I needed to be strong. If everyone in this house wanted to play games, I needed to be a smarter player—even to my mate. Most especially him.
"I could ask you the same thing. You've been... elsewhere all night." I replied softly, gulping down my fear.
He shifted, propping himself up on one elbow so he could look me in the eye. The vulnerability I saw there was startling. This was the man who had just used his dominance to claim me in the bath, yet here he was, looking at me with a sincerity that felt like a physical weight.
"I feel guilty," he admitted, the words coming out slow and heavy. "Putting you in the midst of this. My family... they aren't people, Waverly. They are predators. I've dropped you into a den of killers and asked you to smile."
My heart did a slow, painful roll in my chest. I hadn't expected honesty. "Is that why you're so on edge? Because of them?"
