Page 20 of Brutal Mate

“Can you blame me? I can sense why you're here.”

Jack sighed deeply and shook his head. “I spoke to the Peters family last night, but when I came to talk to you, you'd already gone out on patrol. You know you didn’t have to be out there all night?”

Kane shrugged and said, “My wolf needed the extra run. What happened with the Peterses?”

He cringed, already sensing he wasn't going to like the answer.

“Mr. Peters took the deal,” Jack announced. “Miley is to marry one of my men. And as it was you who encouraged me to take such a deal, I think that man should be you.”

Though he had already suggested so once before, it still took Kane by surprise. When he had encouraged Jack to think more about the deal as rescuing Miley from her awful parents, the last thing on his mind had been himself or whoever would be forced into marrying her.

“I can't!” he exclaimed in a gut reaction. How could he marry a human? What if they had children, and their children turned out to be human? It would raise all kinds of questions about his own birth—or lack thereof—as a werewolf.

He had gone so many years with the secret, his pack would hate him all the more for keeping it from them.

Shit! He cursed himself. Miley was only nineteen. She was practically still a kid. Who was to say she would even want to mate with him? Hell, who was to say he would want to mate with her?

Sure, she was beautiful, and the second his wolf had seen her in that hardware store, something had happened deep inside him, but he forced the thought of it away quickly.

“I can't ask this of any of my other men, Kane,” Jack said, his voice low and sympathetic. “If you care about her, you'll take the plunge.”

Kane ground his teeth and closed his eyes. Could he really do that? Was it really that easy?

Through his gritted teeth, he asked, “Can't we just play along?”

He felt Jack stiffen beside him. “Excuse me?”

Kane opened his eyes and looked at the alpha. “Can't we just play along long enough to get Miley away from her parents and then dispense with the idea of forcing her into a marriage she doesn't want?”

Jack's gaze darkened. “As much as I hate the traditional practice of arranged marriages, we werewolves are men of our word, and I have given the Peterses my word that one of my men will marry their daughter.”

Kane opened his mouth to try and talk his way out of it again, but Jack shook his head and continued, “It can't be me. I already have Bonnie. And Zander has Layla. Will is nowhere near to settling down and mating for life, and can you honestly imagine her with Eddie?”

“I wouldn't wish a lifetime of his horrid jokes on anyone,” Kane admitted, laughing. Then he asked, “What about Hanson?”

He knew it was a foolish question, and he also already knew why it was a no-go but still, he had to ask.

“Hanson has proven himself time and again, but he's still far too new to the pack to ask this of him,” Jack sighed and shook his head. “It's down to you, Kane, or I must break my word, and I do not wish to do that. I will not be made a liar.”

Kane dipped his head. Jack was right, even if he didn’t like it. He had nobody to blame but himself. He had been the one to suggest Jack take the deal in the first place. And yet, just imagining the way that Miley would look at him when she found out made him feel sick.

She was so beautiful, so young, so innocent. And, it turned out, about to be his bride, whether she liked it or not.

He closed his eyes and hung his head, thinking of how the hell he was going to make this work. He had never seen himself having a mate, let alone a wife. In fact, he had always told himself it was safer not to. But the urge to protect Miley Peters was like nothing he had ever felt before, and though he imagined her being one hell of a firecracker toward him when she learned he was the one she would be married to, he’d take whatever she threw at him if it meant she was safe.

Sucking in a deep breath, he lifted his head and looked Jack in the eye. “I’ll do it.”

Chapter 8 - Miley

Having been dragged out of Lauren's home by her father, her mother trailing behind like a little sheep, Miley had become even more determined than ever to get away. She wasn’t about to sit around and wait to be married off just so her father could pay off his debts only to rack up more a year later.

It wasn’t the first time he had been in this position, though it was the first he had been willing to go to such lengths, and she wasn’t sure where he could go next if he did manage to marry her off. After all, he had only one daughter to sell. Maybe it was time she ran away and left him to whatever consequences he would suffer if he didn’t pay his debts. At least then she’d be free.

There was just one problem. She had to manage to find a chance to escape. It seemed her parents were wise to her now. Though they’d had no idea she was going to attempt to run away, going to Lauren’s hadn’t exactly left them trusting of her. And it seemed they weren’t willing to take their eyes off her, even for a minute.

For days, she spent every waking moment looking for her chance, waiting for her parents’ guard to slip. And every time she thought she saw an opening, something seemed to get in the way. One of her parents would appear out of nowhere, or she would be halfway out the shop door when a customer would come in and start talking to her, keeping her there until her mother or father returned from the back room. It was almost as if something was trying to prevent her from leaving.

And just when she was beginning to think she might be stuck in Nightstar forever, she found her chance.

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