Days have passed since, but Paige’s face when she found out about Kat is still burned into my brain. She was so hurt. I could feel her pain, and it only amplified my own, but I felt so paralyzed. By the time I could make it to the packhouse, she was gone. She left me. I wanted to be mad that she did, but I couldn’t. I would’ve left me too. I’ve called her a hundred times, and she won’t answer me. Her family won’t allow me passage into Onyx Moon to talk to her. Dom won’t stop whimpering because he misses his mate. He is adamant that Kat is not our mate. I’m starting to wonder about that myself. Her touch no longer sends sparks through me. The desire to mate her is gone. Not that Dom would’ve let me if I tried. Something just isn’t right about her. It doesn’t help that the pack is angry with me for hurting their Luna. I thought the accusing stares were bad before. Now everyone believes that I’m my father. Why wouldn’t they? I did the one thing I promised not to do. It’s fun

  I’m exhausted as we make our way into Colin’s office. Things with us are still tense, but at least we’re working together to find Charles. Alex told me yesterday that Colin has a second mate named Kat and that Paige left because of it. I’m honestly sad about it, but I’m also excited. I really want to run to her and be the knight in shining armor. I want to be her shoulder to cry on. I can’t help but be attracted to her. She’s extraordinary. She’s a classy warrior. But she’s also Colin’s mate and, therefore, I’ll keep my distance. Who knows, maybe I’ll find a mate of my own someday. My grandma and I wait outside the office door for Colin to answer. When he finally does, he looks like a heaping mess. He moves to let us in, and his office looks as bad as he does.   “So, I take it you’re not handling Paige’s rejection well?” I say.   “Go to hell, James.”

I shovel cereal into my mouth. I’m mostly alone in the dining hall. Only the Omegas stay to work on the meals for the rest of the day. It’s quiet for once. I guess I should be late to breakfast more often. For the first time since I left Colin, the storm in my soul has calmed. I don’t know what it is, but I feel better today. Maybe I am getting over him. A tiny tap on my shoulder disrupts the peace I’m enjoying.“Jonah? What are you doing here?” I ask.“My mom doesn’t have a babysitter, so she takes me with her everywhere,” he says, “Can I have some food please, Luna?”“Uh yeah.”Tally and Harrison walk through the door, looking frantically for Jonah.I wave to them. “He’s over here.”“Sorry, Luna. He just took off when he fo

“Why isn’t she marked yet? She was with Colin for a month.”“I honestly don’t know the answer to that. That’s something that we’ll have to ask the pups.”I was confused by that too. I may not have met my true mate, but I’ve seen enough pairs to know that marking one another happens within the first few days of meeting. Shaking John’s hand, I excuse myself. I catch a glimpse of Colin sitting on the stairs outside of Paige’s room. His black hair looks as if he’s been pulling at it for hours. His eyes have dark circles underneath the red puffiness. My heart aches for my nephew. I have sat in his place before, every single night that Nicole was forced to be near Charles. I sigh and start making my way up the stairs. I pat Colin’s back, but he doesn’t even look up. I can hear Paige’s heartbeat before I knock on the door. My guess is she’s just on the other side, looking about as

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she sits up. “I mean, how do you fix choosing someone else over your mate? How do you fix breaking your mate’s heart to be with another? I’m not so sure there is a way to fix it, Colin. You chose Kat. Even if she is gone now, you still chose her. How am I supposed to know you’ll be different in the future?”I can hear the tears forming in her eyes. My fists flex at my side. They’re desperate to punish me for hurting her. Desperate to punish me for being exactly like my father.“I’m not making excuses, but what Kat did affected my mind. I took her to that cabin with the intention on finding a way to break that bond. I thought I could do it and then tell you. That way, I handled the problem, and we could move on. But I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I don’t know what Kat was doing or what happened, but I didn’t even realize I was yelling