I stumbled away, choking on the tears that began welling up.
“But I didn’t fuck her!” he growled out.
I didn’t know what to believe. “So you just went over for a... what? A chat? Because I know you haven’t committed to me, or the triad bond... or whatever you want to call this thing we all have, but...”
Now I was feeling foolish, hoping for love and respect when we barely knew each other. The truth was, I wasn’t a proper girlfriend to either of these men. I was a fool, and my heart broke as I faced reality. Everyone was right. Markus wasn’t the monogamous type.
“But what?” he demanded. “You assumed I’d be yours from the moment we met? Well, guess what? I have been! I haven’t even kissed anyone else since we met.”
I pressed my lips together to fight off the tears, finally gathering enough control to speak. “Then what were you doing at her house?”
“Oh my God!” He threw up his hands, swiveled on his heel and opened the front door. “You want me to say that I fucked her? Fine, I fucked her! Are you happy now? You’re just like the rest of this town. You all think I’m some sort of good-for-nothing asshole. Well, aren’t you lucky that you’ve got the other half of a perfect pair to love you? Ollie’s the perfect part, of course, and then there’s me. I’m the one you can just dump because I’m not perfect. Nowhere near it.”
The hurt and pain beneath his words were heartbreaking. For the first time I realized he was telling the truth. He hadn’t slept with Nancy. She’d lied, and I’d believed her. “Markus... I...”
Before I could get out my apology, he was gone, taking his anger and my heart with him.
Chapter 15
MARKUS
The black hole headed my way was huge. And the only way to avoid the depression was to shift and run. Away from town. Away from Ollie. Away from Lexie, and the pain still cascading through me.
I threw my phone and keys into my truck and took off running down our street, breaking into a sweat almost immediately. As soon as I reached the edge of town, I stripped and shifted, bursting into my wolf body and running into the forest.
I couldn’t believe my own brother, and the woman who was supposedly my mate, thought so little of me.
What happened to trust? And loyalty? And love?
I’d known what the rest of the world thought about me, but to hear the same bullshit coming from Lexie hurt a lot worse than I thought it would.
I should never have left her this afternoon. Never tried to get that money for her. Never tried to test my own resolve with Nancy. I’d been stupid, and now I was paying the price.
So, can you really blame Lexie for hating you?
I ran like I was being chased by demons, and in a way I was. The only thing was, my demons were inside me and no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t escape their black reach.
