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“He did nothing, you have no idea what you're talking about. Casey always runs to the park to play,” Rose says, but I can tell she is lying. I know this woman like the back of my fucking hand. I have seen her in every awkward phase of life, and yet she still tries to lie to me.
“I just had dinner with your parents, want to try again?” I growl.
“He’s drunk, Casen. You didn't need to destroy my house,” she mumbles, but I scoff, shaking her slightly.
“Drunk or not, you’re an Alpha, Rose!” My voice echoes through the room. “You're not meant to be beaten, not by anyone, least of all by my cowardly brother!”
“He doesn't…” I grip her shirt, the collar having the slightest tinge, but I can smell it is her blood staining it, not mine or Vince's.
“Try again!” I snarl, before letting her go. Her eyes turn glassy, and we stand there staring at each other, neither of us willing to budge.
Rose moves to check Vince, and I grip her wrist. “Leave him.”
“You didn't need to hurt him.”
“I did what had to be done,” I answer grimly. “I won't let Vince hurt you anymore.”
A strange mix of emotions crosses her face — anger, confusion, and something I can't quite decipher.
“You had no right, Casen!” she cries out. “He's my mate!”
“I am your mate!” I retort, anger flaring again.
“Youweremy mate.”
I grit my teeth at her words.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Casen
“And that asshole being your mate doesn't give him the right to abuse you, Rose! You can't let him continue doing this.” She goes to argue back, but I see what Andrei and Sage mean. There is some serious fucked up Stockholm Syndrome crap going on here; she can't see reason.
“He's not abusing me!” she yells, then laughs nervously. Who is she trying to fool? Me or herself?
“You don't want my help. Fine, but I am not leaving Casey here,” I tell her, moving towards the hall when she speaks.
“You left me, Casen!” Her words cut through my rage, and my entire body tenses.
“You abandoned me, you banished me!” I yell at her, turning to face her. Tears well up in her eyes as she shakes her head.
“But I didn't think you would leave! I was angry! I would have forgiven you…”
“You banished me!” What part of that is she not understanding? “You had me escorted off pack lands! What did you expect!”
“To come back! I was 18, Casen, naive, and fucking 18!… but you didn't…. he did,” she whispers the last part.
In the tense silence that follows, Vince stirs. My wolf howls within me, ready to attack, but Rose steps between us.
My gaze goes back to Rose. “If you wanted me back, you should have answered the damn phone… Years, Rose, you had years to tell me about Casey! Did you not think I would come back for her?” Her lips quiver, and she glances down at Vince when he groans. Shaking my head, I turn for the hall again.
“But would you have come back for me?” she whispers, and I stop. Why would she ever doubt that!
“Eighteen years I followed you around, kept you safe, 18 years, Rose. I'd follow you to the end of the fucking earth if I needed to, but you banished me. Said you hated me and wished it was me who was dead. What did you expect? For me to love you from a fucking distance, but never have you?” Her lips part, she is clearly hurting, but so am I.
“I… I…” she stutters terribly.
“You have to choose, Rose,” I growl, my heart pounding. “Him or me. Let me kill him, and everything goes back to how it should have been.” She takes a step back.
