David watched as, one by one, everyone walked out. Even Eleazar, Rayne, and their men.

“What did you just do?” David asked. “Why do they look like zombies?”

“Told you that you haven’t seen him pissed,” Matteo said before he walked farther into the house.

“I merely erased the humans’ memories that vampire and other preternatural even exist.”

David’s jaw dropped. “So none of them will remember the Council of Darkness ever was?”

“No.” Benicio shook his head. “They will simply go back to their daily lives as if none of this ever happened.”

“But Raiden, Cash, and Hound are dead,” David pointed out. “How are they going to forget them?”

Benicio shrugged. “They’ll think their leader abandoned them, choose a new one, and get on with their lives.”

David looked toward the front door. “And Eleazar and Rayne? Their coven and pack?”

Benicio gave a heavy sigh. “I will speak to Eleazar privately. He deserves to remember the truth. The others won’t even remember I came into town or anything about the Council of Darkness or that it even existed.”

“But Alaric’s dead because of them,” David said.

“A tragedy at the hands of another vampire who was killed, too.”

David frowned. “You’ve thought of everything.”

“I tried,” Benicio said. “I would rather they still think of me as the boogeyman. That thought will keep them in line.”

David didn’t like that fact. Benicio was a good guy, and people needed to know that. Then again, Benicio was right. If they knew how soft Benicio really was, things might get crazy again.

“I will speak to the council when I return home.” Benicio took David’s hand and led him upstairs.

Since they were mates, did that mean David had to leave Ridgeway? The city wasn’t perfect, but it was his home. He didn’t want to leave, though there really wasn’t anything holding him there. His father hated him. No one respected him, and he didn’t want that respect just because Benicio was his mate.

It wouldn’t be real.

“There’s something we need to take care of before we leave,” David said.

* * * *

Two months later…

David walked toward the halfway house, smiling at the progress being made. Before, the structure had been falling apart and the yard looked as if the sun had scorched the grass or it hadn’t been watered in forever.

---