The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as Rhys's fist connected with my jaw again. I staggered backward, my back hitting the wall of my living room. This wasn't how I'd planned to spend my evening, getting into a fistfight with the future Alpha of our pack over a massive misunderstanding.
"You expect me to believe this bullshit?" Rhys growled, his eyes flickering between their normal dark color and the crimson red of his wolf. "That you have no feelings for her at all?"
I straightened up, wiping blood from my lip. "What I feel for Elara is protection. She's going to be my sister, Rhys. My family."
Rhys lunged forward again, but I was ready this time. I dodged his swing and shoved him back. We'd been friends since childhood, but right now, all I saw was a threat—an Alpha losing control over a girl he'd already hurt beyond measure.
"Family? Is that what you call it?" he snarled. "I've seen how you look at her."
