Page 47 of Broken Rejected Mate

Chapter 26 - Emin

“Emin, what the hell are you doing?”

Veva is in the casting room, working on the Amanzite, so I’ve been pacing in the hallway, thinking. I glance up when Dorian comes down the hallway, looking at me like I’ve lost it.

“What?”

“You’re talking to yourself. You’re going to scare the new recruits.”

Aidan appears behind him, grinning. “Nah, Emin doesn’t scare me. Now, those psychics—”

He fakes a shudder at the idea of it, and I catch his gaze.

“Careful. Veva is one ofthose psychics.”

Dorian watches me carefully. Someone comes down the hall with a cart, and we move to the side to let them through. Inside the casting room, there’s the hushed sound of them working together, the gentle emanating pulse of the magic seeping out through the cracks in the door.

“So…” Dorian starts, eyes flicking from me, to the door and back. “Wanna tell me what’s going on there?”

Aidan watches, curiosity in his gaze, and Dorian looks between me and him.

“Unless you…?”

“Nah,” I sigh, waving a hand in Aidan’s direction. “It’s fine, but—”

Another person rolling a cart goes past, and we fall silent until they’re gone. Then, I say, “I’d rather not talk about it in the hallway.”

“Heard,” Dorian says, gesturing over his shoulder. “Follow me.”

I hesitate, looking at the door, not wanting to leave Veva, but Dorian gives me a look. “We’re in the pack hall,” he says, pointing to at least three of the guys in this hallway alone. “She’s in good hands. Going upstairs isn’t going to change that.”

Still, I don’t want to leave, but the idea of talking to Dorian about this feels right. So I follow him up the stairs and into his office.

“Really?” I ask, laughing at the name plate on his desk. “We’re really going to have this discussion in here? It looks like a principal’s—”

I’m cut off when he goes to one of the bookcases, tips out a book, and opens a secret door.

“What?” Aidan laughs, bringing his hands to his head. “No way—those are real?”

Dorian shrugs, laughing as we step through. “Perks of being the alpha leader. They asked what I wanted for my office…”

“And you said,speakeasy?”I laugh, turning and taking in this secret room—all lush leather and dark wood. In fact, it looks oddly close to the casting room. “Did the casters put this together for you?”

“Like I said,” Dorian shrugs, “perks of being the alpha leader. And, just to clarify, we had this done before the problem with the Amanzite started. I was not pilfering magic for my own personal gain—”

“Calm down, goodie two-shoes,” Aidan laughs, putting his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up as he drops into a leather chair. “Nobody here is going to tell on you. I’mdefinitely going to have one of these when I’m alpha leader over at the Grayhides.”

“Feet off,” Dorian says, his voice nearing a growl, and Aidan sits up, looking a bit sheepish. “You’re not an alpha leader yet, Grayhide. I’d make sure to keep that in mind.”

Aidan nods, and I watch as he scoots back in his seat, his head turning to take more of the room in. It’s odd watching him, thinking about how young he really is. Sometimes, like when he’s training, he seems much older than his twenty and change.

Dorian moves to the other side of the room, mixes each of us a drink. When they’re dispersed, he looks at me over the top of his glass and says, “Well?”

Well.

I reach into my pocket, feel the little box I’ve had in there since yesterday. It belonged to my grandmother, and she gave it to me before she passed. Said it would go to my wife, when I found her.

“Well,” I say, clearing my throat and pulling it out, popping it open so they can see the ring. Aidan jerks back like I’ve pulled out a gun, and Dorian very slowly sets his drink on his desk.

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