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“You interrupted before I could know she was innocent!” Stone said furiously. “I needed to go back and see if she set Brennan up—”
“You’re a fool.” Liam’s voice came out exasperated, but still warm. He ran both hands through his air. “Oh, Stone. You already know the truth.”
Stone shook his head. “I need to know for sure. So the pack will know. They can accept her.”
“So she can stay?” Liam let out a laugh. “You must know she’s not going to stay, not after what you did to her.”
Stone’s brows tightened. “Are you saying she’s going to run? Did you see that in the future?”
I stared at Liam, feeling exposed and at the same time, uncertain. Was I going to run? I hadn’t thought about anything yet but getting away from Stone and Louisa. Was I going to go back and talk to Joshua, to make plans to escape with Dylan?
If Stone was going to drag me into the world of nightmares again until he had examined my memories from every angle… a shiver ran down my spine.
I had to escape.
“I don’t know,” Liam said, frowning. “You know I get confused.”
Stone softened, and I stared at Liam in wonder. I had the feeling Liam was just pretending. He might genuinely get lost in time… but he was also using his sometimes-confusion to his advantage.
“It’s all right.” Stone looked past him to me. “Amelia…”
He trailed off, looking lost, as if he had no idea what to say.
And neither did I.
“Are you going to do that to her again?” Liam asked.
Stone met his gaze and didn’t answer. The silence between them felt deep and terrible.
“If you try,” Liam said quietly, “You’re going to have to chain me up like the Longroads did. Because I’m going to come for her. I’m never going to let you hurt her.”
Stone’s face washed with shock and horror. “I would never do that, Liam. And I would never try to hurt her or—”
“No? Not even if you were convinced it was for our own good?” Liam tilted his head to one side, studying Stone. “I love you so much, Stone. In the past, in the present, in the future. But you think you’re better than me when you aren’t.”
“I don’t,” Stone began.
“You think you’re sane,” Liam said. “But I’m living in reality, even if I get mixed up on who I am or what time it is. It’s still always real. But you have created this fake reality where you can somehow fix everything, keep everyone together, safe, if you just make them obey.”
Stone scoffed. “Believe me, I live in reality where no one obeys. Even though they should.”
Stone held a hand out to me. “Come on, Amelia. Let’s finish this. You’ve already been through the worst. I just need to see what happened before.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t let him see Aiden and Lawson. One of them must have betrayed me; they were the ones who knew about my plans to run away with Brennan. But even though they had hurt me, I wanted to protect them so badly.
They were still mine, and I still loved them.
Just like these fucked-up King brothers loved each other no matter what.
“This part will be easy,” Stone promised. “I won’t tie you down, I promise.”
“She said no.” Liam’s voice was sharp. “Go away, Stone. You’ve done enough damage.”
“Enough, Liam!” Stone’s tone was filled with his alpha growl. “You go for a run. Clear your head.”
Liam stepped in front of me, his broad shoulders and the lean taper of his back blocking me from Stone. He let out a growl that was purely feral, rumbling through his body.
He was the oldest brother. He’d been meant to be the alpha. He always seemed so lost that it was easy to forget, to see him as weak despite his height and powerful build.
