Page 39 of The Forbidden Wolf

“When did you know?” Kiana casually began to circle him.

“The moment I laid eyes on her.”

“And when was that?”

Sebastian blinked a little harder than absolutely necessary, showing his surprise, but he kept his gaze trained on Kiana rather than sliding guiltily over to me. “The first time that I saw her, obviously.”

Kiana pursed her lips and continued her circle. Sebastian did not rotate to keep her in front of him as many would do in that situation. Rather, he stayed perfectly still, facing the rest of my pack as if he weren’t the slightest bit worried about letting Kiana get behind his back. As far as power moves went, it had a certain sex appeal.

Focus!

You focus! This isn’t me!

My twin turned her predatory gaze on me. “And how long ago was that?”

Trying to mimic Sebastian’s confidence, I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “You don’t know what you think you know, Kiana. We didn’t plan this. Why would we? If he knew I existed and wanted to claim me instead, then he could have at any time.” I shot an accusing look at Father. “Obviously, no one was going to stop him.”

“Indeed,” Max boomed. “Like my son, I apologize for any offense that has been caused, but his claim on Elyse was not challenged, and she was left in our care.” He shook his head at Father in disgust. “For all you knew when you marched your little army through my borough in their long johns, this mateship had already been completed. Then what?”

“Then it would be dissolved,” Kiana’s eyes glimmered with the threat—or maybe the hope—of violence.

Sebastian spun around snarling and lunged, but Max and Mateo caught him by the arms. He hit the end of his own leash with fangs bared like a junkyard dog, toes curling into the soft blue carpet and eyes black as an abyss.

“Stop it!” I bounded forward, knocking my twin out of the way. Without thinking, I planted both hands on Sebastian’s quivering chest and pushed him onto his heels. Max and Mateo’s hands swiftly climbed his arms as if they were ropes until they held him firmly in place between them. “Stop it,” I said again, softer this time, pleading.

Sebastian’s eyes cleared. He clamped his jaw and swallowed; the awkward swelling caused by the fangs went down, and his handsome mouth returned, close enough to kiss. My own mouth suddenly felt very dry. I licked my lips.

“She is my sister,” I whispered. “No mattered what.”

“There is only one way to dissolve a mateship.” Sebastian glared past me. “She has threatened your life. What kind of sister is that?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. He had a point. A very good point. In the years since learning the truth about our mother, Kiana had verbally abused me, broken my things, and even physically assaulted me on rare occasions like the other morning. But afterward, she would always pull back, tell me I was her best friend, tell me she was only looking out for me, and I would accept it because in killing our mother, I had harmed her more than she could ever harm me. But that wasn’t my fault.

Charlie had said it first, but I didn’t know I believed her until I saw the same guilt etched across Sebastian’s haunted features. I didn’t know what might have happened in the Whelping Den to make Yara like she was, but when I imagined baby Sebastian being held accountable… that was fundamentally absurd. And the warmth and laughter that graced their breakfast table showed me everyone in this family knew that except him.

“What kind of sister am I?” Kiana asked. “What kind of sister conspires to steal her own twin’s mate during her mateship ceremony?”

“We did not conspire!” I shouted over my shoulder, afraid to remove my hands from Sebastian’s heaving chest. “I would never do that to you! I did not want this! I had accepted the life you and Father planned for me with Blaze.”

I cast a desperate glance in my former intended’s direction, pleading with my eyes for him to confirm my willingness, but the friendly face I’d laughed with last night was nowhere to be seen. His flinty eyes looked right through me. Only the slight tightening of his jaw indicated he could actually see me at all.

Kiana laughed, pacing in front of the window where Sebastian’s human clothes were piled. “Oh, Blaze told me all about your request to maintain your own quarters. Tell me, why would you make such a request if not to sneak around with your forbidden lover?”

“No, that’s—” I shook my head. “Blaze, that wasn’t why. I’d never seen this male before in my life.”

“He recognized you,” Blaze said flatly. “When we walked in the door. And he became angry when he saw you on my arm.”

“Because I recognized her as my fated mate!” Sebastian snapped. “Of course I was angry to see her on another male’s arm!”

“But why did she recognize you?” Father came around behind Max, and though he spoke to Sebastian, his cold blue eyes pierced my soul, and I knew he’d connected some dots—if not the actual dots—between Sebastian’s smile and my colorful outburst.

“For the same reason, I would assume,” Sebastian said through gritted teeth.

Father lifted his chin and stroked his graying beard. “Is that true, Elyse? Did you respond as you did because you recognized your sister’s betrothed as your own fated mate? And if so, why didn’t you tell me immediately so that we may have switched you out without causing such a terrible scene?”

My mouth opened and closed. I had no honest answer. To say no would be calling Sebastian a liar in front of his pack. To say yes would be lying in front of mine. To tell the truth might put my human friends in grave danger; if Kiana wouldn’t believe me about this, she would never believe that they didn’t know anything. And it wouldn’t be true anymore anyway. Charlie knew everything.

“It all happened very quickly,” I hedged. “I didn’t know what I was feeling. Other than that my sister was about to mate with a male I personally found…” I shrugged and withdrew my hands from Sebastian’s chest, wrapping my arms around my own.

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