53. Kitsuki

Chapter 53

Kitsuki

W hile Auslin spent time in the Divine Realm, Kitsuki grew more anxious. Kizoshi would never allow anything bad to happen to his mate, but Kitsuki couldn't stand the thought of Auslin being somewhere he couldn't go. It was a small comfort to still feel his connection to Auslin through their mating bond, but his uneasiness refused to go away until Auslin stood in front of him once more.

The only good thing about Auslin's absence was it freed Kitsuki to do something his mate would not approve of if he knew. But it had to be done.

Kitsuki entered his dungeon. He took great pleasure in seeing Kio trapped in his cell. Kio looked downright sullen and miserable, but as soon as he caught a whiff of Kitsuki, his anger roared to life. "You complete and utter bastard!" Kio spat as he angrily got to his feet with a growl. "How dare you steal Auslin from me by mating him!"

"As Auslin is my mate now, you have absolutely no claim on him," Kitsuki pointed out with a smug look that made Kio rage. "But I would not expect a degenerate like you to understand."

"Do you really think that's going to stop me from getting Auslin back?" Kio snarled.

Kitsuki gestured at the bars between them. "How exactly do you plan on doing anything from inside this dungeon cell?"

"You can't keep me down here forever, asshole!" Kio tightened his hands into fists around the metal bars trapping him inside a cage.

"True, I could kill you at any time," Kitsuki conceded. His dragon burned with the desire to put Kio out of his misery once and for all. But Auslin's wishes stayed his hand.

"Bullshit. You wouldn't dare kill me because you don't want to make Auslin sad," Kio retorted in a mocking tone. "You may have claimed Auslin as a mate, but he still loves me!"

Kitsuki's dragon rattled in his cage, demanding to be let out to prove the mongrel wrong. The shifter king settled for crossing his arms over his chest. "You mistake his pity for affection."

"Ha, whatever you have to tell yourself to get through the night," Kio retorted. "Auslin will beg me to take him back. You'll see."

"It is only Auslin's goodness that is keeping you alive. You would do well to remember that." Kitsuki's dragon took over. His silver eyes turned bright with bloodlust in the darkness of the dungeon. "That will only stay our hand so long before we tire of your insolence and put an end to your miserable existence once and for all."

"You act so high-and-mighty, but you're no different from me. You say you love Auslin in one breath, but you can't stay away from Maseo, either."

"Whatever interest I may have in Maseo is none of your concern," Kitsuki icily reminded him. "Unlike you, I do not stray from my mate's side."

"Then why are you wearing Maseo's pendant?" Kio gestured at it. "Because that fucker was really particular about never taking it off because his dead mommy gave it to him." Kio's casual cruelty rankled Kitsuki.

Kitsuki drew himself up to his full height. "You lost the right to worry about Maseo when you cast him aside as if he did not matter."

Kio snorted. "Of course he didn't matter! He was just a willing hole, nothing more."

The callous dismissal flared Kitsuki's temper. "Do not speak so disrespectfully of him!"

"How does it feel to know Maseo will fuck me and not you?" When Kitsuki's dragon surged, Kio mockingly laughed at him. "Uh-oh, did I touch a nerve?"

"Be silent!" Kitsuki's dragon roared.

Kio continued his taunts. "Wow, it must really piss you off that he'll suck my dick and not yours."

The temptation to taunt Kio about all the things Maseo would do for him was strong, but his mistake with doing the same to Nasume stopped that impulse. "It would behoove you to stop talking about him," Kitsuki's dragon warned.

"After I escape, I'm going to have so much fun fucking Maseo in front of you so you can suffer watching me have something you want and can never have."

Rage rippled through Kitsuki. "He does not belong to you. He will never lower himself to be with you again."

Kio snorted. "You say that, but he comes crawling back to me every time like the little bitch he is. And since there's no way your icicle dick can keep him satisfied, he'll be ass-up, begging me to fuck him like a real man."

The rage that flashed through Kitsuki's dragon begged him to do terrible things to make Kio stop running his mouth off, once and for all. But he resisted for his mate's sake. "I will personally ensure you never touch him. You do not get to hurt him or Auslin ever again."

"Fuck you! You're all talk. As soon as I escape from here, you're fucking dead! I'll kill all three of you fuckers!"

With a flick of his hand, Kitsuki's dragon broke Kio's leg with his magic. The half-shifter howled in pain as he collapsed to the dungeon floor.

"Make no mistake, little brother. We promised Auslin we would not kill you," Kitsuki's dragon said with a smirk. "We never promised him we would restrain ourselves from injuring you."

Before Kio could reply, Kitsuki's dragon shattered the half-shifter's other leg. Kitsuki's dragon derived deep satisfaction from hearing Kio's shouts while he writhed on the floor. "Let us see you run away and escape now," Kitsuki's dragon jeered. He relished inflicting pain on the one who had brought Auslin and Maseo so much hurt.

Kio could only howl in agony. Kitsuki's dragon enjoyed every moment of his half brother's suffering in a way Auslin would never approve of if he knew. "Perhaps now you will rethink hurting Auslin and Maseo ever again."

Despite his pain, Kio remained defiant. "Fuck you! They're mine!"

"Let this be your final warning that I will do anything for those I love."

Kio's eyes went wide before he laughed hysterically. " Love ? You love Maseo now? Oh, that's fucking rich ."

Kitsuki's dragon stumbled over his own accidental admission. But he refused to give Kio the satisfaction of seeing him flustered. To save face, he shattered the bones in Kio's hands, savoring the screams it earned him as his half brother squirmed on the ground in excruciating pain. "Let this be a lesson that we will not allow you to hurt anyone ever again."

He turned his back to leave, while Kio's swears echoed in the stone dungeon. It mollified Kitsuki's dragon. He may not have been allowed to kill Kio, but that did not mean the half-shifter would escape unharmed. Kitsuki would do anything for the people he promised to protect.