Reawakening by K. L. Kreig

his Moira.
    After regarding him for several beats, Dev responded, “No.”
    “No?” Rom growled in disbelief. If Devon thought he would stop him from being with his soon-to-be mate, he was sorely, and painfully, mistaken.
    “That’s right. No. I won’t let you use her, or hurt her.”
    “I would never hurt her.” Fuck, he would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.
    “Rom, I love you like a brother. But you can be … harsh and intense. And Sarah is delicate and fragile. I don’t know what went on between you two last week, but you need to just find another female. She’s not the one for you.”
    “She. Is. Mine,” Rom thundered. There was not one vampire in this house who would keep him away from Sarah and Dev was treading on very thin ice, which unbeknownst to Dev, was cracking under the heavy weight of his feeble protests. Sarah was anything but delicate and fragile. While he didn’t know much about her, that much he did know. In her eyes, he saw strength and bravery and tenacity.
    Damian was quiet, but if the broad, knowing smile on the asshole’s face was any indication, he was obviously enjoying the show. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise Rom if Damian ran and got some hot buttery popcorn and a box of Milk Duds and kicked back to see who threw the first punch.
    Damian’s comments last month now echoed through his head, “Go ahead, yuck it up man. I won’t forget this when you find your Moira. Then I’ll be the one in the wings laughing my ass off. You’re bound to get one that will give you a run for your money.”
    “She’s yours? As in … your Moira?” Dev asked disbelievingly.
    He nodded tightly.
    “She’s your Moira? Then how could you fucking leave and not come back for almost a week, Rom?”
    He said nothing. Now was not the time to get into the whys of what he’d done over the past several days and he didn’t owe either of them a damn explanation.
    “Fuck,” Dev breathed at the same time Damian started laughing.
    “Okay then. Let’s go.”
    Smart vampire.
    “I’m tagging along,” Damian jibed behind him as they started for the door. Rom would give anything to wipe that irritating smile off Damian’s face. He turned back around.
    “No. You’re not. You’re going to go back to your own mate and prepare her. I’ll be taking Sarah back to Washington with me. Tonight.”
    “Rom, you’re not fucking serious. You can’t just waltz in there, claim her as yours and flash her away to your secluded haunted house in the hills. Jesus, do you have any sense or self-preservation at all? Women do not like that shit.”
    “It matters not what she wants. That’s what will happen. I will not let her out of my sight for one single second.” He couldn’t .
    “I have to agree with Damian on this, Rom,” Dev chimed in, coming to face him. “That’s a very bad idea. Just because she’s your Moira, doesn’t mean she’ll want to bond with you and you know that.”      
    In one ear and out the other. Rom didn’t give a rat’s ass what these two thought. They didn’t have a goddamned clue what he’d been through. He’d been down this road before and wouldn’t wade down it again. It was too painful and too dangerous.
    Dev’s face turned serious. “Rom, I know what you’re going through.” He didn’t have the slightest clue. “But if you take her against her will, in her mind you’re no better than Xavier, even though your intentions are entirely honorable.”
    Damian interrupted with his two cents of course, “Well, I’m quite sure your intentions are not that honorable … but that’s beside the point.”
    Dev glared at Damian and he just shrugged his shoulders before Dev continued, “And, Moira or not, Sarah might never recover enough from that betrayal to give you a chance. You know I’m right.”
    “He’s right, Rom. I know from experience … I almost lost Analise because I betrayed her trust.”
    “Fuck,” he yelled, walking to the far side of Dev’s office. He