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He ran his wet hand over his face and heaved a sigh.

“You mentioned you knew exactly which venom you had to use. Is it about that?”

He nodded. “And more.”

“Oh, great.”

He frowned at me. “Do you really want to know?”

“Would I be asking if I didn’t want to know?”

He made a disagreeable sound and stared down at the water. “The infected lycan who attacked you was … my brother.”

I heard the words. I understood them. But somehow, they didn’t strike me as hard as they should’ve. I blinked at Sylvan, trying to sift through my feelings, but it was just numbness that cascaded over my tired body. Perhaps I was just too tired. “How long have you known?”

“Days ago, just before we had to sedate you.”

I closed my eyes and let my head drift back against the lip of the tub. His fingers brushed against my knee, but I didn’t recoil from his touch.

“Aura, I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t open my eyes, but I could hear the tears in his. “Why?” I asked him. “You weren’t the one who bit me. We’re not responsible for the deranged things our family members do.” I opened my eyes. “I understand.”

Surprise colored his features. “Still,” he said. “The thought I could’ve lost you because I fell asleep when I was guarding him …”

“Sylvan, stop it. It’s in the past.”

“Yeah? Well, there’s more.”

I gestured for him to continue.

He gnawed on his lip. Then after a while, he said, “I’m promised to another lycan. An omega. She’s— She was my brother’s mate. Our traditions state that the alpha who takes over also gets the bonded mate.”

This news, however … It shook the foundation of my resolve. I gripped the bar of soap harder, and it shot out of my fist and sank with a splash. A flush crawled up my chest to my face.

“Aura—”

I held my hand up and fisted it when it trembled. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

“But I need you to, because it’s not that simple. I⁠—”

“You have a role to fulfill, Alpha. Again, I understand. It’s fine. You return to your⁠—”

“Aura, listen to me, dammit.” The water splashed, spraying onto my face as he shifted so that he was awkwardly kneeling between my legs. This tub was barely big enough for us, and now … I tipped my head all the way back to look at him. The pained expression combined with the intensity in his eyes was overbearing. He didn’t touch me. Instead, he gripped the edge of the vessel. “Clover means a lot to me, but not in the way you’d think. She is a friend.”

“A friend you fuck?”

“She doesn’t want that, nor do I.”

I let out a sardonic laugh and nudged his chest to force him away, but he wrapped his arms around my back and tugged me along with him so that I fell into his chest as he settled on his side of the tub again. “Get off me!” I struggled, but he held tight.

“I need you to stop being a stubborn ass for a second and listen to me.” He loosened his grip so that I could see his face. I remained snuggled between his legs, my body tense in preparation to move away, because surely there was nothing he could say that would fix things. “Clover and I don’t want this. Keep that in mind. She isn’t mine. We aren’t bonded, so traditions be damned, we have no obligation to each other. Except friendship. She told me to go to you when I felt that tug. I didn’t understand it at first.”

He swallowed, and I watched a myriad of emotions cross his face.

“I never thought it would be possible for me to take a mate,” he continued. “Because I never felt that intensity. That pull. That desperation to be with another lycan. I never felt the need to bite someone or bond myself to them. Even when faced with another lycan in Heat, I wasn’t tempted. Until you.”

Pain and heat poured into me. No, not pain, I realized. Something else. Was it possible for my heart to physically crack wide open? But then it was slowly fusing back together, warmth and giddiness replacing the strange panic that started to settle in. I wasn’t sure how to process what he’d told me. Like him, I didn’t think I’d ever feel so much. The overwhelming ache in my chest startled me. I jolted upright, splashing water right into his face. He blinked, and I reached out to wipe it from his face, only managing to splash him more. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I said.