Page 121 of Rejecting his Mate

He gives me a rare smile. “I can’t work out the motives of the people here, but I do understand why they like it. It’s so quiet.”

I hold my reply, taking a moment to listen. I can hear birds in the distance, and some animals in the undergrowth of the trees that line the property, but that is all. “Very peaceful,” I agree. “I could get used to sitting on the porch like this every morning with a nice cup of coffee and maybe pancakes.”

He kisses the side of my head, and I lean into him. “You want pancakes?” Amusement laces his tone.

I shift my shoulders noncommittal. “I could eat some.”

“We’ll head up to the main house in a little while. If we’re staying here, we’re going to need things.”

“Have you spoken to Sawyer yet?”

He pulls me tighter into his arms. “I stopped by his cabin, but Wyatt said he’d gone hunting.”

I frown. I don’t like the way he is dealing with this. “He’s not doing very well, Cade. I want to talk to him.”

“He’ll pull himself out of it. He and Roux are meant to be together, and he’s not going to just walk away from that. As much as she wants to deny him, she’s not going to be able to. A fated connection is not like a chosen one. There is no choice in the matter. I couldn’t deny you, even if I wanted to.”

“Was there a moment when you thought you might?” I asked in jest, but part of me is also serious.

“Does it seem like I’m on the fence about you?”

“No,” I grudgingly agree. “Even if you were, I’d find you and stalk you until you took pity on me.”

He snorts out a laugh before kissing the side of my head.

I see a wolf pad out of the trees, and my back tenses until Cade squeezes my side. “It's Sawyer.”

I relax a little, watching as he shifts back into his human form. I avert my gaze at his nakedness, and when I look back, he’s pulled on clothes and has a rucksack slung over his shoulder.

I move, intending to go to him, but Cade stops me. “We need to let him work this out himself.”

“That might be how you deal with your friends, but I talk to mine.”

He lets me slip out of his grasp, and I jog down the steps, making my way over to Sawyer. Gone is the playful quirk of his lips; he looks more like his brother than himself.

I stop in front of him, making him halt his steps. Despite the anger on his face, he softens his eyes. “I don’t want to talk,” he tells me.

He’s trying hard not to lose it with me, but I don’t want him to be trapped in this cycle of hate. “I’ve been rejected. I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of it. But you have to let go of all this rage building inside you. It’s not who you are, Sawyer.”

His jaw tightens as his eyes go over my head, looking at anything but me. I hate that he's suffering. I wish I could take it for him. “You got rejected by a chosen mate with a bond that was barely in place. Do think you would survive if Cade rejected you?”

“Your brother did reject me—three times.”

His brows draw together. “When?”

“Well, he tried to kiss me once and freaked out, then he did kiss me and didn’t speak to me after it, and then he did things to me in the shower and pretended like I didn’t exist. So yeah, I was rejected by my fated mate too.”

The anger on Sawyer’s face dissipates into a smug, satisfied smile. “Dirty bitch. All that time, you and my brother were sneaking around.”

I frown at him. “That’s what you took from what I said?”

He grins, and I have to admit there is some relief in seeing that look on his face. I hate seeing him so somber. “How did you bring him around?”

I didn't. “You can’t deny a true mating bond forever. It’s not possible. Cade and I would have found our wayto each other some other way. Roux will come around. She won’t be able to resist the pull.”

His expression melts into one of dismay. “I don’t want her to come around. I want her to want this. I don’t want to be mated to someone who resents and hates me because she feels pressured into taking me as hers.”

I can understand that. I wouldn’t like it either. “This may be a stupid question, but have you actually tried talking to her?”

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