Page 35 of Claiming His Rejected Mate

“I know,” I say, my chest tightening. “But I can’t risk leaving. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

I take a shaky breath. “Because Eldon won’t stop until he gets what he wants. If I leave, Eldon will likely catch me, and everything will be a hundred times worse than it is right now. I'm starting to believe that Eldon is more dangerous right now.”

Ayana is silent for a moment, my words sinking in. “You think Kieran will protect you?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I know Eldon won’t stop.” If what Sylvia has told me is anything to go by, Kieran isn't as evil as Eldon, even though they're both dangerous shifters.

“That’s a big risk,” she says quietly.

“I don’t see another option. We can't go back to Nightclaw. We lost their protection the second we crossed the border, and my mother does not have the power to save us.” I reply, my voice trembling. “We’re running out of time.”

Ayana sighs on the call. I hear the weariness in her voice. There’s nothing else to do other than hope that being on Kieran's estate is really the best option right now.

Chapter 11

Hazel

The air is heavy with the scent of rain and earth as I pace my chambers, the rain drowning my footsteps, but not my mind. It’s working overtime to figure out how I can play my cards right. I can’t leave. Not without Kieran’s wolves breathing down my neck or the fear that Eldon will capture me.

It’s almost laughable—me, a former warrior, reduced to pacing like a caged animal, caught in the middle of beef I have nothing to do with.

A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. I hesitate, my hand hovering over the handle before I pull it open.

At least I have some privacy. The sarcasm dripping from my wolf’s tone makes me smirk. But then it fades when I see who’s on the other side of the door.

Three Omegas stand in the hallway, their heads bowed slightly, their postures stiff with nerves.

“Can I help you? Here to fulfil another of your Alpha’s sick orders?” I can’t help the sass in my voice, and I roll my eyes and cross my arms. Kieran and his domineering orders make me feelsorry for the Omegas. I know what it feels like to be in their shoes, subject to an Alpha’s whim, barely having the space to be my own person.

One of them, a young man with shaggy brown hair and a nervous twitch, speaks first. “We heard about what happened…” he looks at the other two women and then back at me, “with Alpha Kieran.”

I stiffen, my grip tightening on the doorframe. “And?” Did they come to fight? To take vengeance for their Alpha, who clearly doesn’t need them fighting for or defending him?

The tallest among them, a younger woman with a fierce glint in her caramel eyes, steps forward. “We want you to train us.”

I’m taken aback. I look around the hall and see the red dot of the security cam in the hallway.

“You are being careless. Come inside.”

They hurry in and I shut the door. Why the hell will they put their lives at risk this way? Three Omegas coming to my room without a task to excuse it are asking for punishment.

I narrow my eyes. “Why would you want that?” My curiosity gets the best of me now.

The girl straightens her shoulders. “I’m Mara Lou. But Mara is fine.” She turns to the others, and they introduce themselves as well.

The man is Pita, and the other woman is Gina. Mara clears her throat and continues talking. “No one here takes us seriously. We’re Omegas. We’re supposed to be weak, expendable. But we’re tired of it. We want to fight. We want to defend our pack when duty calls.”

“We want to be able to defend ourselves.” Gina is quiet, but the hard lines on her face tell me she’s been through hell.

The earnestness in her voice hits something raw inside me. I know that feeling all too well—the need to prove yourself, to defy the labels others force on you.

Even though they look well taken care of, there’s nothing that beats having the skill to defend yourself when you need to.

But this is risky.

“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking,” I say, stepping back. “If Kieran finds out—”

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