Chapter 22: The Answer Is No

Autumn's POV

Jasper looked at me on the council stone with his whole heart on his face.

He had no oath on him and no command, and no father behind him.

He had nothing but the question.

"Autumn Ostley," he said. "Will you be my Luna?"

"No," I said.

The meadow went silent.

I had said it clearly, and every wolf from the stone to the tree line had heard.

Somebody near the back gasped.

Lottie, at the front, put both hands over her face.

I watched Jasper take it.

His eyes closed for one moment, and the bond jerked in my chest with his hurt, sharp and real.

Then he opened them.

"All right," he said, and his voice only shook a little. "Thank you for telling me plainly."

"I'm not done," I said.

I turned to face the pack.

"I was asked to be Luna by a man who thought he could leash me to it. I was handed a hundred rules and told I would be rewarded for obeying."

"I'm an omega. I tend a garden. I have been picked for nothing, and a month ago I was thrown away in front of all of you."

"I'm not saying yes to the seat because it comes with a house and an oath. I'm not saying yes because the Moon tied it to me."

"The pack picks its Alpha, and the Alpha's mate is the pack's business. It is not mine to take like a prize."

"If the pack wants Jasper, it can say so at the next moon. If it wants me beside him, it can say that too, to my face, and ask."