Kain
At first, Kain had no idea why the woman with the dirty walnut hair drew his attention the moment she stepped foot in the dingy bar.
He'd been lost in his thoughts, planning the scouting mission he'd be taking a handful of his best warriors on in a few hours, when he spotted her. She was practically creeping along the wall to the most secluded booth she could find.
Kain's gaze slipped from the crude map of the industrial center he was drawing on a napkin, where his scouts had spotted female demons a few times. He tracked the human girl as she pressed into the booth as if trying to meld into the shadows.
She was a scared—looking little thing, seemingly in her twenties and dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, with long dark hair and bangs that nearly covered her eyes—completely unremarkable in every way.
Yet there was something about her that nagged at the edges of his consciousness, poking and prodding, like forgotten lyrics to a melody playing on loop in his mind.
Irritated, he narrowed his eyes as he watched her order her food from a bored—looking waitress. She fidgeted and didn't look the other woman in the eyes, slender fingers playing nervously with the edges of the menu, and when she was alone again she curled in on herself as if she hoped she'd become one with the wallpaper.
What was it about her? He'd never seen her before—of that he was certain—she didn't set off any alarms of being dangerous, and he was more than used to seeing shady humans trying to dodge detection.
It was unsettling, really; the pull from somewhere in his gut resembled the instincts that kept him alert of potential dangers, but this little thing was no threat.
With a force of will, Kain pulled his attention back to his napkin. Whatever it was about her that had him on edge, it wasn't as important as his upcoming mission. If a band of females had truly set up a nest in his territory, he needed to get to them before they could fulfill whatever nasty purpose they had.
And—of equal importance—he'd need to extract any and all intel he could. As the Lord of the territory spanning most of Minnesota, he was located closer to the Queen's region than most of his kind. Any plans she had of coming down from the north, his territory was first line of defense.
Yet despite the urgency of this evening's mission, Kain couldn't stop glancing at the human girl as she ate her greasy meal, her eyes closing while she chewed as if she hadn't had proper food in a while. She looked exhausted.
It wasn't until she brushed a hand across her face in a gesture emphasizing the tired draw of her mouth, displacing her bangs in the process, that he finally understood.
Kain stiffened at the silvery shimmer emanating from her forehead, all thoughts of the Queen and her scheming minions dissipating.
The woman shook her head, making the bangs fall into her eyes again, but he'd already seen it—the mark.
He inhaled deeply in her direction, testing the air, and found what a thick layer of deodorant and the contamination of the other patrons had kept hidden until then: the scent of an awakened Breeder.
Kain hissed softly and leaned back, eyes doing another sweep of the bar, but she was definitely there alone—unescorted.
A runaway.
His cock strained painfully against his tight jeans, alert after scenting the ripe female, and he silently cursed his body's reaction. Damned little thing didn't have to do anything but sit there for his hormones to attempt mutiny of his normally perfect self—control.
The fact that she was obviously scared didn't help—the undercurrent of decaying fear in her scent had his body in a state of arousal even before he realized what she was: a Breeder in need of a protector.
What the fuck was she doing in his territory? None of the surrounding areas had reported any new Breeders escaping. In fact, no one had claimed a Breeder in his or the surrounding areas for a few years now, and no woman who'd spent enough time with them would be stupid enough to try to run.
Fuck's sake.
The smart thing to do would be to cancel the evening's scouting mission, grab her when she left the bar, and bring her back to whoever had claimed her. It was his duty, and the little fool wouldn't be safe on her own—especially not here, now, given the recent sightings of female demons.
The Breeder stirred, perhaps aware of his intense scrutiny, and suddenly her chocolate brown eyes flicked up, locking on him.
She stared at him, eyes widening as if she could sense his demonic nature despite the mark blinding her.
Kain held her gaze. It was too late to pretend he hadn't been looking at her, and he was curious what she would do.
Her chest heaved with every shallow breath she drew, eyes darting from him to the exit.
When she grabbed her bag, tossed money on the table, and nearly ran for the door, he didn't follow.
Every instinct in his body raged for him to take up chase—to take her, protect her—keep her safe, warm, fed. Fucked. But the way the poor thing had been acting, it was painfully obvious she didn't want anything to do with his kind, and if he followed her, he'd have to capture her. Bring her back to whoever she'd escaped from.
Fighting back the overwhelming urge to give chase, Kain grunted with agitation and gripped the edge of the table until her lingering scent was too faint to reach his nostrils. He had no desire to force a girl into a lifetime of rapes, and as far as he was concerned, the fact that she'd fled meant that whoever had kept her had missed his chance at convincing her to stay as his mate.
Bringing her back against her will... He huffed in disgust before taking a deep swig of his whiskey, clearing his palate of the remaining taste of her. No, he had better things to spend his night on.
