Page 74 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“What did the letter say?” I asked, not being able to fight the curiosity. “If it’s not too private,” I amended.

“It was heartbreaking to read. My actions really did a number on him, and still, he helped me escape. I’m so ashamed of myself. Do you know that my wolf barely acknowledges me? I don’t even shift regularly anymore,” she admitted sadly, and now that I paid closer attention, her wolf did seem... detached somehow.

“No amount of therapy has helped with that. And you know what the worst part is? I’m still jealous of Jackson’s mate,” she said, a little craziness in her eyes.

“He’s the one I’m still pining after. How sick in the head is that? My life is one big fat lie on all counts,” she stood up and started pacing the length of the room.

“I shouldn’t be giving anyone mating advice. The only advice I should be giving out is the one I’ll be giving you now, Charlotte – never get involved with a male who’s not your mate!” she yelled, and Charlotte flinched.

Message received, I hoped.

???

I rolled my eyes when I smelled the lavender. What did she want now? I slowly crept to the staircase to listen.

“It’s Cassie’s birthday, and I thought... She would have wanted to be remembered...”

Those two snippets were enough for me. My wolf was itching for a fight, but she couldn’t go around attacking pack members for wanting to honor their deceased Luna. She didn’t agree with me. Gabriel had just gone down for his nap, and I wouldn’t let her wake him up by brawling.

“I have plans with my family,” Dominic’s deep voice could be heard clearly.

I felt his annoyance, mixed with amusement, so I guessed he figured out I was eavesdropping. I took it as permission to creep closer.

“You can’t just forget about your mate because you have a new family,” Heather sobbed.

“Penelope is my mate now. And I’m sorry, I know Cassandra was your best friend, but she shoved me aside while she was still alive and I don’t owe her anything. I refuse to live in the past any longer. Goodbye.”

The door closed, and then he said, “You can come down now, my little she-wolf.”

“I knew you knew I was here,” I said smugly, and he grinned. “Can I pry a bit?”

He cocked his head and studied me for a moment before nodding.

“What was that about shoving you aside?”

Dominic started closing his eyes but then shook his head and widened them. I saw the exact moment in which he decided what to do. He took my hand and pulled me toward the couch.

“Please sit down with me. I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone before. I’ve written it down in one of my letters, but this is the first time I’ll be saying it out loud, okay?”

I nodded dumbly.

“You probably heard the tragic story of me collapsing during dinner at the Alpha Summit?” he asked, and I nodded again.

“Well, everyone was terrified that we’d been attacked or that all the food was poisoned to get to the King. I was rushed to the hospital, the palace was locked down, every wolf in there was detained and questioned, every piece of food and drink was sent for testing at the lab, it wasabsolute mayhem.

When the human police came to the Court to inform them of Cassie’s accident – that’s the address Heather gave them when she woke up – everyone was relieved, as awful as that may sound. There was a plausible reason for my collapse, case closed.”

I frowned because it sounded like there was more to it.

“Penelope, I collapsed at nine pm. Cassie had her accident at eleven.”

I frowned even more. That didn’t make any sense.

“But how? Wh-? How?”

“She was doing something else that caused me to collapse in pain,” he told me, patiently waiting for me to get it so that he wouldn’t have to say the actual words.

My hand flew to my mouth.

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