Page 90 of Rejecting his Mate

“I’ve had enough of this game.” He turns to the wolves behind him, lifting his chin. Guns are suddenly raised in our direction, and my heart nearly explodes beneath my ribs. We can’t outrun bullets.

I think about my life and the things I never got to do. I think about Cade and how he and his pack savedme even though they barely knew me. I think about how he and I never really had a chance.

I stare at Cade’s back, wishing I could magic him out of here, but when I reach for my magic, I don’t feel it.

The guns fire, popping loudly through the air. I close my eyes, waiting for the pain to hit, but it never does. Instead, I hear the clinking of metal as the shells hit the asphalt. I open my eyes and see empty cases littering the ground in front of us. It is as if the tau wolves have created a force field around us that can’t be penetrated.

The hunter signals again for his wolves to shoot at us. I cover my ears and watch as the bullets are repelled before they can hit anyone, dropping to the ground.

There’s a crack in the magic, a wavering of strength. They are not going to be able to hold it long.

“Hold steady,” Hester bites out the words, sweat beading on her forehead as she does.

Apryle and Tessa are struggling too. The magic around them is winking in and out as more bullets are fired.

Suddenly, Cade drops to one knee, holding his shoulder. Blood pours between his fingers, and it feels as if I have been dunked in an icy bath. The redness of it seems unnatural as it spreads down the back of his hand to drip off his wrist.

Sawyer and I reach him at the same time, both of us grabbing a side of him as he lurches. Fear like I have never felt, even when I was staring death in the eyes, crawls over every inch of me. I can’t lose Cade. I won’t.

“Shit,” Sawyer mutters as he presses his hand over his brother’s.

“You’re going to be okay,” I say, more for my own benefit than Cade’s. There is no other option.

My wolf is going wild inside me. She never did that when Cade was attacking Dalton.

Because Cade and I are connected. Our wolves are connected. Not in the same way as Dalton and I—this is something different. I don’t know what that means.

Another bullet whizzes through the force field surrounding us, sinking into the asphalt behind Wyatt. Rage fills me, and anger consumes every cell in my body. I turn my head to look at the group of hunters that are firing non-stop at us. Do they not understand we are living, breathing creatures? Are they so clouded by hate that they would end our lives just because of what we are?

I get to my feet, anger still swirling through me. I want to kill them, every single one of them. I am so over being chased down by these predators.

Sawyer says something to me, and Cade tries to grab my hand, but I pull away. I glare at the hunter in charge, letting my hate flow through me.

This needs to end. I have to get Cade somewhere safe, so I can patch him up. Without thinking, I grab Apryle’s hand.

Joined to the others, power surges through me, nearly knocking me down.

Pain fires through every synapse, from my feet to the tips of my hair. I feel as if I am being torn inside out. Someone is screaming, and I realize it’s me. This isworse than my failed first change. It feels as if a dam has been broken, and all that repressed power has turned into a tsunami, flowing freely.

My head slams back, and I look at the sky. The power inside me is too much to handle, and it explodes out of my body, pushing against the force field until it breaks, slamming into the hunters.

Bodies fly through the air, some hitting the side of the vehicles they came in. I’m still screaming, my throat raw as if I have swallowed razor blades.

The power that surges between the four of us is so intense it nearly drives me to my knees.

As my magic frees itself from the confines of its binding, images start to play through my mind like a movie reel. Flashes of the past, of moments spent with my mom, spin through me.

Everything comes flooding back in one hit, and it is too much to handle. I remember my sixth birthday party. There is a cake in the shape of a clown. It made me cry. My mama taking me to the mall and getting me a milkshake.

And Adeline.

Adeline taking me to that house, the one with the perfect lawn and the gray siding. The one where she told a witch named Delphine to bind my magic and take everything from me.

I drop to all fours, another scream wrenching out of me. My body feels as if it is on fire. Maybe it is, I don’t know anymore.

I can feel blood trailing down my face, warm and wet, but I can’t stop my power. It feels as if it is going toconsume me and tear me apart. My fingers touch the asphalt as I try to ground myself, trying to release the stranglehold it has on me.

Cade is suddenly in front of me, his hands cupping my face, trying to bring my attention to him. I don’t miss the fact that his hands are soaked in his own blood or the sheen of sweat covering his face.

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