Page 71 of Betrayed

“That’s exactly whatIthought,”Connorsays. “SoIpretended to beKane.Ididn’t mean for anything to come of it—Ireally didn’t.Ithought you deserved to have a big brother who cared about you for a change.”Heshrugs. “SoIpretended to be that brother.”

“But then you came to see me and kept pretending,”Ipointed out.

“I know—Ishouldn’t have done that,”Connoradmits, andIcan see the contrition in his pale eyes. “Butin my defense,Ireally only meant to stay an hour and have a piece of your famous pie.ThenIwas going to move on and let you believe that your big brother was happy and doing well.Butthen you insisted thatIstay the night.”

“Yes,Idid, didn’tI?”Inod reluctantly. “Ijust felt so…so drawn to you,”Iadmit to him. “Thoughnot exactly in a sisterly way.”

“No, clearly not,” he says dryly. “I’msorry about that, too—making you think you were, uh, doing sexual things with your own brother.”

“You neverfeltlike my brother though,”Itell him. “Ithink, deep down,Iknew you weren’t.Ijust wanted to be close to you.”

“I felt the same way.”Hecups my cheek in one hand. “Tobe honest, baby,Ithink you might be myFatedMate, even thoughRogueAlphaslike me usually don’t have mates.”

“FatedMate?”Ifrown. “Whatdoes that mean?”

“It means you’re the one woman in the world who’s meant just for me.AndI’mthe one man in the world for you,” he tells me. “Ican tell you that myWolfcertainly thinks you’re our mate.Hewas miserable whenIhad to leave you.”

“So yourWolf…likes me?”Iremember the huge silver wolf, as big as a pony, fightingKane’sWolfto keep me safe.

“He loves you…and so doI,”Connorsays in a low voice. “Iprobably shouldn’t say that, butIcan’t help it—it’s howIfeel.It’showI’vefelt from the first minuteIpicked your letter out of the trash and read it.”

“Oh,Connor…”Myheart swells but there’s still somethingIhave to know. “I’msorry,”Itell him. “Iwant to let myself feel the same way for you that you feel for me butIhave to know…why were you in prison in the first place?Wasit really for…for murder?”

He nods soberly.

“It was.I’mafraid it has to do with my little sister,Bethany.”

“Oh, the one who…who died?”Iask softly.

He nods again.

“She killed herself.AfteraWerenamedRodgerBucklyraped her.”Hisvoice grows hard and his eyes flash. “Thefucker thought he could get away with it!Ifound out what had happened afterBethanykilled herself—Iread her diary,” he adds. “AndIwent after him.Hedidn’t even try to deny it!”

“Oh myGod, that’s awful!”Iexclaim. “I’mso sorry,Connor!”

He shrugs grimly.

“What’s done is done.Ikilled him and was brought up before theWereTribunalfor judgment.That’skind of like going to court for a human,” he adds in explanation.

“So what happened?Couldn’tyou tell them why you did it?”Iask.

“I did,”Connorsays. “AndIshowed themBethany’sdiary too.Theyjudged that it was a righteous killing—that meansIhad the right to take his life for what he’d done to a female in my family.Butany time you take a life outside of the right boundaries in theWereworld, you have to pay the price.Theyordered me to spend three years in prison as punishment…”Heraises his hands. “Whichis howIwound up locked in a cell with your brother in the first place.”

It all makes sense now.Iunderstand why he killed the man who raped his sister.Idon’t blame him a bit for it, either.

“I don’t blame you for what you did,”Itell him. “Youmust have been so angry and sad after losing your little sister.”

“I was—BethanyandIwere really close, especially after our parents passed,” he says in a low voice. “That’sone reasonIwrote back to you,Ithink.Iwas angry thatKanejust didn’t give a shit about his own little sister whenImissed mine so much.”

“Oh,Connor…”IwishIcould hug him.Ireach for him butIcan’t help wincing when the towel rubs against my breasts.

Connor sees my expression and seems to know the cause right away.

“I’m sorry, baby—Ipromised youI’dtake care of you and hereIam just talking.Here, let me see those.”

He opens my towel andIlet him—it feels right to let him take care of me now.Mybreasts are way too full and still leaking the sticky nectar.

“Let me help you,”Connorsays softly.Thenhe takes one of my nipples in his mouth and starts to suck.

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