Page 11 of A Mate Betrayed

“It’s okay.I barely remember her anymore.”

The server returned with their drinks before taking off again.

“Cheers,” he said, holding out the amber-glass bottle of beer.She softly clinked it and they both took a drink.“Your dad never took another mate?”

“No,” she said.“I wish he had.I don’t like seeing him so alone.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”she asked, pointing to herself.“No mate.”

“The Luna mentioned a rejection earlier.When we were in the office.”

“Oh.Right.”

“I only asked because apparently I went to Savannah for the same reason you did.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.“You?”

“Yep.Long story.”

Something dark flashed across his face, and her wolf recognized the aching loss which mirrored her own soul.

“I, ah, had to reject my moon-fated mate,” she shared.“I caught him in an embrace with a friend of mine.”

“Ouch,” he said with a wince.

“He only wanted to mate me so he could be my father’s heir.”She took a deep breath.“He was going to send me away and make his girlfriend the pack Luna.”

Silence fell as she thought about the betrayal.It would probably always sting, even though she now felt nothing for Vaughn.

“I would think moon-fated mates were a lie if I didn’t have friends who had found theirs and are completely devoted to one another.”She shook her head.“I can’t help but wonder what was wrong with me that he couldn’t love me.”

He lifted her chin.“His decision was his own treachery.Sometimes we aren’t enough for those who are truly broken.”

She studied his face.“You too?”

“Yes,” he admitted.“My mate ...she was an alcoholic.Weird for a wolf, but her drink of choice was moonshine, and not the kind you find in stores.Her mother struggled with her own addictions.The men her mother brought home led to Nicola being sexually abused.This happened before she got her wolf who could’ve protected her.I did everything I could to help her, but it wasn’t enough.Iwasn’t enough.She, um, took her own life.”

His pain made her heart ache.She laid her hand on top of his and he ended up linking their fingers together.It was extremely unusual for a shifter to commit suicide, but there’d been cases.Their dual personas were of nurture as well as nature, a symbiotic relationship where the animal inside would regenerate the body.It’s why shifters rarely developed diseases.For a shifter to kill himself or herself is telling that somewhere down the line, a disconnect between human and wolf had occurred.Mental health wasn’t just reserved for humans.

“I’m so sorry about your mate,” she murmured.

“No need to be sorry,” he said with a shrug.“You had nothing to do with the choice she made.”

“I know, but I empathize.We both lost something that was supposed to be sacred, and it robbed us of a beautiful future.”

He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand as he searched her face.For a moment, she lost herself in his dark gaze.Attraction flared to life, causing her heart to thump rapidly in her chest.

“You’re gorgeous,” he murmured.

“So are you.”

He grinned.“We can be gorgeous together, if you’d like.”

“We could.”She bit her bottom lip as she figured out what to say.“I’m not looking for anything long term.”

“Me too.Fucking and having a good time is all I’m capable of.”

---