Page 15 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

“But you can’t, right? Maybe you and I can swap occasionally.”

“Seriously, you’re such an asshole.”

Alicia moved into position standing opposite me. Her father read the mating ceremony rites and then started down the line, asking each girl whether she accepted the mate that had been chosen for her.

He came to Alicia. “Brandon has been chosen as your mate,” he said. “He has accepted you as his.”

I will always remember those words. And I’ll always remember what followed.

In a loud, ringing voice that made it clear she wasn’t speaking to me, but to the crowd around us, Alicia said, “I reject Brandon as my mate.”

My blood froze.

It wasn’t unheard of, of course. But it was so, so rare. No one rejected a chosen mate. No one. Who would accept her now that they knew a mating ceremony might end like this?

Her father stood still for a moment, clearly unsure what to do. He couldn’t force her to accept me. It was against shifter law. All pairings had to be mutually agreed upon. She was within her rights to say no.

After a moment, he moved on to the next couple.

“Is she fucking serious?” Rod breathed. “What the fuck, dude?”

I stared at her. She seemed not to want to look at me at all.

As soon as it was over, Alicia turned and ran from the clearing. I stood rooted to the spot, watching her go.

No one tried to talk to me that night, and I was glad. The newly-mated pairs were off in the woods, doing what newly-mated pairs do, and everyone else seemed to sense that I needed to be left alone to process what had happened.

I made my way home, feeling as if I was sleepwalking, thinking about the fact that I was supposed to be out in the woods with Alicia right now, and how instead I would be going to bed alone.

The next morning, word spread around the pack that Alicia had left in the night. She’d left a note for her sister, Kayla, saying that she planned to try her luck in the human world.

Another thing nobody ever did. Leaving the pack to live as a human.

It should have allowed me to move on from her. The fact that she was gone should have let me focus on other women.

And I did focus on other women. At least, I tried. I know my reputation as the pack playboy, and I definitely earned it. But I never accepted another mate match, even though I was asked. Plenty of fathers and brothers approached me. On a few occasions, even the women themselves approached me, asking if I would speak to their families and seek permission to take them as a mate. Every time, I turned them down. I convinced myself that I was simply a loner, that I didn’t want to settle down.

By now, that’s probably true. I’ve been this way for so long that it’s become a part of who I am.

But if Alicia had accepted me all those years ago, I would have been hers. Absolutely, unconditionally and willingly.

I don’t know how to feel about having her back now. I can’t let on that I care too much. That hookup we had a couple of years back was awesome, and I’d definitely be down for round two. But I don’t want to come across like I’ve never gotten over her, because it’s not the case. I haven’t been sitting around pining over Alicia. It isn’t like that.

Even though I’m still hot for her, it’s definitely not like that. Absolutely not. No way.

I’ll take my time, I decide. Let her come to me.

I’ll just have to hope that she does.

I lean back on my elbows and stare up at the stars beginning to emerge above me. It ought to be an interesting summer.

9

BRANDON

“Mydamnsister’sbackin town,” Lonnie says.

He’s lounging on the ground, leaning against a rock, tipping a mostly-empty beer bottle back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. It is maddening sometimes that this little idiot is ahead of me in the chain of command and thinks he’s my friend. But the alpha of our pack is his father, so there’s very little I can do about it.

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