From Rougue To Luna novel Chapter 12

"So who was the younger wolf to my right? Is he your beta?"

Rhett looked at me and answered absently. "He is. His name is Asher. He grew up here with us."

"With you." I muttered under my breath but quickly blushed, realizing I'd said it out loud.

Rhett's jaw ticked but he did not say anything more in response.

"I don't know that the council will ever accept me as your mate Rhett. If they won't, how could I ever expect the pack to? Those that even remember me won't see anything more than a former Omega and now even worse...a Rogue. Just like the council did." I said slowly.

My brain was still trying to process the events that had taken place over the last couple of days, and the councilman's words stuck in my thoughts like a thorn. He was right. I was a Rogue the moment I left pack lands without permission.

Rhett sighed and stood, walking toward the window and leaning against the windowsill. His finger tapped slowly against the wood as he peered out across the land below. "First of all, you may have been an Omega and then a Rogue under my father's rule as Alpha, but that is not something I would have chosen and will not be honoring. As far as I am concerned, you were always just as much a member of this pack as anyone else. You didn't deserve what my father did to you."

"And that speaks volumes to your compassion Rhett, but what about everyone else? You can't force them to see that too." My voice was soft but firm. I had the high hope that the pack could accept me, but I knew it would be difficult to sway the way they saw me after so long even for him.

"You'll never know until you give them a chance."

My eyes widened as he turned to look over his shoulder at me with a smirk. "What? How am I supposed to do that?"

"I can't imagine what it was like to leave so young, having just lost your mother and the only person you'd known in your life. But you had the strength to walk away from the one home you'd known and go against your Alpha in the process. Even better, you survived on your own. You have strength within you and you don't even realize it."

His hand brushed a stray hair from my face and my body warmed within his touch as he tucked it behind my ear. I leaned into his grasp as his free hand moved to push my hair away from my neck. My body immediately reacted and pulled away from him, leaving his hands to float in the air before falling to his side.

I hugged my arms across my chest and let my hair fall back to the front of my shoulders as I fought to calm my now racing heart down. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that." I lied.

He sighed quietly and his voice broke through the strong tension. "Lili, I don't know what holding on to you, but you're safe here. I won't hurt you."

I clamped my jaw shut and closed my eyes, trying to focus on the singular concern of moving my air in through my nose and out of my mouth. He moved slowly to stand behind me, being sure not to touch me. "You will get through this. But I can't help you if you refuse to talk to me."