Bane of My Existence

Chapter 19

He regarded her, gauging how much he should tell her, if she was ready to hear about his past. She wanted to hear it all, the good and the bad. "We used to live further up north in the Yukon," he offered. "I was twenty-three when Canada put up bounties for wolves."

The breath left her lungs. She was familiar with wolf culling; she wrote a paper on it for school. Over twelve thousand wolves were killed in 1935. Wolves to this day were still culled. Now they were endangered everywhere but in the Northern Rockies.

"It was too dangerous for us to shift," Damon continued, determined to tell her now. "Many of our friends were picked off during their hunts. We tried to deny our animal half, but it becomes painful. Carter was too young for his wolf to have grown in, but Dayton, Camen, and myself had recently come into our wolves. We hadn't mastered the beast yet, and holding them in was unbearably painful.

"We were grocery shopping when Camen shifted by the deli. The scent of meat drove his wolf wild. We managed to convince him to shift back before he hurt anyone--but it was already too late. People had seen him turn into a wolf. This was before cameras and the Internet, but there were already rumours circulating through town that certain families could turn into wolves. The town had decided that they would be hunted too.

"We left everything behind. They hunted us down on horses. My mother was carrying Carter when she was shot. She could have lived--a gunshot is nothing to us--but she realised that we weren't going to make it out without a distraction. She shoved Carter into my arms and told me to look after my brothers. My father stayed with her until the end, fought until we were far enough away to escape." He paused, staring ahead at nothing in particular. His mind was far away.

"At night, when the city is quiet, I can hear my father's final howl, the moment he lost his mate. There is nothing more painful than the loss of a mate. I've been told it's like someone ripping a piece of your soul out of your chest." He snapped out of his trance to find Kinsey's teary face; at least she hadn't worn makeup this evening. He lifted his thumb and wiped her tears away. "Sorry. I got carried away. I haven't really told anyone what happened before."

She sniffled and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Thank you for sharing with me. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

He shrugged, eyes warm when he looked at her. "That's one of the many reasons why I became an Alpha--to protect my people."

"That's very noble of you. If it means anything, I'm proud of you for coming so far. I'm sure your parents would be too."

A shadow of a smile touched his lips. "I think they would be too. You know, what happened to them was horrible and there will be a part of me that will never recover from it, but it's times like that that makes you grateful for what you have." When his eyes locked onto hers, the world around them fell away.  It was just them and the unyielding passion burning in his gaze.

He stepped forward, parting her legs with his hips, and crashed his mouth against hers. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was demanding of the kiss, tongue diving into her mouth and making it his own. Her lips were already swelling from the pressure. She loved it when he kissed her with fervor like this, but they were in the kitchen for a reason. . . .

"Damon. . . the food."

He tangled his fingers in her hair, holding her against him. There was no chance of her getting away from him. "I haven't started yet. It can wait. I'm hungry for something a little more sweet."

Grabbing her rear, he yanked her to the end of the counter, pressing his erection against the most sensitive part of her. She gripped his shoulders, her body already alight with need. He had been gentle with her previously, as to not scare her, but he held nothing back this time. Caught up in this wave of fervent desire, she returned the pressure, clawing at his shirt. The damned thing fought against her.