“You wouldn’t have lost to Fallon, Aria. You’re stronger than he was.”
“You don’t know that!” I screamed, turning back toward him, and the water began to bubble around me.
His eyes dipped to the water before he turned to Aurora. “Take them inside now.”
“No fucking way, she’s our sister,” Kinvara snapped.
“I concur, no fucking way,” Sabine hissed.
“She’s also experiencing an emotional overload, and we don’t know what happens when it goes off. She’ll be inside soon,” he returned, watching me. “Aurora, please. Aria would never recover from murdering her sisters, even though it would be an accident. I won’t hurt her.”
“Like you could hurt her, she’s fierce! Oh my God, Aria, you took down the alpha!” Kinvara cheered, and I swallowed down bile at the reminder.
“Yes, and now he’s dead,” I said in a deadpan tone.
She paused, staring at me with a deep furrow marring her forehead. “I’d see him dead a thousand times over before ever watching them throw you onto that floor and rape you. Do you understand me? He chose to fight you, and you gave him time to change his mind—he chose badly. That isn’t on you.”
“I know. But whatever I am becoming, I enjoyed emasculating Fallon for daring to think he could claim me without my permission, and I wanted to kill them all.”
“You had fangs…or whatever they are, and your nails became claws. You kept your mind this time. You’ve got to see that’s progress. But don’t dare ask me to not celebrate you. You’re my sister, and you just fucking mopped the floor with the alpha wolf, Aria. I don’t care what you are because that doesn’t change dick between us. We’re here with you, always.”
“I know,” I repeated, and the water started to boil again. “But what if I am a monster? What if Amara realized what she was, and she left to protect us from what she was becoming?”
“Then she made a poor choice,” Aurora stated. “We’re Hecate witches, we don’t fear our own. We don’t reject them either. I have raised you from the moment you inhaled your first breath into your tiny lungs. I have raised you all to accept whatever comes, and whatever you become. You’re my family, Aria. If Amara abandoned us, that’s on her, not us. Now, everyone inside, right this minute. You don’t hurt my girl, Knox.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, smiling as he watched her shake her head and move into the house.
I turned, staring at him, and he smirked devilishly, shoving me beneath the water without warning, holding me down as I screamed and gasped for air. I scratched his hands, feeling my fingers transform into claws as I wrapped my hands around his wrists to remove them. I stared up at him, feeling the burn in my teeth, yet my fangs didn’t come. The rattle within me grew, turning into a dangerous purr that sounded wrong.
“Come on, I’m right fucking here, Aria. Show me who you are. Fight me! You don’t have the fucking balls to take me on, do you?” His gurgled words infuriated me.
Water began to boil faster, and he smiled, watching me closely. My mouth opened, and darkness blinked into my vision. My hands dropped from his, and he jerked me up.
“Bloody hell, breathe, woman! You’re not fucking dying today.”
“Bastard,” I said, choking and spitting out copious amounts of water. Knox pulled me close, staring at my teeth, and then at my hands.
“Anger isn’t the trigger to bring her beast out, nor is mortal danger.”
“Oh, I assure you I am triggered, dick. Get your fucking hands off of me.” I shoved him away from me, fixing my dress as he silently watched, soaked in his tux and expensive shoes.
“Leave us,” he said over his shoulder, turning his eyes back to mine. He waited for the men to be out of hearing distance before he spoke again. “You kissed another male with my name on your flesh.”
“And, so fucking what. I’m not yours, so what the hell does it matter if I kiss someone else?” I demanded, watching him with a challenge burning in my depths.
“He’ll be dead before the full moon next week.”
“So…What? If I kiss someone else, they die? You don’t even like me, remember? What was it you said I was…? Oh, yeah. I’m just a nasty whore who happens to be a witch. Or has that escaped your mind, Knox? I will fuck whoever the hell I want to fuck, and you can’t say otherwise,” I warned coldly, and he smirked, grabbing me and pushing me against the rock as his mouth brushed against mine, causing me to moan against him.
“I am the strongest asshole here, and my men and I are the only ones you cannot dominate, emasculate, or fucking devour. Do you understand that? I won’t kill Dimitri, you will. That creature slumbering inside of you that terrifies you so much? It should. I went toe-to-toe with her, Aria. I didn’t fucking lose, you did, but you fucking fought me so gloriously. That bite on your shoulder was me marking your creature, that way; your beast didn’t forget who had been dominated between us, because it sure in the fuck wasn’t me. That little boy wouldn’t stand a chance against you. Your beast is bred to test men, and if she smells weakness in them, she will slaughter them without blinking or any hesitation. She chooses a mate based on three things. If he is strong enough to subdue her, the way he fucks her after he’s managed to subdue, and his scent he oozes for her, marking him alpha enough to breed her needy cunt. You want that alpha puppy, little girl, go fucking get him.” He released me, leaving the water as I watched him walking toward the shore.
I had to get out of here before I ended up killing everyone I loved. “Knox?” I whispered, following behind him as I hiked through the water in my ripped dress. My heels caught on a rock, and as I reached down to grab my shoe, I was yanked from the water and thrown back onto the ground. Knox grabbed the air, slicing through a creature effortlessly before he ripped the head from its body. I stared at it, slowly moving my eyes to the blackened claws that Knox’s hands had become.
“Get inside, you’re being hunted.”
“What the hell was it?” I asked.
“A bounty hound from the Nine Realms,” he said, crouching down to grab the note attached to the collar before standing back up. I struggled to my feet, fixing my gown again as he watched me. “They’re given a scent to trace, and once they have it, they don’t stop until they find it. Once they find it, they either attack to weaken their mark, leaving behind enough poison to render it too weak to hide, or they kill it.”
“Which one would it have done to me?” I asked, and he stared at me crossly.
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to wait to see which one it chose before killing it.”
I lifted my gaze to his and nodded slowly. I mean, I didn’t want to be doggie chow either. I didn’t move my gaze from his and still hadn’t when he stepped closer, pinching my chin to lift my mouth to his. I pushed up on my toes, kissing him gently before he could change his mind. His mouth was soft, and yet he didn’t kiss me back. He’d closed off, and now I looked needy.
“Thank you for not waiting to see if it killed me.” I turned away, heading toward the house. He grabbed me, lifting me abruptly, threading his fingers through my hair to hold me still as his mouth crushed against mine. His tongue pushed against my lips, and I let him in, capturing his to duel against it. It was demanding, controlling, and all-consuming as he ravaged my mouth until my lungs burned for air.