Mated in the Shadow of My Sister novel Chapter 206

Chapter 0206

(Lily POV)

James took my hand and silently led me to the couch. He then sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I

buried my face in his chest, and he nuzzled his chin in my hair.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah. It just sucks. I never meant to hurt him.”

James did not say anything, so then I added: “I am sorry that you had to hear all of that. That must have

been uncomfortable for you.

“No, you were right. I never would have agreed to leave you two alone. And if you had actually tried to talk

to him via mind-link, I would have interrupted every few seconds. As it was, it took all my willpower not to

storm in and put an end to Brady yelling at you. You did not deserve his guilt trip.

“I sort-of did though. I led him on. Not on purpose, but I did,”

“Do not blame yourself, Lily,” James said in a determined voice. “Brady saw what he wanted to see. That

was on him, not on you.”

I reached for James’ hand and intertwined our fingers together..

“Thank you.”

For a minute, neither of us said anything else.

After a while, I looked up at him, and he seemed to be lost in thought. I realized that something was bothering him.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Yes. I am here with you,” he responded simply.

“The apartment looks beautiful,” 1 commented after another couple minutes of silence, hoping to get things back on track.

“I wanted tonight to be special.”

I reached up and stroked his cheek. “It still will be.”

James did not say anything. Instead, he went back to whatever thoughts were churning around his head.

“How did you do it, Lily?” James finally asked me. There was a surprising amount of somberness in his

“How did I do what?”

“How did you forgive and forget so easily? Brady was right about how much I hurt you. He was also right about how little time has passed. How did you do it?”

1 got off James’ lap and sat on my knees so that I could look him directly in the eyes. I saw fear, shame,

pretending that it did not happen.

When I think about those awful six years, it still bothers me a lot. I still have a lot of emotional scars from

that time period, and I do not know if they will ever go away.

But you were only responsible for some of what happened. And I now understand why you did what you

did. Our parents manipulated you and everyone else as well. You were just a kid when they started playing

with your mind and with your emotions.

You are not blameless in it all, but everyone makes mistakes. I truly believe that you are so much more

than your mistakes or those horrible six years. I have seen and felt the changes in you, and I have seen

I do not believe what happened in the past defines who you are, and I do not believe that it has to define

who we are together.

You are the only male who has ever made my heart sk ip a beat just by walking into a room, and you are the only wolf-male or female- who I have ever felt completely comfortable being myself around-good, bad, or indifferent. You also are the only wolf that I have ever known that can somehow make me feel safe and protected while at the same time not treating me like a broken, helpless princess.

You are also the first and only male who I have ever truly loved, and now that I realize how I feel about

you, I will be d&&ned if I let you go.”