Chapter 16

Chapter 0016

(James POV)

Luke waits until the Little Brat has walked away before he gives me back control of my body.

“What the Goddess was that?” I demand of him once I have regained control.

That was me saving you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“It is forbidden for wolves to take over human bodies without the consent of the human,” I remind Luke. It is a basic tenet of werewolf law.”

“You need to re–read the law. The law expressly says that the rule does not apply in the case of emergencies, and this was clearly an emergency.”

I roll my eyes. We can fight about the definition of “emergency” later. For now, I have more important

questions.

“Why didn’t you tell me that our second–chance mate was the Little Brat? How could you let me be taken off guard like that? You even let me kiss her!”

“I seem to remember begging you to listen to me. You kept cutting off the link.”

“I do not mean after we got here. I mean before. Why didn’t you tell me that the Little Brat was our

second chance mate before we got to the waterfall?”

“I did not know.”

“You have always had a soft spot for the Little Brat. She is pretty much the only thing we have fought about in the past six years. You mean to tell me that this entire time you had no idea that she was my

second–chance mate?”

1 also had a soft spot for Stephanie. It does not mean that Stephanie was our mate. There can be all

sorts of reasons for a wolf to feel attached to, or protective of, a she–wolf. When I tell you that I did not

know, I mean I did not know. Wolves discover who their mates are at pretty much the same time humans

do.”

“Are you now suggesting that Stephanie was not our mate? I do not know what the Little Brat did to you,

but whatever it is, you need to snap out of it. We may have fought about the Little Brat in the past, but we

both mourned for Stephanie. You loved her as much as I did.”

“No, James, you are the one who needs to snap out of it. All I know for sure is that Lily is our mate. Your

heard the warning that Rose gave me. If you push her again, she will let Lily reject you.”

“Number one, Lily does not have a wolf, remember? Have you ever seen her shift? Do you know ANYONE who has ever seen her shift? Did the Little Brat smell like a wolf? Did her eyes change colors? No, no, no and no. My guess is that Lily is faking having a wolf. She has had six years to perfect that whole ‘Rose”

routine.”

“I felt Rose’s aura, James.”

“Are you sure that is what it was that we felt, Luke? It could have just been a weird side effect of the

mate bond. Or it could just have been that she is… currently… mated to an alpha. Even human lunas have

auras.”

Before Luke could protest, I continued.

“Number two, the Little Brat does not have the courage to reject me. If the Little Brat had even an ounce of bravery, she would have left the pack six years ago when it was clear she was not wanted here.

Number three, the Little Brat wants to be with me. You felt the way that she kissed me. You do not kiss someone that way who you do not like. Any threat that Rose- or rather, the Little Brat pretending to be Rose–made was an empty threat”

“James, you are making a lot of assumptions. And a lot of them are dangerous ones. Please think about

this before you do anything rash. I do not want you to make a decision you are going to regret. That we are both going to regret.”

“Rash decision? Stephanie has been gone for SIX YEARS. I think agreeing to mate with Stephanie’s murderer would be considered far more rash than rejecting her. How can you possibly expect me to accept the Little Brat as my mate after what she did? I made the decision to punish the Little Brat years ago. There is nothing rash about that. All I am talking about doing is continuing the punishment.”

“If you cheat on her, James, she will never forgive either of us.”

“I do not care if she forgives me, Luke. I want her to suffer, just like I have wanted her to suffer for the past six years. She took our mate and the love of our life away from us by being foolish. Even if the Little Brat did not kill her with her own hands, she is as responsible as the ones who did. I will never forgive her

for her role. NEVER.”

“What are you planning to do, James?”

“I do not know. But I am never going to accept her, so you might as well not waste your effort trying to convince me. We have 12 months to find a luna, though, so you need to prepare yourself. I was not open

to the idea of a chosen mate this morning, but there is no way I am going to let Beta Robert force me to marry the Little Brat. He is probably banking on me refusing to choose anyone, but he is about to get the

surprise of a lifetime. The hunt for a suitable luna starts tomorrow.”

“I will never accept a chosen mate, James. I want Lily”

“I am not giving you a choice, Luke. I will never accept the Little Brat. I will not betray our first mate by

mating with the she–wolf who killed her.”

“James–”

“Don’t, Luke. This is not up for negotiation. You either play ball with me on this or I will carry out my threat to sleep with other she–wolves before the rejection is completed.”

I can tell Luke is angry, but he knows better than to continue to fight me on this. I feel him cut the link and retreat to the back of my mind.

After Luke retreats, I decide to sit down and take in the waterfall. Somehow, it still feels special to me,

even after this morning’s events.

After a short while, I hurry back to the packhouse. I need to take another shower, shave, and find

someone to give me a haircut I have some she wolves to impress.

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