Chapter 44: An Exercise in Trust

ALEKSANDR

“Do YOU trust her?”

I could hear the suspicion in my mate’s voice when she asked me that question, and it cut me. I knew that without remembering what happened in the cottage, she had no reason to question my intentions, but my own guilt over not telling her colored how I interpreted her tone.

Did I trust Jacinda? I remembered everything she said, and she obviously told the truth about my strength and my ability to resist her magic, but that didn’t mean I trusted her.

She also lied to me when she said she wouldn’t “test me” again, and then she set Rieka up to walk into the midst of that “test.”

I turned to look at my gorgeous mate, and the question in her eyes held a hint of the pain I’d seen when she first arrived at the cottage. Her mind might not remember what happened, but it was as if her heart did.

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly.

Her eyes swam with more questions.

“So what part of you wants to trust her?”

SHIT! I’m not ready for this conversation yet. I need