Page 11 of The Wild Moon
“This isn’t over!” he snarled as if I was supposed to be scared.
I laughed again in his face, uncaring. “You just got beaten by anobody, John. Some Alpha heiryouare. Once word of this gets around…” I shook my head. “Just go. Get out of my face.”
He started to go. Walking away, beaten. Finally, I was paying him back for the comment he’d made that day outside of the post office. The comment that had ruined my life.
“How did you know?” I asked sharply as he reached the door.
He turned at the waist to look back at me, muscles stretching tightly over his stomach. “Know what?” he asked, frowning.
“That I was adopted,” I managed to spit out without losing control. I fought hard to keep myself calm and cool. Maybe I could use this time to find out what was going on. To find out the truth from him. My need to know was all-consuming as I waited for an answer.
To my surprise, Johnathan’s face softened. I had expected mockery. Cruel laughter, perhaps. Outright denial. Instead, he smiled at me sadly. Like he cared about me.
Was this the Soulbond already changing our perceptions of one another? Encouraging us to accept it? Or was this something else?
“Come with me,” he said quietly. “Accept the bond, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
I stared, speechless. Utterly and totally speechless at this sudden transformation. So unexpected was it that I found myself leaning toward him to do just that. I wanted to know who I was and where I’d come fromso badlythat I almost gave in right then and there.
“Think of all the positives of being mated to the future Alpha,” he continued. “How that will help you.”
And just like that, I was back.
“I don’tneedyour help,” I said harshly, hate filling me once more. “I don’t want it either. Either tell me what you know or get out of my life!”
“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head at me. “I can’t.”
He went out the door, and I walked over to it and slammed it on his retreating back before he had a chance to look back.
“Bastard,” I said, throwing my hatred at him.
Through the door, I felt an answering pulse of frustration. John was just as irritated at my unwillingness to accept as I was at the fact that I was bonded to him in the first place.
“Fuck the Soulbond,” I snarled. “There has to be some way to deny this thing. To sever it. I can’tactuallybe stuck with him for the rest of my life, can I? Life isn’tthatunfair.”
Of course, for that to be the case, there would have to be other examples in our history of shifters being paired up with people they disliked. My father had been a huge history buff. In fact, he’d been the Alpha’s right-hand man, searching out hints of our ancient past. He’d educated me about all sorts of lore, from the old gods to the lost shifter city of Shuldar.
But he’d never once mentioned any tales about rejected Soulbonds.
I contemplated all the stories he’d told me over the years as I grabbed fresh clothes, but I couldn’t come up withanything. Nothing helpful. Even if it were only a legend from a time when our species was united as one pack under the gods, I would have taken that and ran with it.
“Sheer stubborn willpower it is,” I decided, heading down the stairs again.
“Sheer stubborn willpowerwhatis?” a new, decidedly more feminine voice asked from the bottom of the stairs.
“God dammit!” I yelped, slamming myself back against the wall in surprise. “Will you people quit doing that!”
Jo stared up at me, tears in the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean to.”
I gaped at my best friend. I’d never seen her look so distraught before. She looked horrible. She was wearing the same clothes from the night before, only now they were filthy and torn in a few places. Her hands were covered in dirt, and she had giant bags under her eyes, which were red and puffy from crying.
“Jo!” I cried, rushing down the stairs. “Jo, what happened?”
Chapter Eight
The instant my arms went around her, my best friend broke.
I got an arm under her and guided her to the nearby couch, trying to figure out what the hell could have gone wrong. Was it her Soulbond? Had it failed to materialize as mine had? Since it had happened to me, it was no longer unheard of. But even I hadn’t had a reaction like this. No, I decided, something else was going on. Something worse. But I couldn’t get a word out of Jo to figure out what it was!
