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“No. It wasn’t. But I also wasn’t going to let her guilt you into a loveless marriage. For you to always come second to Gideon who’d never give up his alpha spot without a fight. He loved power too much. And he’d take out anyone who destabilized that. You were a natural-born leader and a threat.”
“So what?” I roared, defiant. “You decided to go ahead and sacrifice yourself?”
“Better you be free than me,” he said quietly, and I saw the truth in it. My eyes widened. The hurt a heavy weight in my chest as my past rewound and rewrote itself in a second.
“You were going to marry her? Raise another man’s child?”
“You wanted a mate so badly,” he told me. “To let you sacrifice yourself to another where the mate magic would never engage, where you would never find your mate, I couldn’t let you do it. You would have married Belinda out of honor to protect her from Gideon’s fury, so better you hate me. Better you think I betrayed you. You were supposed to leave after that. You should have left. Before Gideon had Belinda killed and put the guilt on your shoulders. Before the challenge.”
“You destroyed our friendship for some stupid martyr bullshit!” I shoved away from the table, pacing the floor in anger. “I loved you like a brother!”
“And I loved you in the same way. That’s why I couldn’t let you ruin your life. And I’m glad I did it. Look at what you’ve made here. You’re not only alpha, but you own a whole damn town. And you’ve met Savannah. Your mate. You’re happy. And I’d do the same thing all over again.”
Tears welled and I hated him for it. “You had no right to make that choice for me and you know it.”
“Maybe. But I had no hopes. No dreams. I had nothing but you. My pack brother. And I wasn’t going to let you ruin your life. Hate me all you want if it helps.”
“Hate you!” my voice wavered. “I can’t even… I’ve spent years hating you! Only to find out this?”
“You were never meant to find out.”
I shoved a hand through my hair and tried to find calm. “You… you took away something so important to me. I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive you for it.
“You didn’t love Bel—”
“I’m not talking about Belinda!” Not sure whether to embrace or punch the son of a bitch, I confessed, “I’m talking about you.Youmade that choice for me. You ripped yourself out of my life, not once thinking about what that would do to me. And now you’re telling me this?”
Some of his harsh charade slipped. “Warren …”
“My name is Donovan,” I corrected. “Warren died a long time ago.”
I had no clue what to say. What to do. Everything I’d thought about him over the years turned to poison in my chest.
“Well,” Max drawled. “This changes things. Donovan, take a seat. Victor, do the same. We need to talk about where we go from here.”
I didn’t move. Neither did Victor.
“So we’re going with stubbornness,” said Max. “I can work with that. But we need to discuss what happened here tonight and what happens next.”
“Everleigh called Gideon,” I told them. “I’m almost sure it was her.”
“How do you know?” Kyran demanded. He might not like Everleigh but she was one of his own. The thought of her doing something so twisted meant Kyran would take part of the blame for not keeping her in line.
“From what Gideon said. A female called him. And not only did they give away the location, but they sounded pissed at me, and knew about me and Savannah. Question her if you want. But I’m leaning in that direction.”
“But how would she know the truth about Savannah being a bounty hunter? Or about the link to Gideon?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’d better find out.”
“I’ll find out,” Kyran growled. “I won’t point the finger until I find out for certain. But trust me, if she has …”
“You will deal with it in the right way,” Max finished for him. “Gideon’s body will be easy enough to dispose of. Burned on a pyre would be a good way, but we’ll do it away from the town. Harrison and I can take care of that tonight.”
“I’ll help,” Victor said.
Max continued, “I’ll pay Gideon’s men for their troubles and simply let them know that if word spreads about the town or what happened here tonight, I’ll come for them.” He looked at Victor. “You know them well. Anyone you can vouch for?”
“Only one. The youngest called Trevor. Bad circumstances led him to Gideon. He was looking for a home. The rest, you pay them and they’ll stay quiet and run. You promise to hire them in the future should they prove worthy, and they’ll stay loyal for any potential future business. Your name and reputation carry weight.”
