My Fiance is Sleeping With My Step Sister

Chapter 24

Devon’s eyes never left mine. The silence pressed down so heavy I thought it would crush me. He was too still, too calm, and that scared me more than if he had been shouting.

“Adriana,” he said again, his voice low and rough. “Tell me what he meant. Who is Kyle to you?”

I wanted to turn away but I could not. My throat felt tight, my body trembling, but I forced the words out. “He was… my mate.”

Devon’s eyes widened. For a moment he looked like he had been struck. Then his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. “Your mate,” he repeated, the words heavy with disbelief.

“Yes,” I whispered. “But not like you think.”

Before I could explain further, Devon’s head snapped toward the trees. His body went tense, his senses sharp. “Something isn’t right. My warriors would have never let him through the border. I need to see.”

He left me no choice but to follow when he stalked toward the line of trees. The night air felt colder, biting against my skin as we moved deeper into the forest. Devon’s hand never left mine, his grip tight and protective, but I could feel the storm inside him.

We reached the spot where Kyle had stood. The earth looked untouched, no footprints, no broken twigs, nothing to prove he had been there. Devon crouched low, his fingers brushing the soil. His brows pulled together and a faint glow sparked from his palm.

He muttered something under his breath and then looked up at me with fire in his eyes. “It wasn’t him. It was a projection. A witch’s trick.”

My stomach dropped. “A witch?”

Devon nodded. “Yes. Whoever is helping him cloaked his presence and cast his image here. He never stepped past the border. He’s watching you through someone else’s power.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering though I wasn’t cold. Of course Kyle would find a way to reach me. Of course he wouldn’t stop.

Devon stood and came to me, cupping my face in both hands. His touch was firm, grounding. “Tell me everything, Addy. No more secrets. Not if he has witches on his side. I need to know what I’m protecting you from.”

Tears stung my eyes. I wanted to hide, to keep pretending, but there was no place left to run. He deserved to know.

I took a shaky breath and nodded. “Kyle was my mate. when I met him I thought, finally I could be happy and free from my family's torment but I didn't know he was part of their grand plan to kill me. I don't know why they wanted to kill me but if I hadn't escaped I would have been dead by now".

Devon’s face hardened, his chest rising and falling in sharp breaths, but he stayed silent so I could continue.

“I realized too late that all the sweet words he'd told me and all the lovely things he'd done for me were all fake and lies. He was part of my step sisters plan. Leila was away from the pack at the time and I had a little reprieve from her but I didn't know that even while she was away she still had in mind to torture me".

My voice cracked and I looked down, ashamed of the memories. Devon’s thumb brushed away a tear sliding down my cheek. “Go on,” he urged softly.

"It was on the night of Kyle's coronation, I was happy that he would crown me his mate and I'd finally be free from my suffering. That was the night Leila came back and revealed that it was her plan all along to watch me go so high just so that she could watch me fall. I had already completed the bond with Kyle. That night I was locked in a dungeon and was forced to bear the pain of a cheating mate and I lost my baby from that pain. I felt it through the bond. I thought I was going to die but instead my baby did. And they knew, everyone knew I had a life growing inside me even my own mother yet they did nothing to protect me. that was the day I ran away and I had scratched off the mark to break the bond when I lost so much blood and was found outside your pack borders".

The words hung in the air between us, heavy and ugly. My chest heaved and I felt raw, like I had torn myself open in front of him. I braced for anger, for disgust, for distance.

Devon’s hands fell from my face but only so he could wrap his arms around me and pull me tight against his chest. His hold was fierce, like he would never let go.

“You should have told me sooner,” he whispered into my hair, his voice breaking. “But I will never blame you for what he did. Never.”

I clung to him, my tears soaking into his shirt. For the first time, the weight on my chest felt a little lighter. I had told him. He knew.

But in the back of my mind, fear still whispered. Kyle was out there, and he wasn’t alone.