Page 9 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

“Make sure Eleanor understands that if she tries to get out of this, your heads will roll, as well as those of your families.”

My mouth went dry.

“You can’t do that,” I said, but even as I spoke, I knew it was a lie. Father would sacrifice anything and anyone to get what he wanted.

Father crouched to my height and took my chin in his hand, his green eyes cold and unfeeling.

“I will chain you to the fucking altar if that’s what it takes to secure this alliance,” he said roughly. “If you care about these people, whatever happened between you and Alexander will remain a secret until this alliance is finalized.”

Then he straightened and walked out of my room. Guards that hadn’t been there when I arrived closed the doors behind him.

There were more guards outside than he’d ever had watching me before.

Elena was at my side in seconds, her arms around me and her eyes wide with worry.

“Eleanor? Eleanor, what’s wrong?”

The sight of Elena’s face pinched with concern made me break down in tears for the first time in years.

“I made a mistake, Elena…a big one.”

I should’ve tried running away last night, even though pack security was so tight that I would’ve been caught.

Now it was too late. I was trapped.

Elena cupped my cheeks delicately, her kind brown eyes steadily holding mine.

“Look, Elena, I don’t know what happened between you and Dylan, but if this mating is no longer what you want, you shouldn’t stay for us. Alpha Derek is bluffing.”

That was a lie, and we both knew it.

Growing up, Elena was the only one by my side before I’d befriended Micah, who I couldn’t think about now without losing my cool.

Elena had always wanted a better life for me, and I knew she’d give her own life up in the blink of an eye to keep me safe. I never met my mother, so Elena was the closest thing I had to one.

“Thank you, Elena.” I hugged her, burying my head in her chest.

“Eleanor.” Elena ran her fingers down my back, comforting me like I was still a pup coming to meet her with my tears and bruises.

I had to protect her now, as well as Gia and Diana, whose only faults were being unlucky enough to be assigned to me.

I pulled away from the hug, pushing myself to my feet despite the pain racing through me.

“I want to get ready for my bonding ceremony.” My voice was stronger than I’d expected.

“Eleanor.” Elena’s voice was panicked, but I didn’t let myself look at her.

“Now, please. We don’t have much time left,” I said.

I didn’t shed any more tears as my ladies escorted me to the bathtub and scoured my body clean. I was completely numb as they dressed me up, applied my makeup, and did my hair.

I felt dead inside. Lara was curled into her protective mental cocoon. What sort of mating was this going to be?

The one where slowly but surely my mate would stifle me, and I would have to smile and ignore his whoring around while I bore his heirs.

My nails bit into the soft flesh of my palms so hard they drew blood, but the wounds closed almost immediately. Still, the pain was the only thing keeping me grounded.

I was doing this to save Elena. I couldn’t falter.

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