“Fine, I want her venom,” Andrei replies calmly.
“You want what?” Ezra repeats. His brows furrow as if he’s trying to determine if Andrei is making a joke.
“Her venom,” Andrei stresses. “See, Gemini wolves have venom like a snake, and when provoked, they bite, and that bite is lethal. You want your father back, Kat? I want two things, your venom, and I want Jackson,” Andrei smirks, folding his arms across his chest.
“Why do you want her venom?” Ezra asks.
“That is none of your business, but I want it.” Andrei declares before looking back at me. He smiles while I glare at him. “How’s your wolf?”
“You said you could help,” Ezra said, cutting me off before I could tear out his throat. I stare at Ezra, biting my lip to stop myself from saying something I will regret.
“That’s right. I can. I even want to. Got a bit of a soft spot for Kat, seeing as she is my baby sister,” Andrei announces, making my head whip to him.
“Pardon?” I gasp.
“Ask your father when you see him. He will explain. Ask him who Anthony is,” Andrei suggests, smiling brightly.
“We are not related,” I debate, shaking my head. He is Ezra’s age, maybe older, there is no way I am related to him, we don’t even look alike.
“As I said, ask your father when I hand him back, but I can assure you, Kat, you are my little sister, well half-sister, but family all the same,” he comments with a shrug.
Ezra sits back in his chair, thinking. “So this help. What are you offering, exactly?”
“Well, for starters, I can tell you why she is so irritable, short, and wicked, if you like?” Andrei nods to me, and my body trembles. All I want to do is throw myself at him and scratch out his eyes. Ezra nods, telling him to go on. “She needs to shift. Her temper will only get worse until she does. You get her to shift, I get my venom, you get daddy dearest back, and everyone is happy.”
“I can’t shift. Kora is gone,” I snarl, becoming annoyed at being reminded of it.
“You are a Gemini wolf. Wolf, Kat, you can shift. You just need to learn how. Kora may be dead now, but you don’t need her. You don’t need a wolf to shift. You are the wolf, and you won’t have venom until you shift. I need you to shift, so I will come over every day until you do. So does 7AM tomorrow work for you?” He asks, glancing over me and looking at Ezra.
“What do you mean Kora is dead?” Mateo asks with a scowl.
“For Kat to break the curse, she had to die. To be brought back Kora gave her life for Kat and merged with her, absorbed her life force, so Kora is no more, ” Andrei explains.
Ezra growls, but I know it is Maddox and not him. Ezra shakes his head before turning to Andrei. “You want to come to our house?” Ezra questions, and Andrei nods. “Fine, but don’t be late, for God’s sake. I will tell my men to let you pass the border.”
“I am not working with him,” I object.
“You are, and you will be. End of the argument,” Ezra orders. I open my mouth to retort when Ezra glares at me. “Enough, I will deal with you when we get home, sit there and be quiet,” Ezra warns, and I sigh.
“So everyone is on the same page?” Andrei asks.
“Wait, when do I get my dad back?” I demand, ignoring Ezra. It’s why I came here, and I am not just going to walk off without an answer.
“Once you shift, you’ll get him. I will go home and prepare, and I will see you tomorrow morning, hopefully in a better mood,” Andrei chuckles while getting up from his seat.
“What? No!” Panic flares in me. I don’t want to lose the only parent I have left.
“Put her in the car, Mateo, fucking tie her up if you have to,” Ezra snaps at him. Andrei chuckles, only irritating me more when Mateo tosses me over his shoulder, striding outside and throwing the car door open. He heaves me into the back of the car.
“Enough,” he growls when I try to get back out to demand my father back. Mateo slides in beside me before yanking my seatbelt across me and buckling me in. “Kat, if you don’t stop, Ezra will snap. Just sit still and stop provoking him more,” Mateo warns me, gripping my hands as I try to undo the seatbelt.
Andrei stalks out with Ezra, and the two share words before Andrei leaves. Ezra walks over to the car, yanking and opening the back door. “You drive. I will deal with her,” Ezra orders him, and Mateo hops out as Ezra takes his spot beside me.
Ezra never gives me control when it comes to Kat. But he is struggling with his temper, which I know is coming directly from Kat, her anger is fueling him, and he has never felt so out of control before. Usually, my temper scares him, but this time he is scared of himself. Either way, I am more than comfortable in both forms.
Even Mateo is becoming annoyed, making me wonder if this is all coming from Kat. Her rage is like a ticking time bomb filtering through the bond, igniting their fury. Her usually shy and placid mindset has gradually faded over the last few days. Mateo and I assumed she was about to go into heat again because Mateo marked her. But instead, we are left with this demon version of my Kitty.
Mateo mindlinks Ezra as we walk toward the car, but Ezra is ashamed of his behaviour. He never intended to lose his cool with her, never intended to grab her, but she has constantly been screaming at us for the last three days. So Ezra ignores him, pushing back further where Mateo can’t reach him.
“You drive, I will deal with her,” I order, opening the car door. He looks at me worried as he climbs out.
“He has given me control, Mateo,” I mindlink to him, sliding across the back seat as Mateo climbs into the driver’s seat.
“You seem calm,” Mateo notes, and I find it is rather calming talking to Mateo. We don’t talk much. I mainly speak to Ares. When I talk to Mateo, it usually involves me yelling at him or shouldering my anger, but since we marked him, I actually find him and Kat make me rather centered now.
“I am. Ezra is having trouble controlling himself,” I chuckle at him before turning to look at Kat as he starts the car. She shuffles away, realizing Ezra doesn’t have control, and I unclip her seatbelt before yanking her onto my lap. Her scent makes me purr softly as I press my face into the crook of her neck.