Page 58 of Her Second-Hand Mate

My wolf was swooning over how beautiful Penelope looked in her black dress, and I couldn’t help but join him. As Alpha and Luna of the pack, it was our job to join the deans of the various schools on stage to hand out diplomas to the students graduating today.

“Stop it,” she hissed through her teeth while maintaining a smile for the audience.

“Stop what?” I asked, frowning.

“Leering. Having these lewd thoughts.”

“I can think whatever I want about my mate,” I whispered back, and I could tell she wanted to put distance between us but respected the graduation decorum, whichI shamelessly took advantage of.

When we were done, we joined her friends at one of the tables. They already had a plate ready for Penelope, and I loved all of them for it. Not that little prick, Anthony, but you know, the others.

Penelope suddenly smiled at him and asked, “Are you coming over tomorrow with Isaac?”

“I am,” he said with his mouth full.

“Good, I need you two to install the curtain rods in the nursery.”

“No problem,” he nodded, and I ran my claws over my palms to calm down.

Penelope set the tiny pizza she was eating back on her plate, and I stole a bite from where her mouth had been on it. That helped a bit. She just shot me a weird look. That was an emotion in it I had trouble identifying. I then took a sip of juice from her glass.

“I’ll go find Terrence and come get you in 30, okay?” I said into her ear, and she just nodded.

On the drive back, I kept thinking about how to best approach this. I had no right to make her feel bad or criticize her, but I wasn’t going to hide how hurt I was.

While she was changing in the closet, I asked, “Why didn’t you ask me to help with the curtain rods?”

She came out of the closet in her nightgown, and all the hurt left my body. She looked soft and beautiful and seductive and heartbreaking as always, but she was alsomoresomehow: more mature, more aware of who she was.

“It honestly didn’t cross my mind,” she said without a trace of malice, and somehow, that was worse.

“I hope you’ll think of me next time something needs doing. It’s my pup, and I’d like to help,” I said, and she nodded.

“Good night.”

I followed her into the nursery, and she looked panicked for a second, and that gutted me. I stepped back.

“I just want to talk. Please.”

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked as she sat down on the bed and started combing her hair.

I turned to the photos on the wall in order to be able to form a coherent sentence. Being so close to her in a small room was an awful idea. Or the best.

“There were some unsolved aspects of Cassandra’s accident, and I’d gotten it in my head that I needed to know everything that had happened. When I met you, I was at the very beginning of the investigation, and I was obsessed with it.

I felt like solving the mystery would change something. I was afraid and in a lot of pain. But all that investigation did was take away the focus from us, from our mating, and I’m sorry about that. I know my priorities now.”

“Was that what you were doing when we were at the trial? When you were gone half the night?”

“Yeah,” I hung my head. “I was looking at the files from the Alpha Summit when Cassie died, trying to figure out if anyone was absent from the dinner when I collapsed.”

“Why?”

“It’s still something I don’t like talking about. Have you read my letters?”

She shook her head no. I steeled myself for the confession, but she opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry to hear all that, Dominic, I really am. I had no idea you were suffering. You made sure of that. But you knew that I was. You knew all that I felt – my doubts, my pain; at least in the beginning, when I was still being open to you. You knew all that, and still, you decided that your pain mattered more than mine. That is what I’m struggling with.”

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