Page 102 of Conner's Luna

I shift back, on my knees, my head bowed. On feet, releasing myself from the cage is as simple as reaching out and turning the knob that a wolf's mouth and paws can't properly reach.

"Where is she?" I ask Dad dully.

"Papa took her home. Actually, he took her to visit her mom's grave in Durham. Luckily, they didn't get arrested for going there at five in the morning."

I stay quiet, sitting down on the bottom of the cage on my naked ass, just staring at my hands draped loosely over my knees. "Dad, what if Lydia is being forced into rejecting me?"

Dad nods once. "She could be. How does it make you feel?"

I close my eyes. "Angry. Helpless."

Dad hums a low note, a rumble of his wolf staring at me with an alpha's wise eyes. "Conner... when you were rejected you slept for four days, cried for another three. You drank yourself stupid more than once. You became bitter, angry, violent. My smiling, class-clown of a son was gone. That was the hardest part, watching the joy in you get leached away."

Dad stands up and shakes out a thick fur blanket. I crawl out of the cage and stand, letting my dad wrap me up like a small pup. "Conner," he claps me on the shoulder. The bright green eyes I inherited stare into mine. "I never had to cage you. I ordered you to not start a war over Lydia and you obeyed that command. I wondered, kiddo, if that was because of your age or if it was something more. If I told you to not see Bailey anymore-"

A guttural snarl is ripped from my throat.

Dad laughs sadly, "I still don't know if it's the age or her, Conner. I can't tell you what your wolf feels, but I know that I never had to use the cage before. I didn't have to physically restrain you from seeking out Lydia."

"I want Lydia, but because she's my mate. I think... that's really the only reason."

Dad nods, "that's natural. So you would lose Lydia, Conner? Give her up for good?"

"I don't know. Yes? Goddess. It hurts, still. Everything about it hurts." Sometimes, that's all I can focus on, is the hurt. Everything about my mate and my failed mating hurts. I envy Bailey for her strength to let Trey go. My girl is tough.

"And if Bailey doesn't ever want to see you again? You say you want Lydia; do you want Bailey in the same way?"

I shut my eyes again, "No. IneedBailey. The thought of her makes me insane. Makes my wolf crazy." I laugh, "and she'll leave me, Dad. You told me to make her fall for me, but what if she doesn't? She wanted to be left alone after I told her about mates. She didn't stay here with me. She felt sick and exhausted and so fucking sad and sheleftme instead of staying and letting me comfort her. She left me."

My breathing is ragged again. I feel my claws erupt as a snarl bubbles up from my chest.

"Shit," Dad sighs, before shoving me backward and slamming the cage shut again.

We claw at the bottom of the cage, scratching the metal, searching futilely for a sweet honey-scent to sink our teeth into.

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26 - F**k It!

Bailey

Conner's papa is patient as I sob to mom about wolf-people and having a mate and having a sort-of-boyfriend who turns into a dog.

"And he's really funny, mom," I sniffle. "Remember how you told me Dad always made you laugh and that's why you said 'yes' when he asked you to marry him? Conner has the best jokes."

I move a little closer to the headstone and brush my fingers over her name. "It's like those young adult fantasy novels you used to make me read to you, Mom. I hated them, remember? I have no mom, my dad is always working, so I'm effectively an orphaned teenager. Then, I meet a boy and I stupidly fall for him only to discover that he's a werewolf and I'm royally screwed because I don't have an actual adult to tell me that wolf-people sound like a horrible idea." I take a deep breath.

"I always wanted a puppy. I still do. Remember? You and Dad said when I was older I could have one and then you got sick and we sold the house and started to rent. Conner isn't a dog, Mom. He's massive. He must be close to three hundred pounds. I wanted a fifty-pound Vizla and you said it would be too big. Conner is literally a 600% increase."

"Bailey," Papa Smurf calls my name quietly. "We should head back, now."

I nod, wiping my eyes. "OK." I can't even look him in the eye. He drove an hour out of his way to bring me here without knowing I wasn't visiting a live person and he hasn't acted put out at all.

"Your Dad will probably be wondering where you are," he says quietly.

"I told him I was staying with friends," I whisper. His response is just a small smile.

The drive back to our house is utterly silent. It's as if we exhausted all conversation. Or, maybe, it's just that my brain is trying to shut down from the last twenty-four hours of insanity.

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