Page 107 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

Dylan took a step closer to Micah, the guards holding her watching impassively.

“That baby is the only reason you’re still alive.” The temperature in the room seemed to dip as Dylan spoke in the most ruthless tone I’d ever heard from him. “Once it is born, you will be executed.”

He inclined his head at the guards.

“Take her to the dungeons.”

Micah begged and sobbed as she was dragged out. For the next few seconds after the door shut behind them, I could still hear the echoes of her voice.

I looked at Dylan with his ink-black hair—so similar to his brother’s—and hazel eyes that looked at me expectantly. All I felt was deep-rooted exhaustion.

“Dylan,” I asked. “Why am I here?”

Dylan didn’t say anything at first.

He just closed the distance between us and embraced me.

I stood stiff, my confusion only growing.

Dylan pulled back from the hug, but he didn’t step away from me. Instead, he cupped my cheek with his cool hand.

“Because I’m sorry,” Dylan whispered, his voice so shaky that his words tumbled into each other. “Because I’m a stupid asshole who fumbled a good thing. I didn’t realize how much you meant to me until I lost you.”

His thumb stroked my cheek, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

“Our mating was arranged. I never thought I’d fall for you. Never thought things would end the way they did,” he said.

I let out a breath.

Why was he bringing this up again? Regardless of how it had happened, our mating ceremony had fallen apart. Reminiscing about the past didn’t change anything.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“I want you back, Eleanor. I want to build a life with you.” Dylan’s hazel eyes settled on mine.

“Be my mate.”

CHAPTER 18

ELEANOR

“What?”

I stared at Dylan, unable to understand what had just happened.

Had he just…proposed to me?

Was it possible I’d misheard him?

Dylan smiled at me—a real smile, not the strained ones that had graced his face since our failed mating ceremony.

“Once my separation with Micah is finalized, we can get mated immediately, as we should have done months ago,” he said.

Immediately?

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted, still struggling to wrap my mind around his words. “I…we can’t just get mated. Both of us are mated to other people and I…I’m not sure if I’ve forgiven you for everything that happened.”

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