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“Yes.”
I honestly don’t think West meant to say that out loud. I guess, after eight years, it’s a hard habit to break. He must have been dreaming of the day I’d ask him that again, but I wasn’t asking him.
I was asking Rafael.
He swallows.
I wait.
He opens his mouth.
I reach through our whisper-thin bond and tell him that it’s okay. I don’t love him, either.
Maybe I could. One day… I might’ve been able to. If there was no West—but I finally understand.
There will always be a West.
Rafael shudders out a breath. Lifting his hands out from beneath the table where he’s had them, he holds them out to me.
I take them.
“It’s okay, Helene.” Helene. He finally called meHelene… Go on.”
I squeeze his fingers, a silent ‘thank you’ for his understanding. “Rafael Cruces, I reject you.”
And the relief that blasts me from both sides makes me sure I made the right choice at last.
* * *
When I rejected Rafael,I didn’t know what I was going to do next. As much as he wanted an omega she-wolf for his mate, I was right when I thought he was only doing it out of a sense of duty. Now that I freed him, it didn’t seem right to stay on his territory.
Proving that he truly is a good male, he offered us sanctuary for the night. As a favor to me and to Bishop, we could stay until the full moon was over. Then we could leave with his assurance that the proposed alliance between our packs would be even stronger for us not mating each other.
I almost agree. One glimpse over at West, though? He might have managed to keep the worst of the moon fever at bay while we played nice with Rafael, but now that I’m no longer the Alpha’s intended?
The Beta wants his bride
Just in case my wolf didn’t sense the need and longing coming from his, West reaches over the table. While Rafael gets up, busying himself with clearing the plates so that he can avoid glancing my way, West takes my right hand.
Gripping the golden band on my ring finger, he eases it off. Then, with a look that dares me to refuse him, he swaps my right hand for my left. As my heart thuds in my chest, the moon fever making me hot and wet andachy, Weston Reed slips his ring back on my left hand.
I couldn’t taken it off. I could’ve told him that nothing changed between us.
I could’velied…
I don’t. With a small smile, I lift my hand to my lips, kissing the band. West’s eyes glimmer gold. The air becomes thick with arousal, both his and mine. Rafael slips out through the kitchen.
Before I jump West and decide to mate him on the Gravetail Alpha’s table, I rise up from my seat. He does the same. As one, we reach for each other’s hands. Fingers intertwined, we head out of the den.
The Luna’s watchful gaze bathes our skin as we slink out of Darkwoods. I keep waiting for reality to sink in. For regret to shove aside the lust, but it doesn’t. WIth every step, walking side by side with West, I’m more sure that I did what I was meant to do. That the Luna’s not upset with me for rejecting the male she gave me.
She just wants what’s best for us. Even if it’s not what she thought it was.
When I murmur that to West, he nods and says, “I’ve been trying to tell you that all along, baby. She just wanted you to choose the right male for you.”
I squeeze his hand. “I did. It might’ve taken a while, but I did.”
He ducks his head, stealing a quick kiss that does nothing except make me think that we’re far enough away from Rafael’s den that we can matenow. “I wouldn’t waited forever for you. You know that, don’t you, Lane?”
