The Luna’s Choice by Kat Silver

“What kind of interest does he have in her?”

“He didn’t exactly share that with me,” Briggs said.

“Then how do you know?” I yelled.

“His behavior made it pretty obvious. He wants her,” Briggs explained. “And he made sure

I would give you the message to forget about her and leave her alone.”

“Excuse me?” I hissed. My whole body was tense with the rage and jealousy coursing

through me.

“I’m just saying what I witnessed, Theo.”

“But did you talk to her? How do you know he’s not keeping her there against her will?”

My chest was on fire. My wolf was going insane in my head, not knowing which situation

would be worse.

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Chapter 28: Theo

“I spoke to her myself,” Briggs said. “I met with her at his private lodge.”

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He saw her. He actually saw her. “How did she look? Did she seem scared?”

“No,” Briggs confirmed confidently. “She was beat the hell up from the accident. But she

was perfectly comfortable with her surroundings. She was there by choice.”

Did that mean she was interested in Kingston? Did she want another Alpha?

Kieran was howling. I turned my back to Briggs as I clutched at my chest.

“What does it matter, Theo? What are you going to do? Drive her out of Sablemane

because someone likes her? Are you really going to be so cruel as to force her to be alone

the rest of her life?”

He was getting upset now. And he was right. What was I going to do? Even if I could get

her away from Kingston, what would that do? It would make me the bastard Briggs was

saying it would. But I still couldn’t get the image of someone else’s hands on Ayla out of

my head. Or ignore the way my gut twisted at picturing it.

“The way I see it, this wraps this whole mess up conveniently,” Briggs said. “You have

enough to put her family at ease and she’s out of the picture. If you really don’t want her,

that should be enough.”

“Of course I want her,” I blurted out without thinking. I shook my head. “Kieran wants her.

Between him and the mate bond, it’s hard to keep a part of me from wanting her.”

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Chapter 28: Theo

“Or maybe you just want her anyway.”

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“What? No,” I said, pushing my hands through my hair. “Even if I did, it doesn’t change

who she is or what she’s done.”

“And who is that, Theo?” Briggs asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because I have

to say, the woman I met wasn’t the same person we’ve been told about.”

I threw myself back in my armchair.

“Has Kylee been living up to who you thought she was?” Briggs asked gently. “I heard she

was MIA when everything was going down today.”

“I’ve already addressed that with her,” I said. “She’s young. She knows she made a

mistake.”

“Have you?”

His question wasn’t accusatory. It wasn’t lined with anger or disappointment. It was

genuine and full of concern and caring. A lump formed in my throat.

“I don’t know anymore,” I answered.

“Do you want to talk it through?”

I rubbed my hands over my face. This had turned into such a mess. And it hurt like hell.

“I guess I felt ambushed,” I finally said.

“When?”

“When I met Ayla,” I told him. “I was there with the woman I had just announced would be

my chosen mate and Luna. I

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was meeting her family for the first time. We hadn’t been in the house for two minutes

and there she was.”

“Ayla?” Briggs asked.

I nodded. “She was incredible, Briggs. For a minute, I… I don’t know. It was like I felt

complete. But then I realized that she was Kylee’s sister.”

“But why reject her in the first place, Theo? Why not talk to her first? Kylee would have

gotten over it eventually. Ayla’s your fated mate. It’s not like…”

“She didn’t want me, Briggs,” I rushed out. “She didn’t want me. So I made things easier

for all of us.”

“Wait,” Briggs said. “Theo, are you saying you rejected her just so she couldn’t reject you

first?”

I didn’t respond.

“Fuck, Theo. Of all the times for your stupid pride.”

“It wasn’t about pride, Briggs. I thought it would hurt less if | made the decision. That I’d

be able to move on knowing I chose to walk away, rather than knowing she did.”

“But you didn’t know that she would,” Briggs yelled, jumping to his feet. “You have no idea

what her reasons were for accepting the rejection. What about when you went back? What

exactly triggered her to cut her ties?”

“I told her what Kylee told us about her. It hurt her – deeply.”

“Well, guilt can do that. Even if Ayla never intentionally hurt Kylee, finding out the

consequences of your actions can still be painful,” Briggs said, pacing the floor.

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I closed my eyes, swallowing the lump forming in my throat again. I had to face what I had

been ignoring since that day.

“What?” Briggs asked.

“There was no guilt in her eyes, Briggs,” I said quietly. “There was no shame. Just… pain,

and confusion, and sadness. She didn’t understand, Briggs. She didn’t understand why

Kylee would say those things.”

“Theo, I told you we didn’t know everything.” Briggs returned to his seat. “I think it’s time

we looked further into Ayla.”

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Chapter 29. Kingston

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