Page 107 of Vicious Luna

I school my expression, waving a hand. “We can push it again, they won’t care,” I say, ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “It’s more important for you to connect with your family.”

He studies me for a long moment, frowning. “Okay, if you’re sure…”

“I am,” I insist, not leaving room for any further argument. “I mean, the whole point of the dinner was for my parents to get to know you better, and they’ve done enough randomdrop-ins over the last few days to accomplish that. So it’s not a big thing, you should go to Denver.”

Cam stares back at me with a blank, unreadable expression, giving me a tight nod. “Okay, I will.”

“Great,” I chirp, turning on a heel and starting for the path back to the packhouse.

The moment I’ve turned my back on Cam, I let my fake smile fall, biting my lip as I push down the bitter seed of doubt taking root inside me.

I’m glad he found his family- I really am- but I can’t help but feel a little conflicted about what all this this means for us. I was getting used to being the center of his world. Selfishly, I liked having him all to myself. But now that he’s found where he belongs, he’s got a whole family out there to give him the love and support he needs to come to terms with who he really is and move forward with his life. He doesn’t need me anymore.

After we handled things with The Guild, I was going to ask him to stay; to seal the mate bond and join my pack. Now that the truth of his parentage has come out, I can’t ask him to choose between me and his birthright. As much as I want things to work between us, I won’t stand in the way of him reconnecting with his roots and claiming the family he’s been deprived of. No matter how much it hurts to consider letting him go.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickle as Cam prowls up behind me, quickly catching up on the trail and falling into step at my side. His hand finds mine, fingers lacing with my own and tugging me to a halt. “Will you come with me?” he asks gruffly.

I furrow my brow, blinking up at him. “Huh?”

“To Denver,” he clarifies, dark eyes boring into mine as he rubs his thumb over the back of my palm. “Would you wanna come with me?”

My chest tightens, a lump forming in my throat. “Sure, ifthat’s what you want," I breathe, trying my best to sound nonchalant even though I’m suddenly on the verge of tears.

Too bad he sees right through my bullshit.

“What’s the matter?” Cam asks, stepping closer.

“Nothing,” I cluck, tugging my hand free of his and turning back down the path.

“Avery,” he growls, catching up in a couple of long strides.

“Did you decide what to do about Matty?” I ask, swiftly changing the subject to deflect from my impending meltdown.

The most frustrating thing about this is knowing full well how irrational I’m being right now, but still powerless to stop the torrent of emotions brewing within me. I just need to get my shit together before he catches onto what’s really bugging me and I’m forced to admit how hard I’ve fallen for my warden.

He swings his gaze on me, brow furrowing. “What do you mean?” he questions, taking the bait.

“He’s a liability,” I point out.

“He’s a kid.”

“A kid who knows way too much about shifters.”

“Yeah, and?” Cam challenges, keeping pace with me as I speed-walk down the trail back to the packhouse. “There are a lot more people than you think out there who suspect that werewolves exist.”

“Maybe, but they don’t know our location,” I mumble. “Is it really wise to just send him home like nothing happened?”

“He doesn’t want to go back home. He said he wants to start over, live the rest of his life on his own terms. As far as his family’s concerned, he died in that fire. The Guild had procedures in place for notifying the soldiers’ next of kin if anything happened, and I sent off the death notices myself.”

“So what’s the plan, then?” I ask, flicking him a sideways glance.

“I figured maybe he could stick around for a while,” Cam says with a shrug. “Help me finish scrubbing The Guild’sservers and then decide if he wants to apply for colleges or something.”

“So that means you’re planning on sticking around?” I ask tentatively, a tiny spark of hope flaring inside me.

He turns his gaze my way, his jaw tight. “Is that alright?”

“Yeah, sure. If that’s what you want,” I reply, toying with the ends of my hair and playing it cool.

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