Page 59 of His Bullied Fated Mate

“You were aware of the bullying.”

“I’m talking about him. He was my friend. My best friend.”

“Exactly. He was your friend.”

“That makes it worse.”

“That makes it harder, Troy. I felt bad enough that you were stuck with me, and I didn’t want you to lose friends because of it.”

He looked shocked as he sat there. “Stuck with you? Is that what you think? That I was stuck with you?”

I couldn’t look at him.

He pulled himself up. “Does this wall mean anything? Do you honestly think I was playing pretend here? You're my sister, Janella. I don’t give a shit if it’s blood or not. You're my sister, and it was my job to protect you.”

I looked at the wall. The paintings that I drew of us together. There were pictures Mom had taken. You could see the sunshine in our faces as we stood together.

“You did protect me, Troy. I know that you cared about me, but I was trying to protect you.”

“I clearly didn't protect you well enough.”

“You couldn’t stop what happened.”

He thumped back into his chair. “I could have helped. Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

“Because he was your best friend, Troy.”

“Not anymore.”

“You don’t mean that. You guys were best friends. You did everything together. You're both Alphas now.”

He shook his head. “Did he ever hurt you? Is that why you were crying? Did he hurt you today?”

I quickly shook my head. “God no. He never laid his hands on me. He just spoke. And today was…. he was taking pity on me today.”

Troy looked confused now. “What do you mean?”

“He was putting me above his pack, and I know it was just an act. He didn’t mean what he was saying.” Right? It had to be. He had to be saying that because there was some kind of ploy behind it.

“I think I’m going to need more details.”

“All my life, Riley had a way of putting me down. Anything I did, he could spin around. And the few times he didn’t say anything, there was a reason behind it. And now he’s once again spinning things. He was talking like he actually cared.”

I watch the way he worked his jaw, his nostrils flaring.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“No, you aren’t.”

Troy scuffed. “I don’t think you know how much I love you, Janella. I’ve beat the shit out of people for less.”

I almost smirked. “I believe you.”

“What do you want to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you need a getaway? Need me to go to the council?”