“I'm... I'm so sorry. That's horrible. Why was she so unhappy? I thought… I thought most Breeders came to terms with it.”

“She had a family before she was captured. A human husband and daughter. She never stopped loving them—or resenting us for taking her away from them. Most Breeders do not have a violent entry into our society, but she did. As did you.”

That explained why a Lord Protector would try to save a stranger—he was trying to right the horrors of his past.

Tears stung her eyes and she closed them. “Kain…” There was nothing else to say. She didn't know him well enough to cross the barriers of indifference he had put up around himself, however much the part of her that couldn't bear to see someone suffer screamed for her to do just that.

Silently she placed her lips against the leather of his jacket just above where her hand rested, offering her sympathy and gratitude where words would not be welcome.

The big male grunted at the gesture, but didn't move away. She left her hand in place when she lifted her head again, squeezing gently. Maybe he wasn't a good person in the usual sense, but someone who could experience that sort of grief and come out with the resolve to not let history repeat itself could not be purely evil, either.

“Fuck!”

The sudden outburst made Selma jolt back in her seat just as Kain slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt.

“What…?” The question died on her lips the second she looked out the windshield. Three black cars were parked across the road and seven men in dark trench coats were standing in front of them, arms folded. One of them she recognized.

“No… Kain—it’s him!”

Marathin. Her tormentor had found her.

“Stay calm.” Kain gritted his teeth and released the steering wheel. “There are too many for me to fight and ensure your safety at the same time, but the fact he’s not here alone means I can negotiate. He won’t want what he’s done to become public knowledge.”

Selma stared from the nightmare waiting for her on the road to the man by her side. “Please, Kain. Don’t let him take me. He’ll hurt me, he’ll punish me for leaving—”

“It’ll be okay.” Kain’s voice was unusually soft. “Come. I don’t want to leave you unguarded in the car.”

Giving her one last, lingering look he opened the door and slid out.

Selma took several deep breaths before she managed to shakily unclasp her seatbelt and stumble after him.

Kain waited for her by the hood of the car. He closed his large hand around hers when she reached his side, keeping her steady as he led her toward the man who’d tricked her.