Page 51 of Blood Moon Bound

“Underwear off,” he said low and gritty. “If the commander’s rutted her, the price halves and I add her to my stable of females when I’m done with her. You’ll be the stepfather of a whore, Douglas, and not the mother of my heir, like you were hoping.”

Douglas strode over, and I could see the fear in his eyes. He leaned in. “You better not have fucked him, daughter. If you’ve spread your legs for that monster, you’ll wish you were never fucking born.”

He yanked up my gown, revealing my underwear. I thrashed and cried out, causing myself more pain, but I had to fight. “No, don’t touch me—”

A male scream rang out behind the door a moment before it exploded from its hinges.

Constantine stepped forward, filling the doorway, tall and radiating the kind of rage that had the power to burn a building down around us. His lips were peeled back, his fangs extended, clothes splattered with blood. Relief slammed through me, the sight of him making my heart pound. “You touch my mate, either of you, and I’ll not only tear your fucking hands off, I’ll make you eat them.”

Bentham reached for something under his coat, despite the warning. Constantine lunged, so impossibly fast. One moment he was in the doorway, the next he was behind Bentham. He twisted the other male’s head in an unnatural way, then wrenched it from his shoulders, tossing it aside.

Constantine’s chest was heaving, harsh breaths bursting from between his lips as his gaze locked on to Douglas. A female rushed in, spattered with blood as well. The female I’d seen outside with Constantine the day he left. She rushed to me and started undoing my bindings. “You’re going to be okay. They won’t hurt you anymore,” she said, her lavender eyes blazing.

Constantine kept his gaze on Douglas. “You put your filthy fucking hands on my female.”

“She’s not yours…you haven’t—”

“My mate!” he roared. “You scared her and tormented and tortured her. You made her bleed. You made the reason I live and walk and talk…bleed.” His snarl ripped through the room.

I stared at him in shock, his words hitting me hard, but still he didn’t look my way.

Douglas stumbled back. “John said you didn’t want her. He lied, I never would’ve—”

Constantine prowled closer, inch by inch, stalking his prey. “What? Sent assassin after assassin to take me out? Pay someone in my own household to try to take my mate from me? Did you think I’d let you get away with that?”

“You left her!” Douglas cried. “You don’t even want Delphine.”

Veera growled as she helped me sit up.

“Until two days ago, you thought she was with me,” Constantine said.

Douglas shook with fury.

“Take a look at Veera. Who does she remind you of? She looked enough like Delphine to lead your assassins from Roxburgh. And in those three weeks, I got all the evidence I needed. My brothers, my security, they found it all while I led your people all over the fucking territories, taking them out one by one.”

Douglas looked between me and Veera, then back at Constantine, shaking his head. “You’re lying, you’ve got nothing.”

He hadn’t left me for someone else, he was protecting me.

“We’ve gathered eyewitnesses, collected sworn statements. You don’t have as many friends as you think you do, so many of them were more than happy to share what a sick and twisted male you are, Douglas. I have a list of females that were last seen with you, then never seen again, but the still-healing wounds on my mate would be enough for the court to give me grounds to execute. Your uncle’s position sure as fuck won’t save you, not anymore.” He glanced at Veera, a question in his eyes. She was supporting all my weight and nodded in reply. “But now we have all the sick fucking records you kept, of the females you tortured and killed, the ones you bought and sold to twisted fucks just like you. Including Samara,” I snarled.

“No.” Douglas shook his head wildly, then his gaze sliced to the door.

My mother stood there, her gaze blank. “I’ve grown tired of all of this.” She motioned to the room at large. “I’ve given the female everything, all your little mementos,” she said, her voice cold, emotionless. Then she looked at me. “You deserved better, Delphine.” That was all she said, her voice utterly devoid of emotion before she turned and walked away.

Douglas made a run for it, but Constantine caught him easily, restraining him. “I don’t think I’ll be waiting for a signed execution order. I don’t need one, not with all the evidence I have.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Douglas cried. “No—”

Constantine twisted his head with brutal force, like he had Bentham, snapping his neck, then removed it, ending his life.

Finally, he turned to me, and all the rage slid away, replaced by something else as he strode over and scooped me up in his arms. “Thank the fates you’re alive. I thought I’d lost you.” He was panting hard, breathing shakily, roughly.

Constantine was breathing.

And when my head fell to his chest, too weak to hold it up myself, I heard it.

“Your heart, Constantine,” I rasped. “It’s beating.”