Elizabeth was the kind of woman to venture into the woods and use just a stick to defend him. She would endure countless years of servitude under a horrendous curse to keep her family safe. Yes, she was as good as he believed her to be.
He might have railed against this at first, having not wanted to deal with the fact she was a witch, but now he was simply immensely grateful she lived in the universe and she was his.
She touched his face, a gentle stroke down the side of his cheek. “Tell me why your family thinks you’re a traitor.”
He nodded. She had the right to know. “I’ve never been very good at keeping my mouth shut.”
That’s for sure.
He ignored his wolf. “My father basically ignored me. I have a sister I can’t remember who is thirty years younger than I am. I only recently found out she existed.”
“How can you not remember her?” Her eyes were huge as she stared into his.
“I suffer from periodic amnesia.”
She gasped. “What?”
“I’m kidding. I’m sorry. Bad joke.”
To his surprise, Elizabeth giggled. “I shouldn’t be laughing. This is serious. I’m trying to understand.”
“I can’t remember my sister because of a spell my mother did to protect the unmated women from us. She was worried about protecting them. The spell should wear off when there is no more danger. Clearly, we’re not over the danger.”
“If you saw her would you remember her?”
“Maybe.” He sighed. “When Tristan found his mate I remembered her mother, who had been with us before the curse. I remembered Malcolm’s mate Jana, as well. I think it depends on how much I had to do with them beforehand. I would have to see Angel to know if I remember her.”
“And you haven’t seen her?”
He shook his head. “No. I got sent away to find a witch before she got back home.
I’ve only heard about her vicariously.”
“That was some major spell.” Elizabeth chewed on her fingernail. “Why do you guys need a witch if you can do serious magic?”
“We can do certain things but we are really limited in other ways. We cannot stop our father from sending his made wolves into Westervelt.”
“You need to put up a block. Once upon a time, I could have done it. I’m not powerful enough now, but it is powerful.”
Rex sighed. “A witch’s spell to block a witch’s spell.” Elizabeth chewed on her lower lip. “This is complicated.” He knew he could end the conversation here. She was thinking about spells now, she wouldn’t spend another moment thinking about the accusations against him. But he’d told her he would tell her so he would, even if it made this quiet moment end too soon.
“When Tristan was kidnapped by our father’s people and eventually locked in a wolf cage for years, he was supposed to be meeting me. I was late. I didn’t really have an excuse. If you want to know the truth, I was buying beer.” She raised an eyebrow. “For some all-night wolf kegger?”
“I don’t drink anymore. I swore I never would again. I don’t think I had a problem but I was incredibly irresponsible. We knew to be careful and I wasn’t. Tristan suffered because of it.”
Of course, that was how Tristan had met Ashlee. If he hadn’t been in the cage he wouldn’t now be mated with children and alpha of their pack. But none of that changed the fact Tristan, Rex’s older brother who he had worshiped for years, had thought he was the traitor to their pack.
“When I finally found him, after pursuing him relentlessly, he nearly killed me because he thought I was the one who had betrayed him.” Elizabeth nodded. “Must have hurt like hell.”
He swallowed through the lump in his throat. “I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about my feelings.”
“I know what you mean. I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on how it hurts when someone flinches or screams when they see me. Even if you didn’t think about it at the time, you were hurt.”
“I suppose.” He leaned back, uncomfortable with how vulnerable he felt. Wanting to tell her what had happened and actually experiencing the pain were two different things.
“You suppose?” She leaned forward.
“All right, yes. It hurt like hell.” He looked away, unable to meet her blue eyes. Not when he was so damn exposed.
“And you’ve never really gotten over it.” She touched his face, turning him back to her.
“I’m afraid there is more.”
“Someone else accused you of being a traitor?”
He leaned back, his head touching the side of the table. “Tristan again, but this time with the support of the whole pack with him.”