Chapter 31. No One Will Ever Hurt You Again

Athena

The conversation stopped abruptly, and I could picture them both freezing, suddenly aware that I might be awake and listening.

Of course they’d heard me. They both have incredible hearing—all werewolves do. There was no way my gasp had gone unnoticed.

My mind was spinning. Tristan had been mated. He’d had someone he loved enough to create a life with, and he’d lost both of them. When had this happened? How had I never known about something so huge, so life-changing?

And more importantly, how was he still functioning? How was he taking care of me and running the family business and being there for everyone else when he was carrying around that kind of devastating loss?

Suddenly, so many things clicked into place like puzzle pieces I’d been too blind to see before.

The way he’d thrown himself into taking care of me after I came back, like he desperately needed someone to protect.

The photos around his apartment—the ones with the