Filed to story: Claimed by My Ex’s Alpha Brother
“I…don’t understand,” I admitted.
“My love for you was never in question,” she explained and tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “I have loved you at every stage of my life. When we were kids, when I was dating Noah, when you broke our bond, when I raised our son alone – all of it. The moment you sent me away, I stopped trusting you. When the person that you trust most in this world betrays you, something inside of you breaks. And I’m not talking about our Mating bond. Because you betrayed me, I started to distrust the world around me. I started to distrust myself.” She swallowed and looked down. “Not only did you break my heart, Liam, but you broke my spirit.”
It was like someone just pushed me off the edge of a cliff. I not only broke this beautiful woman’s heart, but her soul.
“Ella, I promise that you can trust me. I’ll never betray you again.”
Guilt stabbed at me when I remembered I was lying to her right now. It was a lie by omission, because I hadn’t told her about my father’s plan for me to marry Olivia. But that wedding would never happen. Everything was coming together for my plan to fight against Noah and the Rogues, and Ella would only be hurt if I told her.
“Didn’t you say that you trusted me today at the pool? You said that you trusted me with Grayson,” I pointed out.
Her eyes softened just a fraction of an inch.
“I do trust you with our son,” she said. “I know that you would never let anything bad happen to him. I can tell that your love for Grayson is unconditional.”
“So is my love for you.”
Ella twisted the handle, opening the door wide.
“Well, when you broke our Mating bond to ‘protect me’, it didn’t feel unconditional,” Ella said and stepped out into the hallway.
I opened my mouth, but no words would come out.
“Goodnight, Liam.” She closed the door quietly, leaving me with a broken computer monitor and a shattered heart.
***
I walked into my kitchen, looking for something quick to eat for dinner. It was the day after I kissed Ella in my office, and we hadn’t spoken since. She merely shook her head this morning when I asked if she still wanted to join the strategy video conference call. During the meeting, the boxing maneuver strategy Ella had come up with was approved by everyone. I wished my Mate could have been there to hear all the support her idea was given.
After the meeting, Grayson asked if he and I could take Goose for a walk. Ella said yes while looking at our son and avoiding my eyes.
It was great to get to know my son even more on our walk. He told me more about his life on the farm, but I wished Ella would have come with us. I wanted to start earning her trust back.
When Grayson and I came home after our walk, I did a two-hour workout in my home gym. Then, for the rest of the day, I’d been in my office attending video conference calls. A whining sound startled me out of my thoughts. Goose was scratching at the back slider door and whimpering.
“Do you have to go out, buddy?” I asked and slid open the door without looking outside.
When I stepped onto the back patio, I was met with three pairs of eyes. Ella, her aunt, and Grayson were sitting at the table, seemingly in the middle of dinner.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just…” I gestured toward Goose, who was begging for food.
“Goose conned you with those big eyes of his,” Mia said and patted the dog’s head. “We put him inside because he already ate three pieces of bacon.”
“Give you one guess as to who gave him those pieces of bacon,” Ella said and glanced at our son.
“He was hungry!” Grayson protested.
My Mate and I shared a smile, and a jolt went down my spine.
“Dad! Come sit!” Grayson said. “We’re having breakfast for dinner. I’ve changed my mind about my favorite food. It’s not Mom’s potato salad anymore. It’s her pancakes.”
I glanced at Ella, and when she nodded, my heart lifted slightly.
“Of course, buddy. Thanks for the invitation,” I said, and ruffled my son’s hair affectionately. “Your mom’s cooking is the best.”
“Yeah, it is,” Grayson agreed. “And these are chocolate chip pancakes! So they’re even better than normal pancakes.” He took another large bite.
“Those are my favorite kind,” I said and sat down next to Grayson, across the table from Ella.
“Mine, too!” my son agreed.
With gusto, I loaded up my plate with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and pancakes.
“These are amazing,” I told Ella after my first bite of pancakes topped with syrup and butter.
A quick grin flashed across her face.
As I ate, Grayson launched into a story about his day spent going to the hospital with Ella and visiting his Grandpa. Then, when Goose went over to the lawn, he asked Ella if he could be excused.
“Yes, but then you’re going to take a bath. You have ten pounds of syrup on your face,” Ella said and tried to wipe Grayson’s face with a wet napkin.
Our son ducked around her and ran toward his dog, laughing the whole way.
“I love his laugh,” I said as I put my fork down.
“Me too,” Ella agreed.
A look passed between us, and I swear I saw a flicker of the gold thread connecting us, but in an instant, it was gone.
Ella quietly gasped, and just from her shocked expression, I knew she saw it, too.
“I’m going to clean up,” Ella’s aunt mumbled, grabbed a random plate, and hurried inside.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?