Page 134 of His White Moonlight
“To what?”
“To you.To Bennett.”
I glanced at her.
“I have a nose, too.We all do, but I think the rest of the office is still in denial…like you seem to be.”
My stomach sank to my toes even as I asked, “Denial about what?”
“You know that most of us would kill for him to look at us as a potential mate, right?”
“Is this where you lead me to a dark alley?”
“No, this is where I offer my help.”
“Why?”I didn’t quite manage to keep the shock I felt out of that question.
“That’s simple.Either I help you reject him, which gives me another chance at him.Or I help you accept him, which puts me in close with one of the city’s ruling Alpha families.”
Bluntly stating how each option benefited her actually helped me believe she was being honest, which I appreciated.
“So a win-win for you, no matter which option I choose,” I said.
“Exactly.”
“What if I don’t want your help?”
“Oh, I know you don’t, and I understand why.We had a bad start.But I’d like to start again.”
I stopped walking and faced her.“Every single person in my life that I’ve trusted has betrayed me.”
She slowly inhaled, and I watched her expression change to confusion.“But the Wulfs…”
“Everyperson.”
She frowned slightly and indicated we should keep walking.“So you really want to reject him then?”
“I do.”
“Your scent’s…not even a little conflicted.”
I sighed.“Maybe Bennett would be the ideal mate for another shifter, but I’m human.I don’t want to be smothered.Or locked away under some misconceived attempt to protect me.I’ve already let them know I’ve enrolled at Coalwell and will start this fall.They weren’t happy.”
“Do they know you plan to reject him?”
“Yes, which is why Bennett hasn’t done anything.He’s being cautious and hoping I’ll change my mind.”
We went into the sandwich place I’d visited before and got in line to order.
“Well, if you’re sure you want to reject him, it should be pretty easy.Just strip in front of him and get down on all fours.You’ll be mated and claimed before you can say ‘ow.’”
The imagery was a bit too vivid for me and made my pulse trip.
“I’d prefer to keep that as the last contingency plan.”
“Really?Why?It’d be the quickest and most effective way.”
I glanced at Miranda, weighing how much to tell her.The pure truth—that a small part of me feared I wouldn’t reject him like I wanted to—was out.I didn’t know her and didn’t trust that it wouldn’t make its way back to Bennett.So I settled for a piece of the truth.
