Page 89 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“Oh, Dominic,” I sighed, and I hugged him. “Thank you.”

???

“How’s Charlotte?” I asked Margaret as I set her coffee mug in front of her.

“Thanks. Not great, but she’ll get there,” she sighed. “Luckily, she wasn’t primarily motivated by love for him. She was more desperate for love and family and belonging than she was for Noah, and we can help with that somewhat.”

“Yeah. I was thinking of sending an anonymous letter to his Alpha or his mate, but I don’t know whether I’d cause more harm than good with such a move?”

“Believe me, I understand the impulse, but think about it, Pen. He moved away from his mate and she didn’t want to move with him, they didn’t want to mark each other, they go months without seeing each other... I think they’re the perfect match, and I don’t think she’s too lonely while he’s away,” Margaret said.

“You really think so?” I asked anxiously, and she just made a face that told me I was being naive again.

Very well, then.

“Do you,” she said hoarsely but then cleared her throat. “Do you think less of me now? Now that you know?”

“No!” I exclaimed a bit too loudly. “No, Margaret, I really don’t.”

Then I sighed, “Listen, I’m sad that you suffered so much, and I don’t like the fact that when you talk, you still seem to care more about Jackson than about your actual mate. That part, I’ll admit I’m struggling with,” I told her, and she looked away briefly.

“But as for what happened 10 years ago? Or even earlier? You were a pup. A pup who didn’t get the attention and care she should’ve gotten from her parents or her pack. You should’ve been protected from yourself. The adults in your pack knew very well how our species works and what the mate bond represents, and you and Jackson should’ve never been allowed to run around like you have. I blame the adults,” I concluded.

“Thank you, Penelope. I wouldn’t blame you if you considered me a fraud now.”

“Not a fraud. I think it’s kind of funny that you chose the career you did. In the sense of those who cannot do, teach,” I teased her, and she laughed.

I then asked something that had been on my mind ever since she told me about her past, “Did you ever think about trying to make things work with your mate?”

She blew out a breath and put her face in her hands. She then looked up at me, and in her eyes, I could see all the self-loathing she normally kept concealed.

“You think he’d want me? You think he isn’t disgusted by me?”

“I don’t know what he thinks. But since you already think he hates you, there’s nothing to lose, is there?”

“I don’t know, Pen. I don’t let myself think about it all that much.”

“Why not?”

“I feel like I’ve lost the right to even consider a future with my mate. I feel like I’ve had my chance, and I wasted it. And I don’t feel deserving of another one.”

“Hm,” I pondered her words for a second. “I think different wolves would give you different answers to the question of whether you deserve a second chance or not. But there is only one wolf out there whose answer matters, right?”

She nodded, and I could only hope she didn't think that wolf was Jackson.

???

“I’ll just drop these in my office and I’m coming, okay?” I told Dom as we entered the pack building together.

We’d just gone to see the progress on our new house, and I was beyond thrilled. The team he’d assembled to work on it had managed to translate all my visions of family time and life in a house into actual space that could host them. I couldn’t wait to move in.

“Hurry, I ordered lunch for us.”

“Must be nice to be able to use an important Alpha feature such as mind-linking to order food for yourself,” I teased, and even though his face remained impassive, now that I could sense his reactions, our communication had significantly improved.

“Just hurry,” he clipped and marched into his office, his amusement evident through the bond.

I grinned as I went to drop off my bag and some files in my office. As I made my way back, I noticed Heather staring out of a window in the hallway.

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