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Dammit.

“I couldn’t help myself, okay?” I barked defensively. “She threw herself at me wearing practically nothing, and the mate bond took over.”

Murder blazed in his eyes like green fire. “You fucked her?”

“No,” I hedged, averting my guilty gaze. “Just some kissing and petting.”

“You bastard!” he yelled, then his fist slammed against the side of my face, the force of it making me slip off the bed to the floor.

“I know, okay!” I shouted, holding my hands up again, both to disarm him and to shield against another blow. “You have every right to hate me. But I want to fix it.”

He snarled at me, shaking his head as he began to pace in front of the bed. “After all the shit you gave me for giving in to her, and you went so much farther than I let myself go.”

I sighed, the weight of my shame pressing down on me. “Tell me how to fix it, Tannin.”

He shook his head again. “Look, I’m glad you came to your senses and realized we’re not meant to harm Aliya, but I don’t know how we move forward. I can’t stand the thought of you touching her.”

Jealousy coiled inside my gut. “And I can’t stand the thought ofyoutouching her. So where do we go from here? We obviously can’t abandon her.”

Tannin paced for several long seconds, then slowed to a stop. “What if... What if we worked out how to share her?” he suggested.

“What?” I balked.

“We’re both mated to her,” he said. “That had to have happened for a reason. And it’s not entirely unheard of for wolves to have more than one partner.”

“Yeah, but formalewolves to have more than onefemalepartner,” I corrected, my upper lip twitching in disgust. “Not the other way around. And those unions don’t happen when there’s a mate bond involved. Mating to more than one person doesn’t happen.”

“Well, it has,” Tannin countered. “And seeing as how we can’t kill her or each other, the only reasonable option left is to come to some sort of agreement where we both get to have her.”

My insides were burning and clenching with possessive rage. Male wolves didn’tsharewomen. That wasn’t how we operated. Especially not an Alpha like me. And that thought alone made me want to rip his throat out with my teeth.

Tannin perched on the bed next to where I still sat on the floor. “Look, I know it’s not ideal, but mate bonds are the most sacred thing in our world. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we, the leaders of the black wolf pack, both mated to the princess of Varinya. Fate has some sort of grand plan. We’d be foolish to stray from it.”

I didn’t like any of the words coming out of his mouth, but I couldn’t deny the truth that resonated in my soul.

“You really think we can share her? Without killing each other?” I asked, a growl rumbling in my chest.

“You’re my best friend,” he said. “The two of us have been closer than brothers our whole lives. I think if any two wolves can share a woman, it’s us.”

I sighed through the low growl that wouldn’t stop rattling my throat. He did have a point. “How are we going to make it work? There have to be ground rules.”

He nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Well, I think we have to agree that neither of us is intimate with her alone.”

“You’re suggesting we lie with her at the same time?” I asked.

“Can you think of a better arrangement? Would you want me touching her beyond your reach?”

I snarled. “No.”

“Then there you have it,” he said. “But none of that means anything without her consent. We’ve both treated her like shit. I think we need to tell her the truth. All of it. And leave the decision up to her.”

My heart fell. Would she even want me after the way I’d acted today? I’d fingered her until she came apart so perfectly, then I’d snapped at her to leave. She’d looked so hurt. Would she be willing to give me a second chance? Could I live with it if she chose to only be with Tannin and reject me?

Well, if she did, it would be my own fault. Then I would do everything I could to win back her favor and prove myself a mate she could depend on.

“How do you think she will take it?” I asked in a reserved, doubtful tone. “I mean, the black wolves are the enemy of her kingdom. Do you think she would disregard that because her kingdom fell?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “But she has such a kind heart. I think once she sees the depth of our devotion to her, she’ll come around.”