Free Embracing the Wolf - Book #2 (Anna Avery) by Stephanie Nelson

she did, and I would have died had you not found me,” I said. “Did he have something to do with you finding me?”
    Adam blew a heavy breath through his nose. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”
    “What does that even mean?” When I couldn’t remember who attacked me, Adam had said he suspected it was Eve. Up until that time, he pretended not to know anything about it.
    “Why would you lie to me about that when you knew I wanted to know?”
    “You do know now,” Adam said. “Eve was the one who changed you, and she’s dead now. What does it matter who’s responsible for saving you?”
    He had a point. The most important thing was that I was found, and I survived. So why did I feel like the pretty picture inside my head was fading? As a girl who never believed in destiny or any of the mushy shit, I wanted to believe it with Adam. I knew we were supposed to be together—the brands on our hands proved that—but something inside of me thought it was that bond that drew him into the mountains to find me, like fate was directing us to each other. I snorted at the absurdity of it all.
    “How did you find me, Adam?”
    He released a heavy breath, his shoulders sagging. “I got a phone call. Someone said they had seen a woman being attacked and that you were close to death.”
    My mouth opened slightly, and I turned to look at Anthony’s fading body. “Was it Anthony?” Knowing that he would go through the trouble of calling someone called everything I thought about him into question. While he’d done some very questionable things, maybe we all misjudged him.
    “No.”
    “You’re sure?”
    Adam placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “I’d recognize my brother’s voice, Anna. It wasn’t him. Don’t let him play head games with you. He’s not some prince charming riding in to rescue you—”
    “No, that’s you,” I said. “Only, your horse is a Silverado.”
    Adam laughed. “It’s good to know you’ve got your facts straight.”
    “The facts you choose to tell me, that is.”
    Adam frowned and pulled me into the cocoon of his chest, wrapping his arms around my back. “I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, Chante. I just didn’t think it was that important. I figured it was a rogue or wolf from another pack giving me a courtesy call.”
    I nodded against him. “You’re right,” I said. “If it had been me, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it either. I guess I was just surprised.”
    Adam leaned back so that he could see my face. I looked up at him and smiled. How could I ever think he and Anthony looked alike? Their features were the same, being twins and all, but there was an inner beauty in Adam—a passionate confidence—his brother didn’t have.
    “I’ll never keep anything from you, Chante.” He kissed my forehead and clasped our left hands together so the scars met. “We’re one—a team. If you can believe in anything, believe in that—in us.”
    “I do,” I said a little confused. His speech seemed a little deep for a casual conversation. Sure I had accused him of lying about how he found me, but I knew Adam would never do anything to betray me.
    “You promised me you’d stay away from Anthony,” Adam said, and I frowned. I had promised him, and it took exactly one day to break that promise.  “I’m only asking you to be just as honest with me as I am with you.”
    If he was trying to make me feel like shit, it was working. Adam had always been open about things with me. The least I could do was show him the same respect.
    “I had a good reason for breaking that promise,” I told him. He did something I hadn’t expected—he smiled.
    “I can’t wait to hear it.”
     I proceeded to tell him about Wade’s plan, and that we were doing it to help him. When I was done, Adam turned slightly and looked off into the distance. He shook his head back and forth and his right hand curled into a fist. When he spun to face me, his eyes were as hard as