Page 54 of Adored By the Wolf

I laughed. “I know. I was just teasing.”

We quietened, and then Bruno said, “I’ll voice the elephant in the room.”

I saw Bruno had gotten serious. “And what’s that?” I asked him.

“What if Millie chooses me? I hate to say it, but we really bonded over the last few days.”

I suddenly remembered Bruno had no idea about what we’d learned. “Yeah . . . about that.”

He stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to pretend I didn’t hear him, but Bruno nudged me with his foot, and I knew now was the time to share what had been going on. “I’m just the messenger, okay? It’s actually good news, if you think about it.”

“What is it, Jacob? Spit it out.”

“Jill and Becca went to visit Millie, and they realized that the two of us had not known Millie has an identical twin.”

Bruno looked at me like I had grown two heads.

“Apparently, we’ve actually been dating two different girls. I was dating the real Millie. You were dating her twin, who was pretending to be her.”

His mouth dropped open. “They were vetting us too?”

“No, I don’t think so. My Millie was genuine. I could see it in her eyes.”

“Mine was too. I could tell as much as you could with yours.”

I sighed. “It’s a whole mess, isn’t it?”

“Did you . . . ?” Bruno ran a hand through his hair, gripping the strands tightly before running his hands back down his face. “Did you see the other Millie when you went to see Millie? Ugh! What is her name?”

“Lira.”

“Lira,” he whispered, falling back on his bed.

“And no, I didn’t. But I didn’t stay very long either. It was also snowing, so any lingering smells were muted.”

“Right.”

We sat in silence for a bit while I let him digest what I had just told him.

After a moment, he sat back up and said, “So, what now? I guess it was never really a competition, then.”

“Millie overheard us saying it was when we were fighting, so she’s pissed about that. I need to figure out a way to win her back, as all of you keep reminding me. And you have your mate to find too, apparently.”

“My mate, who pretended she was someone else when dating me!” Bruno burst out. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Worth calling her and asking,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, maybe later.”

Miti came in then with a big jar of liquid.

“Aw, Miti, do I have to?” Bruno asked.

“You need to keep resting,” she said firmly. “You’re so close to getting back up on your own two feet, and I don’t want to take any chances. Now, drink up.”

Bruno did as he was told and immediately fell into a deep sleep. I left him snoring while Miti walked me out of her house.