Read Online Marisa Chenery by A Warrior to Love - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: A Warrior to Love
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ways, he wanted to take the choice from Alexis and just make her his. But he wouldn’t do that. He was a man of his word and he’d promised Anubis he wouldn’t force her to accept Konner as her mate.
It wasn’t long before Claudia had what looked close to a mountain of pancakes piled on a serving plate set in the middle of the table. She sat next to her husband and they all helped themselves to the food. The conversation flowed easily as they ate. There was no mistaking that Alexis was close to her parents. Konner found he liked the couple. They reminded him a lot of his parents.
Once breakfast was over, Alexis helped her mom with the washing up while Konner went into the living room with her father. They sat on the couch. Dean picked up the TV’s remote and turned it on. He switched channels until he stopped on a documentary that compared the First to the Second World War. Konner stiffened as memories of his time during the First World War rose to the surface of his mind. For the first couple of years after becoming a warrior of Anubis, he’d woken up every night with nightmares of what he’d gone through. They now called it post-traumatic stress disorder and soldiers were treated for it, but back in his day, men like him had no name for it and suffered through it alone.
The documentary came to a section about Gallipoli.
Konner couldn’t hold back a little growl as they showed pictures of the men in the trenches. He remembered all too well what it was like living in them. The filth, the stench of disease and the wounded and dying, who weren’t cleared away as they should have been.
Dean turned to look at him. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. It’s the subject matter that bothers me,” he said, barely holding back another growl as he motioned to the television. “Gallipoli was a bloody useless eight months. It turned out to be a disaster. A lot of Australian and New Zealand troops either lost their lives or were wounded. Their British officers were the ones to send most of them out of the trenches against the Turks to their deaths. It was a complete waste of time and men.
The officers were incompetent and had disregard for the wounded from poorly planned attacks.” Konner’s lip snarled as he said the last words.
“You’re pretty passionate about it. Someone would think you were there and lived through it.” Konner reined back the emotions that surged through him. He had to remember Dean didn’t know Konner had barely survived it. He cleared his throat.
“More than quite a few of my countrymen lost their lives there. I’ve done a lot of research into Gallipoli and the First World War.”
“So you’re a bit of a history buff, huh?”
“In some ways. It can be a touchy subject for me.”
“Then I’ll turn the channel,” Dean said with a smile.
“No point getting you all worked up. Besides, I think the girls will be finished in the kitchen soon.” No longer confronted with the images from his past, Konner felt the tension drain from his body. Alexis’
father had settled on a sports channel and watched all the updated scores for various teams. Konner barely paid it any attention. He wasn’t a sports fan.
Alexis and her mother came into the living room shortly after. Claudia sat in the armchair kitty-corner to the couch while Alexis took a seat on the sofa beside Konner. He had hoped to see her again in the latter part of the day after she finished working and before he had to go out on a night of hunting. But he didn’t think that would happen with her parents here.
Making the decision that it would be the best thing to leave so Alexis could visit with her parents without him hanging around, Konner stood. “I should go,” he said, then looked at Claudia. “Thanks for making me breakfast. And it was nice meeting you both.” He turned to Alexis. “Will you walk me out?”
“Sure,” she said.
Once they were out of sight of her parents, Konner tugged Alexis into his arms and
It wasn’t long before Claudia had what looked close to a mountain of pancakes piled on a serving plate set in the middle of the table. She sat next to her husband and they all helped themselves to the food. The conversation flowed easily as they ate. There was no mistaking that Alexis was close to her parents. Konner found he liked the couple. They reminded him a lot of his parents.
Once breakfast was over, Alexis helped her mom with the washing up while Konner went into the living room with her father. They sat on the couch. Dean picked up the TV’s remote and turned it on. He switched channels until he stopped on a documentary that compared the First to the Second World War. Konner stiffened as memories of his time during the First World War rose to the surface of his mind. For the first couple of years after becoming a warrior of Anubis, he’d woken up every night with nightmares of what he’d gone through. They now called it post-traumatic stress disorder and soldiers were treated for it, but back in his day, men like him had no name for it and suffered through it alone.
The documentary came to a section about Gallipoli.
Konner couldn’t hold back a little growl as they showed pictures of the men in the trenches. He remembered all too well what it was like living in them. The filth, the stench of disease and the wounded and dying, who weren’t cleared away as they should have been.
Dean turned to look at him. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. It’s the subject matter that bothers me,” he said, barely holding back another growl as he motioned to the television. “Gallipoli was a bloody useless eight months. It turned out to be a disaster. A lot of Australian and New Zealand troops either lost their lives or were wounded. Their British officers were the ones to send most of them out of the trenches against the Turks to their deaths. It was a complete waste of time and men.
The officers were incompetent and had disregard for the wounded from poorly planned attacks.” Konner’s lip snarled as he said the last words.
“You’re pretty passionate about it. Someone would think you were there and lived through it.” Konner reined back the emotions that surged through him. He had to remember Dean didn’t know Konner had barely survived it. He cleared his throat.
“More than quite a few of my countrymen lost their lives there. I’ve done a lot of research into Gallipoli and the First World War.”
“So you’re a bit of a history buff, huh?”
“In some ways. It can be a touchy subject for me.”
“Then I’ll turn the channel,” Dean said with a smile.
“No point getting you all worked up. Besides, I think the girls will be finished in the kitchen soon.” No longer confronted with the images from his past, Konner felt the tension drain from his body. Alexis’
father had settled on a sports channel and watched all the updated scores for various teams. Konner barely paid it any attention. He wasn’t a sports fan.
Alexis and her mother came into the living room shortly after. Claudia sat in the armchair kitty-corner to the couch while Alexis took a seat on the sofa beside Konner. He had hoped to see her again in the latter part of the day after she finished working and before he had to go out on a night of hunting. But he didn’t think that would happen with her parents here.
Making the decision that it would be the best thing to leave so Alexis could visit with her parents without him hanging around, Konner stood. “I should go,” he said, then looked at Claudia. “Thanks for making me breakfast. And it was nice meeting you both.” He turned to Alexis. “Will you walk me out?”
“Sure,” she said.
Once they were out of sight of her parents, Konner tugged Alexis into his arms and
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