Rejected by My Alpha Now He Replaced Me with a Copycat Luna novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Kael’s POV

I tried to focus on Nox’s form as he hit the mitts I held up for him. I knew he wanted critique to improve. I should’ve been jumping on that. Getting Nox to train was usually like pulling teeth. But the attack a few nights ago had spooked him, though I knew the true motivation was

Raven.

It was the same reason I was distracted today. Three days had passed since she’d gone back to work, and it felt like one of my vital organs was walking around outside my body. The feeling was beyond brutal. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it other than text Dexter dozens of times each day.

Even Ezra was making it a habit to eat lunch and dinner at Jack’s every day, and that bastard hated being around people. The only one keeping their distance was Asher. He’d disappeared for two days and come back even surlier than before. His rudeness toward Raven had only continued.

Raven took it in stride, giving as good as she got. But something was off with her. At first, I’d thought it was just nerves at living with us. Now, I was fairly certain it was something more. I could sense her wolf’s edginess. When I suggested a pack run-something that should ease her wolf-she quickly shut me down. Something was off there, and I would find out what.

Nox’s gloved fist slammed into my mitt, bringing me back to the present. He eyed me carefully before quickly dropping his gaze. “You okay?”

“Sorry,” I muttered, dropping the mitts for a moment. “I’m distracted.”

“Raven?” he asked.

I nodded. “Apparently, she’s all I can think about. Not good when my head needs to be on the mages. And the bikers, and Shadowpine, and—”

“Kael,” Nox cut me off. “We’re a team. We handle it together. It’s not all on you.”

But it sometimes felt like it was. I was the leader of this band of misfits, and if anything happened to a single one of them, I’d never forgive myself. “I keep worrying about her,” I admitted.

One corner of Nox’s mouth kicked up as he pulled off his gloves and reached for his glasses. “Me, too. But she’s starting to snap at any of us who

gets too close. I don’t think she’s used to being around so many shifters.”

She was used to going it alone, but it was more. My wolf was hounding me to push Raven, get her to tell me what was wrong, and reveal the secrets she guarded so tightly. Something told me there was an endless stream.

I studied Nox for a moment. “You feel a pull toward her.”

It wasn’t a question, exactly. It was more of a prodding. I could sense that each of us felt a pull. Even Asher, who was being a dick about it all.

Nox’s cheeks reddened. “I like her. But you know I’m not good at that sort of thing.”

Nox’s negative talk about himself had me bristling. “I’m pretty sure she likes you best out of all of us. I think she’s even said as much.”

His head dipped. “As a friend. Not as anything more.”

“A spark can light in an infinite number of ways. No two bonds are alike,” I reminded him.

Nox’s eyes flared, flashing silver for a moment. “Do you think she could be a potential mate?”

Shifters had existed for as long as humankind had, but we’d always had fewer females. We were in a better state than the dragons, whose females had gotten so rare they’d almost gone extinct, but our species still had to accommodate. It had become commonplace for a female to

have multiple mates. She could even have multiple true mates.

“I know she isn’t my true mate,” I admitted, my wolf snarling at that. He already considered her ours. “I didn’t feel the mating hond when I touched her or see any glimpses of our future.”

“Me neither,” Nox admitted. “But I care for her more than I should. More than makes sense for knowing her for less than two weeks.”

I mulled that one over, trying to make sense of it all. “I’ve felt a possible mating bond twice before, and those weren’t this…intense. Maybe the bond would be stronger with her. It still feels like a betrayal not to wait to see if our true mate finds us.”

It had happened before. Wolves bonding with a potential, only to have their true mate waltz in years later. The effects could be devastating.

“I don’t know, Kael. She just… it feels like she fits. Like it was all meant to be. Maybe the fates are bringing her to us because we don’t have a true mate. Either way, she feels like ours. Like we’re hers.”

Nox was right. Many packs didn’t have true mates at all. But no matter what, I knew I wouldn’t be able to let Raven go.

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