Page 63 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“I know. I’ll do my best. Besides, we don’t have to live in Utah yet.”

Penelope shook her head, and I got an idea of what they were talking about. Sonya was a very independent, headstrong female, and I suspected that her daughter was very similar.

Isaac and Penelope’s pack was traditional, and they would expect a certain kind of Luna. There’d be some growing pains, but nothing they couldn’t manage if they wanted to.

Luckily, my pup didn’t let me down and soon started wailing like he was being murdered.

“I’ll change him and try to get him to nap a bit,” I said and, with a nod at Isaac, went upstairs, leaving the twins to their conversation.

???

Now that I was back at work, Penelope had her friends spend the entire day with her and Gabriel. My wolf didn’t like all their smells on our pup, so we gave him a bath as soon as I came home. Penelope was oddly quiet the whole evening, not even talking to Gabriel like she normally did.

“Is everything alright?” I asked as I was dressing him while she combed her hair.

Her eyes refocused as if my question had pulled her out of deep thought.

“Yeah, I... ” she blew out a breath. “A friend is having a situation, and I just can’t stop thinking about it.”

“If you want to talk about it, I’m here,” I said and hoped she’d take me up on it.

“Without betraying her confidence, I can give you a general overview – she’s unmated and is being pursued by a colleague, who is also unmated. We all told her it’s not a good idea, but she wants to be with someone so much that I think she might do something she’ll eventually regret,” Penelope said, clearly worried.

I handed Gabriel to her, and she deftly got him to latch without flashing me the slightest bit of her breast. I hated these clever nursing shirts. I sat down next to them and touched his tiny foot.

“I can speak only from the perspective of her future mate,” I said, and Penelope lifted her eyes from Gabriel’s to look at me. “I assume you still haven’t read my letters,” I said gently, and she shyly shook her head. “I’ll tell you this part, then.”

“Cassandra’s pack in California didn’t exactly have the same values as mine while she was growing up,” I said, and Penelope looked away. “So when I got mated to her, I discovered that she hadn’t waited for her mate. On the contrary, she used her unmated years tolive and explore,” I said with the same obnoxious air quotes that Vera had used. “It hurt me a lot, and our mating definitely got off on the wrong foot. Can you imagine giving someone a box of letters that you had spent years writing with them in mind, pouring your heart out to them, expressing your impatience and yearning for that she-wolf, only to find out that you weren’t even a thought in her head prior to the day she met you? Actually, you were, but you signified the end of fun, apparently,” I shook my head, not wanting to dwell on that further.

“I’m sorry. I can’t even imagine,” Penelope said, and I could tell she truly meant it.

I reached over to squeeze her knee.

“It’s fine. Took me a long time, but I made peace with it.”

“It’s just... You both looked so happy in the pictures.”

“Ah, the pictures. Yes, those were the rare times she was happy and smiling, as she posed in places where we’d be seen, wherewe could flaunt our money and status for others to envy. At home, she was withdrawn and petulant at best, and I always came up short somehow. She painted me as her jailer,” I said bitterly, but it all drained from me as I listened to Gabriel’s little gulps while he nursed.

I decided that was enough Cassie for one night.

“I hope your friend will listen to you,” I said and gave her a kiss that she briefly returned since she was lost in thought again.

I smiled against her mouth.

“Good night, Penelope.”

“Thank you for telling me that,” she said seriously, and her eyes were softer than they’d been in a long time. “It must be difficult to talk about.”

“It is,” I nodded. “Well, the little male is out. So, I’ll let you both rest.”

“Good night,” she said as I closed the door, and I knew sleep would take its sweet time claiming me tonight.

???

“Just one more, Gabriel,” Anthony said, and I was about ready to rip his throat out.

He was torturing my pup!

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