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Shiya gritted her teeth. “This isn’t about whether they love me.”
“So they used your body and then threw you away.”
“That’s not how it is, Shae. You don’t know them like I do.”
“You said that about Joe in the beginning.”
Her sister might as well have stabbed her in the heart. Shiya balled her hands into fists at her sides. “I’m not giving them up. In fact . . .” She heaved a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’m leaving the family.”
The front door crashed against the wall, and both Shiya and Shae jumped. Shiya’s mouth went dry seeing her brother standing there, and something told her he’d heard her declaration. His nostrils flared, eyes slitted, and lips drawn back from his teeth. He didn’t know it, but he looked just like one of the animals he hated so much.
“Is that you how feel, Shiya?” He advanced a step into the room, and it took all of her willpower not to retreat. She stood her ground and nodded. He moved closer. “You’re going to throw away the family who raised you, loved you, put food on your table, and made sure you never once had to go out into the world and get some menial job as some idiot’s secretary? No, you had everything you needed from the day you were born. Now you get a taste of a creature, and you want to throw it away. That’s what you’re saying to me?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I think I was talking to my sister, and don’t act like I was laying around all that time. I went to school and got my degree in computer science. I was an integral part of building the network that feeds the family information from all over the world regarding shifters, so don’t even try to belittle me like I’m just some dumb woman waiting for the menfolk to take care of me.”
He held up his hands. “Oh no, don’t let me insult the computer princess. She might run and tell Daddy.” Kasen snapped his fingers, and five men shuffled into the suite and surrounded Shiya.
“What is this, Kasen?” Shae demanded, standing.
Kasen glared at her, but flicked his gaze back to Shiya. “This is me handling things my way.”
Shae stepped forward, but one of the men grabbed her arm. She had his thumb in a pinch that would render a regular man useless and have him on his knees at her mercy in seconds. Kasen’s guy countered the move and had Shae by the back of the neck. She elbowed him in the solar plexus, but he took the hit and blocked more. Over and over, they fought until another of the men joined the first, and they restrained Shae. Shiya saw the fury in her sister’s face. There would be hell to pay making her look like a fool.
“Stay out of this, Shae,” Kasen told her. “Shiya’s going to lure those two guys to me, and then I will deal with them and their families.”
Shiya crossed her arms. “I’m not helping you do a damn thing.”
She didn’t see the slap coming. One minute she stood on her feet, and the next she landed on her ass with her cheek stinging. She leaped up to go after Kasen, but two men held her back by her arms. Kasen stood over her.
“You’re going to learn your place, girl.”
“And you’re going to learn what it means to put your hands on me.”
His brows rose, and he laughed along with his boys. “Look at the little princess. She thinks she can beat me.”
Shiya took them all in, especially her brother. Her anger, bitterness, and hurt stood above what she felt for him at that moment. “Not me.”
Kasen’s smile froze when he realized whom she meant, but then he forced a smile. “Yeah, okay. Get her out of here. The sooner I’m back home, the better. I’m missing my baby.”
Shiya shuffled ahead of the men holding her with Shae in the back shouting for Kasen to leave her alone. Shiya went along for now. She didn’t know if what Kasen had planned would work, but she would not be the cause of Birk and Kotori falling into his trap. She needed to escape, and then she would leave Juneau. If she was gone, maybe they would be okay, and so would their people. She had no idea where she would go, and like Kasen said, she’d never had a reason to get a regular job. Well, she wasn’t lazy, and she knew her stuff. Someone would hire her. Never seeing Shae again would hurt, but this was the best choice.
Outside, Kasen shoved her into an SUV, and two of his men climbed in behind her. They secured her hands behind her, and Kasen snapped on plasticuffs.
Shiya winced. “Ouch, you dumbass. That’s too tight.”
Her brother grinned at her, unrepentant.
“Quiet, you traitor,” one of his men snapped.
She didn’t know his name, not interacting much with Kasen’s men, but she saw the disgust in his eyes. She tried wiggling her wrists to gain a bit more comfort, but it was impossible. Even she knew a person needed to be trained to avoid cutting off blood flow with this type of cuffs. Kasen made sure to train his men in every area of their jobs. She wondered if the cuff would hold a shifter and if they’d been obtained just for her.
Her brother walked around to the driver seat, but he didn’t get in.
He held the door for one of his men, and when the guy was settled, Kasen thumped the doorframe. “Get her to the location we set up. I’ll meet you there. I’m expecting this to be wrapped up in time for dinner.”
“You got it, boss.”
Not long after, Shiya watched Juneau fade into the distance through the rearview mirror.
