Chapter 17 · Don't Trust Him Before Eclipse

I'm holding the photo so tight the edges are cutting into my palm.

Cain's leaning against the tree where I left him, blood still seeping through the makeshift bandage on his shoulder. He's watching me. Not saying anything. Just watching.

"When were you going to tell me?" My voice comes out steadier than I feel.

He doesn't ask what I'm talking about. Doesn't pretend he doesn't know. That's almost worse.

"Layla—"

"Don't." I take a step closer. The wolf under my skin is pacing, claws scraping the inside of my ribs. "You knew my mother. This—" I hold up the photo, "—this was taken what, fifteen years ago? Twenty? You look barely older than me."

"It's complicated."

"Complicated." I laugh, and it sounds wrong even to my own ears. "You've been lying to me since the second I woke up in your cabin."

"I never lied."

"You just didn't tell the truth. That's the same thing."

He shifts his weight and winces. The blood smell gets stronger. Copper and pine and something underneath that makes my wolf want to get closer, check the wound, make sure he's okay.