Page 52 of Rejecting his Mate

Silence fills the truck, and I notice how tight Cade’s fingers get around the steering wheel. “You have a problem with it?”

Wyatt huffs out a breath. “We had a good, quiet life before. Shit was easy. We stayed out of the way of the other wolf packs in the area, and they stayed out ofours. This is starting to unravel. There’s no putting the toothpaste back in the tub once it’s on the toothbrush, Cade.”

I frown at his words, even though I know he’s right. I’ve brought a lot of problems to their otherwise peaceful existence.

“You trust me to lead you, right?”

“That’s never been in question,” Wyatt says quietly.

“He’s right,” I say before Cade can respond. “You shouldn’t involve yourself in my problems. Find Jackson and then drop me in the nearest town. I’ll find my own way.”

“No fucking way,” Cade growls. “You’re defenseless out there.”

That pisses me off. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,” I snap.

His fingers tighten on the steering wheel, his knuckles popping. The only sound is the hum of the engine as the car hurtles back down the mountain toward wherever Jackson will be waiting for us.

“Really? Considering you nearly died, I doubt it,” Cade’s voice is hard and cold as he says these words.

“What do you care if I live or die?” I fire back, my voice laced with as much callousness as his. I want to hurt him the way I’m hurting.

Cade doesn’t answer, and he must have silenced his end of the pack bond because I don’t feel anything from him.

No one speaks again as the truck continues down the winding road. Even Sawyer is quiet. Eventually, Cade pulls the truck into a cut in at the side of the road, andhis voice slides through my mind as he reaches out to Jackson to tell him where we are.

Wyatt gets out of the truck and walks over toward the edge of the road. It dips down into a slight bank before the trees start.

Watching him for a moment, Cade huffs a breath and climbs out. I wince at how hard he shuts the door behind him. I get him being annoyed at being questioned, but Wyatt has a point.

As Cade joins Wyatt, Sawyer turns to me. “Don’t take Wyatt’s tantrum personally.”

“I don’t think he’s having a tantrum,” I say. “Cade should have talked to the rest of you before bringing me into the pack bond like that. Wyatt’s right to be pissed.”

Sawyer doesn’t agree, but he doesn’t disagree either. Instead, his attention goes to the side window, watching as Wyatt speaks to Cade. Even without the emotion coming through the pack, bond I can tell the conversation is heated.

“My brother likes you.”

“Your brother barely tolerates me, and this constant need to protect me is going to drive a wedge between him and the people who matter to him.”

“No, Halle, helikesyou. I’ve never seen him like this with an outsider before. Cade is always level-headed and a bit of an asshole at times about things. He’s thrown all that to the wind since you crashed into our lives. There’s not a hint of caution to be found.” He smiles, and I can't help but do so too.

“I don’t think that’s entirely my doing.”

“You removed the stick from his ass. You deserve a medal for that alone.”

I rush to defend Cade and then slam my teeth together as I realize what I’m about to do. I don’t have to fight in his corner. I shouldn’t, either. It implies a friendship that we don’t have.

“You guys should be pissed he did this without asking.”

Sawyer taps a knuckle gently against the window as he watches his brother and Wyatt continue to argue. “Wyatt would complain about the sun rising in the east if he was given a platform,” he says, which makes me chuckle. “Fact is, I don’t think my brother is going to let you walk away, and I can’t leave him undefended. Wyatt, for all this, won’t either. Cade’s pack and that means something to us. I get Wyatt wants us to sit in our corner and make no sound so no one hears us, but that isn’t possible. Hunters have left us alone, sure, but for how long is that going to continue? They hate anyone not pure and vargr… well, no one really knows what our blood is.”

“Were your parents vargr?”

“Yeah. They owned the house we just left.”

“What happened to them?” I wince as soon as the words leave my mouth. “Sorry, that’s rude of me.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it. The vargr curse got them.”

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