Page 70 of The Secret Keeper's Daughter

“Nothing, I swear.” He plops down next to me.

“Why do I have a hard time believing you?” I narrow my eyes.

“I deserve that.”

“Of course you do.”

“Our pack is spread out all over the place. Some of our members live out in the woods on their own in cabins or as wanderers.”

“What does that have to do with me?” I ask.

“I’m getting to that.”

“A little quicker, if you don’t mind. I’d like to get some sleep tonight.”

“Others live in human settlements, blending in and making their monthly escapes to shift. When possible, we run into each other and catch up.”

“Your point?”

“I’m getting there, if you’d let me.”

“Why did you keep all this fae stuff a secret from me when you knew all along?”

“Your mother kept it from you too. She’s the one who swore my parents to secrecy. Did you consider asking yourself why she waited until her dying moment to tell you? Think of how much she could’ve told you all along but never did.”

“Are you trying to turn me against my mother, whose grave is still freshly dug?”

“I’m simply asking you to look at this from a different angle.”

I scoot away from him. “From an angle that makes you look better.”

“You have to believe I wanted to tell you everything all this time. I truly believed you’d be in danger if you thought you were more than human. If anything ever happened, you could claim to be human in full honesty. If anyone questioned you, they’d have no reason to doubt.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I didn’t want you getting tortured.”

“Tortured?” I gasp. “Why would that ever happen?”

“She was very secretive about your other lineage.”

“Which is…?”

He shrugs.

“You don’t know?”

“I’d have told you.”

I snort.

“Fine, maybe I wouldn’t have. But it’d have been to protect you—just like everything else.”

“Stop protecting me. I can do that for myself. What I need from my best friend is full honesty and transparency.”

“Okay.”

“Whatdoyou know about my father’s lineage?”

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