Page 18 of Forsaking His Mate

As I glance along the tile, I see him standing there. He didn’t change into his wolf to greet his mate. He didn’t do anything.

His eyes squeeze shut and pain ripples across his face. Those emotions fizzle into something else.

Fear. Trepidation.

“Shit…” His voice is deep, gravelly, and gruff.

I try to control my breathing as I watch his chest heave and his fingers flex at his sides. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears and the back of my neck tingles like someone is blowing gently across it.

Slowly, I push to my knees and blink the dizziness away.

“We’re… mates…” I murmur.

He shakes his head, and confusion shrouds me.

“No.” The broken, final way he says that word is a period, not a pause, and it terrifies me. He staggers back, putting the breakfast bar between us like a barrier. “Fuck,” he hisses.

His awareness touches my mind, stroking along my senses. It should be comforting, but at this moment it feels like a violation, especially when I can sense the fury and disgust he has toward me. He’s breathing hard too, but his eyes scare me. No one has ever looked at me with that much hate.

He curls his lip before stating, “You’re not mine.”

The pain I felt at trying and failing to shift is nothing compared to this. My throat feels tight and I struggle to breathe. This rejection hits and hurts me on a primal level.

I block it all out.

My wolf whines and I feel as if he’s taken a pickaxe to my chest.

Despite his rejection, his wolf is calling to mine and I wonder how much strength it must take to control the animal inside him. If I could shift, my wolf would be bursting free now.

His fingers morph into claws momentarily before he’s able to stop the change from happening. He stares at his hands.

“What?” I breathe the word out, my head spinning.

“I don’t want a mate,” he growls, shaking his head as if trying to fight against his own thoughts. “You’re nothing to me. I don’t claim you.”

My heart shatters, pain like I’ve never felt before careening through my chest. I gasp, pressing a hand to my sternum, seeking relief, as my wolf howls at the rejection burning through me. I dig my fingers into the tile floor, trying to calm the raging agony.

“You’re not mine,” he repeats, and with that parting shot, he flees the kitchen, leaving me collapsed on my knees before I burst into excruciating sobs.

Chapter 4

Abel

Istumble into the hallway wall in my attempt to escape the kitchen. I can feel her calling to me, our mating bond trying to slam into place, but I push it ruthlessly aside. I won’t bond with her. I won’t bond with anyone.

With the door between us, I’m finally able to take a breath, but my heart is in my throat.

This is a nightmare.

My wolf is howling, trying to force the change that will allow him to greet her as my mate. I hold him back by sheer force of will, even though it feels as if my insides are being torn apart. I close my eyes, trying to focus on anything but the swimming in my head.

Who is she?And what is she doing in Hester’s kitchen?

This is my safe space, the only one I have, and this little wolf is encroached upon it.

Go back and claim her.

My wolf repeats this over and over inside the vaults of my mind. I ignore him. If he were thinkingclearly, he’d know claiming her would be the worst thing we could do.

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