From Rejected Mate to Luna (Julia White) novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Julia’s POV

The words hit me like a physical blow. I felt the room spin, my knees threatening to buckle.

“You can’t just-

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“I can and I will.” Claire’s hand sliced through the air, cutting off my protest. “I’m his mother. His legal guardian on all medical forms. His

tribe’s council will create a position for him.”

My chest tightened painfully. They were going to take him away, and there was nothing I could do. I’d lose the only person who had ever

truly seen me, valued me.

Claire studied my expression, her head tilted slightly. “I’m not unreasonable,” she said, her tone shifting. “I understand there might have

been… attachments formed.”

She reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a checkbook, the leather gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights. “I’m willing

to compensate you for any… inconvenience this causes.”

Heat rushed to my face as her implication registered. She thought I could be bought. That my feelings-my heart—had a price tag.

Kaia roared in outrage, making my hands shake with the effort to contain her fury.

“I don’t want your money,” I said, my voice wavering between hurt and anger. “I was never with Daniel for any kind of benefit.”

Claire’s lips curved in a small, disbelieving smile that made me feel dirty. She uncapped an expensive-looking pen with a decisive click. “Ten thousand?” She wrote the number, the pen scratching against paper. “Twenty?” She looked up, assessing me like I was merchandise.

“Everyone has a number, Julia. What’s yours?”

The casual way she degraded what Daniel and I shared made something crack inside me. I pictured the nights studying together, his patient explanations, his gentle hands when I was upset, the way his eyes lit up when I entered a room.

“I said no.” My voice was stronger now, fueled by indignation.

Claire raised an eyebrow, then deliberately wrote a larger number, tearing the check from her book and holding it out. “Fifty thousand.

Enough for a fresh start somewhere new. Far from Daniel,”

I stared at the check, feeling hollow. Was that all she thought I was worth? All our relationship meant?

She sighed at my silence, tucking the checkbook away. When she looked up, her expression had shifted again-the hardness replaced by

something that looked almost like pity.

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Chapter 49

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“He hasn’t met his fated mate yet,” she said quietly, delivering the killing blow with surgical precision. “You and I both know he deserves that connection. He deserves whoever the Moon Goddess chose specifically for him.”

My body went cold, as if I’d been doused with ice water.

Nathan’s face flashed in my mind-his cold, cruel expression when he’d rejected me, followed by years of loneliness and pain. The familiar

shame washed over me-the broken wolf, the rejected mate, the girl not good enough to keep.

The tears I’d been fighting spilled over as my legs gave way. I slid down the wall until I was crouched on the floor, my arms wrapped

around my knees.

“You’re right,” I whispered, my voice breaking on each word. “Daniel deserves the best. Not… not a broken girl whose own mate rejected

her.”

Kaia whimpered pitifully inside me. But he loves us. And we love him.

Claire watched my breakdown with the satisfaction of someone who had found exactly the right pressure point. She knelt down, her expensive pants touching the dirty hospital floor, and placed a hand on my shoulder. The gesture would have seemed comforting to anyone watching, but her grip was firm, final.

“I want you to break things off with him when he wakes up,” she said, her voice gentle but unyielding. “Make it clean. Make him believe

it’s your choice. It’s better for everyone that way.”

I nodded numbly, tears blurring my vision. “I will.” The words tasted like ash.

“Thank you for understanding.” Claire rose gracefully to her feet, brushing off her pants. “This is for his own good. For his future.” She turned to leave, but paused at the door. “He’ll be sedated for at least another day. You don’t need to wait. In fact, I think it would be

better if you didn’t.”

She left me there, crumpled on the floor of the empty waiting room, my chest aching with a pain that felt like it might never end. But underneath the agony, a cold resolve was forming. If loving Daniel meant putting him in danger, then I would do the hardest thing of all

-I would let him go.

After she disappeared down the corridor, I wiped my tears with the sleeve of my sweater and tried the mindlink again.

Eric? Please…

To my surprise, the connection formed instantly. Julla? Are you okay? Eric’s voice in my mind carried a warmth I hadn’t heard since we were children.

What happened? The nurse sald you were covered in blood…

I felt his guilt and anger pulse through our connection. It’s complicated. Can you come to Dad’s Beta office? The three of us need to talk in

person.

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Chapter 49

Was it Nathan? I asked, fear gripping my heart.

Silence stretched across our link.

I’m fine, Eric finally answered. The blood… it was all Daniel’s. The self-reproach in his mental voice was palpable.

I’ll be there. I have Dad’s car.

(7)

Ending the mindlink, I pushed myself to my feet, fighting a wave of dizziness. I walked slowly to the ICU observation window. Through the glass, I could see Daniel’s pale face amid a tangle of tubes and monitors. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.

I placed my hand against the cold glass, tracing the outline of his face from a distance.

I have to let you go, I sent through our faint connection, uncertain if he could hear me.

A tiny pulse of warmth came back-weak but present. His consciousness reaching for mine, even in his sedated state.

I turned away, not looking back as I headed toward the elevator, my decision cementing with each step. I would protect Daniel the only way I could-by removing myself from his life.

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