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“Khloé didn’t report your behavior. Keenan did.”
Her gaze flared and shot to Keenan. “She insisted on you telling tales for her?”
“Khloé didn’t ask me to tell anyone anything,” said Keenan. “I reported you to Knox because one, it’s my job to report such things, and two, I won’t allow anyone to fuck with my mate.”
Thea’s mouth fell open. “Your mate?” She shook her head, skepticism written all over her face. “No. You’d never take a mate. Not ever. I’ve known you practically all my life. Your commitment issues run too deep for you to ever give all of yourself to a relationship.”
Keenan shrugged, not caring what she thought. “Believe what you want; just stay away from Khloé.”
Thea’s eyes narrowed, and she studied him carefully. “Oh, I get it. You’re pretending to be her mate hoping it will scare away the person who’s after her. Admirable, I guess.”
“Make no mistake about it—Khloé is my mate.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care. Just do as I say and keep your distance from her.”
She gripped the edge of the table. “Are you saying all this to hurt me because I mated with someone else? You are, aren’t you? Damn it, Keenan, that’s unfair. I would have taken you as my mate in a heartbeat if things had been different.”
“I’m not even going to ask what that means.” It might have mattered to him once, but not now.
“I came back to you time and time again, but nothing ever changed. You’d ask me to stay, but I could see I wouldn’t have been your priority. Your position as sentinel came first. Hell, Knox and the other sentinels came before I did.”
“Oh my god, are you for real?” Larkin cut in, glaring at her. “You spent years trying to lead him around by his dick. You’d turn up, jump in his bed, say all the right things, give him hope, but then you’d flounce off again without a goodbye. And you really think he should have offered to take you as his mate? You think that he should have made you his priority when he clearly wasn’t yours?”
Thea’s face hardened. “That’s not how it was. I love him. I’ve always loved him. But I know too well that sentinels never put their mates first—I’ve seen firsthand what that does to a woman. Being second best wrecked my mother.” She looked at Keenan. “You knew I wouldn’t repeat her mistakes. You knew I wouldn’t commit to a sentinel, but you never once offered to give up that position.”
“You never asked me to,” he pointed out.
“I shouldn’t have had to. You knew what held me back.”
Maybe he had, deep down. And maybe he’d ignored it because it suited him; because choosing between her and his position would have been too hard. If so, yeah, that probably made him a selfish asshole. But she’d never been willing to give a relationship with a sentinel a chance, had she? She’d wanted things her way or no way at all. Wasn’t that just as selfish?
You should want someone for who they were, not for who you wished them to be. Thea had only wanted him on her terms, and she would have molded him into someone else. She’d never understood and accepted him as he was. Which should have hurt, but … “None of this even matters now.”
“It matters to me,” she clipped, her eyes wet. “You matter to me. Why couldn’t you just love me, Keenan? You cared for me; I know that. But you didn’t love me.”
No, he hadn’t, he realized. “You never gave me a chance to see if I could have.”
“I knew I loved you even as a child.”
“Not all of us find it so easy to bond with people. In any case, all this is moot. Even if I wasn’t with Khloé, I wouldn’t want you. I don’t say that to hurt you, I say it because it’s true and because I need you to get it. I need it to sink into your brain so that you don’t make the mistake of bothering her again—you wouldn’t like the consequences.”
Thea snickered. “Why? What will she do to me?”
“She won’t need to do anything, Thea,” said Knox, his voice soft but grave and menacing. “I gave you sanctuary, and that means you answer to me just as my lair members do. If you step out of line, you’ll be punished.” He leaned forward, pinning her gaze with his. “You are to stay away from Khloé Wallis. You’re not to make contact with her in any way. If you do, you’ll have me to deal with. And trust me, Thea, you won’t enjoy what happens next. Nobody ever does.”
Thea swallowed hard, her eyes flickering. “She’s not part of your lair.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Knox. “Khloé’s under my protection. Not only as Keenan’s mate, but as the cousin of my mate and son. To me, she’s family. And nobody fucks with my family. Nobody.”
