Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 302

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Ch.72

Cassandra

Jack makes a reservation at a restaurant forty minutes outside pack territory and tells me to wear something nice. Presumptuous. Also surprisingly effective.

I own two things that qualify as “nice.” I look at both of them for longer than I’d like to admit then settle on the blue one, the same color as my eyes, I stand in front of the small mirror in my room, turning this way and that, scrutinizing myself in a way I rarely bother to do.

It just hasn’t mattered in so long. It terrifies more than I’m willing to admit that it might matter now. But that might be a good thing.

Liam is on the floor with his figures when I come out. He takes in the blue dress with the discerning eye of a pre-schooler, which has nothing to do with how I look and everything to do with what I might be doing

“Are you going out?” he asks, landing on the only feasible option since he’s rarely seen me dress up.

“Mommy has a date,” I tell him. “I’ll be back late but Mara will stay with you.”

“With the rope man?”

“Yes,” I smile at the label he associates with the man based on their one brief interaction. “His name is Jack.

He considers this. The gravity of it-four years old, rendering judgment, taking his time. “He seems okay,” he shrugs.

I’ve learned Liam’s descriptors. Nice is Mara. Good is his friend Theo, who he’s built a genuine alliance with. Okay is reserved for things he’s assessed and found acceptable for now, but he reserves the right to change his mind. He once described a book I suggested for his bedtime story as fine, which meant he’d never read it again.

Okay is the highest endorsement I could expect for someone who is potentially going to be spending time with his mother.

“He says he can do the knot faster now,” I relay the message I just remembered Jack asked me to pass along. “He asked me to tell you.”

Liam nods, serious. “He should practice with the harder one. The one Noah taught me.” he says. “I’ll show him.”

“I’ll tell him you said so.”

Mara appears in the doorway to collect Liam for the evening. He goes without complaint, which is either a sign he’s fully recovered from his episode or a sign he’s decided the rope man is sufficient reason to let me go without negotiation.

Either way, I’ll take it for the gift it is.

Jack’s truck is at the gate at seven on the dot. He gets out when he sees me-opens the passenger door, which is more of a gentleman than I’ve ever been treated before-and when I get in he looks at me. The look of a man who likes what he sees. My face heats under his focused attention.

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“You look gorgeous.” His eyes heat with carnal appreciation. “Blue suits you.”

“Thank you.” I smile shyly, suddenly self-conscious under his gaze.

He doesn’t follow it with anything, but I don’t miss the way he keeps sneaking glances from the corner of his eye as he starts the truck and pulls out onto the road.

We fill the forty minute drive without effort-pack gossip from the warrior rotation that I’ve missed through the administrative channels, the knot Liam wants him to try, a thing I read about this week that he asks genuine follow-up questions about. The conversation moves forward, without work, without either of us having to carry it.

But under the surface of our light-hearted conversation, I’m nervous. Not about the dinner. About after the dinner, about the decision I made.

I know what the bond is going to say about my choice to sleep with a man who is not my mate. I’m prepared for that part. I’m even prepared for the fuss I know my wolf will make.

But that’s just too bad. Noah made his choice. I’m making mine. The bond doesn’t get to have an opinion about that-it’s biology, not morality, and I refuse to let it make me feel like I’m betraying something that is no longer mine, even if I wanted it to be.

What I’m not prepared for is this feeling of inadequacy, that what I have to offer is lacking. That the one man who knows the truth of all my mistakes and wants me anyway, will finally take the next step with me, the one I know he’s been waiting for, and end up royally disappointed.

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” Jack’s question fills the silence I hadn’t realized had

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