Bane of My Existence

Chapter 6

Kinsey was sitting on a barstool Kalem had flipped off the counter for her, a pack of ice pressed to the side of her face. She rotated around to face him; as soon as their eyes met, she quickly turned away, untucking her hair from behind her ears so he couldn't see her face. Being a warrior, he couldn't understand why people were ashamed of their wounds, no matter how nasty they got. She, most of all, should not be ashamed. He was. His men had done this to her.

Kalem cleared his throat. "I'll leave you two alone." He winked at Kinsey on his way out, which Damon was sure meant to be reassuring, but it made her blush, and his wolf stirred angrily under his flesh.

Damon rolled his shoulders back to ease the beast then pulled a barstool off the counter to sit beside her. He studied her, and the dark blemish spreading from behind the bag of ice across her jaw and left eye, thinking of the right thing to say. Her eyes were furtive as much as they were gold, giving him no hints as to how much damage had been done.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls," she murmured, turning her gaze to the wall of glass behind the bar.

Damon was pleased with how the forest landscape turned out on the glass mural--but he didn't want her looking at it. Her perfume surrounded him; the sweetness and innocence of it urged him to touch her, to tilt her head towards him. When he reached for her, she flinched away from him.

Gentle.

He didn't need to be reminded by his wolf to be gentle with this woman.

"I didn't send them after you because you didn't answer my calls." He would never do that, no matter how much it irked him. "They were patrolling my lands, keeping humans off my hunting grounds. You were trespassing." More than trespassed. She was tracking him. Why?

She finally pulled her gaze back to him, a fire flickering in those incredibly unique eyes. "Trespassing? Last I checked, Grimrock Woods is public property--and that was last night, before I set foot on your land."

He liked her sass. He shouldn't. It was in his nature as an Alpha to punish defiance. Coming from her, though, it felt more like a privilege. She was comfortable enough with him, at the very least, that she wasn't afraid to talk back to him. There was hope that his plan might work.

"It's public because I allow it to be. Mayor Paul John and other mayors in the area know this; it is up to them if they tell their citizens."

Frowning, she tilted her head up, seeming to do some mental math while tapping her chin. Once she was done, she stared at him wide eyed. "That's almost thirteen thousand squared kilometers. How do you manage such a big territory?"

He couldn't help feeling a touch of pride in his chest by her impressed tone. There were many Alphas whose territory were more vast than his, and he often considered expanding--until humans became aware of them. Spreading out now was more political than a few scuffs in an alleyway.

"My brothers help me keep order," he confessed. He wasn't the only Alpha to rule with his family's help. Less uprisings took place if family was involved. It avoided jealousy and people feeling left out.

"You have brothers?"

"Two." He bit his lip and tore his gaze from her. He had been raring to tell her about Camen and Dayton, maybe even about Carter if she kept him talking, but the point was to get information from her. The less she knew about him, the less she could tell Bane.

"What were you doing in the woods by yourself?" Not exactly how he had wanted to word it. More like, "Why the fuck are you tracking my movements?" But he couldn't bring himself to speak to her like that.