Chapter 42: A Much-Needed Friend

-Rogan-

“No need to thank me, just end this war,” Julianna said as she held the door open for me.

I didn’t walk out though. I stopped in front of her, and looked at her. She smiled a little, and I smiled back.

“You never wanted this?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Nope.”

“But you agreed anyway?” I asked.

“Well, agreed is not really the word I would use, but I either agreed or I never saw my girlfriend again.”

“Your girl … Oh!” I said, and Julianna smiled even bigger.

I hadn’t seen her smile before, but it seemed like now that we were no longer going to be mated, she could be nice to me. I now saw why she had not been invested in this at all. Julianna liked women. She was never interested in me at all.

“I see,” I said.

“Disappointed?” she asked me in a joking way.

I chuckled, but then shook my head.

“I think we both weren’t really invested in this union,” I said.

She shook her head.

“Probably not. You seemed colder the last time I saw you.”

I smiled a little.

“I guess I did.”

“Finding a mate changes you, doesn’t it?” she asked me.

I looked at her confused.

“Your girlfriend isn’t your mate?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“I love her, but … but I don’t know if she is the one,” Julianna said.

“You will know if she is your mate.”

“Not everyone gets a mate. Maybe I should just be happy with her.”

I sighed.

“I can’t tell you what to do, but I can say it was worth waiting for mine,” I told her.

“Even though she is your hunter and people will hate you for it?” she asked me with a little smile.

I chuckled.

“Even then. I can’t explain it because no words can really describe what it is like having a mate,” I said. “You just … want them so badly. They become your whole world. Trust me I tried fighting it, but I couldn’t help myself in the end. The bond is too powerful.”

Julianna sighed a little and leaned her head against the door, while she continued to hold it open.

“I want that,” she said.

“Then search for it,” I said.

“Where to begin?”

“Well, you probably should be honest with your girlfriend first.”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I know. It’s hard though. I do love her,” she said.

“I don’t doubt it, but she deserves to know why you want to go search for someone else.

“Yeah, I know … I know.”

We looked at each other for a little while, a strange understanding passing between us. It hadn’t felt like this the last time we saw each other. Back then, we had treated each other rather coldly. We would never have been happy together, I realized. We might have worked well together, but we would probably not have spoken much if it wasn’t about business. It was clear Julianna was a brilliant luna, but she was not going to be mine. I already had a wonderful mate, and I knew with time she would come to fit the luna role perfectly. She was already a leader, she just needed to get a good understanding of my world.

“You said you were kind of forced into this union,” I said.

Julianna nodded.

“Does your parents not accept you are gay?” I asked.

Julianna looked behind her, and then a strange expression took over, but I couldn’t quite read her, and when she turned back to me, she looked a little colder.

“More like … we don’t talk about it,” she told me.

“At all?”

“You know how some people can be. For them it’s better to just ignore it,” she said.

Julianna was a few years younger than me. Twenty-seven, and while her parents, of course, couldn’t rule over her, it was different for us wolves. We lived in packs, and we always did what was best for our pack. So, Julianna had been willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, but it was clear it would have destroyed her. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she looked at me surprised.

“If you need anything,” I said. “Anything at all. Just come find me.”

“You really mean that,” she said, surprised.

I nodded.

“You think I would lie?”

“You’re not … scared away by what I am?” she asked me, sounding a little sarcastic, probably trying to hide how scared she really was.

She probably hadn’t been met by much acceptance. Sadly, even wolves could be judgmental. Sometimes we could even be worse.

“Why would I be?” I asked.

“Ask those who are,” she said.

I smiled.

“Julianna, I am sorry I didn’t know. Had I known I would never even had agreed,” I said.

I removed my hand, and she looked at me shocked.

“You wouldn’t?”

I shook my head.

“I would never force anyone to be with someone they couldn’t even stand. I would have understood.”

“Would have been nice to know back then,” she said.

I nodded.

“Yeah, but you can always be so smart later on when you already know what is going to happen,” I said.

Julianna smiled and nodded.

“I’m sorry your father tried to force you to do this. I didn’t think he was like that,” I said.

“He is not a bad person,” she said. “He just …”

“He got his strong opinions?”

She nodded.

“That’s a good way to put it,” she chuckled.

“And your mother too?”

She nodded.

“And my mother too …”

“I am sorry to hear it, but know you have a friend when you need one.”

“That means a lot,” she said.

I smiled at her.

“Don’t hesitate to come find me or call me. I will be there,” I said.

“And I will make sure my father doesn’t cause any more trouble for you and your mate. You deserve to be happy, Rogan, and I hope she will make you happy.”

My smile grew.

“I know she will. She is somehow everything I have ever wanted, even though she wanted me dead to begin with,” I said.

Julianna laughed a little.

“Yeah, that is a strange way to begin a relationship, but she has clearly changed.”

“She has.”

“Then I wish you all the best of luck,” she said.

“I hope to see you again soon,” I said, and then I walked out of the door, feeling so damn good knowing I could claim my mate whenever I wanted.