Page 42 of Wolf Desired

“You don’t know that.”

How could he be so calm?

He, Bishop, and Cyrus had been all about protecting each other and they’d made it clear they’d sacrifice me to do so. I couldn’t imagine the mating bond would drastically change Knox’s priorities in such a short time.

“I’m not stupid enough to wander around by myself,” I told him, “and I’m not bleeding to death.”

“You hit your head. You need someone to keep you awake and I still don’t know how bad the cut on your shoulder is.” He held out his hands, silently asking for me to show him. “And I do know Bishop is fine. If he was seriously hurt, I’d feel it. Our twin bond is as strong as our mating bond, possibly stronger.”

Stronger? What could be stronger than a bond that deepened the love and soul connection between two people?

If he knew when Bishop was seriously hurt, that meant he could feel what Bishop was feeling, something I couldn’t do with Knox — and something I hoped he couldn’t do with me because if he knew what I was feeling, he was an even worse man than I thought he was. That also meant Bishop could feel what Knox was feeling. Could he tell which were his feelings and which were his brother’s?

“No,” Knox said, tugging me forward and ripping my shirt a bit more to get a better look at my shoulder.

“No?”

“You’re thinking Bishop only cares for you because of our mating bond. That our twin bond is influencing him,” he said, taking off his shirt and ripping it into strips. “It isn’t.”

“How do you know?” I knew I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help myself. I wantedreallove. Not love influenced by a bond I couldn’t control.

“We’ve sealed our bond and the pressure is gone. The need to be with you isn’t anywhere as powerful as it was before. If it had been influencing Bishop, his feelings for you would have changed. They haven’t. Turn around.”

I blinked at him, the order such a sudden change in the topic that I needed a second for it to register.

He motioned turning around with his finger and I turned, not worrying about whether I remained sheltered from the rain while I did so. I was already soaked and wasn’t going to get dry anytime soon. Getting wetter now wouldn’t matter.

“Bishop is still going to court you and I’m not going to stop him.” He wrapped a strip of his shirt around my shoulder and another high around my chest.

“I’ll also try with us,” he said, his voice soft and gruff. “But I can’t be a proper mate. That’s why I was trying so hard to break our bond.”

“You don’t even know what I want in a mate.”

“I’m barely a brother and I’m not a friend,” he replied, pulling me into his arms, placing a folded-up strip of shirt against my bleeding temple, and inching us as deep into the crack as he could get so we were both out of the rain. “I doubt I can be a mate.”

Heat from his body sank into me and warmth radiated around my heart. I wanted to argue with him about making assumptions and not bothering to talk to me, but I was too exhausted to fight.

I’d never been good at standing up for myself. It was always easier to give in. I still didn’t want to let him off the hook for hurting me, but I could fight with him later.

Silence didn’t necessarily mean submission, it just meant I was biding my time.

I huffed a soft laugh and leaned into his warmth, resting my cheek against his bare chest. Biding my time made it sound like I knew what I was doing when really I was groping around in the dark like I always did.

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