Page 78 of The Untamed

Based on the horrified expression on his face, I realize he’s not.

My parents are clearly insane.

I stagger away from my brother shaking my head. “That’s stupid. He’s not going to get me pregnant. I don’t even want any stupid babies!”

Ronan says nothing and won’t meet my eyes.

“They’re hypocrites,” I snarl. “If what Wild says is true, then they’re lying hypocrites. How dare them!”

As Ronan’s words sink in, my heart feels as though it’s shattering into a million tiny pieces, turning into sand and being washed away by the river of deceit. Yes,deceit.

“Ryder told you, but he didn’t tell me?” I ask, voice shaking with a mixture of anger and devastation. “It’s always been you two with me as an afterthought.”

Ronan huffs in frustration. “No, Rae, he literally just told me!”

“He should have told us together!” Tears of hurt prickle at my eyes, but I refuse to let Ronan see them. I turn my head upward toward the overcast skies and let out a bellow of rage. “You two always have your secrets and you make each other come!”

Ronan makes a garbled choking sound. “You promised you’d keep that quiet. Rae, calm down. This is why no one ever tells you anything!”

His words strike me and I stumble backward. Anger flickers in his eyes, but he’s also ashamed and afraid. Ronan reminds me of a cornered animal, shaking and baring his teeth like he might bite.

“Ronan?” a deep voice calls out. “Can you help me, man?”

Ronan pins me with a hard stare before turning on his heel, not saying another word to me. I helplessly watch as he makes his way over to Logan. Logan mentions something about Ronan helping him get Kristen back to his tent where he can keep a better eye on her.

And just like that, I’ve been abandoned.

My heart aches something terrible. I want to drop to the ground, curl into a fetal position, and cry. Ronan snapped at me and Ryder’s leaving. Oh, and my parents might be related to each other. A tidal wave of crushing sadness threatens to drown me. For a moment, I almost let it.

But then anger prowls in like a rabid predator, salivating and hungry to sink its teeth into something or someone. I tap into that emotion, letting all the sad, helpless victimized feelings erode completely.

I want blood.

There’s only one person who can handle it.

Coincidentally, he’s also the person I’m most angry with.

Ryder.

I take off running on a mad search for my older brother. He’s not in the big house that’s crawling with concerned people. He’s not in his cabin or Ronan’s. He’s not in the chicken coup or in the goat pen. He’s not by the fire where Wild, Sadie, and Chet are laughing.

He’s gone.

Not permanently, though. At least not yet.

I slip out the gate past one of the men who does a shitty job staying on watch and take off to the stairs that lead to the river. If he’s not here, he’ll be at Rowdy’s cabin. I’m almost at the stairs when I see him leaned against a tree, scowling at the earth at his booted feet.

Resignation paints his normally admittedly handsome features and I hate it. I want to punch the look off his face and replace it with the fierce, determined expression he gets when we fight. So I charge at him, not giving him a second to react.

“Oof!”

We both go down into the brush as I tackle him at a full speed run. He doesn’t have a chance to even know what hit him. I wrench my knife from the sheath and dig it into the soft, fleshy part of his skin under his chin.

“You’re leaving,” I cry out. “You’re leaving and you never planned to tell me!”

His eyes narrow and flash. I love seeing the pissed off look he gives me a lot of the times. It’s much better than the sad, woe is me one he’s been sporting lately. “I didn’t have a chance.”

“Liar!” I smack his cheek with my free hand while keeping a firm grip on the hilt of the knife. “You could have told us together!”

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