A limp.

That's what people said about Mia Guerriero when they saw her. She had a broken leg that couldn't help her walk straight. Anyone that passed her judged with that look in their eyes that screamed pity and remorse, but deep down they were grateful that they weren't a limp like her. She didn't understand why people acted to understand her struggle when they never would. She wasn't fragile, she just had a brace attached to her leg that kept her from falling down before every step she took. She tried every day to get up and walk despite the pain in her leg. However, Mia knew that she would never share this pain with anyone.

No one needed that burden of how she could barely look at herself in the mirror. The scars on her body reminded her of the night she lost everything. Lucas Waldorf showed up at their house demanding the property that belonged to her father. But her father refused and she remembered the vile look on that evil man's face. He set those eyes on Mia before he left. She never thought that he'd return with his pack and kill her family and beat her until she was broken. She couldn't protect herself or her family. Mia almost wished that she died herself that night. She should have taken her life before those men found her.

But she was too weak, she couldn't slit her own throat. She just fell to the floor when her mother and father and brother were slaughtered before her eyes. She screamed as their blood pooled beneath her. The next thing she knew, she had woken up in the hospital weeks later. Kade, her big brother by her side. He held her as she cried from the horrors she witnessed.

She believed that she must have committed a great sin in her past life to deserve this pain. There wasn't any other reason that could explain why her family was targeted. Demons existed and they walked amongst her as people, she didn't believe that until now.

Angels walk with us too; her wolf spoke gently.

Kade, Mia thought as she wiped her tears away. Her brother was her guardian. She spoke to him rudely and regretted it. But she was afraid that he'd get lost in this darkness and become the people they hate. She can't let her brother walk on this path of revenge. He should find peace and they should return to Italy; their home and move on from this vendetta, because it wouldn't heal their broken hearts or revive their family. This won't save them from their pain that they both have buried deep down. Killing the people that did this to them won't help Mia forget the eyes of all the men that broke her spirit.

"Mia," Nikolai called out behind her.

Mia hadn't realized how far she walked off, she had already reach the other side of the house. She slammed into another table with a vase that went crashing to the floor before her. Nikolai's hands caught her.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed as disgust filled her and she dropped to the ground, the shards of the glass cutting her hands. She took a few deep breaths and slouched against the wall in defeat. "Oh god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she trembled.

Nikolai bent down to her level. "It's fine, bambina. You're safe."

Mia's tears wouldn't stop. "Where's Kade?" She sniffled her nose as she looked at Nikolai's grey eyes.

"He's probably plotting murder," Nikolai jested.

Mia sighed wiping her bloody hands on her jeans. "How do I stop him?" she asked.

"He's doing all of this for you," Nikolai said.

"I know," Mia answered gently. "But I don't want him to kill anyone." Blood cannot be erased or forgotten.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Nikolai said. He put his arm around her waist and under her knees, lifting her off the floor in a swift move.

She stayed in his arms as they went to one of the elevators that were installed for her to use. They stepped in and the doors closed taking them to the second floor. Nikolai went to her room and put her down on the chair by the fireplace. He went to the bathroom and took out the first-aid kit under the sink and sat with her.

"I'll do it," Mia said.

Nikolai took out the cotton and soaked it with antiseptic spray. "And let me go back to Kade and my gloomy brother earlier than I have to," he remarked. "Yeah, I'd rather stay here."

Mia laughed despite the pain in her heart, which was something only Nikolai could accomplish. "Thanks," she said as he gave her that cheeky smile.

Nikolai blew on her scrapped hands as he wiped the blood off, but it didn't hurt nor did it sting. Falling like this was constant for her, at this point, she was used to the cuts and bruises. Besides, getting beaten to death perhaps voided all other pain inflicted on her body.

"Mia," Nikolai called out after he bandaged her hands. She looked at his stern eyes that revealed the dangerous wolf that he was always. "Let Kade get revenge." Mia didn't interrupt him. "None of us were there when you were almost killed. This is our way of-" There was a knock on the door of her bedroom, she was sure it was Dario.

"Can I come in?"

Mia's head turned at the voice of her brother. "You don't need to ask," she said.

Kade stepped in, weapons strapped to his body and on every part of him, it was intimidating for people who weren't used to this yet. But Mia had seen her brother gear up for battle many times. Nikolai cleaned up and left the room, closing the door behind him as Kade sat beside her.

"I'm sorry-" They both stared at each other when they blurted out their apology.

"I never intended to hurt you," Kade said.

"Me either," Mia added. "I'm just worried about you."

"That's fair," Kade admitted as he raked his dark hair back then glanced at her hands. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Mia said as she put her hands on her lap. "The man in our basement. Who is he?"

"Alexander Waldorf," Kade answered, his jaw tightened rigidly. "He's that man's son."

The man who attacked our family, thought Mia. "And what do you plan on doing with him?" she asked. Uncertainty flashed within her brother's green eyes, which was something she never saw before. Her brother was a man who never moved with hesitation. He always had a plan and never gave up his focus for anything or anyone. What was it about this prisoner that made her brother anxious? she wondered. "I want to see this man," Mia said. "Take me to him."

"Is that really what you want?" Kade asked firmly.

Mia got to her feet. "Yes," she answered because she needed to see that man's son herself to see who was born to such a terrible person.

She followed her brother outside her room and into the elevator all the way to the basement level of the house. She didn't hesitate in her steps, because the moment she did, Kade would turn around and walk right out of here with her. She needed to stay strong and face this monster that was the son of the man who stole their lives.

Kade gestured to the guards and they unlocked the door to the cellar. She never came down here and now she knew why her brother didn't allow her.

The heavy metal door opened and Mia stepped inside with Kade. A man was standing by the window where the light of the sun beamed its rays onto him.

"I thought visiting hours were over," his voice sounded amused.

"You and your smart mouth," Kade grumbled.

Mia tried to get a better look, but the sun didn't let her. It was only when the man spotted her that he stepped out of the light. He was dressed in a shirt that was distressed and slacks over his rugged and toned body. She saw his tousled dark hair and chiselled face that was handsome with its symmetrical cheekbones and rigid jawline. The lashes surrounding his piercing blue gaze were long and thick, she didn't sense danger from that gaze. This man didn't have that sinister look like Lucas Waldorf had that day.

Mia approached the cage, seeing him locked behind it like an auction animal. "Lucas Waldorf was your father," she mumbled as she leaned her head back to face his eyes.

"He was never a father," Alexander answered.

Mia witnessed a hidden hollow pain in this man's eyes like he carried a burden just like her brother. "Kade probably told you about our family," she said.

The man took a deep breath and straightened to his towering height. "He did," he said. "Are you-"

"I'm Mia, his sister," she told him.

"Mia," he said her name like he heard it before. "Goddamnit, Vadik." He hung his head and cursed.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he denied. "Kade told me your past already."

Mia looked back at her brother. "He told you that your father killed my family in front of my eyes and then beat me until my body was broken."

The prisoner's eyes flashed with guilt and pain for her. "I should've killed him sooner," he grumbled.

"You were the one who killed him?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "I slaughtered him and his followers the night I returned to this city."

"Why would you do that?" she questioned.

"Lucas wasn't my family," he told her but his eyes drifted back to Kade. "I never worked with him. I lived in Russia most my life, away from my father. Whatever he did to you and your family, I didn't know about it otherwise I would've stopped him."

Mia stared into this man's eyes and discovered his heavy turmoil. Being born to a father who was nothing less than a monster must have been hard. The saying was true; 'not everyone deserved to be a parent even though it was easy to have kids'. Mia and her wolf both saw Kade in this man. Both of the men trapped in their torment. One carrying his father's death on his shoulders and the other being the cause of his father's death.

"Do you have any family?" she asked him wondering what he'd tell her or whether he'd say the truth or not.

"I have a brother," he answered without hesitation. "I also had a sister."

She stared at him curiously. "Had?"

"Natalia," he said. "She took her own life."

Mia looked back at Kade who held the same expression as her. Both of them were caught off guard to hear that from this man. She never thought that Lucas Waldorf could have a daughter after the way he treated Mia and her family.

"What happened?" Mia thought she asked that question, but it was actually Kade who said it before her.

His blue gaze locked onto Kade. "Lucas didn't approve of her fated mate," he answered them. "He killed him in front of her and locked her up forcing her to marry another man. But before they took her to the mating ritual, she hung herself."

Mia caught the anguish on Alexander's face. "I'm sorry," she said, her heart ached as she understood his sister's fears of mating a random man rather than her own mate. Lucas had done the same to Mia forcing himself on her and when she declined, he hurt her like a pitiful man that he was.

Perhaps, Natalia was stronger than Mia. At least she was able to take her own life rather than be tortured in the hands of evil. May her soul rest in peace with their goddess.

"Mia," Kade's warning tone was enough to tell her that her time was up.

Mia looked at the man one more time. She understood his position and hoped that perhaps they'd be a better way to solve the feud between them. "I'm sorry about your sister, Alexander," she said.

"Alec, just Alec," he said.

Mia gave a small nod that he saw before she left to Kade's side and the exited the room returning to the top floor, where Dario and Nikolai were waiting together for them.

"We have location on our target," Dario spoke to Kade.

"Let's head out," Kade said and joined them, but then he turned back. "Mia-"

"Be safe," she smiled at him. "I'll be in my room."

Kade kissed her forehead and left with his two friends. Mia always worried for her brother and those two, they got themselves in trouble but she knew that they had each other's back.

"Madam, will you be needing anything?" A maid asked her.

"No, thanks, Tess," she said and walked to her room alone.

She reached her bedroom and changed out of her clothes and gave the bloody ones to a maid. She put on a simple white dress and curled up on the chair near the fireplace with a book in her hand. However, each time, she read a sentence her mind drifted. She looked up at the fireplace mantle where a ballerina figurine stood. She even gave up that dream after breaking her leg. There was no chance for her to learn ballet with a broken leg.

She got up and crossed the room to open the balcony doors for some fresh air, when she remembered that she left them open last night too. But they were closed this morning, which was strange, or perhaps she closed them before bed.

Pushing the curtains further apart, she opened the double doors widely and let in the warm sun and the cool breeze. Mia turned and spotted the tread marks of shoes on the floor. She froze in her tracks and wondered who came into her room. She remembered the alarm rang yesterday, perhaps the guards checked her room and closed the balcony doors themselves.

That must be it, she thought as she walked off to her seat again.

Putting up her knees, she sat under a soft blanket with her book open but her eyes kept drifting back to the shoe marks. An unusual desire ran through her body, like it was possessive. She never experienced anything like it before. Last night, a scent came to her that was as dark as the night itself. She remembered the deep notes of pine and flames that were intense like the beams of the sun on her body right now. No one in the house had that scent, she believed wholeheartedly. A fragrance that beckoned her to a dark and dangerous place. She didn't understand what this was, her body felt hot and sensitive.

Mia closed her eyes and wondered if she was just tired after everything that happened. She leaned her head back when a pair of eyes flashed in front of her. She jerked, snapping her eyes open realizing that she was still in her own room and alone.

Those eyes, she thought. Green or were they blue? She couldn't recall. Perhaps, she was mistaken. A dream. It must be a dream. This house was protected by guards, there was no way that a man could come into her room. Those shoe prints must've been just a guard checking security when the alarm went off.

Mia called a maid for a cup of tea, which arrived briskly. She tried not to think about that scent or those eyes. Distracting herself with her book, she snuggled under the warm sunlight with the scent of lavender from her tea. She wondered if her brother was okay? She wasn't sure how long the mission would last this time. This wasn't her first time experiencing this, she'd seen her brother go on missions and come back injured many times. But Dario and Nikolai were with him, they always had his back.

Time passed and the sun set as Mia had dinner alone and was waiting in her bedroom for her family to return. But those eyes and that scent hadn't left her thoughts despite all her efforts.