“He almost killed you—did you really expect me to just do nothing?” she continued, her tone more than a little indignant.

Kain found it hard to focus on her words, his eyes roaming her soft form hungrily. His battle rage had been momentarily displaced by his concern for her well-being, but now that he had ensured she was safe, the testosterone in his blood was roaring for a different kind of outlet.

With a low growl, he pulled her body flush with his and lifted her, reveling in the way her curves molded against his hard muscles. Everything about his little Breeder was inviting and soft, and he loved the way her flesh dipped under his strong fingers.

“Oof! Kain!” Selma protested as he crushed her against him. He quelled her objections by claiming her lips and demanding access to her mouth.

For a moment she relented, turning pliable as he kissed her deeply, and he’d already decided to have her then and there, sparing no thought to his father and brother or the mangled bodies.

But then she stiffened in his grasp. Before he had even tasted her, she pulled her head away and whacked his chest with her palm.

“Ew!” Her outburst was followed by wild spitting at the floor, and she squirmed violently in a clear effort to be put down. He didn’t oblige.

“You taste like blood! That’s so fucking gross! Don’t even think about doing that again before you’re clean!” The last bit she snapped at him when he leaned in to silence her protests once more.

Kain hesitated, the need in him to mount and claim her for just the briefest of moments making him consider shoving a hand down her pants to twist her ring so she’d be more agreeable. But her angry glare brought him back from the edge of his instinctual madness.

With a sigh he let her slide to the floor, though he kept both arms around her. Forcing his mate to couple in the middle of torn-off limbs and pools of blood was unlikely to earn him any favors, though he personally found the thought quite appealing.

Selma rubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand and shot him another dirty look, but at least she didn’t try to break away from his hold. “And that one? What do we do with her?”

He looked in the direction she nodded and saw Kesh holding the last surviving member of Naharan’s group by the neck with casual ease.

Kain’s lip curled with renewed anger—his instincts were snarling at him to kill every last one of the bastards who’d thought they could take his mate from him, but he knew he couldn’t give into the urge to rip out her guts. Not yet at least.