Page 14 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
Even being Aurela Cambias—Lachlan’s sister and the daughter of one of the most influential families in town—isn’t going to save her now. The entire town, the entire pack, is so battered from these fires, from what Tara has been doing, that any affiliation with them is going to be impossible to beat.
And I saw the hatred in Xeran’s eyes when he issued that missive.
Make it clear that if anyone is harboring Tara, they will be executed. If they make contact with her and don’t immediately tell us, they will be executed. If I find out a single member of this pack is connected to her, or these fires in any way, I will not show mercy.
“Fuck,” I mutter, then feel ridiculous for it. It’s been a long time since I’ve reflected like this, just thinking without someone else to talk to. That’s what happens when you come up here, so isolated from town.
I stand for a moment, looking up at the moon, wishing I could shift, could go running through the woods to relieve some pressure. But the scent-blocking around my family’s cabin only goes so far, and if I shift, it’s going to make it even easier for Xeran and the others to find me.
Right now, the smoke and ash are on my side, making it even harder for them to pick up on my scent.
Or Aurela’s.
When I walk back into the cabin, Aurela has either passed out again or is pretending. I sigh and sit down in the chair, staring at her, taking in her body, which is distracting enough in its own right. Her gold-blond hair, how peaceful she looks sleeping like this. She’s in a little black pajama set trimmed with lace, the collar of which dips down distractingly between her breasts.
Her face is impossibly familiar to me. Like the drive into town, or the smell of this cabin. The first time I saw her, I felt like I recognized her immediately, the same way I would if I ran into my own grandfather at the mall. My brain picked her out aswe passed one another in the hallway at school, highlighting her face and dulling out everyone around us.
For the first week after it happened, I thought I was losing my mind.
Now, my wolf is possessive and practically drooling, growling at me to unchain her, peel off her clothes, claim her body for my own. But all the problems that existed back then are still present, and I’m not going to be the reason her life falls apart.
It’s clear that she cares about her family. That, given the choice to leave them or stay with them, she would choose to stay. So I’m not going to ruin that for her.
Besides, she probably wants nothing to do with me, anyway.
It doesn’t matter.
What matters is that time is running out. Xeran—and the others—are going to be looking for me. For us. And I have to figure out what in the hell is going on with Aurela before they do, or she might not live to see another day, no matter who her family is.
Not only that, but Xeran is already pissed that I ran off. They probably think that I lost my mind. When Xeran finds out that I’ve been harboring her, that I abandoned them to save the woman found with Tara in the woods, things aren’t going to be looking so hot for me, either.
I get up, grab the empty, overturned water cup from the counter, refill it, and return to Aurela’s bedside, hoping that the next time she comes to will be more fruitful.
For both our sakes.
Chapter 8 - Aurela
When I wake up, Soren is slumped in the chair beside the bed, his head lolled onto his chest.
I can’t stop myself from staring at him for a moment. The freckles over his cheeks are so boyish, so contradictory to the harsh tone he used with me earlier. His copper curls are brushed out and slightly less coily than they usually are. A stretch of dark copper scruff runs along the sides of his jaw, up to his ears.
I want to reach out and cup his face in my hands, feel that scruff against my skin, but I resist the urge.
Right now, the most important thing is that I getoutof here. I have no idea what Soren wants, or what he’s doing with me, or why he’s asking me these questions, but it’s obvious that he’s not going to let me go until I tell him something.
And I can’t do that.
I’ve survived the past fifteen years by sayingnothing,just like my mother told me to. By laying low and being quiet, by existing in the way other people wanted me to. Telling Soren anything about Tara is just going to bring everything back.
I have no idea how she isn’t dead, how she came to be in the woods, how she called to me.
And why she called to me now.
But what I do know is that I need to get back to my parents. They protected me the last time something like this happened. If I break and tell Soren something I shouldn’t, I might not make it out this time.
Back in the woods with Tara, I was almost happy to let her drink me dry, take all my magic until there was nothing left.But now, I feel the itch of survival, of wanting to make it through another day.
More importantly, of wanting to get away from Soren.
