Kael's POV
My hands clench into fists by my side but my voice is carefully neutral. “Is that so? Maybe we should swing by your old pack. I’ll pluck their eyes out. If they wouldn’t let you read, they shouldn’t be able to, either.”
“Wh–what?”
Elara’s shocked voice has me pausing, and I glance down at her.
“What?”
“That’s—”
She struggles to find the right word, so I cut her off.
“Cruel? Monstrous?” I ask casually. “That is what I am. You should get used to it.”
I expect her to look a little fearful. Instead, she narrows her eyes and mutters, “I know you’re a jerk most of the time. Don’t know about the other two things.”
“Jerk?”
I give her an offended look.
“I hunt for you every day. I cook for you. I even let your feline use me as a scratching post.”
She blinks, and to my surp
