Page 25 of It's Kind of a Bunny Story
Fletcher gave her a fleeting smile, then grew serious. “I should have found ways to protect you better from my father and the rest of the council.”
“How many beatings did you get because of me? And yet you still slept beside the cage every night, even though you knew you’d be punished the following morning.” Charlee’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Do you think I didn’t notice when you wore long sleeves on hot days to hide the bruises? Or how you’d try to hide your pain from me when you walked? You are a shifter; your body would have healed superficial injuries. Whichcould only mean you were being dealt vicious injuries because of me.”
I tried to be patient while they had their moment, but I could no longer hold my tongue. “Your father is a councilman?”
“Yes. My father is on the council, and the burrow planned for me to take his position when he retired.”
“So you were in a position of power and allowed them to torture Charlee?” I gripped the arms of my chair, trying to keep myself from attacking him.
Rage flared in Fletcher’s eyes. “Of course not!” His spark of anger died as quickly as it had appeared. “The only reason I went along with the training was to find a way to change things. I wanted to be a voice of reason and optimistically believed others would want change as well. Turns out, I was wrong.”
“At least you tried.” Charlee leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
Fletcher shook his head in disgust. “I wanted things to be better for you and all the other women. It nearly killed me when I realized it would be impossible to get enough of the council on my side to vote in change.”
“They kicked you out?” Copeland asked, his tone sharp. “Is that why you helped Charlee escape? Because it was the only way you’d get to have her?”
A muscle in Fletcher’s jaw ticked, and he took his time before answering. “I helped Charlee escape because her heat was coming. If they weren’t able to break her will and get her to conform to the burrow’s ways before then, they’d decided she was to be silenced.”
The statement hit me like a physical blow. They were going to kill her because they couldn’t control her.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
“Besides, I didn’t have to leave to have her.” Fletcher’s words were so soft I barely heard them over the battle chant echoingin my mind. He met her eyes, then looked away. “The council offered to give you to me if I would fall in line and stop stirring up headaches during council meetings.”
“I’m not surprised. Women are nothing more than pawns. But why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice shook. “I was so caught up in my fears and life struggles. You always listened and comforted me, but you never told me what you were going through. I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been to go against the expectations of your father and the council.”
“Because you had enough to deal with. I didn’t want to add to your pain.” Fletcher tried to pull her from Copeland’s lap, but stopped when the wolf growled. Giving up, he caught her face between his hands and gently kissed her. “And I was too ashamed to admit I’d failed you.”
“You didn’t fail me,” Charlee rushed to assure him. “But why didn’t you accept their offer? You said you’d been in love with me long before we ran, so why not accept their offer?”
“Because you deserved more than that. Because I couldn’t let you stay around them for another day.” Fletcher’s shoulders sagged as though he were carrying the weight of the world on them, or perhaps just the weight of his memories and guilt.
Some of my anger eased. Okay, I wouldn’t kill him, just maim him a little.
“The council had to know one male wouldn’t have gotten her through her heat, so how was that offer going to work?” Copeland asked.
“In exchange for me accepting our customs and stopping fighting against the will of the council, they’d let me keep Charlee in my home—as long as I kept her under control and away from the other women who might be influenced by her ‘unbecoming’ behavior.” Fletcher’s lip curled in disgust as he said the last. “During her heat, she’d be available to the othermen, but outside of her heat, none of them would be allowed to touch her.”
“How generous,” I snarled, shoving to my feet and beginning to pace.
“Sadly, for the burrow, that was beyond generous—especially considering how little they thought of me.” Charlee seemed unfazed by her burrow’s latest atrocity. “For them to make this offer, it shows how much they respected, or feared, Fletcher’s influence.”
“It was their way of controlling both of us,” said Fletcher. “My father didn’t want to face the embarrassment of having his heir removed from future leadership. And since they couldn’t let me leave the burrow for fear of my telling the world how they were running things, I’d become a problem. You were the carrot they dangled in front of me in hopes of solving both their problems at once.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Charlee chewed her lip, trying to figure out why he’d hidden it.
“I’d like to know the answer to that as well.” Copeland’s voice was void of any emotion, and he watched Fletcher with the steady gaze of a predator on the prowl.
If he lost control and injured the male rabbit, it would break Charlee’s heart. I also knew I’d be unable to stop him, not when my bloodlust was simmering just under the surface.
“Because I knew you were tired and your body was giving out from the constant beatings. I was afraid you would agree to those terms because it was a slight improvement to the alternative.” Fletcher stared down at the floor. “And I knew I couldn’t stand by while they continued treating the rest of the women the same as they always had. But if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, they’d take you from me and punish you to keep me in line.”
“Oh, Fletcher!” Charlee sobbed, wrenching herself free from Copeland and throwing herself into Fletcher’s arms.
He crushed her against his chest. “And because I never wanted you to believe you were something that could be given and taken at their whim, as though you were nothing more than property on loan.”
Charlee’s sniffles shredded my soul. She’d gone through so much, and I was in awe of how much strength was packed into such a tiny body.
