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Max is an extremely dominant alpha. He shouldn’t have even considered rejecting us because another female told him to.

Another round of the bond throbbed at the mention of his name. I had to learn to disregard it; its eventual fading was inevitable, though the timeframe was uncertain.

She was right, though. Dominant males were overprotective of their mates and wouldn’t want them out of their sight after they became bonded. I understood most stayed put for about a week. Yet Maximus seemed content to leave the suite the next day. He was only close during my illness.

It’s for the best. Maybe… maybe the Moon Goddess made a mistake.

My lycan growled at me.The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes, little one.

Then why was the rejection ritual created?I retorted.

Because what you see as right or moral in your mind is based on mankind’s limited experiences and worldview. The Moon Goddess, however, sees all—a grand panopticon overseeing everything since creation.

So, you are saying humans created the ritual, but the Moon Goddess doesn’t actually agree with us rejecting our mates?

She hummed inside me, agreeing with my statement.There’s free will for a reason. If the Moon Goddess stepped in any timeshe felt people were getting off track, she wouldn’t have time for anything else.

Well, that made sense. It didn’t make the pain of being rejected go away, though. It hurt more knowing he made this choice against the Moon Goddess’s wishes. If our creator believed we were stronger together, why throw it away?

That was something I doubted I’d ever get an answer to.

Staying off the main road so no one would catch us running toward the rogue territory meant going through the rough terrain of the outskirts where the packs wouldn’t dare run. Roots jutted through every path, and bushes obscured everything, making it difficult to navigate. It slowed me down but still allowed me to put a fair amount of distance between myself and Maximus.

Distance would help the bond settle faster than it would have if I stayed. Doing this was for my own good. Being around in the kingdom would only sink me into a depression I wouldn’t be able to dig myself out of. What if Maximus took another mate? That would tear me apart to watch the person I loved create a life and family with another.

If he chose Nova, we would commit a serious crime of killing the queen and luna.My lycan growled.

If I could believe I wouldn’t want to kill her for stealing my mate, I would oppose what my beast said. Picturing them together on matching thrones that I didn’t even get a chance to sit in yet caused my anger to boil.

I hate to admit it, but if he chose anyone, I hope it wouldn’t be her.

If he had any self-respect, he won’t.

The conversation made it easy to ignore the pain of the rejection. My muscles felt sore already, and we weren’t in rogue territory yet. Off-road trekking offered superior rogue tracking, avoiding areas frequented by packs. All the lycan scents I was picking up on meant I was on the right track. If I could make it to at least the halfway point, I could finish the rest tomorrow.

The dull ache in my chest called out to Maximus. The bond throbbed to be completed again, making the tugging return to my chest from when I first met my mate. It urged my return to him, to re-establish our connection.

No. That’s my past. I needed to leave my past behind if I wanted a better future, and I needed to keep moving forward if I wanted a better life for my pup.

My pup. I was pregnant… without my mate. This would be a challenge, one I did not know how to overcome. How in the world would I manage to do this without money, a pack, or any other resources?

Do you think our mate would have thought twice about rejecting us if he learned of the pup?

Good question. I don’t know.

It was a question I refused to face, one I already knew the answer to. Maximus didn’t want me, and I had to accept that. Even if his desire to stay stemmed from wanting a pup instead of a matebond, the truth remained: he wanted an heir from me, not me. And that wasn’t enough. That wasn’t what I deserved.

No.

I deserve someone who wants me for who I am, not what I can provide them. I need to learn to love myself if I want to be happy, and if I want my pup to understand their self-worth, then I cannot be a whiny little weakling.

Before my body gave up entirely, I found a small cave that would provide me cover from the weather if it rained. I went far enough in to keep myself from being seen and curled into a ball, exhaustion taking over as soon as I got comfortable. Tomorrow marked a new beginning.

And I planned to make the most of it.

16

Maximus