Chapter 5 THE TRUTH

Edeline

"You won't?" That single question gave me a glimmer of hope, though it felt too late for that.

He shook his head slowly. The way his skin shimmered was messing with my head, making me think I might have a chance with him. But I wouldn't if another woman was involved.

"She's staying with the Oracle at the cabin with my parents. I'm holed up in a house across the lake that's not being used. I didn't want her staying with me because of her wolf, and my dad thought it'd be best if I stayed away from you for now. Being across the lake helps because your scent isn't always around."

I stared at him in shock. I'd thought she'd be with him. They seemed like they were trying to be a family, like we should have been.

Then it hit me.

"You're staying away so your wolf won't be tempted to mark me, and vice versa?" I raised an eyebrow, feeling a mix of anger and relief.

He helped me, but he also broke my heart. The news pissed off my wolf but made me happy in a weird way. I didn't want to be near him.

With his head still lowered, he nodded, and I stayed quiet, waiting to hear more.

"Omega Conor, the leader of the Celestial Moon pack, is Tatiana's father. He told me to take her home and mark her as my mate as soon as he found out I didn't have one. It would unite our packs and give me control over both one day." I looked into his blue eyes. "The night I saw your face and smelled your scent, I knew what you meant to me. I thought about it a lot. Things changed after that. She was furious and didn't want to lose face, so she begged for my help. But, I couldn't do it. I can't do that to myself or to you." My hands were lifted from the ground, and I gasped as I looked deeper into his eyes. He was calling my wolf.

"You're a gift from me. I know how you feel about me and that you won't want me now. But there's a small part of me that's still holding on to hope. I really want to mark you as mine, but I'd never force that on you. Right now, my only duty to Tatiana is to help her through her pregnancy. I'm not sure what I'll do when the baby is born, but I can't just send it back to Celestial Moon with Tatiana."

His words cut deeper, tearing my heart apart. What did he think was the right choice? The only good thing about this mess was that he hadn't marked her. The Alpha of Tatiana's pack might want them to mate to unite their packs, but he wouldn't be happy if Percival didn't claim her, because it would mean his only child would lose honor.

Females can't take over a pack on their own. To get a pack, they have to mate with another Alpha. If she can find him, her true mate would be an Alpha. That's how it works. Alpha females can only mate with Alpha males because a male can't just become an Alpha. Any female Alpha can mate with an Alpha male because, no matter what, the female will always be the Luna.

I had tears in my eyes as I looked at him. Our feelings were so intense. "So, you're going to make her part of the pack? Take care of the baby together?" I asked. "If she's his only child, her dad wouldn't let that happen." I tried to stay calm, but my voice cracked and more tears rolled down my cheeks. It was hard to handle everything.

It's not every day that the person you love ends up marrying and having kids with someone else.

"She can't be packed," he sighed. I get it. "She's supposed to mate with an Alpha who can take over her pack. And since she's pregnant, her dad wants me to be that guy. But you know how rare it is for wolves to have babies with anyone other than their mate."

He was right.

You could have babies with someone other than your mate. It happened all the time, and it was tough. If you bred with someone who wasn't your mate, you could end up with a miscarriage or a baby. It was hard to say what would happen if your souls weren't linked. But it helped wolves whose mates had died, turned them down, or never found them. The moon would feel their pain and let them mate with someone else and have babies. But a guy who had a mate? One who never got a chance to leave her mark?

It wasn't clear if that baby would survive or not. Since I was here with them both, Tatiana had almost no chance of keeping that baby.

The Moon Goddess couldn't really dislike me that much.

Could this work out for me?

It was pretty selfish to hope someone would die so I could have a chance.

He'd be crushed to lose a baby. It didn't matter what kind of mother it was.

I didn't want that for him...

I lifted my face to his, and he placed a finger under my chin. It made my heart race, like a fire inside me. His touch made my insides tighten, and that one finger on my skin sent shockwaves through me. It hit me deep.

My red-rimmed eyes met his hooded blue ones again, and then his hand left me. It left a trail of cold as he closed his eyes and breathed in my scent.

I needed his touch again. I felt the wolf inside me urging me to lean towards him, but I didn't listen. I couldn't.

"The wolf would be to blame for anything I did, and I couldn't handle feeling any worse about myself." He shook his head, trying to snap out of it. I could feel his pain and desire, just like he felt mine.

"She's upset that I won't mark her," he said. "She's worried because she thinks this pregnancy won't end well. She wants what you have because she knows I only care about you and not her, Edeline. I don't know what will happen between her dad and me, but I'll make sure she doesn't lose respect for you. I don't love her. I've only seen her as a mistake since that night. I haven't touched her since then. I'm not going to touch her again."

Even though he said it like it didn't matter, my wolf was relieved to hear it.

When he told me the truth, I closed my eyes, grateful that I was wrong about what I had seen that day. But that didn't mean I'd offer myself to him. I wasn't going to wait around and be his backup plan.