Page 51 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

Did she know she was pregnant before I rejected her?

Goddess, did she hide our sons from me when we met again after seven years because she was afraid, I would reject them, too?

Ten minutes inside my office, and the questions in my mind keep on piling high, and behind the anger, betrayal, and anguish, all I feel is pain.

The ringing phone that vibrates against my desk makes me want to toss it out the window, but I think against it when I see my little sister’s number on the screen.

“You know, leaving your little sister to handle an entire pack is irresponsible of you,” Mia’s voice is laced with sarcasm, her special talent.

“Good afternoon to you too, kid,” I huff.

“No calls, no texts. I was beginning to think you got kidnapped, Deacon. I mean, I know you went to Bracken City to search for Winter, but seriously! I’m dying out here managing the pack without you. I mean, sure, the betas are helping me, but you are the Alpha, and you are needed here. Deacon? Are you even listening to me?”

Managing my pack has been the last thing on my mind since I arrived in Bracken.

“You are an aunt to identical twin boys.”

The silence on the other end of the line is ironically so loud.

“You found Winter? And, um, if I hear you right, you are a father to Winter’s kids?”

There’s surprise in her voice, but then there’s happiness etched in between.

Running a hand through my hair, I answer my little sister, “Yeah. Learned about them two days ago, and they look like me, Mia. Fuck, they have all my features. You can’t even tell Winter’s their mother.”

“Oh, Goddess. Do you have pictures of them? I’d like to see my little nephews. How? Why didn’t Winter reach out and tell you anything?”

“I rejected her. That’s reason enough to make her keep her kids away from me.”

“Deacon, don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself for every wrong thing that Winter went through. Our dad was the real monster. He did this and not you. How are you feeling about your kids?”

“Angry for not meeting them sooner. For not being there when they were being born. But I’m also happy, Mia. I don’t even know what they like or hate, but I love them already. I want to win Winter over and be in Asher’s and Adrian’s lives forever if I can.”

“What about Crystal?” Mia’s voice is almost low, like she senses the mention of Crystal has my anger running on a short fuse. “She’s been waiting for you to come back since you left. She’s also been assuring the pack that once you come back, you’ll make her Luna. She says you promised her that, before you left.”

“I couldn’t care less about Crystal, Mia.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

WINTER

Guilt claws at me. Sharp and unforgiving.

I should have left after the first night. I should have never let this go on for this long.

It’s day five in Deacon’s home, and if we stay another two days in this mansion of his, that’ll be making it a week.

Spending a week in Deacon’s house is the last thing I wanted, but how can I leave now?

How can I leave when he speaks to my babies like they are the coolest kids he’s ever met?

How can I walk away when Deacon’s taken days off from the office just so he could make Adrian feel a little comfortable in his mansion after the scare we had at our house?

This isn’t fair to my babies. And this isn’t fair to Deacon as well, not when I lied straight to his face that he wasn’t the father to my boys even though the truth is right there in the pudding.

The guest room we are in has the sun throwing its shards on the bed and on me. The bed itself, the one I’ve slept on with my babies for days, feels like a warm cloud. I could sleep in forever, but I know that today’s the day we leave.

I push the covers away, sitting up till my back meets the headboard. I stretch my hands, letting out a yawn, only for it to get stuck in my throat when I almost scream from the two grinning boys standing in front of me.

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