My mouth falls open in outrage. “Broke it off? You were just with her today.” My voice is getting louder.

He shakes his head. “No, I wasn’t. I have had sex with her, but not today.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did we interrupt you?” Now I’m yelling.

“If you’d let me finish, I didn’t do anything with her today. She showed up here today dressed like that because she knew Cass was bringing a new female” —he points to me— “to join the pack. She wanted to make sure whoever it was saw her here and assumed I was taken, and I’m sure she would have been doubly happy if I would have had sex with her.” He’s not yelling, but his voice is definitely louder than before.

I know I’m the one that brought her up but boy does it hurt when I hear about him having been with anyone, let alone the devil woman. His face softens. “Shit. I’m sorry, baby. You have every right to be mad. If I’d seen a man at your house half naked, I probably would have killed him... slowly. So I get it, I do. I’m not saying what I did was okay or make excuses, but I can’t change what happened. What I can promise you is that I will never look at another woman that way for the rest of my life!”

His oath makes me feel a little better, but I’m still hurt from the betrayal. “This is all a little overwhelming. I thought you chose her over me back then. I did know it was unusual to meet your Mate at such a young age. I never told my parents what happened. I was too embarrassed because I thought you rejected me,” I say ruefully. “I gave up hope for us a long time ago. Then, we pull up to this house, and I knew you were close. I also knew it would be harder to get past the loss this time. When I realized who it was standing on the porch, it just... it’s just hard, ya know?” Not really expecting an answer, I continue, “I kept thinking you were trying to tell me I needed to leave, that you still choose her.” I blow out a long breath. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around what you told me. Logically everything makes sense, that you didn’t know, that you did look for me, but I still have five years of doubt.”

He grabs my hand and says simply, “It’s all my fault. I should have been there. I’m sorry.”

“Not everything is your fault. I’m not blaming you. My parents died, but you didn’t kill them. A lot of the crap I’ve had to deal with sucks, but stop acting like you did it to me.”

His face is tense. “I should have protected you.” His fist hits his chest. “That’s my job to make sure you’re safe and happy.” He growls, angry at himself.

I roll my eyes. “I’m fine now. Simmer down.”