Page 36 of Rejecting his Mate

My wolf stalks toward her, fighting on his mind.

She is not our enemy.

Halle backs up a few steps, tightening her grip on the branch she’s holding. “Don’t make me hurt you,” she warns.

It’s a laughable threat. My wolf is not able to sensewho she is anymore. The blood on his fur is making him frenzied. A whimper of excitement escapes his mouth, and I push everything I can down the link that we share, trying to bring him to heel.

Tilting her head to the side, Halle frowns. Then she lowers her arm and lets the branch slip through her fingers.

No, no, no, pick it back up.

She stands in front of my wolf, defenseless and unafraid, but my heart is racing. She’s going to get hurt.

“I know you won’t harm me,” she says, her words bold and incorrect. My wolf is too far gone to care that she’s the thing we were trying to protect. “We’re friends, remember?”

She isn’t moving, not even backing away. She is standing her ground, her chest rising and falling as she watches my wolf approach her.

“Please don’t use me as a chew toy,” she murmurs, holding her hands up in supplication.

Run, Halle.

My wolf paces closer, even as I try to rein him in. To my horror, Halle holds out a hand in my direction. My wolf glances behind us, still wanting to give chase, his body twitchy with need, but then something draws him back to Halle. His head swings back to her as she slowly reaches out and pets the side of his face.

I freeze, waiting for him to attack, to clamp his jaws around her arm and drag her about like she’s prey. He doesn’t move. He lets her pet him like he’s a golden retriever.

My breath is stuck in my throat as her fingers trailalong his neck. “You’re not that big and bad, are you?” There’s a hint of humor in her voice, but if she knew how close she came to being mauled, she might disagree. “Cade, if you’re in there, come out.”

My wolf clamps his hold on me tighter. He’s not willing to shift back to human form.

“I need you as a human,” she says, still stroking my wolf’s neck. “Come back to me. Please. I needyou.”

Her words somehow penetrate my wolf’s mind. He whines, and I can sense he doesn’t want to relinquish control, but to my surprise, he does.

I feel the shift roll through us, bones snapping and reshaping as we leave our wolf form behind to change into our human one.

When I emerge from the shift, I am crouching in the dirt, the cooler air kissing my naked body.

Slowly, I straighten, unsure what the hell just happened, and turn to Halle. My body is aching, and I have blood trickling down my side, but I ignore it all and focus on her. The little wolf is watching me, her eyes cautious as she takes me in.

“Your wolf is kind of intense,” she says, blowing out a breath.

Anger blazes through me. Crossing the space between us, I grab her shoulders and shove her back against a tree trunk. She grunts as her spine makes contact and tries to shove me off her, but I am stronger, and I am also running on rage. It is only her whimper of pain that makes me loosen my grip. She is injured. I’m no better than her asshole mate for handling her so roughly.

I force myself to move back a little, giving her some space to breathe.

“What is wrong with you?” I hiss. I can’t control the anger in my voice, even as I try to control the one coursing through my body. “Do you have a death wish?”

Her mouth pulls into an irritable, tight line as she glares at me. “You can’t always control your wolf, can you?” she accuses, ignoring my question.

My teeth grit together as I glare at her. “Do you have any idea what I could have done to you? Next time, you run.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because—”

“Because you’re this big bad wolf, and I’m not?” She snorts. “I’m not scared of you, Cade.”

“You should be. If you knew what I am…”

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