Page 37 of Winning the Wolf

After a few seconds, his hot breath fanned my face when he released it in a long exhale. His fingers came under my chin and he lifted it, forcing me to face him. "My fight isn't with you. You're not your sister's mistakes."

"She's my twin, everything she does concerns me. I carry their decisions, the choices they make."

"They?" He frowned in confusion.

"I carry the scar of Chris' suicide around my heart." My voice shook as I stared into his gaze. "But I stand by him in his choice to go. And I'll do the same for Nyla. That's what siblings do."

Shaking his head, Killick stood back. The cold air that replaced him raised goosebumps on my arms.

"Your loyalty is unquestionable, especially considering how you're supposed to be completely and utterly devoted to your alpha, your... mate." His words were pushed through his teeth, biting in their sharpness.

I winced, partly from the pain of his disgust but also from the shock of the truth.

I was dedicated to my siblings and always had been. To the point where I’d put them above my own alpha. Crap, I'd never realised how defective a werewolf I was, until now.

Rising to my feet, I reached for him. His frown furrowed even further as he backed away.

A surge of anger made me clench my fists. "You've not exactly made it easy to be loyal," I spat, "and as for being your mate..." My sentence trailed off.

What could I say? That I was torn between wanting to rip his clothes off with my teeth and rejecting the bond altogether? We had a week to decide whether or not we wanted to fully bond and right now, my head was so confused, I didn't know what to do.

"I shouldn't have been chosen to play the mating games, the wolf spirit had it wrong." His voice was heavy as he looked up at the portrait of his parents. "It's all wrong."

The sharp sting of his words darted into my heart. I couldn't reply, my tongue was so dry, it stuck to the roof of my mouth. It wasn't me who felt crippling rejection, it was my wolf spirit. I agreed with him, our mating was terrible timing. And yet, tears threatened, brimming the edge of my eyelids.

Killick shook himself before walking to the door. "Text me when she wakes up."

The door shut behind him, the lock clicking into place from the outside. I wanted to be pissed that he felt the need to lock us in but I didn't have the energy. Nyla was a prisoner in her own alpha's home.

"You're mated to Killick?" Nyla's weak voice made my gaze snap to her.

Swallowing down my mixed emotions, I looked into her eyes and shook my head. The brown of her irises were so familiar to me, it was like looking into a mirror.

The dark skin below her eyes darkened as she raised her eyebrows, clearly waiting for an answer.

"That is the least of your worries right now," I snapped. "You've got some explaining to do."

Her tongue reached out to lick her lips, getting stuck from lack of saliva. I grabbed up the glass of water I'd been nursing and helped her drink, my defences falling when her shaking arm couldn't hold up the cup.

"What happened?" I asked in a softer tone.

She blinked slowly and a trickle of water left the corner of her eye. "I got dragged into a web of secrets that became impossible to keep track of. I'm not as guilty as Jeremy would have you believe. Not that Killick will believe me."

Her voice was low, defeated. She knew that the events she'd been involved in would likely be the end of her.

Our rules were strict but fair. Any traitor was banished or worse.

"Start from the beginning."

Shaking her head, she cringed. "He told you to get him as soon as I woke up. You better obey your... alpha?"

Her eyebrows raised as her tired eyes stared. My sister knew me better than anyone, but our connection was strained. She'd caused me a ton of pain and I wasn't ready to get back to where we'd been before all this had happened.

"Please," she whispered, closing her eyes, "get Killick."

My stomach dropped as I got to my feet and stepped out of the room. Caleb stood guard, his expression pensive until the door clicked behind me.

"Are you okay? Is she?" His frown eased when I nodded.

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