Chapter 10 · The Beast's Den

"Take your hand off me, Cain."

His fingers tightened around my wrist.

My back slammed into the stone wall. The impact knocked the air from my lungs. Cain planted one arm beside my head and held me there with the other.

His breath brushed my cheek. Hot. Controlled. Too close.

"You killed him," he said.

"He was about to kill me."

"He was your blood."

"And he chose theirs."

Cain's golden eyes dropped to the blood drying across my knuckles. His jaw locked.

The mark around my wrist burned beneath his touch. The bond answered him with one sharp pulse.

I shoved at his chest.

He didn't move.

"I said let go."

"You don't give orders here."

"Then stop acting like I dragged you into your own cave."

His gaze snapped back to mine.

Gold flashed behind his pupils. For half a second, the man vanished, and the beast underneath stared straight through me.

"You walked into my den," he said. "You woke me. You broke my chains. You dragged hunters to my door. Now you spill blood on my floor and expect me to smile?"

"I don't care if you smile.