Page 114 of His White Moonlight
“Oh, Wren, that’s not what it’s like.”
“Really?Because that’s exactly what it’s been like since I got home.I can’t breathe, Grandma.It’s suffocating.So, just give me a straight answer.Is there a chance he’ll find someone else once I officially reject him?”
“That he found you and bonded with you so young is very rare.It indicates a bond stronger than any I’ve ever seen or heard of.If you reject him, I doubt he’d find someone else.”She held my gaze.“Do you want all of the truth or only what you’re asking?”
The way she said it made me nervous.Whatever she had to say probably wouldn’t be good.Yet, I’d rather know everything than be ignorant.
“I want all of it.”
“In order to reject the bond, you first need to complete it.”
My stomach gave a nervous lurch, and I set my burger down.
“How do you complete it?”
“Remember watching the pack run?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”Most girls got a lesson on how to use pads and tampons during their first period.I got a bonus lesson in shifter mating.Seeing pairs rutting in the woods in their fur had been both traumatically embarrassing and fascinating for tween me.
“Remember the biting?”
“Yeah, that’s the part I’ve been trying to forget.”
“That’s the mating bond.Without the bite, you won’t be Bennett’s mate, only his potential mate.And if you’re not his mate, you can’t truly reject him.Everything you’re doing now, you're just refusing to admit he’s a potential mate, which is understandable.Humans don’t have the same instincts we do.”
“So what you’re saying is that there’s no way for me to get rid of Bennett unless he bites me?”
“Unless you mateandhe bites you.But I have to warn you, the stronger the attraction, the stronger the mate bond will be once it’s completed.You might not want to reject him once the bond is made.”
“Okay, so sex with Bennett to get rid of him is out.What about setting him up with other women?”
“I doubt it would work.He’s been working in that office for years with different women throwing themselves at him.If there had been even a hint of interest, I’d tell you, but there wasn’t.”
“What am I supposed to do, then?I don’t want to keep living like I’m in a cage.”
“Then don’t.Be yourself.Be a menace.Live your life the way you want to.”
“I want to leave for school.”
She nodded.“I heard.Coalwell.Sounds like it’ll be fun.Bennett missed out on fun.He needs it.”
My frustration vanished, and I looked at Grandma suspiciously.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, he’s already buying an apartment for you near campus.It’ll have enough room for a home office for him.”
And just like that, the frustration was back.I didn’t talk much after that.Too many thoughts were filling my head.Mostly not nice ones.I appreciated knowing that Mom and Dad hadn’t fostered me solely because of my potential mate status with Bennett.It didn’t make me less bitter about the time I’d spent fighting for my life at school, though.Or make me less determined to leave.
Bennett’s interest in me was his problem.
Hadn’t he pretty much said the same thing Grandma had?Live my life the way I wanted to so I could love it?
“Are you ready to go home?”Grandma asked when we were both finished.
I wasn’t, but I also knew that avoiding Bennett forever wasn’t an option.Grandma messaged her driver that we were ready then settled the bill at the bar.The owner was a good-looking man with a flame tattoo running up his arm.His brown gaze met mine, and he smiled.I quickly turned away before realizing what I’d done.
Because of how I’d been sent away, I was afraid to show any interest in a guy, and now I was just supposed to be okay with the fact that Bennett was interested in me?It just felt so hypocritical.
