My Alpha Rejected Me for a Dare, So I Walked Away novel · Chapter 2 of 16

Chapter 2: Matching Jackets

Bowen and Evangeline walk into Elodie's café in matching outfits, Evangeline hands her a contract for being a second-class Luna, and when Elodie hits back, Evangeline's tears make Bowen order Elodie to apologize in full Alpha Tone.

Evangeline posted the photo forty minutes later.

She was curled up in Bowen's arms on a white bed, her hair damp with sweat.

His big hand rested flat on her stomach.

The caption said: "He's taken care of me since we were pups. No matter what he's doing, no matter who he's with, if I need him he drops everything. Best male in the world!!!"

No matter who he's with.

That line was for me.

I tapped the little heart.

I'd been doing it for three years.

Evangeline posted every day. One thousand and ninety-five posts about her perfect life with Bowen.

I liked every single one.

The credit card he gave her, with a caption about spending whatever she wanted.

The pack house bedroom that used to be mine, with her pink throw pillows on my side of the bed.

My grandmother's quilt, folded on the floor as a bed for her dog.

For three years she and Bowen did everything mates do, except the one thing that counted.

He never marked her.

She posted all of it for me.

Every like I gave her was nothing. Not jealousy. Not pain. Just a thumb on a screen while I waited for my coffee to cool.

Evangeline didn't see it that way.

She thought I was up every night, sick with heartbreak, stalking her life.

Four days later, they walked into my café.

Linden's sits on Mill Street in Harrow Falls, the human town between the packs. Eight tables. A chalkboard menu.

The bell over the door rang.

Bowen came in with Evangeline on his arm.

They were wearing matching outfits.

Brown, head to toe. Her cardigan matched his trendy blazer. Even the scarves matched.

Bowen used to wear nothing but stiff dark suits.

I asked him once, when we were first mated, to wear something matching with me for the Spring Moon dance.

He laughed.

"An Alpha has to look the part, Elodie. I'm not showing up to pack business dressed like a pup."

Evangeline looked around my café with her eyebrows up.

She hadn't expected me to have anything of my own.

Bowen frowned at the espresso machine, then at me.

"I gave you half the pack's money when we split. Why are you working this hard?"

When he rejected the bond, I asked for half of everything.

He signed it over without blinking. He thought it was a tantrum. He thought I'd bring it back when I came home.

I kept steaming the milk in my hands.

"Because I want to. And it's none of your business."

He didn't even blink.

He still thought I was just mad.

Evangeline put on her sweetest smile.

"Elodie! It's been three years. How are you?"

"Fine."

She waited for more.

I poured the milk.

Her smile slipped a little. She'd expected tears. Or shaking hands. Or a scene.

Bowen's phone buzzed.

"Pack business. One second."

He stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The door swung shut behind him.

Evangeline's smile dropped off her face.

What was under it was pure, sharp triumph.

She leaned both elbows on my counter.

"Cut the hard-to-get act. And don't get excited."

She lifted her chin at me.

"Even if Bowen re-marks you, so what?"

"Helena never liked you. In her eyes, I've always been the perfect Luna."

"He's only doing this out of obligation. A dare's a dare, remember?"

"He asked my permission before he came to see you. I said yes."

She pulled a folded document from her bag and slid it across the counter.

"You'll sign this before any re-marking."

"Oh. I wrote it myself."

I looked down.

All Ironwood territory and assets belong to Bowen and to Evangeline Delancey as his chosen companion.

In public, Elodie Linden may not use the title of Luna.

She will introduce herself as Bowen's former mate. Nothing more.

She will not sit at the pack table without Helena Ironwood's consent.

I almost laughed.

Almost.

I pushed it back to her with one finger.

"If Helena loves you so much, why are you still nothing after three years?"

Evangeline's mouth opened.

"You've been in his house. In his bed. In my room. For three whole years."

"And he still won't mark you."

"That's not a contract, Evangeline. That's just sad."

Her face twisted.

For one second she looked exactly like what she was.

She raised her hand to slap me.

Behind her, the bell rang.

Bowen's footsteps crossed the floor.

Evangeline flipped.

Her hand dropped to her chest. Tears poured down her cheeks, instantly.

Her voice went small and wounded and sweet.

"Elodie, I really do want you and Bowen to be together again."

"I'm his oldest friend. All I want is for him to be happy."

"The agreement is just a formality. Please don't be upset, okay?"

Same show as three years ago.

Nothing had changed at all.

And Bowen fell for it.

The second he saw her cry, his wolf went hot and protective. His jaw locked. Every bit of sense left his head.

He could not tell right from wrong when Evangeline's eyes were wet.

"Evangeline. What happened?"

He pulled her into his chest.

She shook her head against his blazer.

"It's nothing. It's my fault. Don't blame Elodie."

The more she said it, the more he believed I'd done something.

A woman at table three set her fork down.

Bowen turned on me.

His eyes flashed amber.

"Elodie."

He put the full weight of his Alpha into it, the voice that drops wolves to their knees.

"Apologize. Now."

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