“To my brothers. I need to talk to him about this.” She went stiff as a board.
“What do you mean?” His eye cut to hers. For a moment, she thought he’d figured out her secret.
“We’ll protect you. I’ll protect you, Cassie.”
“Why?” she asked softly. She had to know. Even as her gut tightened and her heart constricted in her chest, she had to know why.
“We had sex. Even now you could be pregnant. I protect my own, Cassie.”
Whatever answer she wanted or was expecting she was certain that wasn’t it. Stiffly she moved off his lap and sat in the passenger side.
“What’s wrong?”
His eyes cut to hers again. She turned and smiled at him as she buckled herself in. It wasn’t because she was afraid of getting into an accident and flying through the windshield but because the secure belt around her helped her to feel stabilized.
“I just don’t want to get your family bothered with my problems.” That was putting it lightly.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re mine now, and we take care of our own.”
What was the point of being his if he didn’t even...? No, she couldn’t let herself think like that. Don’t be stupid, Cassie. The man loved once in his life and that particular emotion wasn’t saved for her. It had long been spent and buried under six feet of dirt.
So what was she to him now? Some sort of breeding mare that he felt inclined to protect because she might be pregnant. A wave of hysteria must be building up inside her because she just had the craziest thought. After she got the latest beating from Daniel, she should have run upstairs and gotten a package of condoms—not that she actually had any anyways—but then at least they wouldn’t be in this predicament. He’d be safe from any and all involvement with her.
Honestly, she couldn’t help but wonder what the lykaen giant would do then. If they’d somehow magically been able to use condoms while they had sleep sex and fantastic, outdoor wood sex and then later in the water....
Sighing, she pressed her temple to the cold window and stared out at the dark woods.
The urge to cry wasn’t even there. No, now she was onto a deep sadness that bypassed tears and settled deeply into her heart. Was it so crazy that she wanted this lykaen to just like her? To want her for herself? Obviously it was and that hurt so much worse than any physical pain Daniel ever caused.
She was really stupid too because even that was a lie. She didn’t want Darien to like her, she wanted so much more.
The drive to Darien’s brothers took two hours. It went by silently, tensely. He pulled to a stop in front of a big cabin surrounded by woods. What’s up with these lykaen and the woods? She’d always pictured her dream home as a typical suburban two-story. Okay or maybe a fancy loft in the city with an elevator for a front door. Sweet.
Darien got out of the truck and walked around to her side. Suddenly she had a hard time breathing. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want any of this. These people could get hurt. And they were going to for someone they didn’t even know or care about. No matter what, she couldn’t let that happen. Especially not to Darien.
“You ready?” he said opening her door. She nodded mutely and let him help her down from the big truck. The walk to the front door felt like she was going to the electric chair. Each step sent her anxiety soaring higher and higher. Darien knocked and she flinched. He looked down at her, a frown on his face.
“You okay?” Just smile. There. She smiled at him, nodding. He cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. “Don’t be scared. I promise nothing will happen to you.”
It’s not you I’m worried about, she wanted to say.
Instead she nodded with a tight-lipped smile. The door whipped open a second later.
* * *
She had to give it to the Kategans—they could move quickly. Within twenty minutes the entire gang was cornered in Darien’s eldest brother’s living room.
Vane was an imposing man with hair even thicker, darker, and longer than Darien’s. He stood behind his mate on the couch who had a belly happily full with a baby. Cassie felt an odd pang inside her at the thought of a baby. What would a baby with Darien look like? Pale with red hair like her or dark and handsome like Darien.
His other brother, Rome, sat with his wife in his lap. He’d clapped Darien on the back so hard when he first saw him she wouldn’t be surprised if there was a cracked rib back there. He had shaggy, dirty-blond hair and incredibly, good looks—most of which he used to send his mate winks and kisses with.
She’d always wanted something like that. She was going to embarrass herself in front of these people if she didn’t stop thinking about these things. She was definitely going to get a version of what she was seeing with the mated couples, just minus things like smiles, happiness, and love. Daniel was not exactly sentimental.
The last to arrive at the cabin was Darien’s sister, Vera. She was beautiful in a classical way with short hair and a set of straight bangs. The scent in the air changed as Vera and her mate—God were they all mated— came in. Vera shook her hand with a big, lovely smile and introduced her man as Jacks, the former human turned vampire. The man Jacks discreetly squeezed his mate’s ass as they walked away.
Vera wore a t-shirt with a face Cassie recognized, Jacob from the Twilight series. As a matter of fact, she glanced over at Rome and saw that he was wearing pajama pants with Bella’s face floating all over them with little moons next to her.
She was in a dream. This was a nightmare dragged on by stress combined with meeting her first lykaen. Of course, that would explain it. This meeting was turning out worse than she’d ever thought possible. Everyone was nice, smiling, thrilled to have their brother back.
I’m going to get them all killed. I’m going to get their precious brother killed.
The conversation came and went and she didn’t say a word the whole time. Darien didn’t press her for information in front of everything for which she was grateful. He kept things simple: she was in trouble, and he was going to take care of her.
The girls frowned and threatened the bad vampire on behalf of her, and then men frowned and vowed to protect her. Not one person stood up, said “no thanks,” and left the room. What kind of people would so easily sacrifice themselves, put their lives in danger for a complete stranger?
They didn’t even act like she was a stranger. They looked between her and Darien with wide, happy eyes like they were mated.
She closed her eyes tight and swore at herself. Don’t you dare cry now, stupid woman. I swear if you do, I’ll kill you myself.
She didn’t cry. The mated females who introduced themselves as Sarina, Alison, and Vera came up to her after the meeting was over. They said that tomorrow night they wanted to take her away for some private time.
“Oh no, I can’t do that,” she protested.
“Don’t be silly. We’ll bring the booze, get away from the men for awhile. It’ll be great,” Vera said with a wink.
A thought clicked into place and suddenly getting drunk with the Kategan’s mates didn’t sound so bad.
“You know, I think I’d like that.”
“Great! I’ll bring snacks,” Alison said with a clap of her hands.
Darien broke away from his huddle with his brothers and the vampire, Jacks, to come back to her. He held his hand out to her, and she slipped her own into his. A spark of heat flared between them but it was dulled under the weight of her stress. She couldn’t seem to wipe the frown off her face no matter how hard she tried. She just kept thinking how much she wanted a snack, a bath, a soft bed and for all of this to disappear.