Page 14 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

“I’ll be fine, Elena. I promise.”

But as I left the room, I knew that was a lie.

I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be fine again—not after getting mated to Alexander, a wolf who made me feel the opposite offine.

At the thought of him, his mark on me tingled, sending thrills down my spine. Lara preened in my head.

I suppressed my wolf, fighting back a growl of annoyance.

I hated this. I hated that I was now irrevocably bound to Alexander and he?—

I stopped dead in my tracks as the last person I expected to see appeared right in front of me.

“Dylan,” I breathed.

Dylan stared at me, his red-rimmed hazel eyes full of anger. His hair hung limp, free from its earlier ponytail.

He took a threatening step toward me, a snarl ripping from his throat.

“Did you really do it?” he bit out. “Answer me.”

The audacity of this man.

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me,” I snapped, squaring off with him. “Don’t act like you’re entitled to be angry at me after you betrayed me.”

Dylan sucked in a deep breath, those hazel eyes flashing with so much pain that, for a moment, I was taken aback.

“So you slept with my brother to get even with me?”

I didn’t respond. I found that I couldn’t.

Maybe it was because, in hindsight, I realized I wasn’t proud of my decision to be with Alexander.

By trying to break up my engagement and get back at Dylan, I’d stooped just as low as he had. I should’ve found another way, instead of being blinded by anger and pain.

“For your sake, I broke things off with Micah.” Dylan’s voice was softer, his words sounding broken. “Despite the fact that I started seeing her before our engagement, the moment things got serious between us, I ended it with her.”

What?

A sudden chill swept through me. Dylan and I got engaged four years ago, shortly after I turned eighteen.

He’d been with Micah that far back? How many lies would I uncover about the person I’d thought was my best friend?

“My actions last night can’t be justified,” Dylan said, his gaze turning slightly inward as his hands formed fists at his sides.

“I was tense, so I took a bit of Daze, and when Micah came over…I made a mistake.Manymistakes.”

Due to shifters’ high metabolisms, there weren’t many substances that could affect us, but Daze was one of them. I’d never taken it before, but I’d heard the high it induced was legendary and, in high enough doses, could even stop a shifter’s heart.

It was strictly regulated, but with enough money, anything could be acquired…and the Hawthornes had a lot of money.

Last night, I hadn’t smelled anything on Dylan, so I’d been sure he wasn’t inebriated, but now…

“Once the drug wore off, I came to see you. To apologize. To beg for your forgiveness.” Dylan met my gaze once more, his eyes glimmering with tears. “I was literally out of my mind, Eleanor. What’s your excuse?”

Dylan’s intoxication last night didn’t change the fact that he’d cheated on me. Nor did it change that he’d hidden his relationship with Micah from me for years.

So what was this uncomfortable feeling growing in my chest?

---