Grayslake: More than Mated: A Bite of Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free

hands, and slowly watch as she squeezed every ounce of blood onto the ground. When had I given Dare that kind of power? When had I let her become anything other than another one of the wives on my list? She wasn’t the only one that I was meant to be with. So why did it fucking hurt so much still?
    I wanted to blame her. But there was no one to blame but myself. I was the one who had convinced her to go along with my plan. I asked her to marry me. It wasn’t the other way around—it never had been.
    I picked up a rusted wrench and flung it across the room before a tear fell down my cheek and betrayed me. I hastily smeared it with the back of my hand. I was a fucking king. I didn’t cry. I didn’t mourn the loss of a queen. And like hell if I was going to spend more time agonizing about how she had chosen a human over me.
    My phone vibrated in my pocket. I retrieved it.
    “What is it?” I answered.
    “Your majesty, I wanted to let you know we have a situation.”
    It was Donovan, the regent I had put in charge of the large territory in South Carolina. Our families had a long history of challenging each other. He was a reluctant member of the jaguars I ruled in the Tribe, but ever since I had given him the Charleston region things between us had worked.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Things had been quiet until yesterday,” he reported.
    I nodded. “Ok.”
    “One of my guys spotted a jag in the market. He was being guarded by two others. It definitely looked like they were working as his security detail.”
    He had my complete attention.
    “Who was it?” My gut told me I already knew who it was.
    “We lost their scent on the other side of the market.”
    I rolled my eyes. My good will toward Donovan just took a hit. What the hell?
    “The only reason there are jaguars in Charleston is to establish some sort of presence there.” I knew they weren’t on vacation.
    “Of course. We’ll track them again today. I wanted to give you a heads up. And I didn’t want to falsely identify them.”
    “Just find them. I want names. Things are moving quickly.”
    “I agree.”
    I didn’t know how long we had until the Litchfield line tried to take hold of the territory in the southern region. They had been planning a war for over a year. I still didn’t have the complete details on their plot and it was pissing me off.
    I hadn’t been able to expand my own territory, and they were fucking insane if they thought I’d give up what I’d inherited. Charleston was mine.
    “Take care of it and call me back,” I ordered.
    “I will. How are things there?”
    “I’m out of town for a while.” I never felt the need to explain myself to the Tribe.
    “Vacation?”
    “No,” I snorted. This was a shitty trip if it was one.
    “All right. I’ll call you tonight or in the morning with an update.”
    “No matter what time,” I instructed.
    The call ended and I returned to the task in the shop.
    I sorted through the pile of tools on the bench and on the shelves. I needed a saw. Yesterday the screwdriver had barely been enough. But today I was going full-strength with power tools. I didn’t know how up-to-date they would be, but as long as they could cut through shit, I didn’t care.
    I grabbed a circular saw wrapped in an orange cord and plugged it into a nearby outlet. It came to life as soon as I flicked the switch. I grinned. This would work.
    I looked for a few more things. There was a chisel and a sledge hammer. I grabbed them, swinging the hammer over my shoulder. I headed for the house, ready for day two of demolition.
     
    ***
     
    I hadn’t looked up to see what time it was all day. There were cabinets and chunks of Formica at my feet. The sink was filled with dust, and there might have been a few handles in there too.
    I snarled when I heard a knock at the front door. Who was here?
    “Knock. Knock. It’s Cadence.”
    Shit. I had forgotten about the catering girl. I had plowed through another day without