Prey.

29.

"No, absolutely not," Ryan said once Sean proposed the idea. "Why? They need each other."

Ryan sat up to be on the edge of his seat. "Neela is mine now," rage begun to burn in his dark eyes. "He had his chance to protect her; he blew it," Landon spoke up this time, "and you've done such a great job at protecting her?"

Ryan's nostrils flared, "don't start. Don't you even try to go there; I know some things about you too. Neela would think you're worse than me. And you're not even cursed." Damien stood to his feet and clapped his hands to turn the attention to him, "enough, boys." He demanded in a calm, alpha tone.

"Ryan, Sean has a point. Her father needs closure and the girl needs her father." Ryan bounced impatiently on the couch and violently pointed at his father, "you said it yourself! You said that she's your daughter and that she's apart of the family! So glad you all now finally decided to accept her!" As Ryan's temper started to flare up, he stood to his feet and begun to pace.

"Ryan, you know it's not like that--" Damien tried to explain himself until he got cut off by Ryan.

"No, we all know what it is! You guys resent the fact that I was cursed! You resent that my mate is a human." His voice calmed down, "but look at everyone else's mate!" Ryan then roared. "Sean's mate? Human. Did he kidnap her? Yup! Does she live by herself? Mm-hm. Did he do it with father's permission? Hell no!"

Ryan then pointed to Landon, "human. He kidnapped her too. And she lives by herself! Did our father give permission? Nope!" Ryan then pointed to himself, "but my mate? She's human. My own brother's who kidnapped their own mates' kidnapped her. She lives with me. And you all wanna know the best part about it? I was given permission!"

"Ryan, please, calm down," Caleb spoke softly from the corner of the room. "No! I'm not going to calm down! You were almost in my place before I jumped in front of you. Wouldn't you act this way too?" The fire and rage in Ryan's eyes scared his youngest brother. Caleb nodded quietly and slowly walked away to the kitchen.

"Ryan, if we all speak of this is an adult manner, maybe you'll get what you want." Damien guided his son to sit back in his seat. "Do you guys wanna know how many humans I've killed since I discovered Neela? The last person I killed was before the bus crash! But these two? No, they still feed on humans. Me? I eat human food!"

Neela kept hearing yelling while she was in her room; all she could do was hold Austin and try to pacify herself. "What was the bad man like?" Austin asked after a while of silence. "He was very bad, Austin." Neela breathed out, "I will never be by him again."

Austin let go of Neela and stood on the floor. "Did he try to hurt you?" His small, wondering eyes peered up to Neela's form. "No," Neela spoke gently. "He and I were separated the whole time we were talking." Neela then heard a very loud yell which made her flinched. "I don't want you to worry about that, Austin. You should just worry about being a kid. I'll be okay," she smiled kindly.

~~

"I just want all of you to think about this," Damien spoke softly. "You can make your own contract; that he would have to agree with before turning him."

"No!" Ryan yelled, "Neela is mine! I want her only here! I want no one else to see her!"

"Ryan, she's dying without seeing someone who protected her!" Sean yelled, "if you make the contract yourself, you can control how much Neela's father sees her." Ryan shook his head no, "the only way Neela'll see him, now that she's living with us, is at his funeral." Ryan seethed his words and stood to his feet to go upstairs.

"Neela," Ryan calmly knocked on Neela's door, "can we please talk? I promise to keep my distance from you." Neela kept silent with her head down, "we can have a walk outside," Ryan offered, "your scent won't be enclosed, so I won't be so sensitive; if that makes you feel better."

"Can someone come with us?" Neela asked meekly as she stood to her feet, "no, I just want us to be alone."

"I think it would be better if we just stayed in the house, then." Neela opened the door and Ryan smiled the second he saw her face, "I know you're probably scared and nervous. But can I just say that you're absolutely breathtaking?"

Once that was said, they both stood with an awkward silence overcoming them. "Can I see it? The mark."