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Her biological dad died. He was murdered and taken far before his prime. But fate always has a way, and Ryan and I weren’t endgame, no matter what we believed.
And I can’t understand why Ethan can’t grasp that, either.
I stare at the man in front of me with venom in my eyes. “How am I the villain just because I moved on?”
I purse my lips as I feel his anger pouring at me, and my lips quiver.
“Because he loved you,” his brother spits at me, the venom strong enough to burn. “Because you’re living with his enemies. With the people who cost us him.”
Him.
Not her?
Not her.
“Ryan is dead, and I owe him nothing.” Don’t I deserve to be happy? I glare at the carbon copy, letting my anger take force. “I loved him, Ethan. I still love him. I won’t let anyone—not you, not your family, and certainly not my mates—try to twist me against him. I know exactly the man he was. But I also deserve to live. He’d never, ever have expected me to spend the rest of my life in mourning.
“We have a daughter together, and I know the kind of man Ryan was. He’d want me to give her stability, and happiness, and show her the good things that exist in this world. He couldn’t tell me about the werewolf world, not whilst he was trying his best to live without it.
“But now that I do know, I know he’d want me to protect her from your family. He’d want me to protect her future and keep her safe from the toxic people in your world thinking her only worth comes from being a female-born wolf. I know who Ryan was, do you?”
He looks like I’ve struck him, his eyes wide, his lips parted. “Maia?—”
“And yet, you’re over here, playing the games you have been, showing up here pretending to be him, messing with my house, and stealing my things?—”
Ethan freezes, his skin looking abnormally pale. “What?”
“Acting like it hasn’t been you sneaking around doesn’t change the truth,” I hiss, stepping away from him. Phoebe’s silent, and I’m scared to turn around and check on her because it gives him another advantage, so for now, I’ll keep him in my sight. “You are a vile, horrible man who needs to find a better hobby than harassing a widow.”
“Maia, I’ve never?—”
“Save the lies!” I shriek, the sound stinging my throat with how screechy it was. He shakes his head and gives me Ryan’s soft smile.
“I’d never fuck you around like that, sweetheart,” he says quietly. “Ryan would’ve had my ass for it.”
“Yeah, well, Ryan is dead.” My head is pounding, and I shake my head as tears fill my eyes. “So I suppose now you can taunt his widow, steal his child, and just pretend to be the man you think he was. But Ethan? You’re never going to match up. Ryan was kind, and smart, but he was also a man who didn’t hide in somebody else’s shadow.
“He wouldn’t sit back and be your parent’s puppet. He’s the type of man to know the world isn’t perfect, but rather than accept it for what it is, he works actively to change it. I wouldn’t have accepted anything else.
“Much like your enemies. The men who have bonded with my soul, warm my beds, and helped me raise your niece are more like him than you ever could be, even with sharing his face. Ryan was pure, and now that I know about this world, I completely understand why he wanted to leave it.
“So, please, just fuck off, and leave me and my child alone.”
I break down into sobs just as the car pulls up, and my mates arrive. Phoebe’s in the car seat at the doorway, and I don’t know which one of them stays inside the car, but I do know it wasn’t Seb based on the way he charges over to me.
He sneers at his cousin but dutifully wraps me up in his arms as another one of them darts behind to grab the car seat.
“You’re wrong, Maia,” Ethan says, his words carrying through the air. “I’m not and never will be my parent’s puppet.”
“No, you wouldn’t be,” Topher says, closing the car door as he strides over to where we’re standing. There’s a blank expression on his face, but anger is simmering away inside of him. “Because we fucked up here, princess, and I’ve led you to believe something that wasn’t actually true.”
“I don’t understand,” I whisper, clutching onto Seb as the tears continue to drip down my face. Seb’s angry like Topher, but not because of Ethan. He’s angry because I’m so distraught.
“This isn’t Ethan, little love,” Seb says quietly. He rubs circles into my lower back.
My teeth start to chatter, and my legs nearly give way. Seb’s grip is the only thing keeping me up. “Ryan… Ryan is dead.” I can’t look away from the blond man. “He’s dead.”
“Yes, he is,” Ethan—or… not Ethan—says. His tone is sad, empty, even.
