The Lost One

Chapter 42

Aislinn was quickly losing her patience. Her past meant that she could put up with a lot. She could endure endless hours of physical and verbal abuse. She had suffered and withstood numerous years of psychological torture, conditioning and manipulation. She had survived five years in virtual isolation mentally withdrawn and shut down. She could easily deal with threats and physical violence. She had withstood the teasing, ridicule and the demeaning taunts of weak humans without even bending.

But what she was quickly discovering was that she could not handle Sergio Salvatori.

Alpha Salvatori looked like his son. Looking between them it was easy to see where Kaiden had gotten his good looks and impressive build from. Dark, tall and broad the Salvatori Alpha was the epitome of power, strength and masculinity. He had the looks and strength of his son but where Kaiden was just coming into his appearance and power his father had it aged and refined to perfection. There was nothing soft or cautious about the man. He was someone used to getting his way, and expceted nothing less.

Aislinn had met bad men before. She was determined to hunt down and destroy some of the worst of their kind. She would face them down, those that had been responsible for every pain and heartbreak in her life with perfect control. She would not flinch or hesitate. They would elicit nothing from her but cold vengeance.

This was not the case here.

Ten minutes into the dinner it became clear that the hate and rage she felt for those other men was only a pale flicker against the rising inferno of absolute loathing she was beginning to harbor for her mates father. She had only managed to endure the man so far by imaging every possible way she could kill him. At the moment she was favoring disembowelment, courtesy of the sharp blade tucked in her sleeve. Her fingers were itching to whip it out and cut the foul man's tongue from his head.

Since stepping one foot in the door the man had effectively done nothing but criticize, demean, threaten, belittle and make ridiculous demands of his son. She conceded that it had been mildly entertaining when Kaiden had introduced Vance to his father as the Alpha of Pack Silva. He had actually been rendered speechless for a couple of minutes. It had been bliss.

But that incident aside the entire experience had been far less then enjoyable. They were all beginning to be on edge. Having to sit and listen passively as your Alpha is openly insulted while in your house on your own territory does not go over well.

Aislinn knew that Austin and Clay were each only holding on by a thread and at the moment they were both seriously considering breaking Kaiden's Alpha command and jumping the table to throttle Kaiden's brother, Anthony with their napkins - who had been more than happy to aide and egg on their father's non-stop rants. Not to mention he made sure not to miss any opportunity to get in his own jabs at his older brother whenever he could.

And she was almost positive she could actually hear Blair's teeth grinding together from across the table.

Olivia was the least effected by the progressing drama, she was just sitting watching Aislinn expectantly an amused expression on her face.

The Salvatori Luna was doing what she could to try and diffuse the situation but her mate was having none of it. From the little she had been able to observe of the woman, Aislinn found she harbored no ill wishes for the Luna. The woman seemed to be the singular spot of sanity, morality, compassion and decency in the entire pack.

Yes. Aislinn thought as she scanned the table again trying to not hear as Kaiden's father made a rather disgusting suggestion about his son. The Luna and the youngest of the Salvatori children would be excused from the guilt of their father.

Suddenly her head whipped back around to the end of the table where Kaiden sat at the head with Vance on one side and his father on the other. A growl ripped its way out of her throat as the words clicked together. She had ignored most of what she had heard and had tried to block out the rest, as her mate had asked, but this was too far.