Chapter 63 DANE

I wanted to kiss her. I craved her lips, her body, her skin. Every time I’d kissed her before had been vengeful, hateful, or under the influence of Night’s Truth. Never, even as my wife, had I kissed her like a woman I might…

I cut off the thought and pulled away. I cleared my throat.

“Dane?” Aurora looked dazed. She lifted a hand, as if she’d reach for me, then let it drop again. “What do you want?”

I let out a breath. I couldn’t kiss her like that when I was still engaged to Evelyn. “I should go.”

Inside, I ridiculed myself for my own hypocrisy. I’d kissed Evelyn and more when I was still married to Aurora. But my heart had never belonged to her, and she had known it. Evelyn thought I was hers. She thought I would start to love her again, that we would marry.

Through my mental bond, I sent word to Archer that she was awake, but not to Piper or my grandfather. Tell Trajan. Have him bring the children right away. She’ll want to see them.

Aurora called my name again, but I left the room. Evelyn had saved my life when we were children. She was pregnant with my child. Aurora had saved my life, too. She’d given birth to my children. She had been my wife and had tried to love me, even when I refused to be a true husband and mate to her. Now that I knew the truth, there was no reason to deny it any longer.

I wanted Aurora. I had been a victim of the Reeds, but so had she, for her entire life. Innocent.

But I was going to break things off with Evelyn before I took another step. Everything else…we could work out after that.

I found Evelyn in the conservatory on the southern side of the mansion. The glass room was filled with plants, and the sun filled it with light. She sat curled up on a chaise lounge, reading a book. I went and sat on the end.

“We have to talk,” I said.

Slowly, Evelyn lowered her book. One of her hands went over her slightly rounded belly. In a voice much calmer than I expected, she said, “I don’t like your tone, Dane Montague.”

I breathed out slowly. I’d been committed to Evelyn for so long—out of emotion, then out of duty. The last time I tried to end things, she refused. With no one in my life to love, I had let her get away with it. Now, though, I couldn’t let this go on.

“We’re done, Evelyn,” I said. “For real this time.”

She plopped her book face down in her lap. “What the hell are you going on about? I’m pregnant with your child. We aren’t done.”

“I told you last year I didn’t want to do this anymore. You refused to listen.”

“You were just going through a stressful time,” she said. “You still are. Dane, you’re talking crazy.”

I rose. “We’re done.”

“This is because of that bitch, Aurora, isn’t it?” Tears filled Evelyn’s voice. “What happened? Did she do something to you in that pack house? Dane, how can you leave me for her after all this time? After everything I…”

She broke off into quiet sobs, then clamped one hand around the crescent moon birthmark, which was how I had identified her as the little girl who saved me when the Reeds kidnapped me as a child.

“She saved my life, too,” I growled. “I found new evidence that she’s always been innocent. She’s also the mother of my children. She was my wife, and I never gave her a chance.”

“Do you think she’ll want you?” Evelyn cried. She got to her feet. “I’m having your child, Dane. So what if she did? She’s the Luna-heir of some massive pack. She has somewhere to go, a place to be in the world that isn’t by your side. I don’t. How can you abandon me like this?”

Her words cut into my heart. “You don’t have to leave. You can still be a member of Blue Ridge. I’ll raise my child with you. I will always take care of you. But I won’t be with you. Even if Aurora doesn’t want me, it’s time we end this.”

She burst into tears for real, wailing loudly. She came to me, and it was habit to open my arms, pull her in, hold her and comfort her. I hated what I had to do, but if we didn’t end this, I would still give in to my cravings for Aurora, and that would only betray Evelyn more.

I pulled away from her, even though she tried to cling to me.

“It’s better this way.”

“Liar! You selfish bastard!” she shouted. Then she pressed both hands to her mouth and whispered in a heartbroken voice, “Don’t do this.”

“It’s done,” I said. “We’re over. I expect your things to be out of my room by tonight.”

I turned to go, and Archer, my beta, emerged from the shadows of the doorway. His face was dead serious.

“Alpha,” he growled, “You may want to rethink what you’re saying. Aurora is going to betray you with Holden Coleridge and the Fall Line Pack.”