Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Not all do. I stated loud and clear that Fila was talking tripe. The more I insisted I wasn’t lying, the more of a liar I apparently was in the eyes of some. Harlan believed me, though. But he was also worried that I’d push Zaire to see the light, so he put me in a corner.”
Isaiah felt his skin prickle in unease. “What does that mean?”
“He promised he’d keep Nazra and her cronies from coming for me and my family if I stayed away from Zaire and spread the word that I’d been wrong and it was just a crush.”
His cat bared his teeth, her words rekindling his anger. An Alpha protected their pride members; they didn’t fucking manipulate them into silence. “Harlan is as much of a goddamn letdown as Zaire.” He understood now why she hadn’t seemed all that comfortable with him at the FindYourMate HQ. “Did Nazra and the others leave you be?”
“They never came at me physically, but rumors do damage of their own. And people also slung insults my way or snubbed me or whatever. Aside from my family, those who believed me rarely spoke up for me, not wanting to draw negative attention their way.”
Jesus, her pride almost as a whole was as big a disappointment as both its current Alpha male and the one who’d soon take over. “What about Zaire? Did he defend you?”
“He did say the rumors weren’t true, but I find that people who—for whatever reason—want to hate or ridicule someone will believe just about anything to give them an excuse to be a shit to that someone.”
A grim sense of understanding snaked through Isaiah. “You’re right about that.”
“You’ve dealt with bullshit rumors too,” she remembered. “Will you tell me about what happened? You don’t have to.”
No, but it wouldn’t be fair of him to hold back when she’d opened up the way she had. He’d be throwing it back in her face.
Isaiah pulled in a breath. “There was a kid in the pride who I never got along with. Jenson. We butted heads constantly. I was supremely pissed when I found out he’d been slapping my ex around. I threatened to make him pay. That night, someone set his house on fire with his family in it.”
“And he was the only one who died?” she asked, her voice a mere murmur.
“Yes. A few people jumped to the conclusion that I was the arsonist, including his parents. But my mom and dad swore I was home at the time; that it couldn’t have possibly been me.”
“That wasn’t enough for people to drop it?”
“It was for most. But Jenson’s parents, Cherrie and Kristopher, insisted my parents were lying, and they did their level-best to ensure everyone else thought the same. They basically embarked on a hate campaign. They even tried pressuring my old Alpha Vinnie to kick me out of the pride.”
Her upper lip quivered slightly. “Fuckers.”
He grunted. “It was hard to do something so mundane like go to the deli. I’d hear people whispering; see them looking at me weird. I could sense that some truly believed I’d done it.” For a short time—as he’d vacillated between fury, humiliation, and hurt—he’d pulled back from the majority of the pride and avoided socializing.
She slid her hands up to clasp her fingers behind his nape. “Did you ever find out who really did it?”
“It turned out to be Jenson’s cousin. Apparently, Eddie had confided in him that he believed a member of our pride was his true mate. Jenson’s response had been to start dating her.”
“What?”
“He was a shit that way.”
In that case, he’d probably pissed off a fair few people, so it seemed particularly unfair to Quinley that some of the pride had immediately suspected Isaiah. Then again, there was the whole threatening-to-make-Jenson-pay thing. Still, pledges of vengeance were tossed out all the time; they were mostly just said in the heat of the moment.
“Trusting that Vinnie wouldn’t declare Eddie guilty unless confident it was true, most who’d suspected me then backtracked,” said Isaiah. “But Jenson’s parents didn’t.”
“They couldn’t admit they were wrong.”
“By that point, they’d invested so much negative emotion and energy in the belief that it was me that they just couldn’t let it go. On top of that, they blamed me for their nephew being ‘wrongly punished;’ said Eddie was just a scapegoat.”
Quinley shook her head, furious on his behalf. “I get that they must have badly needed someone to blame. But to latch onto you when there was no proof, and then to refuse to believe—even to this day—that what you’ve been saying all this time was true … What possible peace can they find in holding onto their beliefs this way?”
“I’m not sure they want peace. They certainly didn’t want me to have it.” He paused. “There were times when I considered embracing the rumor, since defending myself sometimes only made people seem less likely to believe me. I think it’s in some people’s nature to enjoy seeing others torn apart or ruined or hurt.”