“She was wrong. Someone told him where we were, and he came for us.”
She trembled. That weakness irked her. It was the past, a lifetime ago. She should be strong enough to talk about it without falling apart.
The damn Chamele caressed her back, his touch, his proximity, granting her the fortitude she needed to continue. He had given her multiple orgasms. The male warranted the truth.
“My mother’s mate had a big knife.” She hated that weapon. He’d taunt her, her sister, her mother, with it. “And he had a plan.”
It was diabolical and clever.
“Kralj has added rules over the solar cycles.” A recent addition was no one threatens Dita, his mate. “But one rule has been in place since the beginning – anyone who kills within the Refuge is executed.” Kralj was a monster, but he was a consistent, dependable monster.
“We were informed of that rule the first time we arrived at the settlement.” Ariq nodded.
“Everyone is told that.” She was grateful to Kralj for that and for many other reasons. “While we were at the market one planet rotation, my mother’s male broke into our home and waited for us to return. We didn’t notice him, not right away.”
Her mother had been nervous, had sensed something wasn’t right, but she hadn’t acted on those bad feelings. If she had, she might still be alive.
“He blocked the exits, ensuring we didn’t escape.” The male had time to fuse one of the doors shut. He locked and stood in front of the other door. “We couldn’t break the portals.” The material was deceptively clear yet sturdy. “We yelled and screamed, but no one came to our rescue.”
Few beings interfered with other beings’ activities in the Refuge.
Ariq continued to rub her back, his hands moving in slow circles.
She couldn’t look up, couldn’t meet his gaze. “The male targeted my little sister first. He slashed her again and again with his big knife, covering her small body with wounds.” Xareni would never forget the sound of her sister’s screams. “The goal was to inflict enough damage to ensure we died but not enough that we died right away.” A long torturous death was the intention. “He caught me next.”
She ran from the male and hid under a sleeping support. He found her, dragged her to the main chamber, where her mother was cradling her dying sister. Xareni fought him, kicking and punching, battling to be free.
But she was inept, unskilled, ignorant, then. She couldn’t defend herself.
“He did the same to me.” Her voice became monotone.
The pain had been horrific. She had been covered in agony and blood. If she hadn’t been so angry, she might have wished for death. But her fury, the dark monstrous part of herself, kept her alive.
“The male did worse to my mother.” Her fingers curled into tight fists. Her sweet mother was the true focus of his anger, and he had ensured she knew it. “I saw everything, but I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t stop him. I was weak.”
“You were young.” Ariq pressed his lips to her forehead.
That kiss felt like absolution.
“I wasn’t young.” She wouldn’t allow him to use that excuse, wouldn’t let him to forgive her for her lack of action that planet rotation. Fuck. She would never forgive herself. “I had eight solar cycles.”
“Eight sol—” His voice broke. He clutched her to him.
“I was mature enough to stop him.” Xareni wiggled, fighting his embrace, battling his acceptance. “If I had more skills, if I had trained, I could have done that.”
The damn barbarian wouldn’t release her. He folded his big form around hers and held her tight, surrounding her with muscle and warmth and him.
“Fuck.” The wetness on her cheeks was due to frustration, not grief. “I didn’t stop him. I didn’t stop any of it.” She failed the beings she loved. “And my mother died. The male had been in a killing frenzy and he cut too deep.”
There had been little left of her mother’s beautiful face. Only her eyes were recognizable, her sky-blue eyes gazing lifelessly at Xareni.
“Kralj froze the male in place before he could leave the domicile.” Power had flowed over her and her pain had instantly eased. “The Ruler arrived soon after that. He ripped out the male’s throat.”
The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was Kralj’s scarred face, his gaze fixed on her as he devoured the male who killed her mother, the male who was her biological father.
“I woke in the medic bay.” A set of