Chapter 343

Damien and his brothers apologized for lying to me during lunch. It had never been their intention to cause me pain; they only wanted to protect me.

“The sadness the breeding caused you was too strong and we feared you would break again,” Christof said solemnly. “We wanted to protect you.”

I shook my head and picked at my plate absently.

“The truth is important between us,” I told him. “You can’t tell me I’m free and still make all my decisions for me.”

They didn’t understand and I knew the root of their confusion. In their hearts they didn’t believe I was strong enough to be free the way they were. My family still had my position caught somewhere between slave and free, but not entirely either.

After lunch they left me to go talk to Tyle and his brothers. When they got back they told me the young men were upset their mentors had to leave for a time, but Damien had promised to return. He asked the young men to continue to do extra work and gain strength