Page 37 of Alpha's Rejected Mate

At first, he expected reality to set in and Harper to push him away, but she didn’t. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly, as he made love to her.

To Mateo, this felt like more of a desperation for him. He didn’t want to lose her.

Now he understood what his father meant after all these years. The biggest mistake he ever made was rejecting Harper. The second one, was letting her go.

What the fuck did he do now?

Chapter Twelve

Harper sat at her kitchen counter. The coffee she had made for herself had already gone cold. She ran fingers through her hair and then dropped her head into her hands. No tears were coming. Nothing.

At the sound of the doorbell, she felt relief at finally not being left alone with her wayward thoughts. She knew it was going to be Franny, and her friend didn’t disappoint.

“Do you remember what a phone is? A cell phone?”

Harper frowned.

“They’re used to contact friends, when they’re not opening the shop, and speaking of not opening the shop, you’re alone, and you smell fine, why is your shop closed?” Franny asked, not allowing her to get a word in edgewise, as she opened the door to let her friend inside.

“It’s nice to see you too. I’ve missed you,” Harper said, brushing past her to go to the sitting room now, and collapsing onto the sofa.

Franny stepped into her room and glared. “I don’t like this picture. Did Mateo fuck up again?”

“What? No. I’m just not in the mood to open the shop today.” She pressed her thumb against her teeth, and began to nibble at the flesh of the corner.

Her friend sighed and stepped into the room.

“If Mateo didn’t fuck up again, then why are you not opening the shop? Was last night … not good?”

Harper opened her mouth and then closed it.

“You know, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Franny said.

“I know, it’s just … I honestly don’t know what is going on with me. I feel so strange.”

“How?” Franny asked. “You’re not opening the shop, and everyone has got that just-fucked look. You do as well, only on everyone else, they look happier about it. Did Mateo not do the job properly?”

Harper laughed. “No, he … it was amazing.” She turned to look at her friend, who offered her up the mug of coffee and the cinnamon bun. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. Now, tell me,” Franny said, taking a sip of her own coffee.

“You were right.”

“Of course, that does not come as a shock to me anymore. I think I should get a plaque or something put on the walls reminding everyone that I’m right about everything. What exactly am I right about?”

“The full moon and the power it has over mates. Last night was intense.” Even after Mateo apologized, they had made love and fucked for hours beneath the power of the full moon, and Harper wasn’t going to deny that it was one of the best nights of her life.

“Intense?” Franny asked.

“It was the best night of my life,” Harper said. “Does that about sum it up?”

Franny giggled. “Okay, now I am confused. If it was one of the best nights of your life—and that tends to be a good thing, trust me, it does—why do you look sad about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“He apologized,” Harper said.

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