Luna Junction 2 Forbidden Mate (W) Read Online Free PDF Page B

any of them. He grabbed one of the willing Bellini girls
and kissed her full on the mouth while I broke into earth
shattering sobs and stumbled blindly back through the
woods.
    “ It shouldn’t matter now,”
I told the empty bathroom. It shouldn’t. But it didn’t change
anything. I could forgive my parents in their misguided attempts to
shield me. I could forgive myself for wasted years of
self-indulgence. I could even forgive the wary folks of Luna
Junction, given my lineage and destiny.
    But I couldn’t quite forgive him. My
former best friend. The first boy I’d ever loved. He should have
known better.

Chapter Five
    The Landon place was a bit out of the
way but I remembered the route with no problem. Cade Landon owned a
substantial piece of property with its own private road. I kept the
driver’s window open, breathing in the honeyed scent of late
spring. The longest day of the year was rapidly approaching and in
that early evening hour the sun was still hours from its reluctant
retreat.
    Several crookedly parked pickup trucks
were in front of the house so I didn’t feel badly about parking
just as informally. I didn’t see any of the Landons but I knew they
were nearby. Max had assured me that in time my ability to sense a
werewolf would be honed to the point where I could pick one out in
a jostling crowd of thousands.
    I didn’t notice the girl at first.
Auburn haired and apple cheeked, she was cute but not beautiful.
She leaned against the rustic porch pillar, watching me silently
with a hand on her heavily pregnant belly. She suddenly laughed.
“You gonna come out of there or what? I don’t bite, you
know.”
    I climbed out of Max’s truck warily as
the girl ambled over. I wasn’t sure how to begin. “Um, I’m Acie?
The boys invited me for dinner?”
    She winked at me. “I know. I’m Tatum
Landon, the evil stepmother.”
    I was confused. “So you’re Cade’s um…”
I wasn’t sure how to finish. She couldn’t be much older than me.
And I didn’t feel that prickly alarm in her presence which I had
begun to recognize as the hunter’s sense.
    Tatum nodded. “Mate, yes.” She patted
her stomach fondly. “And I’m about to freaking burst. Can’t believe
I have another month left.”
    “ Cade’s mate?” I bit my
lip. “But you’re not a-“
    “ No,” she said shortly.
“I’m not.” She held my gaze for a moment and seemed to be daring me
to say the wrong thing.
    “ Well,” I smiled.
“Congratulations.” Max had mentioned in passing that werewolves
sometimes mated with humans, but many werewolves feared this
indulgence interfered with the bloodlines and they discouraged it,
even outlawed it in some communities.
    Tatum looked at me approvingly and
grabbed my arm. “Come in the house. Cade’s in the kitchen slaving
away at the stove and the boys are around here
somewhere.”
    As I let myself be pulled along towards
the dim interior of the Landon home, I felt another jolt of memory.
For a split second I was racing across that clearing behind the
house into the woods, panting as I chased a laughing Gideon. He
would pause just long enough for me to nearly catch him and then he
would race ahead, always too fast.
    Immediately I caught the heady aroma of
food. Cade, I recalled, was an expert cook. His had been a
cheerful, welcoming home, but the tension I felt as I crossed the
threshold was becoming a familiar response. There were werewolves
within.
    Tatum led me back towards the kitchen
where Cade Landon presided alone over an assortment of
preparations. He waited by the stove, staring expectantly as if he
knew I was about to enter. His expression was kind when he saw me
and as I did a quick once over I reflected that the past six years
certainly hadn’t done him any harm. I could well see how his
imposing body and chiseled features would tempt any
woman.
    He smiled as Tatum melted into his arms
and they tangled in an embarrassingly passionate kiss. I tried not
to stare at them but