A Kitty in the Lion's Den(11)

He stayed silent, and as nerve-wracking and uncomfortable as that was, she pressed forward, hoping to strike his need to empathize with her, if he even could find that emotion inside of himself. “But that isn’t the only reason I left, although it is a large one.” He had to know the business her father was in. Anyone that knew Viktor Milokov knew of his power.

“Look at me.”

His voice was soft but hard, and she couldn’t help but obey him. Kettah always thought of herself as an independent soul, but being around this male, one that was so masculine it sent all kinds of tingly feelings through her, had her acting like some kind meek female. He is your mate, and you have to remember these feelings aren’t really yours, but some screwed up thing fate decreed. You don’t have any control over how you feel toward him, not really. But even though she thought of that, Kettah knew that wasn’t totally the truth.

He held her stare for a moment. “You are safe. Do you understand me? Pushing aside the fact you are my mate and I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, there is nothing that you need to fear from me. I’ll tell you that over and over again until that thought never crosses your mind again, Kettah. Do you understand me?” That was one of the blessings of being a shifter: being able to scent people’s true intentions, and whether they were lying. This male meant good, toward her at least, and he wasn’t lying about her being safe around him. How had this even happened though? What were the odds of literally running into her mate when she needed him the most? Fate was a fucked-up thing, but right now she couldn’t be more grateful for how things were playing out. She would take this offering, and pray to whoever was listening that it would help her survive.

“Okay.” He didn’t smile when she conceded, just nodded as if there hadn’t been any other alternative, and maybe there never was. He gestured for her to continue. “So, you won’t tell me how you know my father?” He shook his head, and the rage that came from him at the mention of Viktor would have had her falling on her ass form the intensity of it. Thoughts of why he knew Viktor played through her head. The way he held himself, the power that came from him, and the fact there was this potent and deadly air to him, told Kettah that there was a hell of a lot more below the surface of this lion than she could ever comprehend. Without realizing that she was speaking her thoughts she said, “What are you?” Snapping her mouth shut once she realized she had not filtered her thoughts, heat filled her face. He didn’t move, didn’t change his facial expression, and that in itself was frightening as hell.

“What am I?” He said those three words low and deep, and a shiver went up her spine. “I’ll tell you what I am, Kettah. I’m the type of male that men like your father hire to kill others.” The sound of him snapping his jaw and the hard look that crossed his face, told her that he hadn’t meant to say any of that. He leaned forward, rested his forearms on his thighs, and stared at her right in the eyes. “You know what kind of male your father is, Kettah.” He didn’t phrase it like a question, and it was as if he was trying to reinforce how dangerous this situation truly was, and that she needed to put all of her trust into him if she hoped to survive this.

“I know what I’m up against.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Do you?” He gave her a minute to process that two worded question. “I don’t think you really do. I think you only know what is on the surface. I think your knowledge is only a scratch on what really is going down.” He may be right, but none of that mattered right now. “You are up against hell on Earth, Kitten. You are up against males that sell drugs to teenagers, auction off females to the highest bidders, and abuse women when they don’t beg and cry hard enough as they rape them.”

She slapped a hand over her face, hating that he was saying these things because all it did was have guilt, disgust, and horror filling her. She knew all of this, and the guilt that she couldn’t have done anything to stop it made her just as sick as the men in her life. The tears came on fast and strong, but Kettah didn’t stop them. She had kept those tears bottled up, only unleashing them when she was alone in her room, with the darkness surrounding her and her muffled cries hidden in the pillow. But she couldn’t hold them in now, not when this lion pushed them in her face. The hiccups started to mix with the bone wrenching sobs that took over her whole frame, but she felt no shame in doing this in front of this male.

Covering her face with her hands, she cried for the faceless females she had heard about, but never saw, and cried because her father gave drugs to children not even old enough to vote. And she sobbed for all of the lives that had been lost at the hands of her father, and the men who had carried out those orders. She was no better than the evil that was Viktor Milokov. The bed dipped beside her, but before she could lower her hands or move away the lion had his arms wrapped around her and pulled her into his hard, muscular chest. That just made her cry harder, and she hated that fact. She was weak, had heard her father tell her that over and over again, and right now proved that fact more than anything else. This male was a stranger, but he was comforting her for no other reason than he felt her pain. She supposed she had answered her own question in regard to if Maverick had any emotion.