Page 20 of Rejecting his Mate

I hear the crowd whispering around me, and my gaze seeks out Adeline. Her face is ashen, her eyes wide.

I didn’t shift.

Why didn’t I shift?

Ugliness creeps through me and I feel disgust and anger down the mating bond. Dalton is standing backfrom the crowd, his lips pulled into a sneer. His expression is murderous, and I suddenly fear for my life.

“Halle.” Adeline ducks down at my side. I peer up at her, panic starting to fill me.

“What happened?” She doesn’t answer. That scares me more than anything. “Adeline? Why didn’t I shift?”

“She’s latent,” Klaus says, a hint of disgust in his voice.

Latent.

It is a dirty word in our world. Latents are usually hybrids—part shifters, part something else—with a muddied gene pool. Those creatures are hunted by a special order created for that purpose alone.

I am not a hybrid.

Both of my parents were wolves. My father was a Beauford. My mama… I don’t know what she was, and Adeline has never mentioned it. Did I wrongly assume my bloodline is pure?

“You need to get up,” Adeline says, her words trembling.

She helps me to my feet, and I’m shaking too.

“She’s defective,” Dalton spits the words like he’s tasting poison. “I won’t be mated to a latent bitch.”

I flinch, even though I feel exactly like what he’s telling me.

Defective.

Broken.

Pathetic.

If I can’t shift, what kind of wolf am I? And what does that mean for my future with the pack, with Dalton?

Everything is going to change, and not for the better.

“You’re already mated,” Adeline snaps. “There’s no going back on that.”

“How can a latent be an alpha female?” Dalton looks me over like I’m sickening him.

Adeline squeezes my hand, ignoring his vile words. “I’ll fix this,” she promises. “Somehow, I’ll fix it.”

But I hear the doubt in her voice because there is no fixing this.

I am beyond repair, and that terrifies me.

Chapter 5

Halle

“Latent bitch,” Kyle mutters as he passes me, spitting in my face. I wipe it away with my hand, my heart squeezing.

I’ve suffered this treatment for two days, and it isn’t getting easier. Despite the hurt in my heart, I keep my face impassive. I won’t let them see it bothers me. I won’t show any emotion.

Kyle turning on me is a pick to the heart. So much for friends sticking together. I keep waiting for the sneer on his face to drop and be replaced by one of his goofy grins, but there’s no ‘Halle Bear’, and no warmth from him either.

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