"Max said Grigori was never seen or heard from after your family received word that he'd gone Rogue and killed someone in his Bloodlust. Max said you refused to speak of Grigori after that." Kir nodded grimly. "There was no need to speak of him again. He was dead. As his brother, I felt it was my duty to make sure that he could never kill again."
Alex exhaled the smallest gasp at the sober confession. Kade was stunned to discover how similar his father's path had been to his own, how much he never knew about the male who'd sired him or the life his father had led before Kade and Seth had been born.
He muttered a curse, but there was no venom in it. There never could be again, not after tonight. "I have resented you nearly all my life," he admitted. "I thought you despised me." Kir clucked his tongue, gave a remorseful shake of his head. "Never. I only wanted the best for you. For both my sons. And now, for the two new ones who will be born in a few short weeks, as well."
"We have wasted a lot of time on secrets and festering fears," Kade said to him. He turned a look on Alex, swamped by love for the female who owned his heart. "I can't waste another minute like that." Kir stood up. "Nor should I waste any more of your time when you and Alex could be spending it together. I want you to know that I am proud of you, Kade. And I am glad to see that you have found happiness. You've found love, and next to all your other strengths, that is the one that will see you through any challenge."
Kade swallowed, gave an awkward nod. "Thank you, Father."
"How long will you and Alex be staying here at the Darkhaven?"
"Not long," Kade replied. "A few more hours at the most. Some of my brethren from the Order are waiting in a town not far from here. We have a mission to wrap up, and then we'll be heading back home."
"Both of you?" Kir asked, glancing from Kade to Alex.
"I guess I'd better make it official and ask her," Kade said, smiling as he stroked Alex's cheek. He drew her gaze to his. "What do you think, Alex? Any chance I can convince you to come back with me to Boston?"
Her soft brown eyes gleamed. "I've never been to New England. I think I'd like to see it." Kade's grin burst across his face. "I'll show you the whole damn world if you'll let me." They kissed, interrupted a moment later by Kir's slightly awkward clearing of his throat. Alex was blushing furiously. Kade felt no embarrassment for his affection, meeting his father's amused look with an unapologetic quirk of his brows.
Kir smiled, then strode to the door, Kade and Alex walking at his side. When they paused at the threshold, Kade held out his hand, but his father didn't take it. Instead, he pulled Kade into a firm embrace.
"I know that you have made a family in Boston with the Order," he said as he drew back to meet Kade's eyes. "I'm glad for you. But you have a family here, as well. You and your beautiful Alexandra both have family here."
"May I hug you, too?" Alex asked, turning her warmth on Kade's gruff father. Kir's mouth curved into a rare smile. "I would be honored if you did." As Alex embraced him, the elder male glanced at Kade, his gaze filled with too many emotions for Kade to name. Pride, forgiveness, regret, hope ... years of emotions that went unspoken between father and son. Maybe now they would have the chance to repair the things that had been buried under so many secrets, so many useless fears.
And then there was Alexandra.
Kade looked at the female he loved--his female, his mate. His heart overflowed with all the things he wanted to say to her, things he wanted to share with her ... promises he intended to give her now, in the hope that he would have the rest of his life with her to make good on them.
Kade wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulders as they stood together and watched his father stroll across the moonlit snow toward the main house. When he was gone, Kade turned to Alex and swept her up into his arms.
She gasped as her feet left the ground, then laughed as he pivoted around and started walking with her toward his bedroom. "Put me down! You're hardly recovered from your burns, Kade. You really shouldn't be doing this."
"Oh, yes, I should," he replied, gazing into her eyes with a hunger he wouldn't have been able to mask even if he'd tried.
They made love together, at first a tempestuous, fevered joining, both of them lost to the swell of their emotions and to the urgent demands of their desire for each other. Kade ravished her body, made her cl**ax so many times she finally gave up trying to keep count.
Alex's senses were filled with him, her body thrumming as she came down from the crest of another wave of pleasure, nestled in the protective shelter of Kade's arms.
She loved him so deeply she ached with her devotion. And in the afterglow of their passion, she knew that he loved her, too.
His touch was tender as he stroked the sensitive skin of her neck, his fingers skating like velvet beneath her ear. "I haven't done right by you," he murmured quietly. "When I drank from you that first night at your house in Harmony. It should have been your choice, Alex. I took that from you. I should have told you what it meant before I bonded myself to you. I should have had honor enough to earn the right, not steal it the way I did."
"It doesn't matter to me," she murmured. "All that matters is that we are together now. I want you forever, Kade. I want ..." The words trailed off, not out of fear or uncertainty, but out of the depth of her longing. She turned her head to look at him. "All I want is you, to be bonded to you as your mate."
"And all I want is to make you happy, and to know that you are safe and protected."