Page 15 of Their Fierce Little Monster

The day’s getting worse by the fucking second.

Farther ahead, there’s a pyre burning out, and by the soot on Dawn’s face and how hard she’s trembling, which rattles through to my ribs, I suspect the Viscount commanded the Barons to kill her. And I’m shaking violently with fury at the fact that I let the Viscount send me out into the woods on a mission this morning. They had it all planned out to get to Dawn. That hindsight comes roaring back up, as I should have dealt with that bastard too.

I glance down at Dawn where she’s swallowed by an oversized black coat, her skin cold under my touch, and beneath it all, she smells of fire and perspiration.

“Are you all right?” I whisper, tucking a finger under her chin, lifting her face to me.

Her cheeks glow red, lips parted around racing breaths that keep hitching in her throat. My heart shatters at seeing her close to breaking. She’s always faced any challenge and danger in her way, and I admire her for it, except now she’s crumbling in my arms.

“The Barons tried to burn me alive, Kazak. And I couldn’t find you. Then these two monsters show up, saying they’ve claimed me for the Choosing.” She’s talking quickly, her words tumbling over one another. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not.” Her chest heaves for each rapid breath, turning her attention to the two Grimvale heirs.

Anger pounds in my chest, and I stroke her hair, whispering, “No one’s going to touch you.”

She’s absolutely beautiful, and I’ve been fighting my own attraction to her because she’s mine to protect, a promise I’d made. Yet resisting her after she turned eighteen has almost destroyed me. Since then, she’s been flirty, and I fucking love the way she stares at me when she thinks I’m not looking, or casually touches my arms or chest.

Her delicious scent fills me like it does every time I’m in her presence, and already I feel better holding her. Though, it burns me that they’ve targeted her. I suspected they disliked her for the rumors about her being different, and I thought I’d squashed those rumors, but I didn’t do a good enough job.

And how the fuck did those Grimvale bastards track us down?

I escaped my realm all those years ago, used an untraceable portal that had a one-time use before it burned up, and slipped into the closest village we arrived at, unnoticed. A small incantation I bought back home ensured the villagers believed I had always lived here, grew up, and became their best hunter. Bringing in a lost child I found in the woods wasn’t questioned. We played human without her knowing how close she came to death, and for years, she’s been safe.

So the sight of her falling apart now shatters me. I’ll do anything to erase her pain, to remove all her fear. I’ve been trying to protect her all these years, as she has no idea how powerful she is or that she’ll be hunted down if found. The worst part is the lie I let myself believe—that she was safe here for this long.

I tense with the hunger to tear the Barons’ throats out, along with every guard who helped. Of course, Viscount Rylan had a part in this, as his puppets don’t do anything without his command.

“Aww, how heartwarming,” Lian says sarcastically, and a growl rips from my throat. “But you do look familiar now. Should have guessed the Ash Clan was involved.”

Corvin’s stare drops to my arm around Dawn’s back. “How exactly did you think this would end, Kazak?”

They remember me as much as I do them. The Ash Clan had never been at peace with their royal courts.

“I’ve kept her safe, which is more than either of your families was willing to do.” The words pour out, anger still heavy on my soul from when war was waged against her family.

“Kazak?” Dawn asks, her voice tender, and I glance down to her brows pulled close, confusion bleeding behind her eyes. “What do you mean?”

The way she stares at me, heartbreak in her expression, I can tell she’ll work it out soon enough. She’s an extremely intelligent woman, and she deserves the truth after all this time, but it terrifies me how she’ll react. I grind my teeth, regretting my decision to keep her in the dark for so long.

“I’ll explain it all, but for now, please trust me,” I say.

She untangles from my arms, blinking as though seeing me for the first time. “Wait, you know the monsters?”

Lian chuckles, and I’m dying to lunge at him to rip his damn throat out, except I’m lost in Dawn’s violet gaze. “I’m the man you’ve always known. The hunter, the protector. Your friend.”

“Sure, Kazak,” Lian cuts in, amusement in his grin. “Not the heir to the Ash Clan, or the enemy to every other ruling family in Grimvale. Or the monster who chose to aid one of his enemies by protecting his daughter.”

Her mouth falls open, and the tension snaps through me.

“Kazak, you’re one of them? A monster?” Her gaze drags over me as if finally seeing all the parts of me I concealed for so long. The man she trusted is still there, but not in the form she’s grown accustomed to.

“Yes,” I admit, and it cuts deep to see the terror crowding behind her gaze. It tears me apart that she pulls farther away from me. She stares at me, and it damn shatters me to a thousand pieces. Worse, it takes place in front of those fuckers, Corvin and Lian, who are here for my Dawn.

“I’m asking you to trust me,” I repeat, my voice rougher now.

She takes another step away from me, the tremor in her chin destroying me.

Except, Dawn’s blinking between me and the other two. Farther behind her are those idiot Barons and guards who stand there like stunned fools.

“I can’t do this emotional shit,” Lian states, then makes a puking sound. “You’re both madly in love but never told each other. Oh, boo-hoo. You discover he’s been lying the whole time. How romantic! Oh, here’s a solution. Who gives a fuck because you’re coming home with us. And, Kazak, I’d suggest you remain unless you want your head to roll. That’s your chance to get.”