Page 12 of Wolf's Endgame

“Neither did I!”

Landon moved into my space, his hand around my throat, and it was so similar to the day in Cannon’s study, that I froze at the similarity. “Your human friend wasn’t quiet when he boasted about parting those thighs, Kez, so be very careful what you choose to lie to me about.”

Did he know about Vance? Searching his eyes, I forced myself not to look past him to the camera. “I’ve never slept with a human,” I said carefully, hating how vulnerable I sounded. “I kissed one. Once.”

Landon snorted and made a big show of turning away from me. “A human? A filthy human? And yet you reject me?”

“I’ve never rejected you!” I blurted and stumbled back at how quickly he turned around, looming over me. I froze as he pressed his lips to mine.

“See, Kez,” he said when he drew back. “This can just be a stumble in our road. We’re meant to be together.”

I almost told him he was batshit crazy, but I felt the small nip at my hip as Landon pinched my side before he stepped back.

“I need more time.” I licked my lips as I watched him, trying to rid the taste of him. “After everything, I still don’t know what’s happening. I need time…to come to terms with this.”

It wasn’t a lie. I would need time. Hell, I’d need eternity.

“How much time?”

“I’m not a machine,” I snapped more testily than I intended. I felt a surge of relief when I saw his lips twitch, but I forced myself not to react to him. “I need time.”

“Fine.”

“And my brother.”

Landon cocked his head and shook it slowly. “You were doing so well, Kez. Time to grieve? I get it. Time to adjust to the new pack life? Fine, I can give you that. But you don’t make demands of me, understand?”

This was the same character he had played in Cannon’s study. Once more, I was reeling, not sure who I was seeing in front of me. The character Landon the Asshole or my friend Landon? I shouldn’t push it until I knew which one was the real one.

Good mature advice, I told myself.

“He’s my brother.” I was also shit at taking advice.

Landon let out a long sigh and flicked the light switch off. “Get in bed. I need to sleep.”

I stayed on the spot until I was lifted off my feet and dropped onto the bed. “You weigh nothing,” he grumbled as I felt the bed dip. “Three weeks of starving yourself has not made you attractive, babe.”

My foot connected with his shin at the same time as my fist dug into his gut. I heard Landon’s oomph, but I realized a moment later it was laughter.

“You hit like a newborn pup.” Pulling me across the mattress, Landon curled me into the shape of his body, spooning me, careful never to touch the chain or cuff of silver at my wrist. “Kiss goodnight?”

“Fuck off.”

Landon laughed loudly, tugging me closer. “Go to sleep.”

Lying stiff and unresponsive in his arms, I almost sobbed with relief when I felt his lips at my ear. “That was good, Kez. Stay strong for them.”

I don’t think either of us slept. I was too alert, my body wired for anything else fucked up to happen to me. I knew from his breathing that Landon was awake too, but neither of us acknowledged the other, and I hoped whoever was watching was fooled. At some point during the few hours that we lay there, Landon moved onto his back, and I curled tighter into a ball, relieved not to be touching him anymore.

When the first rays of morning shone through the window, Landon rolled out of bed and stretched. He let me pretend to be asleep as he slipped out of the room, and only when he was gone, the door closed and the sound of a key turning, did I succumb to a fitful sleep.

He was back in the room when I woke, and watched me avidly as I sat in the chair and ate the broth he had brought with him. If what he said was correct, he wanted out of this situation as much as I did, and to do that, he needed me strong. So, I ate. The soup felt heavy and greasy in my belly, but I kept eating, and having known the male in front of me for so long, I recognized it when the tension left his shoulders.

“Where’s the shaman?” I asked when the soup was finished.

Landon looked surprised that I asked. “With the pack, where he always is.”

He was still here? Alive?

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