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

“What is it with you and younger men?”

“Hey, don’t come for my taste. I like what I like. You likehumanmen.”

“Not really,” I say, laughing. “They’re just what’s available to me.”

“You could date a shifter.”

“Shifters are hard to come by when you’re living as a human,” I tell her wryly. “I haven’t even met one since I left the pack.”

“That you know of.”

“You don’t think I would be able to tell? I can smell a shifter a mile off.”

“You did always have the best sense of smell in the family,” Kay said. “And you’re good looking too. You probably could have been mated to anyone you wanted, Alicia. You could have rejected Dad’s pick for you and still found someone else. Someone who would have been willing to leave the pack with you.”

“I don’t think anyone would have,” I say. “Has anyone left the pack since I did?”

“Well, no,” she admits. “You know how rare it is. But you could have motivated someone to leave. I could see a guy starting a new life in order to be with you.”

“For a woman who doesn’t want a relationship, you’ve got a lot of relationship advice,” I tell her.

“But youdowant a relationship,” she says. “And you’re my little sister, and you’re newly single. Of course I’m going to try to help you.”

She drains her beer and signals the bartender with two fingers.

“I’m not having another one after this,” I tell her. I’m on my third already.

“Who said one of them was for you?” She grins.

The door opens behind her and a man walks in.

He’s about my age, tall and burly, with thick, curly brown hair and a full beard that he didn’t have the last time I saw him. But I recognize him right away anyway. I’d recognize him anywhere.

And I feel as if I’ve missed a step going downward. Even though it’s been ages, even though I’m committed to the idea that I’m over this guy and that he means nothing to me anymore, being in his presence still has an affect on me. I feel almost nauseous. How could I not, seeinghimagain?

Brandon.

“On second thought,” I say, “I think I’ll take that beer.”

3

BRANDON

Iseeherthemoment I walk in, and she looks exactly the same as I remember. Same loose blonde hair, same tan skin, same wide eyes that I feel like I could get lost in.

Alicia.

I’ve thought of her idly, of course, over the past twenty years. And not just because of the way she rejected me. I’m sure everyone has thought about her to some degree. The prodigal daughter, the one who got out…it’s impossible not to wonder what her life must be like out in the human world.

Now here she is, sitting at a table just a few yards away from me. It’s like I’ve fallen into some kind of surreal dream. I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t know how I feel abouther.

I wonder if she’s seen me yet.

I’m on my way over to her before I can think twice about it. It’s not like I’m going to miss the opportunity to talk to her after all these years. It’s like having someone famous show up in the middle of the pack. The woman she’s with turns, and I see that it’s Kayla. I like Kayla, and despite the fact that both of us love to have a good time, she’s one of the few women in the pack near my own age who I haven’t slept with. I’m not sure why. It’s just always felt like it would be crossing some kind of line—which is ridiculous, because Alicia and I were never an item. Still, I can’t help how I feel.

“Brandon!” Kayla says now. “Sit down.”

She doesn’t move over to make room for me on her side of the booth, though, so I just stand there awkwardly, wondering where she expects me to sit.

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