Page 14 of Broken Rejected Mate

“So, what the fuck was that?”

The second I hear Dorian’s voice, I’m on my feet, glancing around him, disappointment surging through me when I realize Veva and Sarina aren’t with him.

He stops, crossing his arms and leveling a look at me. “They aren’t here.”

“Where are they?”

“See,” Dorian tilts his head, studying me. I don’t like it—especially knowing that, as my alpha leader, he can already sense something is up with me. “Why does it matter so much to you, man? What the hell is going on with you and Veva Marone?”

The way Dorian says her name—still with the tinge of how we used to say it in high school—instantly reminds me of the reason I’d turned her away all those years ago. It’s only a tenth of the inflection my father used when saying her name, and it still stings, still sends a message about her.

At once, it enrages me and fills me with shame. The fact that anybody would talk about her like that. The fact thatItalked about her like that, pushed her away, sent her off into a life where she needed to sell her things at the dark market to survive.

I suck in a breath, look away from Dorian, try to figure out what and how to tell him.

More than anything, I don’t want to tell him. Don’t want to admit the shame of the entire situation—the fact that I was withVeva Marone. The fact that I hid it from him. The fact that I still want her more than anything.

The worst part of it all—that I turned her away. That I was the reason she disappeared.

That I acted, like all the rest of us, like I had no clue what happened to her. Sometimes, when we met up with old buddies from high school, they’d tilt their heads, say something like, “You remember Veva Marone? Wonder why she left like that?”

And I’d shake my head, shrug my shoulders, act like I had not a clue where she went. When the theories came out, always scandalous and cruel, always with that tone, I’d clench my fists under the table and keep my mouth shut, hot embarrassment and shame pounding through me like a river.

“Emin?” Dorian presses, his lips turning to a thin line. “Hello?”

I sigh, then refill my lungs.

“Well, Veva and I knew each other better in high school than we let on.”

“I’d say so,” Dorian lets out a dry laugh, “since you didn’t let on that you knew her at all. Listen, Emin, as the alpha leader, Ineedto know what’s going on here. Need to make sure I have the whole picture.”

“And, as your friend,” I say, heart thundering, “I just…can’t. I need a little time before I can tell you.”

Dorian holds my gaze for much longer than feels comfortable, his eyes flicking back and forth between mine.

“Fine,” he finally says. “But I need to know one thing—that little girl, is she…?”

“No.” My eyes hit the floor, the disappointment rolling through me when the words come out. No. She’s not—she’s two years too young for that to make sense. No matter how much I see myself in her, or how much I wish it could be true. “She’s not.”

“Okay.” Dorian nods once, twice, then claps his hand on my shoulder. “You need a way to let off some of this steam. I can feel it radiating off of you, man. Not good to keep it all bottled up. Even if you’re not going to talk to me, you have to do something with it.”

“You’re not going to tell me where they are?”

He shakes his head. “No. Not sure she wants that right now.”

“Right.” I feel the tension wound inside me, hot, tight knots in my shoulders. My hands are shaking, and my entire body sways with the urge to find Veva, to go to her.

Dorian is right, and I let out a breath, wondering if I should shift, go out on the border, do some patrol. “You got any ideas?”

“Sure,” Dorian grins. “At least one.”

***

Aidan’s right hook slams into my jaw, nearly knocking me clean off the mat. If I wasn’t wearing this ridiculous headgear, he might have cleaved my head right through.

“Fucking shit,” I mutter, shaking my head to clear it and righting myself, seeing two Aidans through the fuzz in my mind. Smaller than me, with messy gray hair that definitely needs a trim, staring at me with concern. I wait for the two versions of him to turn back into just one, then say, “Training’s working out, dude.”

“Yeah?” For all the world, Aidan looks like a puppy that’s just been told he’ll get to go for a walk, his eyes lighting up. “You think so?”

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