Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 280

Chapter 280: All That Fire and No Brake

"Shh." The hand over her mouth stayed firm. "I’ll let go the moment you promise not to scream."

Kira’s whole body went slack.

She knew that voice. She hadn’t sensed him come in, hadn’t caught a single footstep or breath, but she’d know that voice anywhere and at any hour. She stopped fighting and lay still under his weight until the shuddering had drained out of her limbs.

Slowly, Braxton lifted his palm away.

The second she was free of him, Kira twisted round and drove her fist straight into his abdomen.

Braxton let out a strangled groan and shot off the mattress, doubling over with one arm wrapped around his middle. "Right," he wheezed. "I suppose I had that coming."

Kira sat up, glaring daggers at him through the dark. "What are you doing here, you traitor?" she said through gritted teeth.

He straightened with some effort, one eyebrow lifting, a flicker of amusement finding its way into his eyes. "So you actually believed all that theatre in front of your stepmother earlier."

Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t move an inch closer to him. "If you’re not one of them, then how did you get in here?"

Braxton shrugged and began to pace the small room. "Same way you did." He turned on his heel to face her, and every trace of amusement had gone out of him now. "What in the goddess’s name were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?"

Kira shifted on the mattress and looked away from him, dragging the blanket higher over her knees. She still didn’t believe he was who he claimed to be. Not for a second.

"I did what felt right," she said quietly. "I knew none of you would ever let me do this. But somebody had to find out what we’re actually up against, and the only way in was to let them bring me in." Her jaw set. "I was sick of watching people die when I’m the one they came for."

"And you decided this was the way to go about it? You’re freaking pregnant." Braxton’s voice dropped. "Your reasons are noble, Kira. Your methods are not."

She said nothing.

Instead she watched him move, cataloguing him the way she’d catalogued every corridor in this place. The walk was right. The way he pushed his hand through his hair when he was frustrated was right. But so was everything about Viktor, right up until it wasn’t, and she’d learned that lesson the hard way.

Maybe they’d sent him in here to pick through her head. Maybe there was nothing of her brother left in that body at all.

"What was your father’s name?" she asked.

Braxton stopped pacing, brows drawing together in confusion. Then it landed, and he let out a short laugh.

"You think I’m an Umbra."

She didn’t answer.

He laughed again, quieter this time, and spread his hands. "All right. Let’s see what I can dredge up. My father’s name was Ethan Westwood. He was mated to Claire Ironfang, who at the time was married to that power-hungry bastard Rolf Thornclaw. Claire was the true heir to the Ironfang pack, which her greedy husband renamed Moonfang the moment he got his hands on—"

"That’s enough."

"I could give you the whole family history if you’d like. Dates and everything."

"Why are you here, Braxton?" Her voice hardened. "You can’t seriously expect me to trust a word out of your mouth after what I stood through in that throne room today."

"That’s rich, coming from you." He rounded on her properly now. "You’ve driven every single person who loves you half mad by vanishing into thin air and leaving behind a note. A note, Kira. What did you imagine that would do? Did you think a bit of paper would settle everybody down nicely?"

Kira kept her mouth shut.

She’d admitted it to herself more than once since she’d got here, in the small hours when there was nothing else to do but think. It had been reckless. She just refused to regret it entirely.

She’d sat with it and thought about it for a moment, and pictured Derek’s face when he found that paper, and her mother’s, and Nana’s. She’d concluded it wasn’t the best decision.

That didn’t mean she wanted to hear it out loud.

"Sometimes you drive me fucking insane!" Braxton said through his teeth, pacing again. "It’s a genuine mystery to me how you’ve survived this long, being as impulsive as you are."

"I’m not impulsive."

"You absolutely are." He shot her a look. "I knew you’d pull something like this. I’ve been waiting for it."

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