Page 102 of Bitter Truths

Winston gives me a look that reminds me of the big brother who used to call me out on my bullshit.

“Tell you what? That I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right?” He adjusts the sheet. “You made yourself pretty unavailable, Bee. And honestly? Even if I could have reached you, what would you have done? Come running back into the middle of whatever mess they were trapped in?”

He’s right.

“I would have tried to help,” I say weakly.

“And accomplished what?” Winston’s expression softens. “Look, I’m not saying I handled it perfectly. But you were healing. You were safe. Maybe that was for the best. You don’t understand how fucked up their world is… has always been.”

“Jesus, Winston. They’ve been trapped with her this whole time.”

His fingers pick at the hospital blanket, restless. “Have you told them the truth about... the scent match?”

“No.” The word comes out rough. I clear my throat. “I don’t even know if that’s real.”

“What do you mean?”

I give a small shrug. “Maybe I was just... convincing myself.” The admission tastes bitter. “And honestly? What good would it do telling them? They’re stuck in a bond with a lunatic… and I get the feeling they can’t just snap their fingers and get out of it, ya know? Plus, I’m still unawakened.”

Winston’s eyebrows pull together. “What if it makes a difference?”

“How?”

Winston shifts, wincing as he tries to sit up straighter. “Studies show that scent matches can develop due to pre-bonding.” His voice takes on that clinical tone he gets when he’s explaining medical shit. “Prolonged exposure during critical developmental periods… childhood… can create biologically compatible pathways.”

I stare at him. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I think you pre-bonded to them and it formed the match.” Exhaustion bleeds through his voice. “You’ve been around them since you were three, B. They were always good to you… always protective of you. Your system would’ve mapped them as compatible mates long before you were supposed to awaken.”

My mouth goes dry. “So the scent match...”

“I believe it’s very real.” Winston’s eyes meet mine. “You recognized them as yours because you were already bonded to them on a cellular level.”

I gasp. Everything starts clicking into place…

“When I was in the hospital...”

“Bond sickness,” Winston says, his expression grim. “Your body was reacting to your mates bonding with someone else.”

My heart pounds. “They told me the bond started to fail immediately.”

Winston nods, his voice growing stronger. “Because they were already bonded to you, B. Their bodies knew it. They didn’t need you to awaken for that bond to exist… it was already there, had been for years. So when Montgomery tried to force them into naturally bonding with his daughter...” He shakes his head. “Their systems would’ve fought it instinctively.”

I press my hands to my temples as the implications crash over me. “Jesus, Winston. If this is all true, then everything Montgomery told me about never awakening...”

“Bullshit. He needed you out of the picture.” Winston’s jaw tightens.

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t permanently fuck me up, though.”

“No...” Winston tries to push himself up higher in the bed, wincing at the movement but his eyes burning with fury. “That bastard. I swear to God, when I get out of here...” He grips the bed rail, knuckles white. “I’m going to reach out to some colleagues. Specialists who aren’t in Montgomery’s pocket.”

His protective instincts are firing on all cylinders despite being stuck in a hospital bed, and I can practically see him mentally planning Montgomery’s destruction. “Relax, Win. You need to rest. We’ll sort this out.”

My phone buzzes against my leg.

It’s Mom.

“Take it,” Winston says, already looking tired from our conversation. “I’m not going anywhere.”