River hadn't slept at all.
He watched over Zoya as she stayed nestled beside him fast asleep for the past few hours. The lunch with her mother impacted her more than River thought. Right now, on her lovely face, was a crease of worry between her brows and her skin a bit pale. He had never seen her like that except whenever her parents were involved. He understood her concern since he too knew what fear an abusive parent can inflict on a child. He had seen Klaus take that kind of abusive all his life, but his siblings and River protected him many times. Zoya had no one and her fear wasn't going to comforted simply by telling her that she was safe, even though nothing would harm her with him by her side.
A vengeful chill hollowed into him the whole time he was here on the bed with her. River was fucking pissed at the shit Ellen Knightley pulled.
A ping went off and he knew it was his cellphone. He didn't need to check to know that it was Azura. He carefully slid out of bed so he wouldn't wake Zoya up. He got dressed and looked over once more to the bed where she slept on her side, curled up with the blanket before he left.
Leaving the cabin, he walked into the woods onto the trail and emerged on the large field where he saw the Centauri house. All the lights were glowing through the windows and spilled onto the glittering snow. It was close to six o'clock but it was quite dark outside and a ton of clouds blanketed the sky, so there wasn't any sign of the sun setting today. River crossed the field and saw the usual suspects lounging on the porch. Azura was waiting for him and so was Ryder, King had seemed to join them outside as well.
Ryder spotted River first. He climbed up the steps and joined them. They could see from his grim expression that his mood was far worse than they suspected. Ryder already knew that Zoya had met her mom today because River told him the day this whole date was arranged.
"How is she?" Ryder asked him.
River's blue eyes gleamed menacingly. "She's upset," he said.
King looked between the brothers. "What are we talking about?"
"It's Zoya," Ryder said. "She met her mother today."
King rolled his eyes at that and didn't even try to hide his cynicism. "Ugh, don't tell me her mother's a bitch," he remarked.
"Worse than a bitch," added River. "Did you get what I asked for?"
"Yup. The man she met today was Andrew Reed," Azura relayed the intel. "He's the son of a politician but both his parents are dead. He now works with Joe Knightley and has made himself quite comfortable with them. He even joins them for Sunday roasts."
River's entire body was revved with the thirst to kill this asshole. He dared to lay a hand on Zoya and talk to her rudely. He had seen everything through the security cameras inside the restaurant, which he had hacked quite easily.
"Why do you care about this guy?" asked Ryder.
"He touched Zoya," River gritted out.
They all grumbled a curse with him.
"What are you going to do?" King asked him.
"Kill him if I ever see him near her again," he said and King approved wholeheartedly.
"I'll hold the asshole down for you," King jested.
River grinned then too.
The door of the house creaked open and Gabriel stepped out. "What's going on?" he asked the moment he sensed the simmering tension.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Protector ✔
Werewolf★BOOK #7 in the DARK SERIES★ River Drakov is a man who protects his pack and will kill anyone that would try to harm it. He is built on focus and he trained himself to be the best fighter to ensure his alpha's safety. However, that has closed off a...
