Page 57 of Rejecting his Mate

“I don’t know. I was watching a mom and a little girl walking down the street, and then… it was as if I was… I don’t know.” I break off, unsure how to explain what happened without sounding like I’m losing my mind.

“As if what?”

I stare at Cade, trying to judge what he’s going to think when I give him the truth. “I saw a woman. I think it was my mom.”

Cade says nothing, just brushes my hair away frommy face. It’s such a gentle move that I want to lean into it, but I don’t know if he would appreciate it, so I force my body to keep still.

“We’re attracting attention,” Wyatt says from the side.

I glance around and see he’s right. People have stopped to watch us. Considering we have a half-conscious and mauled man in the back of the truck, I’m bruised, and Sawyer is bloodied, I’m not surprised people are watching us.

Cade doesn’t seem like he wants to let go of me, but he does. Gripping my hands, Sawyer hauls me up and we pile back into the truck.

Jackson grunts when we lift his head and legs to get in, and Cade hits the gas as soon as we’re all safely inside. “There’s a motel outside town,” he says. “We’ll stop there and patch up Jackson.”

He doesn’t say it, but I hear the unspoken vow that we’ll be talking about my… episode… there as well.

No one speaks until we pull into the parking lot of the motel. It’s similar to the one I saw in my… vision? Memory? Whatever it was. The same kind of sign out front, the same walkways with doors facing out.

Everything feels familiar even though it’s not.

We wait in the truck while Cade gets us a room from the main office.

I’ve never seen my past before, even during my failed shift. My wolf is uneasy, pacing within the confines of my mind. I try to calm her, but she’s too wired to listen.

Cade leaves the office and gets back in the truck. He drives around the side of the building, where there’sanother row of rooms. They’re not in the line of sight of the office and the road, which is presumably why he picked it.

He parks in front of room 23 and cuts the engine. Everyone piles out of the truck, except for Jackson, who groans at the movement as Sawyer and I get out from under him. I murmur an apology as Cade opens the door to the motel room and then comes back for Jackson. Between him and Wyatt, they get him out of the truck. They wrap the blanket around his hips, hiding his nakedness from anyone walking by. We don’t want to end up on the news.

Jackson whimpers and hisses, sucking air between his teeth, and I wince with sympathy. His side is coated in sticky blood, and I hope it’s stopped bleeding or at least slowed down.

Guilt stabs at me. He’s hurt because of me, because of my relationship with Dalton. I should never have brought them into this. As soon as Jackson is settled, I have to hit the road alone.

The thought scares me.

I’ve never been without the protection of a pack, and I don’t know what these hunters are capable of, but I know Dalton. He’s never going to stop looking for me.

I follow Sawyer to the trunk and take one of the holdalls from him. “I can manage,” he assures me.

“I know,” I say. “I want to feel useful.”

“Know you’re still thinking of running. Whatever batshit notion you have going on in that pretty head of yours ends now.”

“I never said I was going to run.”

“Please, your guilt is written on every inch of your face and I can sense it through our pack link.” He heaves the bag onto his shoulder as I do the same with the one I’m carrying. It is heavy and I wonder how long they kept these bags ready in case they had to run. “But going out there alone is a stupid plan. You won’t last five minutes.”

“With you guys, I’ll get what? An extra ten?”

He snorts. “Funny.” I smile despite everything. “We’re vargr, Halle. We have an advantage you don’t, and you’re going to need us to keep you safe.”

“Not if it means risking your own lives.”

“The Order was always going to come for us at some point. It was just a matter of when. They don’t like anything different from them, and vargr are as different as they come. Besides, you run away and Cade is just going to drag you back.”

“If he can find me,” I mutter.

“Oh, he’ll find you. My brother cares about you, Halle. He’ll lose it if your take off.”

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