Page 73 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

“My father killed them. I found out on the same night we found your house in ashes.”

“You are lying. You are trying to cover your tracks! You are trying to make me believe you as always. Jake said you would do this…he said—”

“Jake?” Mentioning my best friend brings an ache to my chest. He died because of me. “Winter, Jake’s dead.”

“You would have loved that, wouldn’t you? To know that you killed him and I would never get to see my brother again?”

I don’t understand a word she’s saying, but it doesn’t stop me from telling her a truth that will make her hate me more than ever.

“My father killed your family because of me. He’d warned me to cut all ties with you the minute I told him you were my mate when I turned eighteen. I tried to stay away, Winter. But how could I when you were there? You were everywhere I looked, and everywhere I breathed. You were in my damn mind, baby, and I didn't want you out of my system. That night? The day of the fire? I followed you because that’s what I had always done.”

Her voice is nothing shy of a whisper as she shakes her head, preferring not to believe my words because I'm the bastard who’s hurt her all her life. That’s what she knows, and I’ve never tried correcting her.

“I followed you to make sure you didn’t get into trouble. Going back to the village and finding Jake and your parents like that? Their deaths were on me, but it still hurt not being able to protect them, baby. My father killed them as a warning to me. If I didn’t let you go, you would be next. I couldn’t let him kill you. I couldn’t take that kind of hit, so I rejected you to keep you safe. And it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done, but given a choice, I’d do it again.”

Bridging the gap to wipe the tears on her cheeks has her slapping my hand away.

“You…you are lying!”

“Not about this, Winter.”

“No, you have to be lying because Jake wouldn’t lie. Those scars on his face are real. The trauma of what you put him through is real. Why would he lie? Why would my brother lie to me about you starting the fire that night?”

Emerald green eyes meet mine, and a frown creases my brow as the truth hits me all at once.

“Jake is alive?”

“Alive. Unwell. Traumatized. Jake is alive, but he’s barely there because of you.”

“How? I-I saw the records… he was declared dead. My father, he—”

“If your father did this. Suppose I buy your truth. Suppose I believe your words. Why did you never tell me? Why did you keep me in the dark about everything?”

“Because I love you! What would I have said to you, Winter? That Foster Cross was an unhinged bastard who would have snapped your neck rather than let you be my side? That he was bitter because once upon a time, your mother had rejected him? Would you have remained quiet if I told you my own father killed your parents?”

There’s the look.

Angry and betrayed.

Crushed and disappointed.

Her eyes are void as she stares at me, seeing right through me. She walks away from me, and I hold her wrist, trying to prevent the inevitable.

“Let me go because it’s over between us.”

Disgust lies heavy in her words, and I try to look past it. She’s hurt, but that doesn’t mean she hates me.

“I never killed them. Whatever Jake has told you, whatever he thinks I’ve done. My only fault was trying to protect you from the pain. If we could speak to Jake, I could explain—”

“Explain what? It doesn’t matter what you say because the bottom line here is your father killed my parents. It doesn’t matter what Jake thinks right now because your blood slew my blood! There’s no going back from that.”

“Don’t do this to us, baby.”

Fuck holding her wrist. I pull her to my chest. I hold her tight. I wrap my hands around her thin waist, feeling her back stiffen from the action.

“Deacon, let me go.” She struggles in my arms, her tears warming the side of my cheek that’s stuck to hers.

“I’m not my father, Winter. I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never hurt the boys. You? Baby, you are my whole damn world.”

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