Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 271

Noah

Piper glares at me from the end of the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest and a determined air about her that tells me I’m not getting out of this conversation no matter how much I wish otherwise. I guess I should consider myself lucky. A pissed off Piper is better than a hurt Piper any day.

She has the look of a woman who has suspected something for a while and just had it confirmed. The righteous indignation of knowing she’s been right all along, despite my attempts to convince her otherwise.

“Who is she to you?” she demands the second I reach her, not giving me a chance to deflect.

“She’s here under a pack arrangement.” I spit the first thing that comes to mind. I hear myself say it and know it’s insufficient before she does.

“Noah.” She sighs my name. And the disappointment in that sigh is enough to break my resolve.

“She’s complicated,” I hang my head, my tone apologetic. “But everything that happened between us happened before. There is nothing between us now.”

“Before how?” Her growl is menacing, sending a shudder up my spine.

The Piper I know is sweet, kind. But this Piper is not taking any more of my bullshit. Which, fair. She deserves better from me. She deserves honesty, complete honesty, not the half-truth I’ve been offering her.

“She’s my rejected mate,” I focus on a spot on the wall over her shoulder, afraid to see the hurt on her face.

The room goes quiet except for the blood rushing in my ears. Piper receives this information exactly the way I expected her to, the pain and betrayal almost visceral.

“Okay,” I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or herself. “How long have you known she was here?”

“Since she arrived.” I cringe as I say the words. This is bad. Very, very bad.

“And you didn’t tell me.” She screeches then seems to catch herself, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“No,” I shake my head. “She doesn’t matter so I didn’t see a reason. But… I can see now that I should have.”

“Yes,” she snaps at me, pointing a finger at my chest. “You should have.”

She turns around sharply, her long blond hair nearly smacking me in the face as she gives me her back. “I need some time to think,” she tosses over her shoulder as she walks away.

“Okay,” I breathe, something cold settling in my gut.

She’s hurt and that’s understandable. But not devastatingly, not the end of something, at least I don’t think so. Still, she’s genuinely hurt by the withholding. That’s fair. It’s exactly as fair as Cole told me it would be, which I knew before Cole said anything.

I think about what Cassandra said to me in the hall. I think you want me to hurt. Then I think about my answer. I haven’t decided yet.

That wasn’t true. Not even close. Because I decided weeks ago.

I’ve been wanting her to hurt since the moment I realized I could. And the moment in the kitchen with Piper, when I smelled the change in her scent and understood what it meant, was the moment I tested the theory and confirmed I was right. I wanted it and I made it happen and I kept making it happen every chance I got.

So yeah, that was as big a lie as it gets.

I can accept wanting to hurt her. Because I believe she earned it, and I believe I have the right to it. After what she did, it’s what I’m owed.

What I can’t quite accept is that she said yes, it bothers me and held my gaze. She admitted knowing I want her to hurt without even flinching. She’s been absorbing everything I’ve done and not reaching for the defenses I know she has.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify