Page 126 of Rejecting his Mate

She is a tau.

Why do the hunters have tau with them?

Dalton seems smaller than I remember, or maybe it’s just the fact that Cade is so big that he makes him look like nothing. His blond hair is slicked back, and the black clothes he is wearing were designed for one purpose only—to sneak inside our home and harm us.

My wolf paces in my mind. She doesn’t like him being in our space. My hand gravitates to my neck, to the claiming mark Cade put over his.

I watched Dalton follow my movement. “How did you do it?”

“What do you care? You tried to kill me.”

“Obviously, not hard enough, considering you’re standing in front of me.” Dalton looks me up and down, his nose wrinkling as if he smells something unpleasant. “He’s all over you.” The accusation in his voice ticks me off.

“Unlike you, he’s my true mate.” I slide my gaze toward the female, ready to fight them both. I can sense she is powerful, but I’m stronger.

I don’t fear her, but I do him, and I hate it. He got the better of me last time, and I only survived because of Cade. I’m not sure I can fight him, and the doubts assail me as I stand there looking into the eyes of the wolf who hated me enough to end my life.

“I guess it saved me a job. I hated being tethered to you.”

I snort. “The feeling was mutual, trust me.”

Dalton steps toward me, and I move back. Muscle memory is a powerful thing, and my body remembers what he did to me.

I feel Cade through the bond.

What’s wrong?

I’m fine,I send back. I don’t want to distract him from whatever fight he is in, even though I am far from fine right now. My skin is clammy, and I feel useless, helpless. Dalton always had a way of making me feel as if I was nothing, and that is all I can focus on. I hate myself for that most of all.

I’m not weak. I have proven that over the last two weeks with the other tau wolves. I have power and strength.

Dalton grits his teeth. “You are just defective in every single way, aren’t you? Can’t shift, can’t keep a mating bond, can’t even do magic. Just a defective latent bitch.”

His words hit something deep inside me. An insecurity he put there. An insecurity I don’t want to live with anymore.

Cade speaks in my mind.

I’m coming. Keep fighting until I get there. I love you.

My stomach flutters. He loves me? I don’t know why it surprises me, considering the way he has been with me since our mating bond slid into place, but it does. It gives me strength too. It doesn’t matter what Dalton says to me. His opinion doesn’t count. The only person I need in my corner is Cade, and it’s clear he is there.

I love you too.

This isn’t the best time to tell him that, or maybe itis, considering we could die here. I feel his pleasure come back down the bond before it fades out.

I return my attention to Dalton, and for the first time, I see him as the weak, pathetic creature he is.

I give him a cold smile. “I may be latent, but that doesn’t mean I’m helpless.”

Just as I spent the week practicing with the girls, I push power down my body, aiming it at Dalton, but the female with him deflects it. I glare at her. “You realize he would kill you without a thought just because of what you are?”

The female doesn’t speak—maybe she can’t—so give my attention back to Dalton.

“What did you do to her?” I demand.

He sniggers, stepping toward me, and I move back. I know I shouldn’t be scared of him, but that fear is like muscle memory, and my body reacts before I can stop it. “If I’d known what you were, I would have kept you around. Your kind is useful.”

What does he mean by that? Why do hunters have these females? What are they doing to them?

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