Chapter 9: Go to hell

~Kaelan~

I couldn't get her face out of my head.

She had looked right at me…right through me. Those hazel eyes had stared at me like I was nothing. Like I was a face she had never seen before and had no interest in seeing again.

I don't think so.

The words kept replaying in my mind. Four words…four simple words that shouldn't have had the power to destabilise me, but they did because I knew she was lying. I knew she recognized me the moment our eyes met and she chose to pretend I didn't exist.

I paced the length of my space, my wolf clawing beneath my skin. He had been restless since the moment he'd perceived her scent. A scent I had tried to forget for five years. A scent that had haunted my dreams and driven me half-mad with longing.

She was here in my home, brought in by none other than my own brother.

The thought made my claws extend involuntarily. I could still see Rhys's hand on her back, leaning close to whisper in her ear and tucking her hair behind her ear like he had the right to touch her. As if she belonged to him.

She doesn't belong to him. She's mine.

But even as the thought surfaced, shame followed close behind.

Mine? I had forfeited that claim five years ago when I walked away. When I let fear convince me that distance was protection. When I sent lawyers instead of apologies.

I had no right to call her mine. I had no right to feel this jealousy burning through my veins.

But my wolf didn't care about rights. My wolf only knew that his mate was here and another male was circling her.

I stopped pacing and turned toward the door, my hands clenched at my sides. I needed answers. I needed to understand what game the universe was playing by dropping Elara back into my life on my brother's arm.

The door opened and Rhys stepped inside, still wearing that soft expression that he had been giving her all evening. The one that made me want to tear his throat out.

"She's settled." He said, closing the door behind him. "The little girl fell asleep almost immediately. She was exhausted."

"We need to talk." I said roughly, "About why you brought a human woman and her child into Thornwood without consulting anyone."

Rhys raised an eyebrow. "Since when do I need your permission to help someone in need?"

"Since you decided to bring outsiders into pack territory." I moved closer, using my height to my advantage. "This isn't a halfway house, Rhys. We have rules and protocols. You can't just pick up strays and drag them home."

Rhys's eyes hardened instantly. Something that I rarely saw from my gentle brother.

"Strays?" He repeated the word slowly. "Is that what you call a mother with a sick child? A woman who has clearly been fighting alone for years with no one to help her?"

"You don't know anything about her." I said through gritted teeth.

"I know enough." Rhys crossed his arms over his chest. "I know she's been to dozens of doctors who couldn't tell her what was wrong with her daughter. I know she's exhausted and scared and too proud to admit it. I know she's been carrying a weight that would have broken most people years ago."

Stop talking about her like that. Stop looking at her like that. Stop making me feel like even more of a monster than I already am.

"That doesn't explain why you brought her here." I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "There are other ways to help. You didn't have to bring her to Thornwood."

"Yes, I did." Rhys's jaw tightened. "Because the little girl isn't human, Kaelan. Or at least, not fully."

My heart almost stopped. My intimidating stance loosened and I blinked repeatedly.

"What?"

"Lily." Rhys said her name gently. "Her eyes change. She has episodes that no human doctor can explain because they're not human symptoms. She's showing early signs of a shift that her body doesn't know how to process."

I reached out and gripped the edge of my desk to steady myself.

"She's a wolf?" I asked.

"Half." Rhys confirmed. "The mother is human. Which means somewhere out there, a werewolf fathered that child and then disappeared." His voice hardened with disgust. "He left them both to fend for themselves in a world that couldn't possibly understand what was happening."

I couldn't breathe. The room suddenly felt too small.

"Do you have any idea what that poor woman has been through?" Rhys continued, oblivious to the destruction his words were causing. "Five years, Kaelan. Five years of watching her daughter suffer and not knowing why. Five years of doctors looking at her like she was crazy. Five years of fighting completely alone because some coward decided his child wasn't worth staying for."

Every word was a lash against my skin. Every sentence a condemnation I couldn't escape.

He was right. Every word he said was right. And he had no idea he was saying it to the very coward he was describing.

"The father." I heard myself speak. "Do you know who he is?"

"No." Rhys shook his head. "Elara hasn't mentioned him. I don't think she wants to talk about it, and I'm not going to push her. Whatever happened between them, it's clear he hurt her deeply. The way she flinches whenever the topic of Lily's father comes up..." He trailed off, his expression darkening. "If I ever find out who he is, I'll kill him myself."

I should tell him. I should tell him right now that the man he wants to kill is standing in front of him.

But the words wouldn't come. I was still a coward after all these years.

"You seem very invested." I said instead, deflecting. "In a woman you just met."

Rhys's eyes narrowed. "Someone has to be. Someone has to show her that not everyone is going to abandon her when things get hard."

The implication was clear even if he didn't know how accurate it was.

"Be careful." I warned. "Don't get too attached."

"Why not?"

Because she's mine. Because I saw her first. Because I ruined her first and I don't deserve her but I can't stand the thought of anyone else having her.

"Because we don't know anything about her situation." I said instead. "The father could come back. There could be complications you're not anticipating."

Rhys studied me for a long moment. I had the uncomfortable sensation that he could see right through my flimsy excuses.

"You're acting strange." He said slowly. "You've been acting strange since the moment you saw her. What's going on with you, Kaelan?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me." He stepped closer. "I know you. Something about that woman has you rattled. I saw your face when you looked at her. I saw the way you kept watching her all evening. What aren't you telling me?"

My heart was pounding so hard I was certain he could hear it.

"Drop it, Rhys."

"No." His voice was steel. "If there's something I need to know about Elara, you tell me right now. Because I'm not going to let anything happen to her or that little girl. I don't care what history she might have or what complications might arise. They're under my protection now."

The possessiveness in those words made my wolf snarl.

"Your protection?" I stepped toward him, closing the distance between us. "You've known her for less than a breath, Rhys. And suddenly she's under your protection?"

"Someone has to protect her." He snapped. "Someone has to be there for her since her daughter's father clearly wasn't."

"You don't know anything about her daughter's father."

"I know he's a coward. I know he abandoned his mate and his child. I know he left them to suffer alone while he did God knows what." Rhys's eyes blazed. "What kind of man does that, Kaelan? What kind of wolf leaves his family to fend for themselves?"

The kind of man standing in front of you.

The words screamed inside my head but I couldn't speak them. I could only stand there, drowning in guilt and jealousy.

"Stay away from her." The command came out before I could stop it.

Rhys went very still.

"What did you just say to me?"

"I said stay away from her." I couldn't take the words back now. "She's not yours to protect. She's not yours to care for. Whatever you think is happening between you, end it now."

"Or what?"

"Just stay away from her." I repeated. "Trust me. It's better for everyone."

"Better for everyone?" Rhys laughed, "Or better for you?"

He turned toward the door, then stopped. When he looked back at me, his expression was determined.

"I don't know what's going on with you." He said. "But I'm not going to abandon Elara the way her daughter's father did. If you have a problem with that, you can go to hell."