Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 288

Ch. 58

• 16 Bonus

Noah

The next morning I run into her again. Because of course I do. Just us-the kind of unfortunate timing that seems to plague my existence lately.

Do not open your mouth, I tell myself.

“I saw you last night,” I blurt out anyway.

She jerks to a stop, looking startled.

“I know. Jack invited me.” She shrugs like that explains everything.

“You want to tell me what that is?” The words are already out. I can hear how they sound. I can’t stop them.

“What what is?” She looks genuinely perplexed.

“You and Morrow.” I try to keep the growl out of my tone but I’m not sure I succeed.

She looks at me steadily. Not defensive. More like a deer staring down a hunter, wondering if she should run. “C-, coffee,” she stutters. “A few times.”

“He’s a good warrior,” I repeat. “Solid. Reliable.” I’d said this to her already, yesterday morning, and I’m saying it again because apparently I’m going to do this. “He doesn’t know what he’s in the middle of.” I hold her gaze, glaring at her accusingly. “You’re using him.”

The air between us changes quality as soon as the words leave my mouth.

She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t deflect or manage or come up with excuses. She looks at me with an expression I’ve come to recognize, one she’s developed since she’s been here-the one that is honest in a way that costs her something, that doesn’t protect itself.

“I told him everything,” she snarls, actually snarls at me. “Before I agreed to have coffee with him, I told him every detail. The gate. The bond. What I chose instead of it. The rejection. You and Piper.” She holds my gaze, her fury sucking up all the oxygen around me. “All of it. He knows exactly what he’s in the middle of.”

I go still. My mouth opens and closes a few times but I can’t think of anything to say. Because that was nowhere near what I expected her to say.

“You’re taking a chosen mate,” she keeps going, her ire only growing with every word. “You decided the bond doesn’t have to determine your future. You get to choose.” She takes a deep breath, her face a bright crimson.” Why can’t I?”

I don’t answer. The question hangs in the air between us and an emotion I’m not ready to name burns in my chest.

“Why, Noah?” she asks again. Quieter. Not pushing-genuinely asking.

I don’t have an answer. I look for one and it’s not there. The reasons I’d give the trust, the history, the fact that I know who she used to be–they don’t actually answer her question. They answer a different question. One I’m going to have to come to terms with sooner or later.

“I’m not using him,” she says, her voice turning hard again. “I’m done using people. You know that.”

She storms away. And I stand in the corridor and stare at the space she left, wondering what the fuck just happened.

1/3

+15 Bonus

I need the Reeves operational update. That’s the only reason I go find Cole. A legitimate reason, a professional

reason, the only reason. Definitely not because I want to talk about… anything else.

He gives me the update. I note the relevant changes. We discuss the eastern boundary adjustments. This is all I’m here for.

“Heard you talked to her this morning,” Cole doesn’t bother casing into the topic.

“Word travels.” I grumble. Because just fucking fantastic, I’m on the top of everyone’s gossip list now.

“Small pack,” he says, pretending to look at his files. “She told Morrow everything before she agreed to date him. Did you know that?”

“She told me,” I groan, ducking my head and rubbing at the back of my neck.

“Okay.” He lets it sit for a moment. “You know what that means, right? That she told him?”

“Yes,” I grit out.

“Do you?” he pushes. “Because, if you don’t, you better spend some time thinking about it before you make any permanent decisions. Your future’s riding on it.”

And he’s right. I know he’s right. Because the thing is, she told Jack everything. The ugly version. Before he had a reason to want her. Before he could decide if the information changed anything. She gave him the full picture and let him make his own choice, because she’s decided that’s who she is now.

Which is exactly what she did with Piper. Which is exactly the opposite of what she did with me. And that means she’s not the same person I expected her to be, the one I based all my decisions on.

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