His stomach turned over and over, churning like a tempestuous ocean. How could he have done that to her? He should have forced her to stop somehow, or fought harder against the urges that had consumed him. He should have done something other than destroy her.
He found no consolation in the fact that she had said she would use a spell to protect herself. He couldn’t shift the blame to her, not this time. It lay at his feet. She had trusted him, had given herself to him despite her fears, and he had ruined her.
He was a monster.
And he wasn’t sure whether she would stay as he had asked.
Part of his heart felt certain that when he returned to their room, he would find that she had left already, unable to bear the sight of him, unwilling to hear what he had to say.
He still wasn’t sure exactly what that was.
Deep in his soul, he knew what he wanted to ask of her, but he feared that she would reject him. The thought of her turning on him as others in his life had, scorning him and telling him that he was a monster and she hated him, chilled his blood and froze his breath in his lungs. He struggled for air, his throat closing, and barely stopped himself from teleporting back to their room.
The door opened and he steadied himself, unwilling to show weakness in front of anyone, especially his grandfather.
The man in the doorway looked nothing as Payne had expected. He was middle-aged in appearance and had short fair hair, but he didn’t resemble Payne in any way, and he certainly didn’t resemble his mother.
The male stepped into the room, a forced smile plastered on his handsome face, and held out his hand. The cuff of his black shirt drew back as he extended his hand towards Payne, revealing the fae markings tracking along the underside of his forearm.
Payne looked at them.
He didn’t recognise any of the symbols.
“You’re not my grandfather.” He stepped back from the male and held his blue gaze. “Where is my grandfather?”
Before he had finished that question, flashes of Elissa burst into his mind and her panic flooded the lingering connection between them in his blood. His heart thawed and caught fire. His fangs elongated and his eyes switched, his pupils narrowing and stretching as crimson shot through his irises. He snarled at the sight of her with another man.
His grandfather.
Elissa was in danger.
Payne focused on their room and teleported. He landed hard in the middle of the bedroom and his heart turned over when he saw her on the bed, pinned beneath a male. He roared and launched forwards, grabbing the back of the large male’s dark red shirt. Elissa kicked and shrieked, the terrified sound driving Payne deep into a killing rage. He pulled the male off her and threw him across the room, sending him crashing into one of the green velvet armchairs. It tipped back and slammed into the wooden floor.
He turned his back on Elissa, facing his opponent, and spread his legs, setting his feet shoulder width apart. He growled low in his throat, threatening the male now getting to his feet, keeping his focus and his eyes locked on him so he couldn’t get the jump on Payne.
Elissa moved behind him, scrabbling across the bed, her sobs punctuating the heavy silence. Her fear filled the whole room and he snarled, mind black with the urge for violence and his rage. His mate was hurt, afraid. He would remove the source of her fear and protect her.
His grandfather found his feet and Payne didn’t give him a chance to attack. He launched himself at him, taking him back down and shattering a wooden side table in the process. His grandfather grabbed one of the broken mahogany legs and swung at Payne as he moved astride his legs, pinning him down. Payne growled and blocked it with his left arm, the pain of the blow not registering in the haze of his lust for violence and retribution, and smashed his right fist into the male’s face, cracking his jaw.
Arnaud retaliated, disappearing from beneath Payne. Payne’s senses blared a warning and he rolled forwards. The wooden leg plunged into the floorboards, punching a hole where Payne’s heart would have been. He snarled, got to his feet, and flexed his fingers as his claws extended. His grandfather stood between him and Elissa, brandishing the makeshift stake. Payne assessed his surroundings, eyes darting and searching for any weapons he could use if it came to it. He didn’t want to rely on anything manmade, but it was nice to have a backup plan.
Elissa muttered something dark and unholy, and a black blast shot from her trembling hands and slammed into Arnaud’s back, sending him flying across the room towards Payne. Payne ducked and threw himself forwards, under his grandfather, and rolled to his feet in front of Elissa. Tears streaked her pink cheeks and swam in her eyes, and the way they met his, the need that shone in them, filled him with an urge to gather her in his arms. He wanted to go along with that and give her what she needed, wanted to hold her and whisper that she was safe now and he would never allow anyone to harm her ever again because she was his to protect, but now wasn’t the time.