He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 06

He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 06

Callum set the treasure box on the table and opened the lid.

He examined every item inside, one by one.

Everything was perfectly intact. He could not find so much as a scratch.

His brows drew together as a faint sense of unease settled over him.

Finally, he closed the lid and made up his mind.

Once Ronan returned that night and it was Callum’s turn to go out under his brother’s name, he would tell

Winter everything.

He would confess that he had fallen for her long ago.

He was relieved that Ronan did not want to take her as his bonded mate. If that was the case, then Callum

would become her mate instead.

Once he told her the truth, he would never again have to be with her while pretending to be Ronan.

From then on, he could stand before her as Callum, as himself.

He could hold her hand openly, tell everyone in the clan that she was his mate, and hear Rory call him Papa.

The thought made Callum’s breathing quicken.

He looked anxiously out the window.

The sun had already set, but there was no sign of anyone on the path outside.

He waited and waited. Night deepened, but Ronan still did not return. Callum’s lips thinned, and his

expression grew cold.

He suddenly rose and strode outside.

Elsewhere, Ronan was walking along one of the clan paths when he came to a stop.

His gaze dropped as regret settled over him.

He regretted the awful things he had said that afternoon and the way he had made Winter cry.

He also regretted deliberately kissing another female in front of her just to spite her.

What was wrong with him?

Why had he been so petty with her when he was only making himself miserable?

Ronan crouched down, shoved both hands into his hair, and pulled hard.

He remembered the blank look in Winter’s eyes, and a restless ache spread through his chest. Panic slowly rose inside him, pressing against his lungs until it became difficult to breathe.

He shot to his feet and turned in the opposite direction.

Forget it. He would go apologize to Winter.

He had to make things right with her.

After all, he had gone to her house that afternoon because he had intended to talk to her about becoming

bonded mates.

He had hesitated for far too long.

He had been too proud to admit in front of the other male shifters that he wanted to take a widowed female

as his bonded mate. He had been afraid they would laugh at him.

Every time the words reached his lips, that pathetic scrap of pride had forced them back down.

Even when Callum asked him about it the night before, Ronan had pretended not to care.

Yet he had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, with Winter filling his every thought.

At first, he had believed she was nothing more than a diversion. She was a widowed female with a cub,

someone he could help out now and then while passing the time.

He had never expected to fall for her.

Now, he regretted it every waking moment.

He regretted agreeing to play that twisted game with his twin brother.

At the time, it had seemed exciting and entertaining.

Now, whenever he pictured Callum lying in that bed or kissing the lips of the female Ronan already thought

of as his, jealousy burned through him.

What an idiot he had been.

Ronan walked faster and faster until he was almost running.

It felt as though something unseen were urging him on, telling him to go faster and faster.

But when he finally arrived, he stopped abruptly.

A male shifter stood with his back to Ronan outside Winter’s home. His jaw was clenched as he stared into

the house in a daze.

“Callum?”

Ronan slowed to a stop and hesitantly called his brother’s name.

At the sound of his voice, Callum turned around.

The darkness hid most of his expression, but his amber feline eyes, normally so bright, had become

chillingly dark.

Ronan frowned at him.

“What are you doing here?”

Callum’s lips curved into a mocking smile.

“Nighttime was supposed to be my turn, but you took forever to come back.”

“So I should be asking you what you’re doing here.”

The twins stared at each other across the darkness.

The wind swept through the space between them, and the hostility in the air grew heavier by the second.