Page 25 of Broken Trust

Atlas slipped from the bed, knelt in front of Kellen, and gripped his wrists. “Stop, Kellen. You don’t have to relive this.”

His mate gave him a watery smile. “I have to, sweetheart. You’ll never have any trust in me if I stay closed off. We’ll never work, and there’s nothing more I want than to be everything you need me to be.”

Atlas threw his arms around Kellen and held him, rocking his giant in his arms. How Atlas wished those images weren’t in his head anymore, but Kellen had lived it, and they had shaped who he became.

Now it made sense why Colt had lost his shit when he saw the bruises on Atlas’s neck. He’d been thrown into the past, had thought his brother hurt Atlas, and was ready to kill him.

“If your kind mature at seventy or one hundred, why—”

“She’d spent decades twisting our minds,” he said as he curled his arms around Atlas, talking into his shoulder. “She never let Jared out of her sight. I think she knew the day was coming when I’d make the decision to leave, and she was right. But Colt and I refused to go anywhere without Jared.”

Atlas kept swallowing, the lump in his throat burning so hot that he wasn’t sure how he held back his tears. “You can’t blame yourself for what you were forced to do.”

“There are times I can’t even look at my brother because I hate myself for the pain I put him through, and I know a part of him hates me for doing it.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Atlas repeated. “You’re not a bad man, Kellen.”

The guy chuckled, but it was void of humor. “Tell that to the man who looks back at me in the mirror. I can’t even commit to a relationship because I’m afraid of becoming just like her, of manipulating the person to get what I want.”

That explained all of Kellen’s hookups. That had to be a lonely existence. Everyone, human or other, just wanted someone to share their life with.

“I did fall in love once.”

That surprised Atlas. “You did?”

“Eighty years ago. I jumped through hoops to make him happy, because I was terrified of becoming my mother. Only it was Gerald who manipulated me, cheated on me, and told me he needed a real man, not someone soft and pathetic. After that, I closed off my heart and simply flirted my way into a guy’s bed, never committing to anyone again.”

From that day forward, Kellen had made it all about sex. But whether the guy wanted to admit it or not, Atlas knew that his mate just wanted someone to love him, someone to connect with on a deeper level than just physical attraction and sexual gratification.

If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have shared any of that with Atlas.

“Gerald was an asshole who didn’t deserve you,” Atlas said. “Anyone would be damn lucky to have you in their life.”

Atlas was. They might have a lot of things to overcome, but he was glad he’d met Kellen.

“I can’t even let myself be vulnerable enough to make friends,” Kellen said. “I have very few of them, only because they wouldn’t let me shut them out.”

“You let me in,” Atlas reminded him.

“And look how I’ve handled that,” Kellen replied. “I know how to protect you. I know how to do simple things like rub your back or hold you. I even know how to please you in bed. I just don’t think I know how to connect with you.”

Atlas held Kellen tighter. “You already have. It sounds crazy, but when we argue, you show me that you care. You wouldn’t bother trying if you didn’t.”

Kellen wept into Atlas’s shoulder, and Atlas had a feeling the guy hadn’t cried since he was a kid. He simply rocked Kellen, letting his mate know that he was there for him and that it was okay to be vulnerable with each other. Atlas would never look at Kellen as soft or pathetic. He was the strongest man Atlas knew. Look what he had survived.

When his mate started to settle down, Atlas asked, “What happened to Jared and your mom?”

Kellen’s hands tightened into fists behind Atlas. “I don’t want to tell you. I don’t want you to look at me as a monster.”

“Baby, that’s not going to happen, especially after what she did to all three of you.” Life in prison wouldn’t have been good enough for fifteen decades of abuse she’d made them suffer through. Atlas would never raise a hand to a woman, but in that moment, he wanted to beat her ass.

His mate let out a shuddering breath, his face still buried in Atlas’s neck. “She went too far with Jared. Colt and I found him in a cage inside a shed that didn’t have any heat. She’d put him there the night before to teach him some kind of lesson. It was the dead of winter.”

Atlas was sickened at what she’d done. He ran his hands through Kellen’s hair, trying his best to bring his mate some level of comfort. But what kind of comfort could anyone take when reliving something so horrific? Hearing what Kellen had been through made Atlas’s problems seem trivial in comparison.

“We buried him, and then Colt took off in his wolf form. I had no idea where he’d gone and looked for him for nearly thirty years before I finally let it go. I knew he was running from his past as much as I was,” Kellen said. “Then three years ago, I ran across him in some biker bar sloppy drunk. He didn’t even recognize me. I brought him home, and he’s been living here ever since.”

Atlas ran his hands over Kellen’s broad shoulders. “And your mom?”

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