-Willow- It was nice walking around with Carter. It felt like we were slipping into our old roles, but as we strolled and talked about everything and nothing, I realized something. For a long time, I had yearned to hear Carter say those three words while he looked at me with the same intensity as earlier. When we were together, he could never bring himself to say "I love you," and as a result, I desired those words more than anything. But as we continued our walk, I came to a realization: although it felt good to hear them now, I no longer craved those words as I once did. I cared for Carter because of our long history, but I didn't love him in the romantic sense anymore. "You know, fighting over a girl is such a cliché," I teased, revisiting our earlier topic. Carter chuckled and nodded as we turned a corner. "Yeah, I know." He turned to me, giving me a small smile, and I returned it. "Just promise me you'll never do it again." "He hit me first," Carter informed me. "And what

-Cain-Willow and I continued to lie in bed even though we knew work awaited us, but we didn’t want to move. She lay on my chest, running her fingers over my tattoo, following the lines, while I ran mine down her back and sides, feeling her soft skin. The covers didn’t cover us, but we weren’t cold, so close we were lying to each other.“When did you have this made? I don’t remember ever seeing any photos of you with it, and you were caught with your shirt off many times,” she teased me.I chuckled a little. “Last year.”“So, it’s rather new?”“It is,” I told her.“Why did you have it made?” she asked.“Just wanted a change. Something to make me stand out.”“Stand out?”“There is an exact copy of me out there,” I reminded her.“I see,” she said with a little smile, and continued to run her fingers a little up my neck, then grazed her mark on my shoulder, sending tingling sensations through me before she went down to my chest again.“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?” I asked her.“Wha

-Willow-I chatted a little with my parents and even talked with Eva a little, but as I went to try to find Cain, I ended up hearing strange whispers behind my back. I turned to look over my shoulder, seeing a group of young wolves glancing my way and chuckling. I quickly turned away and realized what was going on. I hadn’t stepped much out of the house after getting mated to Cain, and therefore I had yet to be met by the harsh reality of what was being said behind my back, but now I felt it, now I heard those whispering voices, the gossip. People still believed I had thrown myself at Cain the first chance I got. It didn’t matter if I spoke of a true bond, because I let the rumors fester and spread, and I was paying for that now. I shook my head, trying not to focus on it, but I wasn’t looking where I was going and ran into a hard body. I almost lost my balance, but hands reached out to steady me, and I looked up, seeing an imposing alpha in front of me. I realized he was the one who

-Cain-I felt sick. It was like my world titled to the left, and my stomach did a flip. I fell back against the desk behind me, and the screeching sound it made filled my ears, yet it sounded echoey, as if it weren’t even really there. I pressed my fingers to my eyes and groaned.“No, no, no,” I whispered.“Fuck!” I heard Carter yell before something crashed to the ground. We both couldn’t believe what they had just told us. It was simply unfathomable. All our lives, we believed one man was our father, and he treated us like his sons. He loved us, we knew that, and he was always there for us, but now our mother was revealing a different truth, a dirty secret hidden among our perfect world.“I chose to spend my heat with him, and when I got pregnant, I told your father, and we agreed to raise you two together,” she explained, but I was barely listening anymore. It was too surreal—something out of a fucking telenovela.I leaned forward, groaning again, unsure if I wanted to yell, punch

-Cain- We didn't want food. We wanted to forget the truth that had been so roughly thrown into our faces, but Willow was good at convincing us to get a grip and eat something to soak up the fluid in our stomachs. We ate slowly while we still tried to come to terms with the fact that Weston was our father. Our mother had intentionally cheated on our father, but he had agreed to raise us anyway, to call us his sons. However, while I wanted to be mad at our mother, I also understood. I probably understood better than Carter because just looking at Willow, I knew I couldn't give her up. Even from the moment I saw her, I knew it wasn't possible for me to give her up. So how could I blame our mother for wanting to be with her true mate? Even if just through one of her heats. "What?" Willow asked when she caught me staring at her again. "What?" I echoed. "You keep looking at me funny. Are you okay?" she asked. "I'm okay," I admitted. "Then why do you look at me that way?" I shrugged,