“Funny you claim I betrayed you,” I say. “How are Linda and Maggie? Or Lucy? Tonia was with you, too, once. And Lissa, I believe?” I laugh. “Come on, you didn’t even let me leave the house. No one in this room has ever seen me anywhere. Who am I supposed to have cheated with? My imaginary friend?”
“There are warriors in the pack,” he mutters, but even he must have realized his words sound like an excuse.
“Jordan, it’s not even like it matters anymore to me. You did what you wanted, and I don’t care. I found my mate.” Something flashes in his eyes, the blatant lie obviously catching him off guard and majorly pissing him off. It’s hilarious how his own lie comes back to bite him in his insufferable ass, and it spurs me on further. I smile brightly. “Isn’t it amazing that after all the years, when I had to endureyouas my chosen mate, I bump into my fated mate?” I gaze at Forest, my heart taking a couple of tentative jumps as I scan his handsome face and look into his kind eyes. I don’t need to fake the next words. “Fate is funny sometimes, but it led me to you.”
Forest’s eyes light up, and he kisses the back of my hand. “I am the lucky one here,” he says. “You saved my life, Rose.”
“Now you are being silly,” I chuckle. “You saved me.”
“No, no,“ he shakes his head. “You need to take credit where credit is due.”
“By the goddess,” one of Tristan’s friends sighs. “And they say I am the mushy one.”
“You are single, Connor!” Tristan grunts. “How can you be mushy?”
“In my mind I am the biggest romantic ever,” he says.
I listen to their exchange, my amusement growing when I notice how pissed off Jordan is looking. Of course, he doesn’t like it; he hates all of it. Me being with Forest for whatever reason, and Forest showing his adoration of me so openly. Or Forest’s friends showing their support. The latter comes as a surprise as well. I did not expect them to say anything, let alone help us, but the way they are reacting to us makes Forest’s and my story so much more believable.
“The thing is,” Forest says. “A strong luna can truly make a difference. I am not saying that every luna needs to be a businesswoman or a strategist, but I honestly was sent the exact luna my pack needs. I should be thanking the goddess every day. Or rather every hour.”
I laugh. “Don’t overdo it. Besides, I was lucky, too. So, we do even each other out.”
“Well, I think I got—”
A low growl leaves Jordan’s lips. It’s dark and dangerous, and I know it just too well. It works on many who are stood around us. I can see them wince. However, Forest doesn’t even budge a little. He seems to be completely unfazed, and it strikes me once again how much of an alpha he truly is. He stands tall and strong. With his boosted confidence and the new respect he’s gained in his pack, he has started to realize how strong he is.
And to my surprise, Jordan’s anger doesn’t affect me much either. When Forest puts his arm protectively around me, everything is well. I am safe. I don’t feel safe with a lot of people, and I know realistically that it’s not just a feeling—Iamnot safe with many, but Iamsafe with Forest.
“I don’t believe you two are a thing,” Jordan huffs. “You are not rich enough or good enough for her.”
“Is that so?” Forest asks. He looks at me briefly, his hand moving to the back of my head, tilting it backward, and he claims my lips. He is not ashamed to show me how much I mean to him or how much he wants me.
The realization makes my stomach do a little backflip, and then another, until I feel like there is a whirlwind of butterflies in it.
When he draws back, I reach out my hand to touch his cheek. For a moment, we just look at each other. I am not sure what he sees in my eyes, but it must make him happy because there is a sudden spark in his.
“I am not sure what you are on about, Alpha Jordan. They look very much like a thing to me,” one of the alphas says. Now that’s interesting. He is neither in Tristan’s corner nor in Jordan’s, which makes his words weigh even more to me. “I talked to them last week, too. They were very into each other.”
“Of course they are a thing,” Nico huffs. “Besides, why would I believe anything coming from the guy who wants my luna?”
“We all know you are a womanizer, Jordan,” Tristan says. “Literally everyone here knows. We have all seen you with several women while you kept your luna at home. Maybe those around you—your friends—don’t give a fuck, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that we all know.”
“He is right,” another one of the alphas says. “When you told us you kicked her out, I called bullshit.”
“Itwasbullshit,” Forest says, anger in his voice, “because I found herdyingwhen we met.”
“Is that true?” Tristan exclaims, turning to me now.
“Forest literally saved my life. I jumped into a river to escape, but was weakened by whatever substance he had me take to break our mating bond.”
There is an eerie silence around us, and for the first time, it seems that Jordan realizes there is an actual audience, and not everything he just said was for them to hear. An older man steps forward—Leonard, I know him from pictures of my father. He was one of his friends, or at least one of his close acquaintances. When my parents died, it was clear to me that friendship didn’t mean much to many of these people.
Even more important it being that Forest has true friends in Martin and Griffin.
“Even if she was just your chosen mate,” the man says. “It was not right what you did.” He walks over to me now, nodding at Forest, before gently touching my shoulder. “Had I known my old friend’s daughter was suffering like that, I would have stepped in. I knew he was keeping you away, but…” he pauses. “No, there is no excuse.”
I need to hold back a laugh at how angry Jordan looks. He dug his own grave both by claiming I was his chosen mate and by breaking our bond.
