Trapped With the Alpha (Balfour Shifters Book 1) by Emily Minton, Julia Keith Page B

Just thinking about it makes me see red, and I start to pull away from him again.
    Grabbing onto my arm and pulling me back to his side, he threads his fingers into my hair and kisses my forehead. “God, Isabel, I don’t even know what to say.”
    “I’m not sure there is anything you can say,” I reply, letting my anger push through. “Can anything take my memories away?”
    He’s silent for a minute before looking me in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t know how any of this happened. How could I forget you?”
    “What do you remember about that night?” I ask, unable to answer his question.
    “I remember taking you to my room, but not much more. I swear to you, when I woke up the next day, I didn’t remember a thing. Father said we had all drunk tainted ale, but I couldn’t even remember having a drink. The entire night was a blank,” he explains, looking even more confused.
    “Tainted ale couldn’t make you and everyone else in the clan forget me,” I argue as thoughts of that night play through my head.
    He nods in agreement. “I didn’t even know you existed, let alone that you were my mate. I will never be able to forgive myself for forgetting you so easily. Izzy, you are my life. You were then, and you are now.”
    His words have the ice around my heart thawing. “How do we go forward from here? How do we forget everything that has happened?”
    “Having you here with me now, it feels like none of the past eight-hundred years even happened. I was there, living my fucked up life, but looking back, it feels like a bad dream or something. I don’t know how to explain it to you any other way than that.”
    “I get what you’re saying, Brody. As much as I don’t want to, I do. Something else was in control of our lives, and we weren’t strong enough to fight it. But you have to realize, even though I know all that, the pain doesn’t get any more bearable. Seeing you with all those women, Brody, it was like having my heart shattered over and over again. It was one thing to see you walk off without a care in the world, as if you weren’t yearning for me as much as I was you. Seeing you touch them, though, bringing them the pleasure that was supposed to be reserved for me only, that is something I can’t pretend didn’t happened.”
    Releasing me, he sits up, a growl leaving his mouth. Tugging on his pants, he looks over his shoulder and says, “Isabel, I can’t even imagine watching you with another man’s hands on your body. The thought alone makes me want to skin someone alive. I understand why you feel the way you do, and if I could fix it, baby, I would. I would do it in a heartbeat.”
    Pulling me up into a sitting position, he pulls his t-shirt over my head. I look up into his eyes, eyes that are overflowing with pain and regret. “I know you would, but that’s not possible.”
     “I can’t make it go away, Izzy, and it kills me. I’m supposed to be the one who protects you. I cherish the ground you walk on. I’m the man who should love you so thoroughly, you can’t walk the next day.” He smirks before continuing. “I was tasked with taking care of you until death, and I failed. You will never know the pain that brings me. I couldn’t keep you safe, even if I was the one you needed to be protected from.”
    Wiping the tears from my face, I sit up on my knees and kiss him. “I think that’s enough talk for now, Brody. We’re both raw. Honestly, I just want to be with you right now. I’ve spent eons unable to feel your touch and tell you how much I love you. That’s what I want to focus on at the moment, okay?”
    Is my anger and pain forgotten? Absolutely not. However, seeing this pain in his amber eyes is killing me, and knowing I’m the one to put it there is even worse. For the time being, I make a vow to leave it be and try to live my life as happily as I can. Who knows? Maybe from all this pain, something beautiful could happen.
    Pulling me up from the