Page 34 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

The truth was out there, and there was no sense crying about it. So why couldn’t I stop the ever-growing river of tears tracing down my cheeks? I hiccupped a sob, and words also became part of my world again.

“Brielle, talk to me, my heart. What hurts? Please, baby, tell me what I can do for you. Tell me how to help you. It’s okay, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, Brielle, and we’ve got the pack healer to help you. Come on, baby. Talk to me, please. Tell us what hurts.” Kane’s soft crooning words were like a balm and a torment all at once.

I couldn’t saddle this man with my weakness. It wouldn’t be right, or fair. He was too good, and I was too broken.

He wouldn’t turn me away, though. I saw that now, with my eyes still screwed shut, fist clenching Shay’s fur.

Oh, too hard. I should probably let that go. I loosened my grip, tangling my fingers in it again without pulling. I wasn’t ready to let go of that bond yet, not when the truth was staring me right in the face.

Kane was my fated mate. He had seen me fall out of my shift, seen what happened, and he still hadn’t run. He was already loyal, alreadygood.

Which meantIhad to be the one. The one to stay strong, to do what was best forhim.

“Her pulse is steadying, Alpha, and her temperature is a bit high, but nothing terribly unusual for immediately postshift.” The healer rattled off details in a way that was pleasantly familiar. But I ignored him, because I already knew what he’d find. I was too focused on the realization in my heart to care what he told any of the other wolves here.

I had to be the one to say no to Kane, the one to break his heart.

“I’d recommend fluids and rest for now, and maybe when she’s more aware—”

The one to tell him it couldn’t work.

“—we can find out how long this has been going on, or if something specific triggers it.”

The one to reject my mate.

My other half.

The one I somehow, impossibly, already loved. Because if I didn’t? I’d take him down with me. And I didn’t care what anyone said, Romeo and Juliet? Dying in each other’s arms?

That wasn’t romance. That was a tragedy.

“Yes, we’ll get her back to a room. Mine is bigger, so I’ll take her there. You can follow us and monitor her vitals for a while until she’s feeling well enough to talk to us,” Kane said, that familiar alpha command in his voice snapping me out of it.

No. I couldn’t let him take me to his room, his space. I needed to hole up, get away. The more time I spent with this man, the more impossible it would be to break this off. And I had to. This wasn’t some fairy tale where the power of love was magically going to fix me. My parents had been in love, been fated mates. And they’ddied, leaving me alone and devastated.

I wasn’t about to do that to Kane. Not ever.

“Leigh!” I gasped, my lungs and vocal cords not quite ready for speech yet.

“I’m here, Bri. What do you need?”

“My room. Alone. Us three.”

Kane stiffened underneath me, and I realized I was half in his lap.

Leigh didn’t wait around, didn’t pause for the alpha’s approval. She jumped to her feet, nudged Shay out of the way, and scooped me up under my armpits, pulling me right out of Kane’s arms. He snarled, leaping to his feet as well.

I gripped around Leigh’s neck, and she whispered, “You sure about this? No Alpha?”

“I’m sure,” I croaked.

She arranged me to the side with my blanket, and my legs shook so bad, I was sure they weren’t going to hold me.

Leigh didn’t drop me, though. She held me with the steadiness of an iron grip, and her eyes were no less steely as she squared off against Kane, flanked on either side by Gael and Reed.

“What do you think you’re doing? She is mymate, and you will let me take her to my quarters.”

“She does not bear your bite, and even if she did, she doesn’t have to stay with you. She wants to go to our rooms, she’s going to our rooms.”

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