Page 101 of His White Moonlight
Maybe I moved in my sleep.
You never have before, Wren.
Maybe I…
I scrambled for something, anything other than what I’d been trying to dismiss since the welcoming party.But I’d run out of excuses.My hand was touching the truth.
Bennett had slept next to me last night.And not because I was in his bed or there were no other beds in the house.But because I was his mate.The mate he was patiently waiting for.The mate slowly driving him insane.
The carefully crafted shard of delusion that had protected me from the truth shattered.With a whimper of denial, I desperately sought to recreate it.
I had to be wrong.I couldn’t be his mate.
My chest grew tighter, and breathing became harder.
Mates never parted.I would never be able to leave.
It can’t be me.I have plans.I wanted to go to University.Why me?
How long had he known?
That thought speared through me, and I remembered how, for as far back as I could remember, he’d always denied me as his sister.
And Mom and Dad had never scolded him for it.They’d always tried smoothing it over, telling me he still loved me.
He’d known since the beginning.They all had.
A pained sob broke through as I understood what that meant.
They’d only fostered me because I was Bennett’s mate.
The door banged open suddenly, and Bennett rushed in.He was still wearing the shorts from last night, and his hair was partially flattened on one side.Worry reflected in his gaze as he crossed the room.
“Wrenly, what’s wrong?”
When he tried reaching for me, I lost it.
“Don’t touch me!”I scrambled out of the bed, wheezing for air I couldn’t quite take in.
But he was faster, catching me by my arms.
“Wrenly, baby.You’re safe.”
With a scream that sounded more like a wounded animal than human, I covered my ears and slowly crumbled into a ball on the floor.
He kept talking to me, but I didn’t hear any of it.My panic was too loud.
It was all a lie.
They didn’t fall in love with me the first time they saw me.Bennett had.
I was a child bride.They’d raised me for Bennett.
They’d locked me away for Bennett.
I screamed, all my anger and hurt that I’d endured burning through me, ripping me apart.
Bennett stopped touching me.A second later, something stung my arm, snapping me out of my downward spiral.
