“Your world has laws you must follow. They punish your criminals. No one is locking my son up inside a cage. That would be cruel. He’ll heal, and I doubt he’ll even carry a scar since I tended to him well. This will just be a painful memory to hopefully prevent him from breaking another law.”

“He’s not a criminal. From what I understand, he just had an argument with you.”

“I’m the leader of this clan. Disobedience of any kind is met with punishment. It’s hard to explain to someone like you, but it’s how we live. It is for the harmony and peace of all. Otherwise there would be chaos and deadly fights amongst our people. My son took his punishment and it will dissuade others from making the same mistake.”

“Unbelievable. You people are nuts. Violence isn’t always the solution, you know.”

“It is in this world.” His mouth hardened. “You’re no longer living with humans. You’re my son’s mate and you need to toughen up to do him proud.”

She hugged her chest hard. Arguing with the man wouldn’t do any good. He was the biggest barbarian of all. “I want to see my sister.”

“She’s not here.”

“What does that mean?” Fear rose. “Drantos told me she and Kraven were fine after the attack and had been brought here.”

“Decker Filmore broke the law when he attacked us to take you. He drew blood and caused the deaths of his own men in his quest for power. The clans’ meeting earlier not only discussed Drantos’s punishment, but also your grandfather’s. We were unaware at that time that Lord Aveoth is seeking him as well. A joint team from the three clans breached his land to bring him to task. He’d already fled though.

“His only recourse is to get his hands on your sister to attempt to use her against us. Now we know it won’t work, but he probably doesn’t. He’ll continue to believe she would be the one thing he could use to force the GarLycan leader to form an alliance with him. Kraven took your sister away for her safety. He didn’t want more of our people attacked or to risk your grandfather obtaining possession of her.”

“I didn’t even get to talk to Bat. How could Kraven just take her away?”

“He was determined to get your sister far from here. He wouldn’t be swayed to stay overnight.”

“Where did he take her?” Fear turned to alarm. “Where are they?”

“I do not know. He refused to say. My son is very cunning. She’s his mate and he’ll do whatever is necessary to protect her.”

“I want to talk to my sister I’m worried about her. Do you get that? Does Kraven have a cell phone?”

Velder sighed. “He’ll contact us when he feels it’s safe to do so. You both have been too softened by the human world, too spoiled. The first thing you need to learn is to not always question my words.”

Her arms dropped to her side and she fisted her hands. The guy made her so angry. “We’re not spoiled. Bat worked her ass off to get where she is and we both know about survival. We had to go through a lot after our parents died.”

“The hardships of the human world are nothing compared to ours. Your life there didn’t depend on your ability to fight and kill.”

His answer irritated her. “You have no idea what it’s like out there. People die every single day. When was the last time you lived in my world?”

He cocked his head and smiled slightly while his gaze focused toward the front of the house. “Crayla comes.”

She noticed he ignored her question but before she could point it out, the front door opened and a tall black-haired beauty stormed through. She wore only a sarong wrapped around her middle that barely concealed the tops of her breasts, and with her long frame, the lower hem of it just reached her upper thighs. She had blood smeared on one cheekbone and down both arms.

“I take it she apologized?” Velder chuckled. “Do you feel better?”

Crayla moved right to the man and smiled, her arms wrapping around his waist when she pressed tightly against the front of his body. “You know it. She’ll never do that again.” She turned her head and her bright blue gaze fixed on Dusti.

Dusti tried not to stare but knew she failed. The woman looked about thirty years old, had to be at least six feet two, and definitely didn’t appear to be anyone’s mother with her lithe body. Certainly not Drantos’s or Kraven’s. Her beauty stunned Dusti as well.

“She’s so small,” Crayla sighed. “Cute though. Not exactly what I had in mind for my baby but her coloring is attractive.” She released her mate and stalked over to Dusti. Her hand hesitated before she fingered Dusti’s blonde hair, met her gaze, and smiled again. “Is this your true color? I know humans dye their hair often.”

Dusti resisted the urge to jerk away from the hand touching her. Dried blood made her feel a little ill and the fact that it covered the hand in her hair made her shiver.

Crayla released her to step back while her smile faded. “You have no reason to fear me.”

“It’s not you.” She glanced at the woman’s hand. “I don’t like the sight of blood. What happened to you? Are you okay?”

Crayla’s mouth opened and she seemed stunned for a second. “Of course I’m alright. There was a small disagreement I had to settle between myself and one of the women.”

Velder moved next to his mate, wrapped an arm around her, and sighed loudly. “Scent her. She smells totally human, though Drantos claims she tastes slightly other. She believes we’re barbarians and animalistic for our punishments and aggressive natures.”

The woman’s features showed amusement. “I see. I suppose that’s how we would appear to you. We also love and have a lot of human traits you will identify with. You need to care for your mate. I had planned to stay but I believe it will be good for you to do this. Just clean his wounds, feed him when he wakes, and stay near him. Touch will make him feel better.” She glanced down Dusti’s body. “Skin to skin. I’m sure you prefer clothing but when you’re alone with my son, you won’t wear them.”

Dusti was outraged. Her new mother-in-law spoke to her as if she had the right to dictate. “You can’t tell me what—”

“I can.” The woman cut her off and her blue gaze turned decidedly chilly. “My son has claimed you as his mate and he’ll want to die if you leave him. While he’d never harm you, regardless of what you do, I am his mother. You and I will fight if you break his heart or make him suffer sadness with a lack of concern for his wellbeing. I won’t unleash my claws since you don’t have them, but you sure don’t want to get into a fist fight with me. Are we clear?”