Seventeen

Chapter 17 Dylan

The pain in my body wasn't just from the terrible hangover thumping through my skull like a stampede of raging rhinoceroses. It struck me as I realized that Cherry had left the country. Bright afternoon light stole through the crack in my bedroom curtains, and I knew it had to be noon; Bert had told me that Cherry was due to fly out the day after my ascension ceremony.

As the harsh reality dawned that it was that day, loss pealed through me anew. After Cherry had left yesterday, I'd drunk so much that I couldn't recall anything much from the latter half of the day. Blurry pieces of Bert talking to me and helping me back here to mine last night surfaced in my sluggish thoughts.

My hangover continued to make itself known, twisting my stomach, making my chest and back tight, and even my legs seemed to ache. But none of these afflictions compared to the one constricting my chest. My wolf seemed to feel the growing distance between Cherry and me too. My beast's instinct was to run as if it might still reach her, but a great ocean was opening up between us as she flew to Europe. Bert had informed me that she was living in Berlin. My wolf howled forlornly at the excruciating expanse opening up between my mate and me.

As I lay somewhere between consciousness and sleep, my thoughts slipped to picturing Cherry as she'd looked in my arms after I'd kissed her

yesterday. And she'd kissed me back; I reminded myself. The thought was the only thing that seemed able to stave off the pain her rejection had caused me. I saw her silver eyes, molten with desire, her flushed cheeks and her lips swollen from my kisses.

The memory was so vivid that as I slipped into sleep I felt as if I could taste her lips again. I readily gave into the fantasy that must have arisen from my mind's need for comfort. Gentle kisses teased at my mouth, and I answered them. She slipped her tongue into my mouth, and mine danced with hers. My arousal stirred, and Cherry ground down upon me. I thrust against her, thinking of her hot warmth sheathing me and feeling as if I might come already.

A voice purred in my ear, "I knew you'd remember how much you love waking up to me."

The tone jarred me because...it wasn't Cherry's. As I blinked my eyes open, I took in Lucy on top of me. Nothing but a transparent camisole clothed her highlighting her hips, the flat plane of her stomach, and the swell of her full breasts. As she ground against me, nothing but my boxers rested between us, and my cock stirred against her.

In the aftermath of my hangover, I wanted to find a reprieve in the pleasure that her movement promised. But, even with the pounding in my head and the sickness in the pit of my stomach, thoughts of Cherry stopped me. A flash of her pale heart-shaped face, her soulful eyes, and her silken blonde hair skittered across my mind. I wanted to hold her, not Lucy.

Now, fully awake and feeling cheated by the fact that it wasn't Cherry in bed with me, irritation had me sitting up so swiftly that Lucy tumbled off

me.

She frowned. "Are you okay, baby?"

I shook my head, annoyed that I had to deal with Lucy as well as this pounding headache. "It's over, Lucy. I can't marry you." I almost said, "in case I didn't make it clear enough yesterday…" but I bit it back, eager to avoid a scene.

I clarified more calmly, "It wouldn't be fair to you or me if we bound ourselves to one another. We don't love each other."

Yet, Lucy wasn't in an obliging mood. Her features sharpened, her thin lips stiffening. "That bitch has gone, Dylan. When are you going to realize that she's not your mate? When are you going to stop chasing her like a love- sick puppy dog?"

I tamped down the anger that bristled beneath my skin as Lucy dared to insult Cherry and had the audacity to poke fun at me, the Alpha of my pack. I reminded myself that Lucy's pride had been hurt by my slighting of her yesterday. She was lashing out because she was humiliated. Yet, she still hoped to yoke me to her, judging by how she'd snuck into my room and tried to have sex with me. She was ambitious, that was for sure. But there was no way that I would bind myself to her.

A new firmness coated my words. "You need to go back to the Bloodmoon Pack, where you belong."

Lucy flinched as if she'd been struck, her gaze skimming over my unyielding face.

Then, her expression crumbled, her lip quivering. "Dy– Dylan," she sobbed. "I know you think I'm doing this for me, that I'm sel– selfish…" She trailed off as her weeping drowned out her words. Seeming to gather herself, she managed, "But If I'm not the new Luna of Starsmoon, don't you understand that there'll be war between our packs?"

With her somber eyes fixed on me and her tear-streaked face, I could almost have believed that Lucy was suffering at the prospect of how our failed betrothal would affect our packs. After all, one of the reasons an alliance with Lucy had been a good idea was to establish a bond between our two hostile packs as well as the idea that had pleased my father, that an alliance between the two of us from Alpha lines would bring about a powerful heir.

But I couldn't bring myself to care about those concerns anymore. All of them seemed pale in comparison to my need to be with my true mate and my pack's need to have their destined Luna.

My jaw clenched as I told her forcefully. "If there is a war, then I shall win it."

Once again, Lucy tensed. I didn't miss the way her gaze dipped to my lips as if she were going to try another attempt at persuading me with her body.

Quickly, I resolved, "I will not sacrifice my marriage any longer."

Lucy's olive complexion paled, but she swiftly hid away her shock as she got off the bed and glared at me. "You Starsmoon are all the same. I can't believe I was willing to bind myself to you for the sake of our packs. I hate you." Putting her hands on her hips, she vowed. "Mark my words, Dylan, you'll pay the price for rejecting me." And in a flurry of lace and bare olive skin, she sashayed to the door, slamming it behind her.

I was barely given ten minutes' reprieve before my phone rang. For a moment, I just lay in bed, not caring to pick it up as I dwelled again on the fact that Cherry was gone. Then, the thought that it could be her calling had me launching myself out of bed and tearing my phone from my discarded trousers on the floor. The hope beating through my chest was all- consuming, and I didn't check the caller ID.

"We need to talk," my dad said from the earpiece.

My stomach tightened at his weary tone, and I felt guilty at the scene I'd caused yesterday, but only momentarily. I'd had to speak to my mate. And I'd never regret that.

"I'll see you in the office in fifteen," I told him before ending the call.

When I arrived, my dad looked as tired as he'd sounded. The dark bags under his eyes declared he'd gotten little sleep, if any, last night. As I took a seat opposite him, I noticed the stubble on his chin, and I realized he definitely hadn't slept. My father was one of those men who prided himself on his neat and tidy appearance. My mom liked to joke he was a pampered pooch. His unkempt appearance had me waiting for him to share whatever was troubling him because I knew only the greatest of worries would have had him straying from his regular grooming habits.

"Please, Dylan, tell me you're going to make things right with Lucy?"

Carefully, I kept any anger out of my face, feeling more contained than I had yesterday. After all, when my dad had pushed me about Lucy then, it had felt as if he were an obstacle between my true mate and me. I'd been incited to my most assertive because I felt as if he'd been threatening Cherry and me.

"I'm not, Dad. I can't–"

"If you reject her," my dad interrupted, there'll be war between the two packs." The tremor of panic in his voice was unmistakable.

I felt strangely calm, despite my dad's calamitous exclamation. "It's too late. I've already sent Lucy packing."

I watched my dad's expression fall. "Then you've damned us all with your impulsive actions, son." He slumped in his chair, staring into the distance as if watching the rapidly approaching doom he spoke of.

But Nuu-Chah's presence spoke otherwise. I sensed again that deep upwelling of certainty that I was doing the right thing. I couldn't damn my pack by claiming my mate because she was their Luna too. We all needed Cherry. And one day, my dad would see that too. I mused that he'd once been so sure of Cherry's importance to our pack while I'd been foolishly blind to it. Now, our roles were reversed. I mused that perhaps as the time had brought my dad closer to acting as Alpha whether his insight into Nuu- Chah's will hadn't dimmed while my insight had increased.

Just then, my phone vibrated. I fished out my phone, clicking open a text from Bert:

Please don't hate me for this, Dylan. I've been obsessing over whether to tell you something for the last few days.

I saw the … on my phone screen as he continued to type. I frowned, wondering what on earth my Beta was talking about. How could I ever hate the guy? He'd been the one who talked to me last night and got me safely

home yesterday. He'd also been the one to follow my order to invite Cherry back from Berlin to attend my Alpha ceremony.

At the thought, I gripped my phone harder. Did this have something to do with Cherry? I watched the three blinking dots for a few more seconds with strained anticipation.

I promised Cherry, as her old friend, that I wouldn't tell you this. But after yesterday and with Cherry gone again, I know I must tell you now. Cherry has a six-year-old daughter, Fern. I met her while I was in Berlin. I think Cherry conceived her while she was still in the pack.

Warmth spread through my chest as I read Bert's message. It might be an absurd idea, but I swore the flash of the future I saw happily playing through my mind was a flicker of the future from Nuu-Chah himself. I saw Cherry and me holding hands as a little girl skipped ahead of us, smiling and laughing as she looked back at us.

Quickly, I texted Bert back:

I don't hate you, mate. In fact, I would fucking give you a promotion if there was one. Also, get me on the next flight to Berlin.