He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 10

He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 10

From then on, Soren became much more attentive.

It was his first time courting someone he had fallen for, so he was far more awkward than Ronan and

Callum.

But it had been so long since anyone had offered me such pure, wholehearted affection. As time passed, I

could not help being moved by him.

More than my own feelings, however, I cared about Rory’s.

A cub’s affections could come and go quickly. As her mother, why shouldn’t I give her what she wanted as

long as it made her happy?

I decided I would say yes to Soren after the Spring Thaw Fair, and I even arranged to meet him.

The fair was the liveliest event in the Far North after the first spring thaw.

I had never seen a market so large. Rory found everything new and exciting.

When we passed a toy stall, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes fixed on all the little trinkets.

She was just about to start begging me for one when someone slammed into her from behind.

My heart lurched as Rory began to fall, but a pair of hands caught her before she hit the ground.

“Rory…?”

I stared at the travel–worn shifter standing before us. He had clearly only just arrived in the Far North, and my expression slowly hardened.

The moment Rory saw who had caught her, she froze.

Then she shoved his hands away and ran back to me. Without saying a word, she clutched my clothes and glared at Callum with open disgust.

Callum went still under the hostile gaze of the cub who had once adored him.

He slowly withdrew his hands, then looked up at me with a bitter smile.

“Winter, it looks like my luck held out. I found you before Ronan did.”

The fact that he could say that meant he already knew I had uncovered the deception he and his brother had

kept up for three years.

But what did it matter?

Nothing could ever go back to the way it had been.

They had deceived me. That was the truth.

I pulled Rory closer and started to walk around him.

“Winter!”

Panic entered Callum’s voice.

He reached for my arm. “Just listen to me. One sentence, that’s all…

At that moment, someone burst through the crowd.

Ronan shoved past the people in his way, panting as he ran.

“Callum! Where did you run off to? We agreed we’d meet up after reaching the Far North and look for Winter

together. Why did you wander off on your own…”

His voice died abruptly.

Ronan skidded to a stop and stood frozen in place.

“Winter…?”

Joy flashed across his face.

He pushed through the remaining people between us and walked straight toward me, unable to take his eyes

off me.

With one twin in front of me and the other behind, I was boxed in.

I tightened my grip on Rory’s hand in frustration.

Ronan stopped in front of me, his gaze moving constantly over my face as though he were trying to take in

every change the past few months had brought.

He lifted a hand and tentatively reached toward my face.

Rory suddenly poked her head out from beside me and bared her little teeth at him.

Her round eyes were full of aversion and hostility.

Ronan jerked his hand back and looked at her at a loss.

After a long moment, he finally looked at me again. His voice was hoarse and strained.

“Winter, I know I was wrong. I was a bastard for those three years. I thought a widowed female would be

easy to fool, easy to deal with, and easy to replace once I got bored.”

“Then I started getting bored with the game, so I talked Callum into joining in.

“But I regret it. I regret it so much that I wish I could go back and kill my past self.”

He paused, looking lost.

“That day when I came to see you, I was going to ask you to become my bonded mate. I wasn’t going to

abandon you. I…”

Before he could finish, Callum yanked him aside.

Ronan looked at me pleadingly.

I lifted my eyes to him wearily.

“Are you done?”

He froze, then nodded.

“Fine. I forgive you. Now move.”

Ronan looked as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

He stood rigidly as I moved to walk past him.

The next second, Callum grabbed my hand.

“Ronan, are you an idiot?”

“If you let Winter walk away now, do you really think you’ll ever find her again?”