Ken came over to my side and put a hand on my shoulder. “Wesley, whatever it is, you can tell me. I’mlistening.”
Mason was still staring at me with eyes like lasers. I couldn’t escape this situation. Ken suddenly noticed the dagger-like way Mason was looking at me and he furrowedhisbrow.
“If it's easier for you to speak, Mason can step out of the room,” Ken said, half to me and half toMason.
“Fine,” Mason muttered. “But be sure he tells you the wholetruth.”
He left after that. Ken sighed. “Sorry about him. He’s a little cranky sometimes.” He put his whole arm around me reassuringly, then gasped. “You’re burning up.Hangon.”
He quickly unbuttoned the front of my shirt with skilled fingers and let the shirt fall off. I tried not to shiver at the way his fingertips brushed my skin. “You don’t need to wear so much clothing when you’re in your heat. You’ll overheat.” He sighed. “Now what is it Mason wants you to tell me sobadly?”
I clutched the hem of his sleeve like a child holding onto a comfort item. “Promise you won’tgetmad.”
“Ipromise.”
Forcing myself to meet his gaze, I lifted my face. Ken’s expression was so gentle and supportive. I let out ashakysigh.
“When you found me on the border that day, I wasn’t abandoned there because I hadn’t had my first heat yet,” I said. “I was abandoned there, beat up, on purpose. So that you mightfindme.”
“Me?” Kenasked. “Why?”
“You’re going to getangry.”
“I won’t,” he said firmly. “Wesley, please justtellme.”
“I was sent here on purpose. By Gunner. I was given a mission - to infiltrate this pack and… destroy it from theinsideout.”
Ken blinkedslowly. “What?”
“I - I was supposed to use you to get to him. The top alpha here, I mean. Except there isn’t one here, which isn’t what I was told. So now I have no clue what to do. And it’s not like Iwantedto hurt you, or the top alpha, I didn’t really want to hurt anyone, but I had no choice. Gunner was going to kill me if I said no. He already almost did kill me, before you found me and tookmein.”
I found myself suddenly shaking and on the verge of tears. I didn’t realize how horrible it felt to keep all of this bottled up until now. But was it worth telling the truth? I looked up at Ken with anxiety, wondering how much less he thought ofmenow.
“What do you mean Gunner would kill you if you said no?” Ken askedquietly.
The memory made me shiver. “He called me in and asked if I would do anything for the pack, and naturally I said yes… It was already too late by then. If I said no, he would’ve probably killed me on the spot. And now, since there’s no top alpha, he’s probably going to kill me anyway because I couldn’t accomplishanything.”
“So they beat you up that badly because they wantedmeto find you?” Ken asked. “Whyme?”
“Gunner told me about an unmated alpha doctor,” I said, unable to look at him. “He wanted me to use you to get to Indigo Mountain’s top alpha. He wanted me to… seduce you, if it meant getting closer tomygoal.”
Ken didn’t speak for a while. Then he said quietly, “So that’s why you were so insistent on beingintimate.”
“But - it’s not like it was all fake,” I said quickly, grasping his wrist. I was aware of how cool and comfortable his skin felt compared to mine, which wasburningup.
“Is that true?” Kenasked.
“Yes,” I said desperately. “Please, you have to believe me. I don’t have anyone in this world anymore. I can’t go back to my old pack, and I don’t even want to…” The tears fell freely from my eyes now. I couldn’t hold anything back. I felt like such a disaster, useless, unable to do anythingproperly…
Ken suddenly embraced me. His body was cool and soothed the horrible fire burning under my skin. I wanted to be closertohim.
“I’m sorry all of this happened to you,” Ken murmured in my ear. “It sounds like a really hardsituation.”
My throat was tight, and I couldn’t speak. I just cried silently as Ken held me. When my tears finally stopped, I pulled away, feeling disgusting and hot and just wanting to melt intothebed.
“You should go back to your friends,” I said, unable to look at him. “They’re gonna be worried that you’ve been alone for so long with a traitorlikeme.”
“You are not a traitor,” Kengrowled.
