Page 13 of Betrayed Mate (Rejected Fate Trilogy #1)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

E ven as anger flamed through my body, exhaustion had taken root, making it impossible to stand on my own two feet. Despite my annoyance, I couldn’t order myself to get off the ground. Instead, I crossed my arms and scowled, hoping that I didn’t look constipated. “Because losing my pack wasn’t payment enough?” My voice cracked, making me sound weak and pathetic, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t done a damn thing to justify him talking to me that way.

The luster in his eyes lessened for a moment before it reappeared so heavy that I could barely see the actual color of his irises.

He stalked in our direction, a few twigs sticking out of his hair. The moonlight glistened on his shirtless body, and my traitorous eyes focused on the contours of his muscles and stalled on his chiseled six-pack. A different kind of warmth spread through my body, one I refused to acknowledge. Instead, I forced my eyes upward toward his face, which was way too handsome for the cruel person he was.

“Don’t pull that card on me.” He jabbed a finger at me. “We lost our pack too. You aren’t the only victim.”

A bitter laugh shredded my raw throat. “Oh, you’re making sure there are plenty of victims.” Adrenaline finally pumped through me, allowing me to climb slowly to my feet.

Xander lightly tugged my arm, trying to get me to sit back down.

“Do not touch her,” Ryker snarled, his eyes glowing even behind the thick sheen. His hands clenched as Kendric and Gage hurried into view behind him.

Kendric’s forehead creased, and he blinked with what had to be surprise while Gage’s eyes widened and he lifted both hands.

“Okay, damn!” Xander dropped his hand. “I was just trying to help.”

Baring his teeth, Ryker’s chest heaved even more than before. “She doesn’t need your help. Got it?”

In fairness, I agreed. I could handle my own damn problems just fine, but I didn’t like that Ryker had made the determination for me. “If he wants to help me, then that’s between him and me. You don’t get to make that decision.”

Ryker’s hateful gaze landed squarely on me, and he rasped, “Maybe I don’t make the decision for you, but I can and will influence his choices if he doesn’t agree with me.”

A sour taste filled my mouth. Alphas like him were the worst. They didn’t hesitate to cut down a person or compel them to obey their commands. All the powerful packs, including the late king’s, had a way of making sure they got their way, and it was one reason that my pack had been more reclusive than most. We’d kept our heads down so that we could live our lives on our own terms as much as possible. That had worked well for centuries—until several days ago.

He smirked and tilted his head in mockery. “What’s wrong? Upset that you can’t get your way? What are you going to do? Punch me again? The first time, you surprised me, but believe me, lil rebel, I will tame you like I did the rest of them.”

Lil rebel?

How ironic. All I’d ever wanted was to live in peace. Even now, I just wanted to find my sister and run away to where our enemies couldn’t find us. A fresh start somewhere to build a brand-new life that wasn’t haunted by the ghosts of the pack we’d lost.

Still, I refused to let anyone break me. I might want to live in peace, but that didn’t mean I’d allow myself to be terrorized or broken by a bully. “I will never submit to you.”

He arched a brow as if I’d offered a challenge. He rubbed his hands together and said, “You know what? I should make you submit to me and join the pack. That way, you won’t free a fucking vampire who has answers and then pretend to sense a threat in the woods to get us to stop searching for him.”

I flinched. I knew he’d be pissed at me for what I’d done back at the river, but I hadn’t considered the possibility he’d think I made up the story of someone watching us from the woods. “It wasn’t made up.”

“See, I find it strange that you specified the incident as it .” He cracked his knuckles while staring straight into my soul. “You could be referring to anything, and worse, you think I’m dumb enough to fall for that.”

I huffed and eliminated the five-foot gap between us. My feet moved way too willingly—like I wanted to be close to him instead of my real reason—proving I wasn’t afraid of him. But this was one of my pack’s downfalls and another reason we’d stayed pretty isolated—we refused to cower when faced with someone like him . I refused to stroke his ego just because he was such a strong alpha. “I felt a presence back there, watching us,” I whispered. I’d meant to sound sure, but maybe I’d imagined it after all. I was exhausted, injured, and constantly felt as if something might jump out and try to kill me.

Ryker sniffed and narrowed his eyes. “There’s no hint of a lie, but you didn’t say it like you were confident. I find it convenient that you fought me to let our best lead escape, and when we finally picked up his trail, we were suddenly called away.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what happened at all. I thought I sensed someone watching me.”

“You thought ?” Ryker leaned forward.

Kendric’s and Gage’s expressions were strained as they watched Ryker and me. They slowly flanked Ryker, their gazes darting back and forth like they weren’t sure what to do or what was going to happen.

In fairness, I wasn’t sure either, but Ryker infuriated me more than anyone in this world ever had before. His mere presence irked me, and I didn’t like what that said about me. However, someone had to stand up for what was right in this world, or Ryker would make it his own version of hell.

Ryker cleared his throat. “Any day now, or are you choosing not to answer for a reason?”

I jerked my attention back to him. “I was certain until—” I cringed, hating that I couldn’t finish my sentence. When Ryker grinned and clasped his hands together, I forced the rest of the words out. “I wasn’t.”

His mocking grin disappeared into a stern expression. “What does that even mean? There was no one there, Rebel. We sniffed out everything.”

This was where I’d sound crazy, but I’d own up to my mistakes. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I knew someone was watching Xander and me.”

“I’m going to need you to try to describe it,” Ryker bit out.

Xander grunted behind me like he was standing up and might interject, so I didn’t wait to start talking. “Awareness prickled inside me.” I steeled my expression, though a part of me wanted to cover my face in shame. I was a wolf shifter, and my wolf magic had never sensed anything out of the ordinary before. I had no legitimate reason to think that someone was there…and yet, I had.

The stress, loss, and chaos must be getting to me. I couldn’t even rely on my animal.

“What do you mean by that? Did your wolf sense something?” Ryker pressed his lips into a hard line.

If I said yes, my wolf would look weak, and I’d smell of a lie, so I had no choice but to come clean. “No, she didn’t. My wolf didn’t sense anything.”

“So you used whatever you made up in your head as a reason for us to stop chasing that fucking vampire.” He flushed, and a faint growl reverberated from his chest.

Xander stepped to my side and puffed out his chest. “Man, a gust of wind came out of nowhere. It freaked me out too, so it wasn’t just her.”

“Had she told you that she sensed something by then?” Ryker asked.

“Yeah, but—”

Ryker’s nose wrinkled as he cut in, “You let her manipulate you instead of relying on your senses.”

As if Fate agreed with Ryker, a breeze suddenly picked up like it had earlier, causing branches to rustle and more orange, red, and yellow leaves to fall to the ground.

“Do you sense something now as well?” Ryker snapped, staring Xander and me down. “Or since Rebel hasn’t said anything, does it just feel like fall weather in the mountains?”

The urge to punch him again built in my chest. I hated how condescending he was, and I couldn’t help comparing him to the alpha I’d known best who would never treat a pack member or someone else that way. Yes, Dad would’ve been disappointed in me for letting my imagination run wild, but he also would’ve known that putting more pressure on me wouldn’t help. I’d seen how he handled families that suffered a loss and weren’t quite themselves for a time. He would have forced me to sit out from scout duty until things got better. Granted, I’d never done anything like what had happened tonight, but I’d lost my entire pack except for one person, and she was likely with an enemy I needed to find as soon as possible.

“I didn’t make it up on purpose, okay? Besides, I had no way of communicating with you all to know that you’d picked up his trail when I felt the alarm.” A small part of me screamed that I hadn’t made up anything at all, but the logical side of me understood what extreme loss could do to a person. “I seriously thought I felt someone. There wasn’t anything extra to it. You tracking down Simon was coincidental.”

Gage patted Ryker’s shoulder. “If she were lying, we’d know. Remember how we were for days, if not weeks, after our pack died? We were all on edge, thinking we were going to be attacked at any second. Hell, some of us still act like that.”

At Gage’s admission, my body felt a little lighter. Maybe I wasn’t crazy after all. Lately, I’d felt like I was falling apart more each day instead of getting better. Could that be why I resented Ryker so much? I feared that I would become like him and lose who I was in the process?

Cutting his eyes at his friend, Ryker scowled. “I know she’s not lying, but that doesn’t mean that ever since I found her near death, she hasn’t been a huge pain in my ass.”

I huffed, crossing my arms. “If by pain in your ass, you mean that I wasn’t okay with you—”

“Do not say beating up a victim.” He took two large steps toward me, getting in my face.

Immediately, the other three guys moved in, arms raised as if they were ready to intervene.

But I didn’t need their protection. I could take care of myself, or I’d go down trying. I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. “Why? Because you might feel a little bit of remorse for what you did?” A little bubble of hope expanded in my chest. I suddenly needed to hear him admit to being a somewhat decent person, though I wasn’t sure why.

“Because Simon’s not a good being. That’s why.” He moved quickly, placing a hand on my arm.

The other three guys jerked forward but pulled back when they noticed his gesture.

The sheen dissipated from his eyes, allowing me to see warm brown with flecks resembling gold. My wolf fidgeted awkwardly as I got lost in those beautiful eyes. Between that and the tingles from his touch spreading through my body, I had to remind my heart to harden as I stepped back and squared my shoulders. I couldn’t allow anything to distract me from my hatred of him. I had one task, and it was way more important than any draw to a man—especially someone who could turn on me at any second.

“Why should I trust you? You’ve given me absolutely no reason to, and your pack’s reputation speaks for itself. Do you even know Simon?”

And just like that, the sheen settled back over his gorgeous irises, and the strange sensations in my stomach calmed. Good. I didn’t need any more confusion. I’d found a self-destructive path well enough on my own.

“I don’t need to know him to know he’s no good.” He dropped his hand and snarled. “And if you’re going to question my judgment, then maybe you should go .”

My heart lurched. Finding Briar on my own might be more difficult.

Taking a deep breath, I found my resolve. “You’re right. Maybe I should go on my own. Your antics are distracting me from finding Briar and our real enemies anyway.” We’d wasted time chasing down innocents instead of the real threat, and it probably would be more effective to search on my own.

Gage snorted, his stern expression vanishing, until Ryker whipped his head in his direction and growled.

Gage lifted both hands, and his expression sobered though his eyes held a hint of sparkle. “What? She just called your ass out. It’s sorta refreshing. No one has done it since—”

“Do not speak her name,” Ryker bit out in a voice part human and part animal, suggesting he was on the verge of shifting.

Xander gripped my shoulders and tugged me back a few steps until my back pressed against the vehicle.

Ryker recoiled and focused on me as fur sprouted from his arms. “Do not touch her. I’ve already told you once.” He was on the verge of losing control.

“You’re about to shift, and I was getting her out of the way.” Xander once again dropped his hands like he’d touched something hot. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re acting even angrier than usual.”

Ryker’s chest heaved. “Because nothing’s gone the way it’s supposed to ever since she joined us. We should be getting answers, but instead, we’re searching for fictitious supernaturals that she felt .”

What a control freak! The fact that I had my own mind infuriated him. “You know what? You’re right. I’m hindering you, and you’re hindering me. Let’s just cut ties and go our separate ways.” I needed to follow the pack link to Briar and stop wasting time fighting with him and torturing a vampire who’d just lost a ton of people he must have cared about.

Ryker lifted his chin, and at this point, I couldn’t even see his eyes through the sheen. “Fine. Go,” he said condescendingly.

I spun on my heel, hating that he’d given me permission before I made the move on my own. I would now have to figure out on my own how to save my sister from whatever pack clearly had it out for us. Still, it was better to get there and figure it out instead of wasting precious time hunting down innocent people in hopes of quicker answers.

I marched past Xander and around the back of the vehicle. Since we were in the area where I’d grown up, I could easily avoid the wolf territory lines and stay close to town. Half the Shadowbrook population was human, so it wasn’t deemed any supernatural’s official territory.

I’d just reached the main road so as not to stray into Asher pack territory when I heard footsteps hurrying behind me.

“Ember, wait,” Ryker rasped.

I spun around, and when I saw the way he stood before me, I stopped in my tracks.