Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Jaxon

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I’m making the drive to Woolf territory… again. But this time, I’m doing it in one of the pack’s huge moving vans. The backseat is packed with nursery itemns -a crib I spent three hours researching to make sure it met every safety standard. A changing table. Baby clothes in neutral colors because we don’t know for certain if it’s a boy A mobile with little wolves on it that made Noah raise an eyebrow.

“Bit on the nose,” he’d said.

“She can throw it out if she hates it.” I told him, though I’d hate it if she did.

I want to contribute something to this child she’s growing without me by her side. I want Skye to see that I’m trying to be present, to be involved, to be the father my son deserves even if I failed as a husband.,

From the minute I threatened an independent paternity test, Cassandra hasn’t let me within ten feet of Liam. I’m not sure if that’s because she’s punishing me or because she has something to hide. But since she’s not an official member of my pack, it’s taking much longer for the court order to force her hand.

But either way, in the short time they lived in my home, I spent more time and took more care with Cassandra and Liam than I did my own pregnant wife. Nothing will ever be enough to make up for that, I realize. But I want to try, if she’ll let me, in any way I can.

When I finally arrive at the gate, the guard takes one look inside the loaded van then looks at me. “Ms. Winters already has a fully furnished nursery,” he says flatly. “Alpha Woolf saw to it.”

I sit with that for a moment, letting the anger and disappointment wash over me, reminding myself I’m getting exactly what I deserve.

“I know,” I lie. “These are extras.”

The guard waves me through without comment. But the damage is done.

Once I finally pass all the security checks, Mikhail escorts me to the sunroom. Skye is waiting, sitting with a cup of tea and a book. She looks well-glowing, actually, in a way that’s somehow more pronounced than last visit.

She’s happy here. The thought sits in my chest like broken glass.

“Jaxon.” Her smile is polite. Practiced. “How was the drive?”

“Fine.” I sit across from her, leaving distance between us. “I brought some things. For the nursery.”

Her expression shifts-something complicated moving through her eyes.

“That’s very thoughtful.” A pause. “But Nicolai already set up a nursery. He had everything ordered weeks ago.”

Of course he did. Why wouldn’t the Alpha, who is only meant to be keeping the mother of my child safe until the threat is neutralized, buy everything she needs for our son without discussing it with me?

“Well,” I manage, keeping my voice steady, “these can go to your father’s pack. For when you visit.”

“That’s a good idea.” Her voice is gentle. Kind.

Nicolai has been there. For every appointment, every milestone, every ordinary day of this pregnancy. While I show up once a month for two-hour supervised visits. Because I wasn’t there when I should have been.

“Of course,” I say. “That makes sense.” What else can I say?

Skye graces me with a grateful smile then asks if I’ll be staying for lunch. I’m desperate to spend as much time with her as I can so, of course, I agree.

She leads me to a small dining room off the main hall where the meal is already set up and waiting. I hadn’t expected Nicolai to join us, but he appears just as we’re sitting down, taking a chair without asking permission. Why would he?

“I want to be here to support Skye,” he says, and that’s that.

The three of us sit around a table meant for intimacy, and the dynamic is immediately, painfully clear. Nicolai knows how Skye takes her tea, prepares it without asking-specific amounts of honey, the bag steeped for exactly the right time. Sets it in front of her without comment, and she accepts it without surprise. Like it’s been this way forever.

They talk about pack business-a territory dispute Skye apparently helped Dimitri navigate. Nicolai asks her opinion on a related issue, actually listens to her answer, builds on it. Treats her like an equal.

I watch an inside joke develop in real time-some reference I don’t understand that makes Skye laugh and Nicolai smile in that private way that excludes everyone else.

When he passes behind her chair to refill his water, his hand briefly touches her shoulder. Just for a moment. Just a light, natural, casual touch. But it’s proprietary in a way that makes my wolf snarl. Intimate without being sexual, domestic.

Everything I never managed to build with the woman who was supposed to be my mate

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