Page 21 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

“What are you saying?” I growled. “I’m not making them do anything.”

Anastasia tilted her head to the side, in a motion distinctively similar to Alexander’s.

“You actually believe that. I’ve known Alexander for all of the twenty-five years I’ve been alive, and I’ve never seen him beat up his brother like this.” Her voice was soft and silky, yet audible through the noise of the crowd. “I’ve never seen him humiliate him like this.”

Before I could fully unpack what she meant, those gray eyes flicked to mine again and this time, there was a small smile playing across her lips.

“Did you know he never sleeps with the same female wolf twice?” she asked conversationally, before adding with a shrug, “Except me, of course.”

I stiffened as Alexander’s words from the night of our bonding ceremony came back to me.

I have no intention of touching you again.

Lara reared inside me, refusing to believe Anastasia’s words—that even though he was mated to me, she was the one he wanted. She thought Anastasia had to be lying.

But unlike Lara, I remembered his genuine smile when he’d seen Anastasia, and the way he’d touched her hair.

Anastasia wasn’t lying. But why was she telling me this?

Anastasia dropped all pretense of watching the duel and turned to face me fully.

“Alexander never wanted a mate. From the moment he shifted for the first time, mating alliance proposals have been coming in from different packs all over the world,” she said, and I almost scoffed.

How ridiculous. No wonder Alexander was so big-headed. He probably thought he was the Goddess’s gift to wolfkind or something.

Anastasia’s voice hardened slightly.

“So why did he chooseyou?”

Because Alexander was a sick, crazy alpha who wanted to break me.

But I didn’t tell her that.

Instead, I lifted an eyebrow.

“Since you’re so close to him, Anastasia, why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Anastasia’s eyes widened ever so slightly, her lips tightening into a frown. Then, faster than I could blink, her expression shifted, and she gave me a sweet smile.

“I like you, Eleanor.” She beamed. “Let’s be friends.”

It was official. The Nightshade Pack consisted mainly of mentally unstable wolves.

“I’ll pass,” I said, shifting my attention back to the duel.

Dylan moved with a slight limp, with dried blood and the beginnings of a black eye on his face. It seemed he’d managed to take more hits during my conversation with Anastasia, while Alexander didn’t even look winded.

Alexander moved toward Dylan but this time, Dylan evaded his blow and used Alexander’s weight to toss him across the open field. I blinked, completely surprised at the sudden shift in the duel.

Alexander began to stand, but Dylan was faster. He kicked out his brother’s feet from beneath him, then straddled him and rained down a flurry of blows on him.

I still couldn’t believe what was going on, especially when Alexander grunted out a surrender.

“I concede.”

Dylan’s fist trembled midair, as though he wanted to continue hitting his brother. Dylan lifted his head and his gaze met mine unerringly, as if he’d known I’d been standing there this entire time.

Dylan’s expression tightened and he looked away from me, straightening and accepting Alexander’s surrender.

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