Page 32 of Forbidden Pregnant Mate

Jenn hesitated, and the unease in her hazel eyes hurt to see. “It’s hard,” she finally said. “I want to be able to trust you, but a part of me keeps holding back.”

I’d suspected as much, but the admission still stung more than I’d expected. I sighed as I moved my hand to cup her cheek, turning her head so she was looking at me.

“Why, though?” I asked. “What did I do to make you feel like you can’t trust me? Because I want to make it up to you, and I can’t start doing that until I know what it is I need to make up for.”

She sighed, running her fingers through her hair and taking a step back. I let her, and my hand fell awkwardly back to my side.

“You just vanished,” she said, her voice breaking. “The entire year before you left for the Silver Wolves, you just stopped talking to me entirely. You acted like I wasn’t even in the room. I thought…” She swallowed. “I thought there might be more to us, and then you just stopped talking to me altogether with no explanation. It’s why I started avoiding you whenever possible, why I made absolutely sure to be anywhere but at Dad’s place when I knew you were visiting.”

My shoulders sagged, and I closed my eyes. She needed to know, and now was the time. Or maybe it had been time long ago, and I just didn’t want to admit it.

“Jenn,” I said. “I’m guessing you haven’t figured out why I started pretending you didn’t exist back then.”

She blinked, then her brows furrowed. “I’m pretty sure that if I knew why, this conversation would either not be happening or be going very differently.”

“Fair.” My hands were embarrassingly sweaty, and I wiped them on my pants as I stalled for time, still trying to figure out how to explain what I needed to say. The fastest route seemed the best option. I just hoped she wouldn’t tear my head off for it.

“When I was seventeen, about a year before I joined the Silver Wolves, your dad told me to keep my distance from you.” I said it quickly, as if doing so would take the sting out of the words.

There was a long, painful silence.

“What?” Her voice was ice.

“Remember that time I taunted you and said you couldn’t pin me in a fight, and you told me to bring it?”

She nodded. “You won.”

“Well, I still wonder if you let me.” I flashed her a quick grin before continuing, still wanting to get it out as quickly as possible. “Anyway, uh, later that night, Malcolm came to talk to me. He said he saw the fight and wanted me to know you were off-limits. I think his exact words were, ‘I saw the way you were looking at Jenn. If you try anything with her, I’ll make you a eunuch.’”

Jenn was quiet for a moment. “What the fuck,” she finally hissed. Her eyes turned wolfish, and I could see her teeth lengthening in rage. “He thinks he can dictate my love life?”

“Well, he did back then, at least,” I said. “And don’t get me wrong—I was pissed. By that point, I knew I liked you. I’d been trying to find ways to spend time with you—why do youthink I suggested the fight in the first place? Him telling me to stay away was enough to make me want to claw his face off. But it was Malcolm. He helped raise me. I didn’t know what to do, so I promised I would stay away. But the only problem was that it turned out to be a lot harder for me than I thought.” I wanted to explain how every time I’d been near her, her scent had driven me crazy. It wasn’t until I made that promise to Malcolm that I realized just how crazy I was about her. “Every time I saw you, I was tempted to say ‘fuck it’ and break my promise. So I kept you at a distance, which was stupid. I should have seen it then, but I was stupid and wanted to keep my word. And I’m sorry. I should have told your dad to shove it when he first tried to keep me away from you.”

Jenn stared at me. I waited for her to answer, my heart thumping in my chest as I waited for the inevitable fallout. I didn’t know what would happen, but I expected she would be furious. I knew I would have been if I were in her position. But whether or not she would be madder at me or her father, I couldn’t tell.

She had every right to be mad at me. I’d iced her out for a year because of her father, even though I’d had feelings for her. I had basically lied, and I knew I’d really hurt her by avoiding her for all that time before I joined the Silver Wolves. If I’d known how much I would hurt her, I didn’t think I would have ever done it. I cared so much about her, and I should have done something about it then. But I hadn’t.

Malcolm had given the order, but I had been the one to follow it. I was just as responsible as he was. If Jenn never wanted to talk to me again, I would have understood.

I could see her still processing my words, her mouth slightly open in surprise. Then the anger began to smolder in hereyes. I waited for her to explode at me. After what I’d done, I deserved it.

Chapter 14 - Jenn

It took a moment for what Klyte said to really sink in before the rage began. I was frustrated with Klyte for keeping this from me, for taking my dad’s words to such extremes that he’d just stopped talking to me altogether. But that wasn’t really where that anger was going. Most of it was reserved for my father.

Of course my dad had done this. He’d always been on the overprotective, interfering side, especially when it came to male shifters. It had gotten even worse after Mom died. It was so him to try and dictate who I could and couldn’t be with.

“I’m going to murder him,” I vowed, breaking the silence.

Klyte looked taken aback by my heated response. To my own surprise, something that looked a lot like relief flickered across his face.

“It’s not just him,” he said. “It takes two to tango. I could have not listened.”

He’d thought I was going to be mad at him. I was frustrated, yes, but I didn’t blame him. I knew the relationship he and my dad had. Klyte saw him as a father. Of course he would have listened. It was hard to be too mad at him for heeding Dad’s orders when we were both kids and didn’t know any better.

“I’m angry with him, not you,” I clarified. “He’s the one who gave the order. He’s the one who was trying to control my life. My love life, at that—something he has absolutely no right to interfere with. Next time I see him, I’m going to kill him.”

“Next time you see him, he’s probably going to murderme,” Klyte said, raising his eyebrows as he looked pointedly atmy stomach. “I don’t think he’ll be particularly happy that not only did I break my word, but I also got you pregnant. Hell, I’ll be lucky if there’s enough left of me to bury when he’s finished with me.”

---