Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24

HUNTER

The scent of blood hit me first, cutting through the steam from the soup I’d made for Kitty’s lunch. It was sharp and metallic, calling my beast out so quickly I couldn’t chain him. My ladle clattered back into the pot as I almost wrenched the kitchen door off its hinges.

Her face was a mess. Her lip was split, and her cheek swollen, already turning purple and red. Someone had laid their fucking hands on her. Someone who’d just signed their death warrant.

“I’m fine,” Kitty said quickly, her voice unsteady as she tried to twist free of my grip.

“You’re not fine,” I said through my teeth. “Who did this to you? Were you attacked?”

Was it that bastard? She’d vanished for hours, and I’d lost her scent outside the building, leaving me with no way to track her. Had she gone to meet him? Pass him information?

My beast surged, his claws raking at my insides, already imagining all the ways I’d make that fucker scream. Was he punishing Kitty because I’d interfered with his plans?

“I wasn’t attacked, I was at the gym,” she said, finally wriggling loose.

That was when I noticed the helmet under her arm and the strap of her bag across her body.

“Have you forgotten the rules already?” she asked cooly. “What I do outside these walls is none of your business.”

“So I’m meant to ignore that you’ve walked in looking like someone’s punching bag?” I hissed.

Her mouth curved. “You should see the other guy.” The smirk faded as she met my eyes, her chin raised. “I appreciate your concern, Hunter, but it’s unnecessary. I can handle myself.”

Handle herself? She barely reached my chest and weighed less than a feather. A stiff breeze could knock her down. How was she going to stand there and tell me she could handle herself when she reeked of blood?

My fists tightened at my side.

“Where are you hurt?” I asked after a while.

She was breakable. I’d have to take care of her first. And then I’d hunt this fucker.

“Just my face. A bit of ointment and a bag of frozen peas, and I’ll live,” she said, turning to walk away from me.

No, not walking, limping. She was fucking limping.

Growling under my breath, I scooped her up. She kicked and snapped at me but ignored her protests and I carried her to the bedroom. When I set her down on the bed, her helmet clattered to the floor as I stripped her jacket.

“What the hell are you doing?” she shouted.

“Our deal is you’ll sleep with me every night. I’m making sure I won’t be at a disadvantage,” I growled, already pulling her tank top off.

“This isn’t what we agreed. You’re making this arrangement personal, Hunter.”

But I’d already pulled her to her feet and peeled away her leggings. For the first time since I’d met her, I wasn’t distracted by the sight of her naked body. My focus was on the bruises. They were fucking everywhere. I turned her around and froze. Her back had taken the worst of it. Black and blue all the way down, with raw scrapes still bleeding.

My blood burned. What had he done to her? Slammed her down and ground her into the floor?

I stepped back, breathing hard as my beast tried to take control. This was just another way for the bastard to fuck with me. Playing with another defenceless girl right in front of me. Kitty wasn’t his usual victim, she was human, but he had already changed the way he operated. What if he’d dangled Kitty in my face just to snatch her away again when the time came? When I was in too deep?

“I’ll kill him,” I snarled, the words tearing from me before I could stop them.

Goddess help me, I meant it. The depths of how much I meant it shook me.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Kitty snapped, clutching her discarded top to her chest. “You’ll get arrested, and I’m not even qualified yet to represent you.”

“Then tell me what happened, before I go and do something very stupid.”

Kitty’s eyes widened, as though she’d only just realised how serious I was.

“Why?” she asked, frowning. Her eyes searched my face. “Why would you even care? We’ve only just met.”

Lycans were not like human ones. Had she not realised that yet? I’d agreed to this game, but my primal urges still existed.

But she couldn’t know that yet. I had to be careful. I had to make sure she remained unguarded. At least until I’d put a tracker on her.

“If I came home looking like this, you wouldn’t even ask what happened?” I demanded. “We’re sharing a roof, a bed. You wouldn’t want to know who hurt me?”

“We have rules,” she said again, but her tone was weaker.

“That’s cold, Kitty. Who are you protecting?”

Something shuttered in her gaze, and she squared her shoulders.

“I’m not protecting anyone, and I don’t need you to protect me, either,” she said. “I’ll sort myself out.”

With that, she turned away, limping to the bathroom, showing me her torn-up back again. Didn’t need protecting, my ass.

I heard her rummaging through drawers, and then the faint scent of antiseptic. She didn’t even ask me to help. She should have showered first; her blood in the air was still clawing at my control.

Her blood?

I stilled. My nostrils flared as I took the scents in. Not just her blood, she had someone else’s blood on her, too. Someone else’s scent. My nose led me to the bag that I’d dropped on the floor, and I shook out the

contents.

Clothes, soaked through. There was too much blood, but most of it wasn’t hers. It wasn’t the same as the blood on her lip and back. I brought it to my nose and inhaled. It was fresh and human. Whoever it was would need the hospital if they weren’t already dead.

Was I right, then? That bastard had changed his pattern and pulled Kitty into it. She was the bait he’d dangled in front of me.

Jaw tight, I stuffed the bloody clothes into a bag. There was only one way to find out for sure. I’d run this through forensics.

And then I’d get the best tracking system on Kitty. Elijah. I shouldn’t have insisted on keeping him out of this. We might have caught this guy already if Elijah knew of the small leads I’d gathered. I could have saved those girls.

It was time to get back to work to deal with it properly.

I finally pulled my phone back out and turned it on. It blew up straight away. Dozens of calls and messages.

Kostas’s name sat at the top.

‘Who is this girl? We were attacked less than an hour after she arrived.’