Free Awakening the Demon's Queen by Calle J. Brookes

attacked and bitten. A month later your
dad turned into a wolf. I first turned when I was
sixteen.”
    “ So the werewolf legends are
true.”
    “ Yes.” Rand told her more,
explaining about Dardaptoans and the other Kinds before answering
all the girl’s other questions.
    “ So who are those women? And
where are Josey and the others?”
    “ Those women are
Dardaptoan.” Rathan figured it would be better for him to explain
the events leading up to Kindara and her daughter’s presence than
Rand. Rand’s anger was still palpable when he mentioned
Dardaptoans. “Your sister and cousins were taken by the
Dardaptoans.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Your grandfather has been
hunting Dardaptoans for decades and has...hurt...many of them.”
Rathan remembered the scars marring his female’s body, thought of
the tattoo on her daughter’s skin, and his own anger rose. “Josey
and the others were taken to...lure...him out.”
    “ And it hasn’t worked?
They’ve not hurt them, have they?”
    “ Not that we think.
Dardaptoans have something a little different than a human
courtship. They find the one they are destined for and keep them.
They can also convert humans, just like Lupoiux can. I don’t know
how, though, so no questions about that. But Kindara said--she’s
the blonde woman upstairs--that your sister and cousins were all
converted. And all were mated.”
    “ Wow. So they’re ok? Why did
you bring those two women here?”
    “ We...took...them...” How
did he tell this child they’d kidnapped and terrorized
them?
    “ So you did the same thing
the Dardaptoans did.” Jade frowned at them. “So now what, are more
Dardaptoans going to come and take me, or Becca, or Cass? And then
you go take more of them?”
    “ We’re not exactly sure
what’s going to happen now. Rand and I need to discuss some things.
We didn’t know Emily was mated to the Dardaptoan king,
or...”
    “ Remember, Rathan, two
kidnappings do not make it right! You and Rand need to fix this
somehow. Bring our girls home and send those two back! And if they
have a problem with Grandfather I say give them the old creep. We
certainly don’t need him.”
    ****
    Kindara sat by Jierra’s bedside watching her
sleep like she’d done when Jierra was sick as a child. Her daughter
was young now, but a child no longer. She’d cried herself to sleep,
and nothing Kindara could do settled her. Damn that wolf. If he
wasn’t her daughter’s Rajni, Kindara wouldn’t rest until he was
dead. But she’d never do that to her daughter.
    Her daughter already loved him; it was the
nature of the Rajni bond. Jierra already loved the babes growing
within her, too. She’d just need time to adjust to the changes the
wolf had forced upon her.
    Kindara stood, brushed a hand over her
daughter’s hair, then crawled into the second bed. She was just as
exhausted, felt horribly weak, and even though she was in the home
of the enemy, all she wanted was to sleep. She’d deal with
everything else in the morning.
    ****
    Rathan stared down at his female as she lay
curled on the guest bed. Exhaustion was clear in the dark circles
beneath her eyes, but now she was clean and dressed in flannel
pajamas. She looked so deceptively young and sweet. He swept her
into his arms as carefully as he could. He wanted her in his bed,
though he doubted he’d wake her long enough to feed from her. She
slept so deeply.
    His suite of rooms was on the top floor and
he carried her there, depositing her in the center of his bed. He
stripped off his clothing, then slid in beside her. She snuggled
into him, resting her head on his chest like they’d slept together
a thousand times before, instead of a handful.
    He closed his eyes and gently slipped into
her dreams.
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Kindara stared up at the red and black canopy
over her head. It hadn’t been there when she’d slipped into sleep.
The demon hadn’t been wrapped around her, either. He lay quietly,
staring at her.
    “ This