Page 47 of Ruined Wolf

I dared a glance sideways at Maverick. His face was drained of colour, and I reached for his hand.

“Maverick... No... That’s not...” He pulled his hand away and looked back at Ethan. The small gesture of rejection was like a knife to my heart.

“Do you have any proof of this?” Maverick asked, his voice strained.

“Other than the fact that she was wearing Jaxon’s jacket when she washed up on those rocks and that she’s pregnant by the mate she had before?” Lucas asked bitterly, his dark gaze burning into my face.

Ethan leaned over and passed something to Maverick. His face fell, and the pain of betrayal was as clear as day as he looked at the item in his hand. He showed it to Lucas, then passed it to Asher. As Asher looked down at the photograph of myself and Jaxon in the park, I felt despair settle over me.

Asher looked up at me, pain and confusion etched on his face. “You were Jaxon’s mate? The whole time?”

I nodded, my eyes filling with tears once again as I saw the pain I had caused them.

“You...” He looked back down at the photograph. “You came here. You knew he was dead. Even after everything I shared with you, you couldn’t tell me...”

“Asher, I’m so sorry.” I blinked back tears, reaching towards him, but he flinched away from me.

“Don’t touch me,” he snapped. He shoved the photograph back at Maverick and stood up. “It was fake from the start. Nothing was real, none of it. You just played us.”

“No, that’s not—”

“You were all set up from the beginning. Caleb tried to undermine us and cause dissension from within, making it easier when he attacked to bring us to our knees. She’s his Trojan horse.”

Asher had heard enough. He sent me one last look of pain and betrayal then turned and strode out of the cabin. I heard the roar of his truck as he started her up, and the screech of tyres and crunch of gravel as he pulled away.

I closed my eyes, more tears falling down my face.

“You deceived us.” Lucas’s voice was filled with hatred, and it shook me to my core.

“Lucas, please. I can explain. I can—”

“Were you Jaxon’s mate?”

“Yes, but—”

“Were you there weeks ago when he died, and have you known what happened to him all this time?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t—”

“Bullshit,” Maverick snapped. Anger darkened his eyes as he turned towards me. “You knew what happened to our brother the whole time, and you said nothing.”

“I was afraid, I was confused, and then I just couldn’t... I love you, Maverick. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, you managed anyway.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I fell for it.”

“You must have got Jaxon to talk about us,” Lucas intoned. “All those months spent getting him to tell you about his younger brothers so you had enough ammunition to know exactly how to manipulate each one of us. I do commend you, Nova. Masterfully played. You even got me hooked on your line.” He stood up and looked over at Maverick. “I’m out. I’m done.”

“Lucas, wait,” Maverick called, but Lucas was already through the door. There was a ripping sound as his clothes shredded from his shift, and a dark wolf slipped through the trees.

Maverick leaned forward, resting his head in his hand, the other gripping the photograph of me and his eldest brother. “Was it quick?” he asked without looking at me. “When he passed, was it quick?”

I froze. No, it hadn’t been quick.

Maverick felt my hesitation, and he drew in a long, shaky breath. He got to his feet and threw the photograph on the table, then looked over at Ethan.

“She’s all yours, Alpha. I reject my mate, and I renounce my protection.”

I gasped as the pain of his declaration hit me like a knife through the heart. Maverick hesitated and turned towards me as though he was going to say something, but then he shook his head and left me alone with Ethan.