Page 82 of Rejecting his Mate

I want to trust her, and I’m also interested in meeting more of my kind. Maybe they will know something about my mom. Maybe they will know something about me.

Cars and trucks whiz past us, and I see a sign for the I-15. This is probably a bad idea, but for some reason, I don’t think Tessa is my enemy.

I lean forward to speak to Wyatt. “We need to take the I-15.”

Wyatt glances at me before giving his attention back to the road. “Why?”

I’m not entirely sure how to explain the presence in my mind without sounding like I have lost my own. “Someone is meeting us there.”

“Who?” Cade is the first to speak, but the others join in a moment later.

“A friend.” Even as I say this, I hope it is true.

Cade’s brows climb up his head. “What friend?”

“Tessa. I—I think she’s like me.”

There is a moment of silence as everyone in the truck takes this in. “You’ve lost me here. Who is she?”

Shit. I’m going to have to explain, and I don’t know how to do that without them doubting me. “She was in my head when we were running from the hunters. I saw her, and I spoke to her.”

“Some random woman drops into your mind, tells you to go to this place, and you just agree?” Cade seems pissed that I haven’t used any common sense in this situation, but my life isn’t exactly normal.

“She says she’s like me,” I defend.

“I don’t like to say it,” Sawyer speaks, “but strangersgenerally don’t drop into people’s heads and talk to them. How’d you know this isn’t a ploy from one of the hunters to get us somewhere so they can take us in?”

I don’t, but I didn’t sense any malice from Tessa. She felt like a friend, but I think the four wolves in this truck are not going to see it that way, though. Cade is mistrustful of everything, and while I could maybe bring Sawyer around, I don’t think the others will believe me.

“She says she is tau, and so am I. And she definitely has magic. I sensed it.”

“Halle —”

I hold up a hand, silencing Cade before he can start his complaint. “She wants to help, and we are shit out of friends right now. I think wherever we go, she’s going to follow us anyway. She’s already in the state.”

Cade lets out a string of curses. “We are absolutely not meeting up with some random thing that appeared in your head claiming to be like you.”

I glare at him. “You were also random to me, but here we are. All I knew about you is that you stalked me in the woods.” Cade looks a little embarrassed at being called out like this. I could let him off the hook, but I don’t. “If she is like me, I doubt she is going to hurt me. She said others like us want to protect our kind. I believe her. And I don’t care if you think that makes me naïve, but we are out of options. If she’s lying, I’ll kill her myself.”

Cade scrubs a hand over his face, and I can sense the warring emotions inside him. He doesn’t like this plan, and I don’t blame him for that. It is a dangerous game we are playing here, but we are also alone,running from a danger we cannot hope to outpace. The hunters have resources we don’t, and it is only a matter of time before we slip up and are caught.

“Even if you don’t trust Tessa, trust me. I don’t know why, but I feel as if I am meant to go to her. There is this pull in that direction.” I lean in, dropping my voice low. “If she is like me, she might know something about my past. If you won’t come with me, I’ll have to go on my own.”

“Fuck!” He hisses. “Wyatt, take the road.”

Wyatt gives him a look in the rearview mirror that tells me how he feels about this decision, but he hits the turn signal and moves to take the off-ramp.

I sink back into the seat, relief flooding me.

I hope you aren’t double-crossing me, Tessa.

As the truck races along the highway, I watch for signs that say Spencer. When it finally comes into view, I point. “Get off here.”

Wyatt seems reluctant to do it, but he exits the highway. Spencer is a tiny place with only a few buildings on the horizon. There are signs for an opal mine, but I don’t see a lot else until the road opens out, and a small building comes into view, a sign on the side of the wall declaring it sells food.

It sits between two hillsides, the road barely wide enough for one car to get down. It is remote and a little creepy.

I don’t know where Tessa wants to meet, but considering this is the only building here, I tell Wyatt to park.

---