My heart sinks because the one who is yelling is Jordan. Alpha Ben lets go of me, and I get away from him.Jordan yells again, this time harder, and I try to tell him, but my throat feels like it is on fire. The order Alpha Ben gave me of not letting anyone know of what he does me prevents me from speaking about what happens in his office. But I have my phone, and I recorded everything he said and did. I want to show it to Jordan, but then Alpha Ben claims I am a whore, and Jordan’s scent changes from shock to believing his father. Then my mate—my mate—grips my hair and yanks hard, forcing me to stand.Everything is happening so fast that I can barely think of what to do or say.“You are just a cheap whore!” Jordan snarls in my face. “You not only lied to me, but you made me believe you were innocent while I was planning the day you will become Luna of this pack.”How can Jordan believe I am a whore after everything that had happened between us?Tears run down my face. “Listen to me,

Behind me, Caleb stills. I will do anything. Caleb begged me the same yesterday when he asked me for a chance. “You have a pup to think of. I, Rain Stillwater, accept your rejection, Jordan Reed. I also reject you and renounce being the future Luna of Crescent Moon Pack and the Guardian of the Portal to the Diamond Realm.” I expect to feel pain, but there is none. If anything, I feel… free. Jordan is gripping his shirt hard. For a short while, he made me happy. “You rejected him.” Caleb seems surprised. Letting go of him, I start to walk away. “I would never let a child grow up without a family the way I did,” I say over my shoulder to Caleb. When I walk past Jordan, he says to me, “I contacted Caleb as soon as I saw the videos, but he told me you were not in his pack. He lied to me. If he had told me the truth from the beginning, I would not have wasted so much time begging the Council to grant me permission to enter his territory. Maybe if Caleb had told the truth, you would

Still holding my hand, Caleb asks, “Ready to go home, my love?”He called me ‘my love.’ Act cool. Safia is waging her tail happily.I look toward the pack. Toward home. “‘My love,’ huh?” I huff.“If you don’t like that, I can use other endearments,” Caleb says as we start walking. Is he teasing me?Kevin, who is walking behind us, is quiet. I wonder if he is regretting leaving Jordan and Crescent Moon Pack.When the houses come in sight, I jerk my hand away from Caleb.“Is something the matter?” Caleb asks, confused.“Just making sure the others don’t find out about us.”Caleb stops walking. I do the same, but Kevin keeps walking, giving us space to talk in private.“Why don’t you want the others to find out about you being my mate?” Caleb asks when Kevin is out of sight.I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Well, I thought—” I fall silent, not knowing what to say. Jordan did everything he could to keep me a secret.“Red, you are the future Luna of this pack. I am not going to hide

She runs a finger up and down my chest, sending shivers and sparks down my spine. I bite down a groan, not wanting to scare her. “I think you are a strong and capable male who treats his pack members fairly. I love spending time with you… because you make me laugh and… feel loved.”I grin. “Strong and capable, huh? But not handsome?”She licks her lips nervously. “I guess?” Taking a deep breath, she reveals something about herself. “I have a thing, a condition, that prevents me from seeing human faces. It’s called prosopagnosia or face blindness.”Proso what?I have never heard of this before. How can she not see faces?“Do you know how some people can’t see certain colors?” she asks, and I nod. “It’s like that, only that I don’t see faces. They are like a blur to me.”While I don’t fully understand her condition, I take a mental note to search for it later. “Well, you are better off not seeing my ugly face. It would have surely scared you away without even thinking about giving me a

The boxes with my things sit set next to the door, waiting to be taken to my house—mine and Caleb’s. I will have to thank Viki and Cosmina tomorrow. It was past midnight when Caleb and I returned to the Main House.After dropping me at my room, Caleb went to his to start packing his stuff.I plop down on the bed. I can’t believe Caleb gave me a house. Not that I consider it only mine, but seeing the papers with my name on them made me understand how much he loves me.Moving in with him is the first step on my healing journey. I know it won’t be easy, but he makes things seem easy. Maybe talking to someone about what the guard did to me might help. But with whom? Lyla is always an option, but I want to talk to someone that went through a similar ordeal. Sarah said her mate used to treat her horribly, so maybe I should ask her…? She and Jeremy are very happy together.Knowing that tomorrow will be a busy day, I decide to get some sleep. I did offer to help Caleb, but that male is so stu