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“Yes, but only because I need your guidance. Three years ago, I rejected my mate, and she accepted my rejection. I thought it was all done free and clear—when I walked away it certainly seemed that way. But my wolf has been less convinced.”
“Interesting,” she murmurs, urging me on.
“My wolf is still trying to claim her as my mate. It’s not rational, but my wolf won’t accept the rejection even after all this time.”
She shakes her head slowly. “Impossible. Your wolf is the one responsible for making the rejection in the first place. I believe this is not as it seems.” She stands, leaving me to stew in her cryptic words as she leaves the room.
When she doesn’t return after a couple of minutes, I abandon my tea and go in search of her. It feels wrong to be wandering her little home, but at least there’s not far to search before I find her in a little library room, hunched over a book at a knotted wooden desk that looks like it’s seen better days.
“Yes, here’s what I believe you’re looking for. Come, come.” She beckons me closer.
I feel a touch of honor as I stroll over to look at the old book. It isn’t often wolves get to see the Luna Sovereign’s collection up close like this. These books are a treasure that the Luna is tasked with protecting with her life.
“Here.” She points exactly where she wants me to look.
Double-fated mates.
My wolf preens; I scowl.
“That’s not a real thing,” I object, not even reading the rest of the page. The title alone is enough for me to draw my own conclusions.
The Luna thinks Tess and I are double-fated, which as far as I know has never actually existed. I know all about the rumors, but they’re just that. No one has ever been able to come up with a single living example of double-fated mates.
“On the contrary, the fates are capable of a great many things. It’s hard, of course, to say for certain without seeing the two of you together. Based on the little information you’ve given me, I do indeed think the fates have graced you with a second chance.” The Luna looks pleased by the prospect, but it makes me fucking sick.
“I don’t want a second chance.”
She looks at me like a second head is growing off my shoulder. “It’s not about what you want, Dominic Parker. The fates are speaking, and you’d do well to think very carefully before ignoring them.”
Her words are ominous, a clear warning. The Luna Sovereign may not be a fortune teller, but she’s wise enough to know more than the rest of us.
Still, the idea of being saddled with that woman forever is unthinkable. At the very least, my mate should be an Alpha’s daughter. I know Tess isn’t that, I know the Alpha from the pack she used to belong to, and his unfortunate excuse for a son. She definitely doesn’t belong to that family.
“You sound like my father,” I mutter under my breath.
“Ah, I’ll take that as a compliment.” She pins me with a hard stare. “Your father was a great Alpha, and the one who trained you to become the Alpha you are, with a nearly unrivaled legacy. Don’t grow so big, Dominic, that you can’t see the good in other people.”
I have to fight back a scowl. I do just fine seeing the good in people when I need to, but sometimes a man has to be critical. It’s how I’ve surrounded myself with the best wolves in the northwest. It’s the reason other packs both fear and respect me. Not everyone can be revered the way the Luna Sovereign is.
“I should return home, it was a long trip.”
I knew on the way here that I wouldn’t be able to stay long. I drove to make sure I’d make it back by nightfall, but now I wish I had run instead. My wolf is antsy, desperate to rub my face in the newfound possibility.Double-fated.I could use a good head-clearing run, but it will have to wait.
“I understand,” the Luna reassures me, returning her book to a shelf and guiding me out of the room toward the front door. “I have just one request for you before you go.”
“Anything.” No one denies the Luna a request.
“Should you not heed my warning, or if you’re back in the area anytime soon, do please bring your mate to me. I hear she has quite the intriguing scent.”
Chapter Twelve
Tess
I am going to die in Dominic Parker’s bedroom.
There are worse places,my wolf supplies helpfully. She’s doing a great job somehow continuing to look for silver linings as I lie face down in the plush carpet.
I’ve spent practically the entire day locked in this room. No entertainment. No food. The man doesn’t keep so much as a book by his bed. And of course, the two women set to stand guard outside the bedroom might as well be the British guard. I tried to tell the women it would be nice to at least be fed at some point, but I didn’t get so much as a nod of acknowledgement, and still no food.
