Page 17 of The Alpha's Arranged Bride

“Yes, you are. I know you’re trying not to make it obvious, and the boys probably can’t tell, but we know you. I know you. We aren’t twins, but we’ve always had a connection past what an older and younger sister have. We’ve always been so close. Your pain is my pain, and right now, it’s killing me.”

Prairie Rose clasped trembling hands under the table. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.”

“You’re separated from your mate. There’s no trying harder. There’s nothing that will dull that pain, which is why I’m so angry with him. Good intentions only go so far.”

“This was more than good intentions. It’s a different world down there. Life and death. We’ve only heard the stories about how alpha’s families were murdered after a new alpha took his place. That seems like long ago medieval style stuff to us, but to them, it’s real.”

Her sister’s brows drew together. She kept patting Sadie’s pink-clad back rhythmically. “What really happened down there?”

“Just what I told you. There was a challenge. It was unfair. Agnar didn’t lose control of the pack and he wasn’t displaced, but he was injured badly. With the unrest, he thought it was better if I came back here and took the boys.”

That’s all she’d told anyone, including Kieran, who was alpha, and her parents. She’d had to call Kieran on the drive and warn him she was coming back and that she’d have two boys in tow. She promised she’d explain everything when she got there, but she’d never intended on explaining everything. She certainly wasn’t going to tell her family what kind of place Agnar’s pack really was. They’d never let her go back if they knew. They’d fight to keep the boys with her as well, in Wyoming, and she knew that wasn’t what they wanted.

They wanted their home. They wanted their father. Even if they remained hardened against showing it.

“The real pain isn’t that I was sent back here,” she found herself mumbling.

“Okay…”

She started, realizing that she had indeed voiced her thoughts aloud for her sister. Briar May sat, waiting.

It would be a betrayal to tell her sister that it felt like Agnar was giving up. Not the warrior way, but his hope for a future for his pack. She could see the hope bleeding out of him as he stood there watching the SUV with his sons pull away from his house. For a man who wore silver-plated armor over his face and his heart, it was so clear that he’d cracked wide open. He would have put himself together in the next second, but she’d seen the pain.

“It’s that I saw a man try so hard to do something good for his pack. Agnar pushed himself past what anyone could and should have to bear. Alphas want the best for their pack and they’re willing to give up their life, but this was more than that. It felt like he was being torn apart.”

She gulped down the rising nausea and sadness that constricted her throat the same way Agnar’s fingers had been wrapped there. He’d thought he’d hurt her, even though he hadn’t. He hadn’t spoken another word to her after the parting ones in the bedroom. She knew there was no changing his mind.

“We were made mates for peace, and I was only there for such a short time, but it feels like…” She grasped her mug and sipped the cold green tea. It was bitter from the bag being left in too long, but she swallowed anyway. She couldn’t voice her thoughts. She wouldn’t voice it. It felt like bad luck to say that she was scared something had happened to Agnar and she wouldn’t even know it.

Briar May understood just from her expression. Unlike the boys and Agnar, she was painfully open. She’d never viewed that as a bad thing, and certainly her family and no one in her pack had ever practiced that kind of thinking. Not that Agnar’s way was wrong, she reminded herself. Just different than everything and anything she knew.

“I’m worried about the boys. They’ve never shown that they’re scared or sad or just how much they miss home. I know they’ve become good friends with Kieran’s twins and a few of the other kids here, but they haven’t heard anything from their dad. They have to be wondering. If I could just reassure them, I know they’d have to feel better.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that they won’t talk about it, knowing Castor. He’s made such an effort to be more open with me, but the world they know down there is so different than ours. They’re raised that way from birth. I think you’re right about having Agnar talk to them, even over the phone. I know you don’t want me to, but I’m going to talk to Castor. He’ll know what to do.”

“And if we can’t reach Agnar?”

“Then he’ll go down there.”

She set her mug down a little too hard. Sadie started, but then just let out a loud burp and settled. She was actually going to go into nap mode and not howl the house down mode. Briar May breathed a tiny sigh of relief.

“That’s exactly what I don’t want him to have to do. His father might have been banished that night, but…” She might have twisted a few details and left out the part where she’d nearly cleaved his arm off. She’d made it sound like he was banished as part of a failed challenge. “But he could still be dangerous.”

What if he’d attacked his own pack? Found allies somewhere and led a battle, or another challenge against Agnar? Certainly, she’d know if her mate was harmed, wouldn’t she? But their connection was so tenuous. He’d said she wasn’t even a real mate. Had he meant that? Was it true?

A door banged open at the front of the cabin, which made both women leap up from the table. Sadie immediately started a high-pitch whine as she was frightened out of her nap by the harsh sound. Prairie Rose shifted into action, blocking her sister and the baby without a thought. Her wolf was ready, howling against the danger.

A few seconds later, Castor turned the corner and walked into the kitchen. Prairie Rose let out a loud sigh of sheer relief. She turned to see Briar May already bobbing Sadie up and down, trying to calm her. She’d known her mate’s scent, and she hadn’t been afraid, but with her back turned, Prairie Rose hadn’t noticed.

Both women took in Castor’s obvious anguish. There was a reason he was back from cutting wood when he should have been out all afternoon.

“What is it?” Briar May was able to ask, while Prairie Rose stood there, unable to force out a single sound.

“It’s…” It was unlike Castor to trail off and look nervous, but he did now.

She’d never seen him lose control before. That seemed to be something that he possibly only ever showed her sister because she was his mate and he trusted her with all things. It reminded her so much of Agnar and that trembling way he’d stood there after realizing what he’d done when she’d startled him, and he was running on sheer adrenaline and instinct.

Agnar hadn’t known how to comfort. He hadn’t known how to say he was sorry. He didn’t know how to process or be embarrassed. He couldn’t bring himself to even look sorrowful when he gave his sons over into her safekeeping, or when he’d expressed how he was losing hope in his pack. It begged the question, what comfort had he known? Who had ever apologized to him? Who had given him love or even just a hug? Who had ever once taught him how to be gentle?

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