All Chapters of His Human Mate, His Greatest Threat: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

AVA “Lucian Blackthorne sounds like the name of a man who owns a castle, drinks blood out of crystal glasses, and has at least six dead wives buried somewhere on his property, so somebody had better explain why that hunter knew it and why Damien Cross looked like he'd swallowed a grenade when he heard it.”Nobody laughed, which was honestly rude because I was doing an excellent job of keeping myself from losing my fucking mind in a basement full of armed strangers who treated Damien like he could decide whether they were allowed to keep breathing.Marcus, the man who had called him Damien before mentioning that ridiculous name, stood near the door with his phone clenched in one hand, watching him carefully, and the other people in the room had suddenly developed an intense interest in the walls, the medical equipment, and absolutely anything that wasn't their employer's face. One guard actually lowered his eyes when Damien turned his head, and another moved away from the doorway with

DAMIENThe reinforced door opened with a low mechanical groan, and I stepped into the secured courtyard beneath the hotel, keeping my eyes on Ava as she followed me reluctantly, one hand gripping the edge of her dress while the other held the railing because her injured ankle still refused to carry her weight properly.The courtyard had been built for emergencies that ordinary hotel guests would never hear about, with high concrete walls, reinforced glass, security cameras tucked into the corners, and a narrow strip of artificial grass surrounded by dark stone. There were no windows overlooking it from the guest floors, no curious strangers leaning over balconies with their phones, and no chance of anyone stumbling upon what I was about to show her unless I allowed them inside.I had ordered every guard to leave the courtyard before bringing her here, because the last thing I needed was a witness watching an Alpha lose control of himself over a human woman who had already managed to t

Maya didn't ask me to repeat myself or demand an explanation at the door, and that alone nearly made me cry again because I had spent the entire taxi ride preparing excuses for why I couldn't tell her what happened, only to find her looking at my face as if whatever had frightened me mattered more than the ridiculous hour or the fact that I had appeared on her doorstep with one swollen ankle and absolutely no sense of self-preservation. She stepped aside, took my bag from my hand, and guided me into her apartment without pulling me around or touching the injured foot, then closed the door and checked the lock while I stood in her living room trying to stop my hands from shaking. “Ava, you don't have to explain anything tonight if talking about it is too difficult, but I need you to tell me whether somebody followed you here or whether there is anyone outside who might come looking for you, because I can't protect you from something I don't know about, and I won't pretend everything i

DAMIENSilas Rook had always been a coward who preferred making other people bleed while he stood somewhere safe enough to watch them suffer, and seeing him across the street from Ava's building brought back a particular kind of hatred that I had spent decades keeping buried beneath newer names, newer cities, and enough money to make men forget the faces of the people they had once served.I crossed the street without looking at Ava's window again, although I could feel her attention on me through the bond, a restless mixture of fear and confusion that made my wolf press against my ribs as if it could force me to turn around and go back to her. I refused. If Silas had come to test my reaction, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of watching me abandon the street just because Ava was frightened of what I was.The bastard noticed me approaching and slipped into the narrow alley between two buildings, moving quickly enough to make it look like an ordinary man avoiding a confronta

AVA“Yours?” I repeated, staring at Damien as though he had just announced that he owned the entire bloody building, including the people living inside it. “You have some serious problems in that expensive head of yours if you think you can stand outside my apartment covered in another man's blood and tell me I'm yours like I'm a handbag you bought from some fancy shop, because I am not your property, your mate, your girlfriend, your wife, or whatever other ridiculous title you might decide to stick on me when you wake up in one of your controlling moods.”His expression barely changed, but the muscles in his jaw shifted, and I could feel my anger climbing so quickly that I nearly forgot the fear sitting underneath it.“I don't belong to you, Damien, and whatever happened between us in that hotel doesn't give you the right to claim ownership over my body, because I was paid for one night, not purchased for the rest of my life, and if you ever use that word on me again, you can take yo