The moment the basement door closed, she whirled on me.
“You fucking liar.” The ring bounced off my chest as she threw it with surprising force. “You got her PREGNANT?”
“What? No! Lina-”
“Don’t you dare lie to me again!” Her voice rose, fury giving her strength. “She told me everything. The council meeting where you announced it, your heir, your upcoming wedding-”
Her voice cracked on the last word, and I saw it then. The devastation under the anger. The betrayal of trusting me again only to have it thrown in her face.
“I trusted you again and you played me for a fool!”
“The baby isn’t mine!” I caught her wrists as she swung at me, gentle despite her struggles. “I haven’t touched anyone since you. Not once in five years!”
She laughed, bitter and broken. “Right. Just like you were protecting me when you left?”
The comparison hit its mark. I had left her to protect her, and look how that turned out. Why would she believe me now?
“I am protecting you!” I still held her wrists carefully, feeling her pulse race under my fingers. “Mary announced the pregnancy at the council meeting before I could stop her. If I’d denied it publicly right then, she would have revealed you and the twins to everyone. Made you all targets!”
“So you just let everyone believe you’re having a baby with her?” The hurt in her voice was worse than the anger. “You let the whole pack think you’re marrying her while giving me your grandmother’s ring?”
“To buy time! Noah’s been investigating. We know the pup isn’t mine - the scent’s all wrong. We’re tracking down the real father.”
She wrenched free, the movement reopening her wounds. Fresh blood seeped through her shirt, and I had to fight every instinct to grab her, hold her still, make her let me help.
“Always deciding what’s best for me,” she said bitterly. “Always keeping me in the dark ‘for my own good.’ First you left to protect me, now you’re lying to protect me. When do I get a say in my own protection?”
“Lina, you’re bleeding-”
Her palm connected with my chest as she shoved me. I stumbled back a few steps, not from the force but from the shock. My wolf actually purred at her ferocity even as my heart broke at the pain causing it.
“I deserved that,” I said quietly.
“You deserve worse.” But she was swaying now, adrenaline fading. The enhanced healing could only do so much when she insisted on reopening the wounds.
I caught her as her knees buckled, pulling her against me despite her weak protests.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered against my chest, and the fight seemed to drain out of her. “I gave you another chance. I was starting to trust you again.”
“I was going to. I was trying to solve it first so you wouldn’t worry-”
“I’m not a child, Knox. I’m your partner. Your...” She paused, swallowing hard. “Or I was.”
The past tense cut deeper than any claw could. “You are. You always will be.”
I lifted her carefully, noting how she didn’t protest this time. The basement wasn’t the place for this conversation, not with her bleeding and both of us raw.
“Let me explain everything while I treat your wounds,” I said, heading for the stairs. “No more secrets. I swear. I’ll tell you everything about Mary, the investigation, all of it.”
She was quiet for a long moment, and I thought she might refuse. Then, grudgingly: “The ring’s under the stairs. Don’t lose it.”
My heart jumped at the words, hope blooming despite everything. “You’ll wear it again?”
“I’m still deciding.” But her arm tightened around my neck slightly, and I took that as progress.
I paused at the bottom of the stairs, spotting the sapphire glinting in the shadows. Carefully balancing Lina, I retrieved it, slipping it into my pocket.
“For what it’s worth,” I said as we climbed the stairs, “I really was trying to protect you. But you’re right. I should have told you. Should have let you decide how to handle it.”
