Page 71 of Unforgivable

Thjis

I scoop her into my arms to carry her outside to the barn. She doesn't need to be carried anymore, but I love having her in my arms. She smells like nothing else on this ranch, clean and feminine. When Ez asked her what sort of shampoo and ladies shit she liked, she requested pretty neutral smelling brands, no perfumes, or whatever the hell females always slather onto themselves. Simple tastes like me.

She's like a bird. Lyri. Softer than I think she realizes. Even when I was a complete dick to her, she never acted bitchy in return. Oddly enough, it's something that doesn't sit right with me.

Her attitude is like an itch between my shoulder blades that I can't scratch. How can a female, who schemed to steal another female's mate just to climb rank, be like this? She's smart and sweet and funny. Shouldn't she be the foul, high-maintenance bitch I expected? She's nothing like what I remember my ill-fated mate being like. That female had been a snob down to her bones, always looking down on anyone who didn't belong to what she considered her inner circle. Those same friends turned on her real quick when she was no longer welcome by her choice male's side. Lyri is nothing like her, not at all.

Lyri smoothes my hair out of her face with a tiny smile on her face. I smile back. I'm pretty fucking hairy, truthfully. I should cut it for her. I don't give a shit how long my hair is. It's just laziness that keeps me from grooming it. I had no one to impress before.

"Here you go," I grunt softly when she slides down my chest. I hold her tight to me until she's steady. Her hips are doing better, but I don't want her slipping in the mud. The left one is still paining her sometimes. It'll take time for the tendons and muscles to stitch back together and become healthy again. She's making fast progress now that she's able to get out of that bed and shift. She's still thinner than what she should be and pale from the hard winter, still suffering nightmares, but I can only heal the body, not the mind.

I watch her stroke Dum's nose. She laughs when the calf shakes its head before sneezing all over her jacket. There's nothing but joy shining out of her at this moment. It falls away too quickly, leaving the Lyri I am more familiar with from the last few months. Pensive, quietly contemplating.

That's what bothers me the most. There's no anger about her defeat in stealing our alphason as a mate. No fury over her humiliating shaming. No sense of needing revenge. She's... defeated. Broken and lost in a way that I remember experiencing just once... when I was rejected.

A rushing sound fills my ears. My wolf howls, long and hard, in my head. I blink away the woozy feeling in my mind, shaking my head to rid myself of the fog.

"Does it get better, Bear?"

I sink to the ground when my legs can't hold me up anymore. Guilt, horrible, sickening guilt, wells up in my stomach. Turning, I spew out Lyri's pathetic attempt at cooking soup into the bushes next to me.

"Does it get better, Bear?"

Does... she said, "does." Goddess, she was asking for herself.

"Thjis?" Lyri's panicked voice strikes me right in my heart. I have to hide this from her, but that cold, emotionless glare I've perfected over the last decade is escaping me. Groaning, I hide my face in my hands like a child. I don't want her to see me like this.

"Goddess, Thjis, I'm sorry! You shouldn't have eaten that soup. I should have thrown it away," she says tearfully. Small hands stroke my shoulders. "Do you still feel sick?"

"I'm fine, baby," I rasp out around my sore throat. The sting of vomit is disgusting. I don't want Lyri to think she's poisoned me, but I can't bring myself to even look at her.

"Should I get Ez?"

Goddess. I need to talk to my brothers. They need to know what has happened to our female. She should have told us. Why didn't she tell us? Especially after I told her my story?

Rage chases away the guilt. I rip my hands away from my face to grasp hers. Stricken hazel eyes meet mine. Slowly, the worry in her gaze turns to fear.

"Did your mate reject you?" I demand an answer.

She tries to run. Run. From me. I instantly surge to my feet, both my wolf and I furious that our female is trying to escape from us. "Lyri!" I shake her shoulders. "Were you rejected?"

She twists in my grasp, screaming incoherently. Tiny claws sink into my jacket, trying to find purchase on skin. If I weren't so well-trained, she might have a chance at wriggling free, but she's so much weaker than I am. She stands no chance.

"Fucking asshole!" Ezra comes charging at me, claws and canines ready to rip me away from our sweet, little liar.

I hold up one hand to tell him to stop. "Tell me, tell us, if it's true, Lyri. Were you rejected?"

Ezra comes to a screeching halt. "Fuck," he exhales. The devastation in that one word is immense.

Lyri has stopped fighting my hold. She just stares at me, refusing to look at Ezra. Her lower lip is trembling; her face is ashen. If I had to describe her, I would use words like haunted, shattered, terrified. She's a mess, and I need to know if my suspicions are correct. My rage dies as quickly as it came. My poor Lyri.

"Lyri?" Ezra prompts her for an answer.

"Yes," she whispers. She breaks, dissolving into tears that just add to the buckets she's already shed.

"Fucking hell, Lyri," I haul her close to my chest when her legs don't support her anymore.

"Why? Why wouldn't you tell us?" Ezra asks. He can't keep the hurt and shock from his voice. He probably thought she was beginning to trust us, but I know better.

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