Page 28 of Broken Forced Mate

He doesn’t respond to the sarcasm. Smart man.

“What happens now?” I ask. “Do I stay locked up here while you go back to your job like nothing happened?”

“You’re not locked up. But you can’t go back to your old life, at least not yet. There are still Thornridge operatives out there.”

“And Bastian?”

His face goes cold. “We’ll handle it.”

“You’re going to kill him.”

“He’s a terrorist operative who infiltrated our territory with plans to murder you and steal our resources. Yes, I will kill him.”

I should feel something: shock, horror, maybe even grief for the man I thought I was going to marry. Instead, I feel nothing but grim satisfaction.

Wyn studies my face like he’s seeing me for the first time. Maybe he is. The naive girl who left for Llewelyn is gone, replaced by someone harder and more experienced.

“Understanding your motivations doesn’t erase what you’ve done,” I tell him. “You stole my choices, Wyn. All of them. And now I’m supposed to be grateful because it turned out you were right?”

“I’m not asking for gratitude.”

“Good, because you’re not getting it.”

I walk to the window and look out at the desert landscape stretching toward the horizon. “Oren is going to be furious when he learns what you’ve done,” I say without turning around.

“I know.”

“I’m not talking about just angry. I’m talking about the kind of rage that ends careers and destroys friendships.”

Wyn is quiet for a long moment. “He trusted me with your safety.”

“And you interpreted that as permission to kidnap me and force me into marriage.”

“He’ll understand that I saved your life.”

“You also destroyed it.” I turn to face him now. “My independence, my autonomy, my right to make decisions about my own future…. It’s all gone because you decided you knew better.”

He doesn’t deny it, which is something, at least.

“When Oren finds out about this marriage, there’s going to be hell to pay,” I continue. “For both of us, but especially for you.”

“I’ll face whatever consequences come.”

“Will you? Because those consequences include losing everything—your job, your reputation, your place in the pack. Maybe even your life, depending on how angry my brother gets.”

I watch him consider this, weighing the cost of his actions against whatever drove him to make them.

“Yes,” he says finally. “I’m prepared for that.”

“Why? What’s worth throwing away everything you’ve worked for?”

His gray eyes hold mine for a long moment, and I see something there that makes my stomach flutter.

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

It’s not the whole truth. I can hear the lie in his voice, see it in the way he won’t quite meet my eyes. But I don’t push. I’m not ready for whatever truth he’s hiding.

“I should let you get some rest,” he tells me as he backs toward the door. “It’s been a long day.”