Page 12 of Broken Rejected Mate

I did a great job of hiding it in high school. So much so that even Dorian—my best friend and soon to be alpha leader of the pack—had no idea I was hooking up with her.

“Hi, Veva, right?”

“Yes, Dorian,” Veva rolls her eyes at him, and the feeling in the room shifts. An omega talking like that to an alpha—thealpha leader, no less—makes the air feel thick with discomfort. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, but Kira smiles, and Dorian even lets out a low chuckle.

“So, you remember me?”

Veva cuts her eyes to Kira, then says, “Sure. And I remember you treating Kira like shit in high school.”

Instantly, I’m embarrassed. Veva may not belong to me, in any concrete way, but it still feels like she’s speaking for me, too.

Kira’s eyebrows shoot up, and Dorian nods, running a hand over his chin, his mouth. “That’s fair. Trust me when I say I’m making up for that every day. As much fun as it is for me to talk about the mistakes of my youth, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

Veva shifts in her bed, her arm snaking around Sarina again. Then, her eyes move to me.

“You want to talk to me?” she asks, not tearing her eyes from mine. “Make him go away.”

Silence falls over the room. I can practically feel Kira and Dorian burning with curiosity, wanting to know what this is all about. Finally, after a long moment, Dorian sighs and says, “Emin?”

I bite my tongue, turn on my heel, and push out of the room.

Chapter 7 - Veva

The moment Emin walks out of the room, I feel my nervous system start to calm. Sarina is at my side, he’s not here, confusing my body, and now I can focus on the two people in front of me.

Dorian Fields. The last time I saw him, he was a teenager, prepping to take over his grandfather’s role. I’d heard, distantly, that the old man died, and Dorian took over, but it’s different seeing it in real time. The man that he’s grown into.

The improbable woman at his side—the fact that she was, somehow, able to forgive him for everything she put him through. I can still remember the sound of his voice carrying down the hallway, the fact that Emin followed Dorian’s lead, teasing his own sister in front of everyone else.

“Veva,” Kira says, glancing at Dorian and stepping toward me. “We know you’ve been through a lot, so just tell us if this is too much, okay? We can come back later.”

“Sarina and I will be leaving as soon as we can,” I say, sitting up and trying to ignore the pain in my body.

“The healers said it’s going to take a while for you to get better,” Dorian says, keeping his distance from me, but holding my gaze. I have to admit—it’s putting me at ease. The way he’s speaking to me as an equal.

As an alpha, and especially as an alpha leader, he could compel me to do what he wanted. Even with all the casting I’ve done on myself, and my powers, my biology would make me obey.

But he’s not doing that. He’s talking to me like I’m a person.

“At least a few weeks for your sense of smell to heal,” Dorian says, his voice low. I can feel Sarina stiffening with worry beside me, and I give her a quick one-two tap on her back. Our secret little signal—everything is okay. “You’re a smart woman, Veva. You know it’s not smart for you to leave like this. I think we can help each other out, here.”

I suck in a breath, considering. “Okay. I’ll listen.”

“Kira said you cast a pretty strong spell in here, on her,” Dorian nods to Sarina, who sits quietly, but pushes her hair behind her ears. “We’re working on a…project. And we could use that kind of power to help us finish it up. So here’s my proposal: you and Sarina stay while you heal up, and we compensate you for your work on the project. In a few weeks, you’re feeling good enough to leave, we have the results we want, and you have a little extra coin. Everyone wins.”

For some reason, I think of Emin. Not everyone wins.

I blink hard and try to shake the thought from my head—there is no reason for me to be thinking of him. Our connection is already getting in my head, and I can’t have that. Half of me knows it’s important for Sarina and me to leave as soon as possible, but the other part of me understands that I won’t be able to protect us like this.

Not without my sense of smell. Not battered, bruised, and exhausted like I am.

Not without the money stored under my mattress, back near Grayhide territory.

Sarina taps me—one-two, one-two. She thinks we should do it, wants us to stay. I shift, look into her eyes, and it only takes two seconds for me to see what’s going on in that head of hers.

She’s scared after what happened at the market. Doesn’t understand why it happened. We haven’t even had a chance to talk about her premonition—for me to explain what it means. Some downtime—a little space to be in one place—might be good for us.

A few seconds after his proposal, I ask, “What is the project? I’m not using my abilities to hurt anyone.”

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