Page 5 of Truth or Lie

Alex dragged her eyes away from the fire, looking down at her scarred left hand. She flexed her fingers, bending and straightening them—doubtless taking in the stark red lines etched into her skin where the surgeons had implanted rods and pins to stabilize the crushed bones.

I chewed on my lower lip, aware of how selfish this next part was going to sound. “When the Montreal police dragged me out of my bed in the middle of the night and tossed me into a cell to await Committee extradition, I was more alone than I’ve ever been in my life. I wanted someone to comfort me more than I wanted my next breath of air. When you came, I didn’t believe it was real. If we’d been mated, maybe I would have known that it was.”

And if the others hadn’t been able to get to me, I would have died a horrible death at the Committee’s hands, leaving my mates as distraught as Alex had been after she lost her bond with Irina. Yet I still wanted that connection with a desperate longing.

Like I said—selfish.

Kam took my hand and squeezed it.

Finally, Alex looked up. “I can’t give you that.” Her catlike gaze shifted from me to Kam. “Either of you. But I suppose I also can’t begrudge the others a taste of that bond. It’s... like a drug, in some ways. I can only hope that they—and you—never find out firsthand what the withdrawal is like when it’s unexpectedly taken away.”

Kam’s hand clutched mine convulsively. I tangled our fingers together and held tight, knowing that Alex’s decision wasn’t fair to him. Whether he was ready to admit it or not, Kam was falling in love with our recalcitrant female alpha. Her rejection of him had cut him to the quick. I wanted to argue more on his behalf—to drive home the point that she couldn’t have that kind of psychic bond with him anyway, so there wouldn’t be anything to lose.

Maybe, for her, that wasn’t the point.That part of me was broken a long time ago,she’d said. Who was I to tell her she was wrong about her own psyche? I ached on my odama’s behalf, though.

“I understand,” I said, even though it was a lie. How could anyone come to know Kam and not fall in love with him?

“You don’t,” Alex replied, sounding tired. “And I pray you never do. You should go tell the others the news. I’ll check on Beckett and give him your regards.”

Kam let my hand drop. “You’ll still be there for Leona’s heat, though? Won’t you?”

Alex shook her head. “I was only present to play referee before—to make sure no one stepped out of line in the passion of the moment. You don’t need me around if you’re already planning to mate them.”

I held my breath. Alex had done alotmore than play referee during my last two heats.

“What if wewantyou there?” Kam asked, his tone carefully level.

There was a beat of heavy tension.

“I’m sorry.” She rose abruptly, the chair legs scraping on brick. “I can’t.”

And then she was striding across the balcony, disappearing through the door like a shadow.

“Well,fuck,” I said, with feeling.

THREE

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