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Kain smirks, pleased that he has managed to do something his brother would not like. “Azlan would not want you to feel sorry for him. He fears being perceived as weak, and for good reason. The survival of others has always depended on him.”
I am beginning to understand the dynamics here so much more deeply. Azlan isn’t only an older brother to Kain, Nyan, and Skol. He has been in loco parentis for years, the father they never had. “That’s why the three of you came to get him from the asteroid. You wanted him back with you.”
“I want him here,” Kain says. “On this throne. But he doesn’t want the throne. He didn’t want to do what had to be done. He wanted to flee his true nature, to outcross his bloodline, to become something different through his progeny. He wanted to abandon our world, and us.”
“Taking me might not have been the best way to go about…”
Kain shrugs. “If I have you, he will come. He has to come.”
There is a note of slight desperation in that last sentence.
WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUWB
Almost as if on cue, there is a deep rumbling. The entire stronghold shakes, and outside the windows, I can see the view of the city obscured by clouds of dust being thrown up as something very large descends.
“That’s the ship landing,” Kain says, starting up from his throne with excitement. “He’s here. They’re here! Guards! Let them in!”
He’s as excited as a cub at the prospect of a fresh meat treat, practically dancing in place atop the dais. If I hadn’t heard all his murderous plans, I would think he was simply happy to welcome his brother.
Within minutes, the doors at the end of the hall open. Azlan strides in. Nyan and Skol flank him on either side, and behind them is a phalanx of alpha guards who frankly look confused as to who they want to aid. Kain’s instability is obvious to all who come into contact with him.
“AZLAN!” he shouts my mate’s name. “See what I have done!” Kain declares, his arms wide as he bows and gestures to his dead, stuffed father.
“Kain, get off that throne and release Ava. NOW!” Azlan roars with the authority of a true alpha. He sounds angry. Very fucking angry, and very unimpressed.
Kain deflates noticeably. He seems to have forgotten all about the killing-me-in-front-of-Azlan plan. I don’t think that was ever actually his plan. I think that was merely the echoes of Leonidas, a plan he thought he should have, rather than one he truly held dear.
“I am alpha now, brother.”
“No, you’re not,” Azlan says, striding forward. “I would have been here sooner, but you sabotaged the ships.”
“No, I didn’t,” Kain seems confused.
“Yes, you did. The wiring was frayed.”
“Not by me.”
“Growler damage, probably,” I say from the cage. “Classic Growler damage, they really like copper, so they go for wiring.”
Azlan looks at me briefly, and as I expected he is quite furious with me too. Then his gaze locks back on Kain. He will not take his eyes off Kain, who is the prime threat in this situation.
I watch with anticipation as Azlan comes up the stairs, looking taller, stronger, and more handsome than ever. He does not so much as spare a glance for the dad rug he steps on in order to reach me. The cage is locked, but he does not bother looking for a key. He puts his hands on the bars of the cage and I watch as my alpha mate bulges with muscularity and wrenches the bars of my cage apart in his massive hands. Azlan drags me out to hug me more tightly than I have ever been hugged.
“Tell me you are okay,” he murmurs in my ear.
“I’m okay,” I tell him.
“You are in so much trouble,” he intones gruffly.
“I know,” I whimper back.
“I captured your mate!” Kain attempts to sound badass, but it doesn’t really work now that Azlan has me in his arms. Azlan holding me might be the only reason Kain is still alive.
“Skol, Nyan, guards, get this pretender off my throne,” he rumbles.
True authority cannot be denied when it is perceived. The guards who followed Azlan and his brothers in recognize his natural claim to the throne without needing any further argument. Azlan is known as the oldest living son of Leonidas, and his energy is so much more stable than Kain’s.
“No!” Kain shrieks as they advance on him. “I am alpha! I killed Leonidas! Respect me! Respect my authority!”
