Page 10 of Rejected Bullied Mate

It wasn't just anger I was feeling now, but the cold bite of loss and regret, and I didn't want to deal with that. It felt too close to admitting that I'd been wrong, and I would have rather eaten dirt than admit that to her. "Fine," I bit the word out. "But this conversation isn't done,mate. That I can promise you."

***

Dawn was touching the horizon when we pulled into Crystal Creek, and while Kiera had made it clear she had no interest in coming home, she still sat forward excitedly as the city came into view. She looked good like that, her body tense and her face excited, her dark eyes looking out over the familiar landscape. She'd changed over the past seven years, and so had the city.

Two packs inhabited the coastal town—my pack, the Saltfangs, and the Brokenclaw pack led by Joe Longwood. Joe had made an alliance with my father and kept it strong and steady when I took over. While I didn't love sharing space with another dominant Alpha like Joe, the town was large enough that it wasn't a problem.

No one except my Beta, Waylon Brown, my council, and a few higher-ranking pack members even knew I was bringing Kiera and Kit home. The honorable thing would have been to tell her parents, but they’d moved four years ago. I didn't want any interference for what was about to come next.

Crystal Creek was beautiful—even I wasn't jaded enough to deny that. The rising sun shone on the sea, glinting and glittering as if it were trying to show off for the small town it bordered. The scent of saltwater was in the air, along with the smells of people and breakfast food from nearby diners. It was still early enough that there weren't that many cars on the road, but we were on the way to my house and out of the main part of town in minutes.

"Home sweet home," I said dryly.

Kiera didn't look at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on," I said as I pulled the car into my garage, "You know it feels good to be back in pack territory."

"Like hell it does," Kiera strained to look out the window, absentmindedly rubbing at her cuffed wrist. "Where are we going anyway?"

"My place." I grinned at her. "Where else would we be going? I don’t exactly have time to wine and dine you, mate.”

"I'm not your mate!" She snarled, turning toward me, but her gaze shifted from my eyes to my mouth, and a pink blush crept into her cheeks. She wasn't lying when she said it, but her body certainly had other ideas. I could smell her interest in the small car, and it made me grin despite myself.

"Just relax, firecracker. I've got a little 'welcome home' event for you at my house."

She was clearly suspicious, but didn't press, because Kit was waking up in the back once more. Kiera gave him a bottle of water and a granola bar, choosing the same for herself and absentmindedly chewing on it as we turned onto my street. Her suspicion grew when she spotted the group of cars outside of my family home, her head jerking over to me.

"Why are so many people here?"

I didn't answer. There was no going back now, and Kiera was just going to have to swallow down the bitter pill of her punishment—being locked to me for life, as my mate, whether she wanted to or not.

The family home was on the edge of town near the pine forest line, huge and old, built by my great-grandfather when he first settled his small pack in Crystal Creek as the first Saltfang Alpha. It wasn't a perfect home by any stretch of the imagination. It was way too big for just me; it needed repairs and upkeep constantly, the furniture was older than the town itself, and there were rooms that I didn't use at all. It was still home. The place where I grew up and where I hoped Kit would grow up, too.

I parked and looked at Kiera, but her attention was on the house. I didn't have to look at it from her perspective; it was rustically beautiful and probably looked strange and empty, especially at this time of morning. It looked like a huge, lonely cabin that had been untouched for years.

Without a word, I reached over and undid her cuffs with the key I had kept in my pocket, watching as she massaged her sore wrist while glaring at me. Part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her inside the house, but I knew that there was a much simpler way to get her to go where I wanted.

"Kit," I turned to look at the boy, "You want to take a tour and pick out your new room?"

The kid was practically vibrating with excitement. He didn't seem worried that the man driving the car was his long-lost father and that his mother had been forced to return here. In fact, Kit seemed to like me a great deal already.

The kid nodded, and I hopped out of the car, opening his door and taking his hand to lead him inside. When I looked over my shoulder at Kiera, I was sure her eyes could shoot daggers, but just like I suspected, she was never going to let me take Kit out of her sight. In seconds, she was out of the car and following behind us.

The front door was unlocked, and there was an air of seriousness in the house as soon as we stepped inside. I led the two of them through the first floor, not stopping even when Kit tried to pull at my arm to look at something, and didn't pause until we were exiting out of the back of the house into the yard.

There, gathered on the wooden porch my father had built, was my entire council, waiting in a semicircle in complete silence. Waylon, my Beta, was in the center. The rest of the pack's dominant wolves were on either side of him, and on any other occasion, that much dominance in one place would undoubtedly start a fight.

Not with me there, though. The pack's Alpha is what held it together, and they all bowed their heads to me in respect. Behind me, Kiera sucked in a breath, and I knew she was about to flee. I dropped Kit's hand and grabbed Kiera's, pulling her forward as I approached my pack.

"Kiera Langley," Waylon rumbled, thick arms crossed over his chest. "Welcome home, and welcome to your mating ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Kiera looked like she'd been slapped. "No way in hell!" She tried to jerk free from my hand, but I kept hold of her, leaning close so when I spoke, she was the only one that could hear me.

"You're worrying the boy," I growled, "Look at him."

Her gaze fell on Kit, who was shifting from side to side, watching his mother with his eyes wide and fearful. He was starting to sense that something was wrong and that Kiera was unhappy. The urge to protect and keep him calm came out of nowhere, but I wasn't about to let go of that instinct now.

"Smile, Kiera. This isn't going to end anytime soon. Once you're mated to me, you and the boy will be under the protection of the entire pack. Do you really want the son of an Alpha out here unprotected?"

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