From Rejected Mate to Luna (Julia White) novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Lisa was quiet for a moment, studying my face. “Are you sure she hasn’t met her mate yet?”

The question caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Lisa said carefully, “you seem very certain she’ll meet her mate in the future. But what if she’s already met him?”

“Then she wouldn’t be with Daniel,” I replied automatically.

Lisa’s expression grew serious. “Not necessarily. Eric, has your sister shown any… unusual symptoms? Unexplained pain, mood swings, extreme reactions to certain people?”

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I started to shake my head, then stopped as memories surfaced. Julia doubled over in pain for no apparent reason. Julia’s face going pale when Nathan walked into a room with another female.

“She does get upset sometimes,” I admitted slowly. “Especially when Nathan dates other girls. But that’s just because she’s had this weird

crush on him since we were teenagers.”

Lisa sat up straighter. “Nathan-your best friend? The future Alpha of your pack?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, not understanding her sudden intensity.

“And how does Nathan feel about your sister?”

I shrugged. “He’s pretty hard on her. Says she needs to learn respect for pack hierarchy.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Eric,” she said softly, “when did Julia start having those unexplained pain episodes?”

‘I don’t know. Around her seventeenth, I guess.”

“And how old was Nathan back then?”

“Around eighteen-” I stopped, a cold feeling spreading through my chest as the implication of Lisa’s questions became clear. “No. That’s

not possible. Nathan would have told me.”

Lisa took my hands in hers, her touch gentle but her gaze unwavering. “Eric, think about it. What if Nathan is Julia’s mate, but he rejected

her?”

The suggestion hit me like a physical blow. I stared at Lisa, my mind racing through memories with new perspective-Nathan’s terrible behavior toward Julia after his awakening, his obsessive monitoring of her activities, his rage whenever she showed independence.

“A mate experiences pain when their destined partner is with someone else,” Lisa continued quietly. “They feel it like a physical wound.

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Chapter 41

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Every time he dates another wolf, every time he touches someone else, she would feel it. That’s why she’s trying to escape to another pack, isn’t it? Why she’s pursuing that scholarship so desperately?”

I felt sick. “Oh God,” I whispered. “I’ve been mocking her pain. I’ve been helping Nathan control her.”

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Memories flooded back-the countless times I’d reported Julia’s activities to Nathan, the way I’d helped isolate her within the pack, how

I’d dismissed her achievements and ambitions.

“I’ve been a terrible brother,” I said, voice breaking. “I even told Nathan about her bringing Daniel home. Goddess…”

Lisa didn’t contradict me, but her eyes held compassion. “What you’ve done until now doesn’t define you,” she said firmly. “What you

choose to do now that you know the truth-that’s what determines the kind of wolf you are.”

My mind was a battlefield of conflicting loyalties. Nathan had been my best friend since childhood. We were supposed to lead the pack

together-Nathan as Alpha, me as his Beta. But Julia was my sister. If Lisa was right, Nathan had sentenced Julia to years of suffering and

lied to everyone about it.

“I need to help her,” I said finally. “But Nathan will see it as betrayal.”

“Sometimes the right path isn’t the easy one,” Lisa replied, squeezing my hand. “You have to decide what matters more-your loyalty to

Nathan or your sister’s right to freedom and happiness.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of the choice before me. Through our newly strengthened bond, I felt Lisa’s unwavering support-not

pushing me in either direction, but offering her strength regardless of my decision.

“I have to make this right,” I whispered. “I’ve been standing on the wrong side all along.”

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