Page 42 of Rejected Mate

I was a bit annoyed as I left the room. It was so selfish of him to go out without telling me where he was going or offering to take me with him. After such a magical night, why would he not send a message or even leave a note to tell me he was going out? Winter wouldn't do that. No way. He would always tell me when he was leaving and even offer for me to go with him. And Sky would have stayed here until I woke up.

I had to stop comparing him to his brothers, but there were little things like that that annoyed me.

I put on a false smile as I headed down to the restaurant to have breakfast. Other wolves mingled with their mates, smiling, some of them even holding hands. I even saw a same-sex mated pair cuddled together in a booth near the windows. It confirmed what I'd already suspected—not all wolves were brutes. Some of them could be affectionate; it was just my third mate who didn't know how to be.

There was a buffet on display, and I started to fill my plate after giving my room number. I put Husk to the back of my mind, as I focused on devouring the scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, and hash browns that I'd piled on my plate in a little mountain. I'd thought I was just a bit peckish, but I was far from it.

I sat in the corner and adjusted my pink summer dress, to make myself feel more at ease. My phone rested to the side of my plate. I began to eat, and it was as if the phone was possessing me, as the more I ate, the more my hunger increased.

Each bite melted in my mouth, making me crave more. Until I decided that I needed a little pepper, and saw the pepper shaker on the other side of the table. My mind told me to bring it to me. And then like that, it was in my hand, confirming what I'd already suspected. That mating had returned my powers, and I just needed to eat to get my energy back. As my once full plate became empty, no more was I annoyed about Husk. I was just thinking about what to eat next.

* * *

I'd over eaten, and there was still no sign of Husk. I even sent him a message, which he read but then failed to reply to. I was bored and unclear what to do next, so I headed to the lobby. The view from there was spectacular, as I could get a glimpse of the wolves as they played and ran wild in the wilderness.

I thought that would be Husk and me today, but instead he'd done a disappearing act. I decided to call Rebecca. But when her voicemail came on, I didn't leave a message. I frowned at the phone, wanting to talk to another woman and not one of my mates. I bit my lip, thinking of Mayia. Maybe she understood what was going on because I sure as hell was confused.

"Hey, Mayia," I said, relieved that she picked up the call. It was daylight, and vampires tended to sleep at this hour. I tried to erase the fact that she was half-vampire out of my head at times, seeing as they had such a bad reputation.

"Fagua." She sighed. "I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. What's going on?"

"I'm bored," I admitted, thinking that I wouldn't hide anything from her.

She chuckled, as if she knew what was going on inside my head.

"Well, I gathered that from the fact you called. You obviously aren't imprinting with Husk or you wouldn't have called me."

"Don't say that. You're always in my thoughts."

"So you would be mating with him and then say,oh yeah, let me just make a quick call to Mayia. Husk, pull out for a second will you."

We both roared with laughter, and I drew the attention of others walking through the lobby. I quickly put my hand over my mouth, trying to contain my laughter and not wanting any more attention.

"You have a point. You're so bad."

"So what gives. Where's Husk?"

I shrugged and pouted, hating to admit the truth.

"Dunno. I woke up and he was gone. Now it's getting close to three and I still don't know where he is."

"Well, you tried calling him, right?"

I hated the idea of her asking me such an obvious question, but it was the first thing that always sprung to people's minds.

They often wondered if the other person had tried to make contact.

"Yeah, and he never picked up or replied to my message. So what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe he's running around in the wilderness and can't get to the phone."

She was thinking the same thing as I was, which didn't give me any comfort. Especially after I saw he read my message and it had been a long time since I woke up. He could have had time for a quick reply if he'd been able to open the text and read it.

"That is exactly what I thought, and it just pissed me off even further." I shifted to the side of the lobby, which was silly because I was in a place surrounded by wolves and most of them could hear me from a mile away. I didn't care, though because I wanted to feel some kind of privacy, even if I was kidding myself.

"We're supposed to be here together and he just leaves me. No note. Nothing. Winter would never do that. Nor Sky. Husk is just—"

"Different?"

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