Page 70 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
“You didn’t getmauled,” I muttered. “You got… aggressively swiped.”
“Get out, Con,” Declan groaned. “I don’t have the energy to taunt you back the way you deserve.Orpunch you.”
“I didn’t say you could punch me,” I lied.
“Yeah, you did. I was tired, not dead.” He looked back at me, swallowing. “I heard you crying.”
“What, you're going to chew me out over that one, too? You’re my little brother, I was terrified at the thought of losing you.”
Declan shook his head. “No, I’m not going to comment on it.” He reached out and hesitated before grabbing my hand. “Thanks.”
I nodded, unsure of what to say. “Yeah.”
“So, I also heard you owed me an apology.”
“Nah, that’s the pain meds talkin’.”
“Nope, I’m ready. All ears. I have nothing better to do, so I may as well hear you out.”
“Do you want to stop pretending like you don’t care for a minute, then?” I challenged, raising a brow at him. “I’m still your older brother. Don’t disrespect me.”
Declan huffed, but I didn’t push it.
“But you’re right,” I said. “I do owe you an apology. A big one.” He pulled his hand back, his eyes closing, but I knew he was listening. “Dec, I should have done better all those years ago. I don’t know what I left you to deal with in that house, and you can tell me in awful detail any time you want to so I feel worse, but I never should have abandoned you the way I did.”
“Dad said you were entitled to your own life,” he said. I was surprised at that. I always thought my dad had disliked me secretly. “He called me a pussy for being upset about it.”
“Well, you’re not,” I muttered. “He always called me that too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. In reality, I suppose it was more him who was a coward.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Yes, Fenrys is my leader, my honorary brother, as such. But you’re mytruebrother. My own blood. And I’m here for you, no matter what now, in a way I wasn’t when you were growing up. I know I failed you, Dec, and I’m sorry. I can only hope that in time, you’ll forgive me.”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Which bit?” I asked glumly.
“Just leave in the middle of the night without saying goodbye or explaining.”
I shrugged. “I just wanted out. I couldn’t stand the house anymore. I thought, in a way, I didn’t expect tostay gone, you know? I always thought I’d just go on a break to hang out with Fen and the others. I didn’t imagine what it would do for me, how good it made me feel to just be away from the house.”
“Away from me,” he muttered.
“Not intentionally,” I told him.
“Did you never think about asking Fenrys to let me join his pack with you?”
I shook my head. It was a harsh truth, but he deserved the truth, no matter what. “No. You were young, and I had gone through so much with Fenrys. It was why he asked me in the first place.”
Declan nodded, his eyes still closed.
“I was the one who egged your house on Halloween the year you moved in with Fenrys,” he muttered. “I thought you should know.”
“You little shit,” I said, laughing. “It took me ages to clean that up.”
