Page 26 of Exiled Mate

I growl. “So you’re implying he’s manipulating me?”

“What I’m saying, Terra, is that I know Chet. Our fathers were really close. He experienced a lot of the same trauma that I did from having a dad who is a gambling addict. I know how much it hurt him when his dad spent all their money on slots or cards instead of food.”

My eyes narrow. Of course Thorne believes this Chet guy. He thinks he knows Chet because he knows himself. And he thinks Chet is the same.

He’s never going to believe Rylan. Not without proof.

“Rylan isn’t lying, Thorne.”

“Did he tell you what happened last time?”

“Yes.” I nod. “Chet framed him for taking money from the pack’s bank accounts.”

“We have witnesses,” Thorne growls.

“It’s not true. Whatever happened, Chet must have set him up.”

Thorne shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“You don’t know him, Thorne. Rylan wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I don’t know him, you’re right,” he says. “But I do know Chet. And I know that he would never do something like that, especially to a pack member.”

“You must not know him as well as you think you do,” I say under my breath.

Thorne stares at me for a minute. “If I had some evidence…”

“He’s not lying. I swear,” I protest.

“I understand how you feel. But I’m telling you that I can’t make that assessment without evidence. Without that, I can’t prove or disprove anything, and I have to go on my gut,” Thorne says.

“That’s reasonable. Thank you for your time, Alpha,” I say calmly.

He nods. “You can’t help him, Terra. He can’t come back, and I can’t have someone who harbors an enemy of the pack as someone in the pack.”

I nod. “I understand, Thorne.”

“Then we’re clear.”

I smile. I’m clear about one thing and one thing only. In order to clear Rylan’s name, we need evidence. Proof that he isn’t lying. Proof that Chet is the one who manipulated him. Not the other way around.

I hold out my hand to shake Thorne’s. “We’re clear, Alpha. As crystal.”

Chapter 8

Rylan

Irun to the little trailer that I’ve been staying in, just outside of the pack lands. It’s far enough that I meet the letter of Thorne’s decree, if not the spirit.

He wants me far, far away from here. But I can’t do that. Not right now. Not when I was so close to having Terra…

And lost her. Again.

Shifting, I walk inside the old silver structure. It shakes with my weight like it has every time, but so far, it hasn’t fallen apart.

Today might be the day, considering how everything is falling apart.

I can’t believe that went so badly with Thorne.

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