Page 157 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“How does it work? The rejection?”

“It has to be done under a full moon. The mate doing the rejection says ‘I reject you as my mate,’ and then the other person accepts the rejection, and the bond between them is severed.”

Nausea and panic ripped through me as I processed his words, at the thought of severing the bond between Wes and me. As upset with him as I was, as hurt as I was, there was no way I could break that connection. And not just because of that feeling I got at the thought of doing it, but because Wesley was truly what he’d described—my soulmate. My other half. A perfect match.

I furrowed my brow and glanced at him again. “Why are you telling me this? Isn’t Wes your best friend? Your ‘alpha’? Shouldn’t you want me to just accept him? No questions asked?”

“Of course I want you to accept him. Not because you have to, but because he’s a good male, and I know he really, really cares about you, and I think you feel the same about him. But you should know you have the option to reject him, should you choose it. You will not be forced into being his mate if you don’t want it.”

My lips twitched with a small, grateful smile at his words and honesty. He didn’t have to tell me I had an out, but he did anyway. He was loyal, but not to a fault. Not when that loyalty would hurt someone else.

“Thank you for telling me, Nolan,” I said, reaching out and touching his arm. “But I don’t actually plan on rejecting him. I just want to make him sweat a little. Ignore him a bit and give him a taste of his own medicine.”

Nolan stared at me for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. “I knew I liked you. You’re the perfect luna for Wesley. He needs someone to put him in his place sometimes.”

Luna. That word again. I’d heard it used several times regarding me, but I didn’t understand why.

“What’s a luna? Why do people keep calling me that?” I asked him, crossing my arms against the cool breeze.

“It’s what the alpha’s mate is called. Since Wes will be our alpha, you will be our luna. It’s your title, but it’s also a sign of respect. The luna is the most important member of the pack.”

“Isn’t the alpha the most important?”

We’d reached the large cabin—the packhouse—but we stopped on the lawn as Nolan turned to me. “Anyone who thinks that is a fool. The alpha may lead the pack, but the luna leads the alpha. A pack without a luna is a pack without its heart. That’s why our pack won’t transfer the alpha title until the heir has his luna.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Well, you don’t have to call me luna. You can just call me Haven. We’re friends. We were almost siblings,” I said, gesturing between us as I sat on the steps of the cabin.

“I would stop, but Wesley ordered me to call you that. He said, ‘You’re her gamma. You will call her by her title.’” He lowered his voice as he mimicked Wesley’s voice and tone he used when he was in his bossy mode.

“When did he do that?” I asked with a roll of my eyes as he sat next to me.

“A few minutes after we left his house.”

“How?”

He tapped the side of his head. “It’s called a mindlink. We can talk to anyone in the pack through the link. That’s how he talked to me the other day when he showed you his lycan.”

I nodded. That made sense and was pretty cool and very convenient. “Did he say anything else to you?”

“He said, ‘Please convince her to accept me.’”

“And what did you tell him?” I asked with a suppressed giggle.

“I said, ‘My luna is mad at you, so I’m mad at you. If you want to fix it, you need to fix it on your own.’”

I laughed out loud at that. “I’m sure he loved that,” I said with a shake of my head.

“He said ‘Fuck you’. And then he said ‘Damn it, you’re right’. And I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Maybe he can finally put his groveling plan to work,” I said.

“He never even came up with anything for that,” Nolan laughed.

“I know.” I smirked.

He shook his head at me and stood up, offering his hand to help me up. “Come on, Maddie is waiting for us. She said you can use her shower and borrow some of her clothes.”

I stood and followed him into the house. I braced myself to be bombarded by sounds and people, but thankfully, he’d led us in by a side door that took us straight up the stairs.

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