His Silent Temptation

Chapter 7 - Who Did This?

K I L L I A N

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Pushy parents were aggravating, but meddling senior citizens? Nursing homes were invented for a reason. As I strolled into the hospital room with Nicolas in tow, I could still hear the grumbling of pack elders.

“You!”

Me. I barely suppressed an eye roll as the heavily bandaged man pointed a finger at me.

“The traitor’s daughter? Are you serious, Alpha?” The injured councilman was accused. “And my granddaughter yesterday, to embarrass her in front of so many guests, you—”

“You’re fired,” I deadpanned.

He blanched in disbelief.

I threw down a stack of documents on his hospital bed, enough to send him into a stroke. The councilmen used him as a scapegoat for yesterday’s attack and intrusion into my office, not to mention, his intentional meddling.

He blanched at my reaction, but I had already forgotten his name. He was just a friend of my grandfather, more disposable than trash.

“You can’t get rid of me, I have worked for the previous Alpha for two generations! I—”

“Corruption. Bribery. The list goes on,” Nicolas remarked in my place, pointing a finger at the documents. “Your career ends here.”

“Says who?” he demanded, saliva flying. His face began to turn red when he lifted the paper and picture proof. His hands trembled.

“Me.” I reached forward and yanked his throat out in a single rip. When I pulled out my hand, blood splattered across the hospital sheets.

A shrill filled the air and I turned to see his granddaughter who had just arrived with a bouquet of lilies. A suitable funeral flower. Her face paled as she witnessed the red covering the walls and floors. I dropped his throat onto the ground, with a sweet squish.

She staggered back in fear, her eyes watering.

“Learn from this incident,” Nicolas said in an emotionless voice.

I sauntered toward her and she gritted her teeth in an attempt to stand her ground. I barely brushed past her before her knees gave out and she collapsed, letting out a sniff.

“Inform your parents,” Nicolas warned her. “If you make another wrong move like the wedding yesterday, we’ll have you all executed dishonorably.”

- - - - -

“She’s awake,” Jasper said the minute he found me.

I barely washed the scum off my hands when I heard a phrase that made my lips curl. What a pleasant surprise. As the bloodied water slid down the porcelain white sink, I’m reminded of the sins that coaxed my fingers. No matter how many times you wash the blood off your hands, it’ll always stain. A reminder of your crimes.

I wiped my hands on a white towel and raised my head. A monster stares back at me in the mirror reflection, moving in the same second as I did. That was what she thought I was.

We were both werewolves, but I could smell her fear from a mile away.

‘She might be our mate, you should be patient with her,’ Knox grumbled inside of my mind, pacing once again. He was often resting in place, barely opening his eyes even to the worst of storms.

Yet, at the thought of a woman, he was wide awake and at attention. It almost made me laugh.

“Since when?” I asked, turning at Jasper’s disapproving stare. He glanced at the pink droplets sliding down the sink and softly frowned.

“Must we retort to murder, brother?” Jasper muttered whilst tucking the book underneath his armpits. He was just an inch shorter than Nicolas, but had the balls of a bird.

“If a tree is rotting, you must cut it off from the roots,” I coldly remarked whilst shoving past him. Jasper rubbed his shoulder in response, a behavior that always irked me. He was too old for this.

“Jasper,” I sharply said, turning to him. “You’re one of us—a Thornov. And Thornov men will always remove the thorns of our pack. Do you understand?”

At my clipped voice, Jasper scowled and pushed up his thin-framed glasses. He stared at the mahogany flooring as if that’d change anything. Then, he reluctantly nodded, with the softness of our mother before she went insane. I pinch the spot between my brow, wondering how one twin managed to be a psychopath and the other, an empath.

“Grandfather is flying in soon,” Jasper finally said after a moment of silence. “He’ll be here by nightfall.”

“Good,” I gritted out. “He’ll have you whipped in shape in no time.”

“And if I don’t want to?” Jasper shot back, but at my warning stare, he softened his tone. “Grandfather never liked me.”

As irked as I was by his heart-of-gold behavior, Jasper was family. And I always protect my family.

“If he says anything,” I relented. “You come to me, alright?”

Jasper tightened his grip on his book. I held back a sigh and strolled to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and forced him to look at me.

“Grandfather doesn’t have power over us anymore. You’re no longer that boy trapped in the dark bathroom and I am no longer the kid tied to the whipping pole. You understand?” I snarled.

Jasper grimly nodded.

“Good,” I murmured, for once, lowering my tone around him. “Now, go and have the maids prepare his room.”

Jasper didn’t need to be told twice. He hurried off, glad that he was the one passing the command, not anyone in the house. If Chester and Nicolas were to do it, one of the rooms would reek of s*x. It was no secret that Thornov men were often insatiable—including me.

- - - - -

I barged straight into Selene’s room without knocking. My eyes wandered from the empty bed to the window, where Selene was already attempting to pry open. Her head snapped to me, her delectable lips parted, and her eyes wide.

Caught red-handed trying to run.

Selene visibly shook at my presence. She was on her knees on the loveseat, and I had much better ways to use her current position. At my sight, she slowly lowered onto the furniture. She watched me like a hawk as I glanced around.

Selene pulled out the IV on her own, and walked on injured feet, all the while undetected. Impressive.

“Trying to escape, my sweet?”

Selene swallowed. She nervously nodded her head. Ah, what an honest little thing. Though, it wasn’t hard to admit it after being caught like this.

“Why?”

Selene paused, then, pressed her lips together. She signed with her hand to communicate, but I only stared. It had been years since I last used sign language. I grabbed her wrist, causing her to tense. I could practically see the hairs on her arm stand.

“You won’t be able to escape this way. My father had the locks installed for my mother.” I felt her pulse quicken. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to picture all the sadistic things my father did. If only she knew.

“If you want to run, do it through the main doors,” I mused, knowing she wouldn’t dare. Who would she go to? Some man waiting for her outside?

I’ll have him hanged by his balls. I glanced out the window, feeling a rush of anger filling my veins. Then, her pulse throbbed under my thumb again, her unblemished skin beginning to irritate me. Suddenly, I felt the urge to mark her red with my bites.

“How long have you been mute?” I asked, watching her head jerk towards me as she sank onto the seat. I stalked closer to her until she was backed against the windowsill and I braced myself against the glass.

I glared. “You weren’t always mute, Selene.”

Selene froze.

“I remember you,” I murmured. “You were the loudest girl in your pack.”

Her heart began to race. I picked up that sound with ease, quirking a brow at her surprise. I lowered my head until our lips were just an inch apart. She was instantly terrified as I breathed in her scent.

“Back when your father wasn’t a monster and you were just sweet little Selene.”

Immediately, her lips trembled and her eyes watered. A twinge flickered in my chest.

‘Killian,’ Knox growled, frustrated I had turned her emotion into a mess like this.

I barely went into detail. Instead of continuing, I pushed the hair away from her neck and ran a thumb across the scar. She gasped, tensing under this touch. Her lashes fluttered and she bit on her mouth—hard.

I was a second away from going feral at the sight of this mark. In a barely restrained voice, I could only grit out a few words without lashing at her.

“Tell me, Selene, who did this to you?”