Page 14 of Betrayed Mate (Rejected Fate Trilogy #1)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

H e hung his head, and his shoulders slumped, making him appear almost like a different person. He kicked the ground, causing a few pebbles to scatter to the side of the road and ping against the trunk of an oak tree.

I hated that I’d turned around. I should’ve just kept going. Nothing good could come of a conversation between the two of us, but the damage was done. Seeing him less confident tugged at my heart at a time when I needed it to remain impermeable. “Want to insult me some more?” I sneered.

“No.” He shook his head. “You don’t need to go after your sister alone, and I don’t want you to leave our pack.”

I snorted. His regretful tone didn’t make sense. He’d been a dick ever since he pulled me from the water, and the only reason I’d been biting my tongue as much as I had was because he had saved me from drowning. “I have a hard time believing that. You were going to leave me on the side of the river without any help. If not for your pack members, I might have wound up dead.”

He flinched then exhaled and lifted his head so our eyes met. “You’re right, but I’m trying to find the real enemy and didn’t want to be slowed down. It was one life at stake compared to thousands I’ve sworn to protect.”

Inhaling sharply, I shook my head. “You were willing to let someone of your own species die when you’ve sworn to protect us? Do you realize how contradictory that sounds? If you start deciding whose lives matter and whose don’t, you take on the role of Fate, which isn’t our place in this world.”

The luster appeared in front of his eyes once again. “I’m not asking for your opinion on how I handle things. I just realized when you walked away that maybe I was too hard on you.”

“Too hard on me?” I parroted and clenched my jaw. Too hard was when you told someone they should’ve done better after they gave it their all. This…this was just cruel. “Why don’t we call it what it is? You’re a control-freak jackass. I feel horrible for your pack because you have no problem with alpha-willing them, and the fact that you can’t control me drives you crazy.”

“It does.” He sighed, the sheen flickering in and out of focus. “Because I’m not used to being disobeyed, especially when I’m doing things for specific reasons.”

“If you had reasons for tormenting Simon, please share them with me. Explain to me why I was wrong.” I crossed my arms, daring him to. Even though I hated to admit it, I wanted to know why he was so convinced that torturing Simon was the right call. I wanted it to be more than just him having no problem inflicting pain on someone else.

“As much as I would love to explain everything to my pack and to you, I can’t.” He shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “So you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“ Trust you?” He couldn’t be serious. All my life, I’d heard stories about the way the Grimstone pack was run and the viciousness they practiced in the name of protecting the royals, and since meeting him, I’d found he lacked so many morals that I valued in a person and leader. “You’ve done nothing to deserve my trust. In fact, everything you’ve done has made me see how you toe the line of doing just enough that the wolf shifters don’t want to get involved…for now.” If he tried torturing an innocent wolf shifter or even a witch with pack ties, our species would get involved, and it would not go well.

He winced, the golden flecks of his eyes warming the brown color. “It’s all to discover who slaughtered the royals and our packs, Ember. Don’t you see that?”

“No, I don’t. But even if I did, is the cost of losing who you are as a person worth it?” My heart quickened as if his answer was important to me.

His forehead furrowed, but then the strange sheen slid firmly over his irises once more. “Yes, because they’ll continue to slaughter us at will, and I’m the protector of our species. I don’t take pleasure in torture, but the burden lies squarely on my shoulders now, and I’m doing what has to be done.” His words sounded emotionless and fit the arrogant alpha I’d come to know.

I rolled my eyes as my anger spiked. What sort of narcissistic asshole thought they knew best and could protect the whole world all on their own? A dictator, that’s who. And that’s exactly what he’d become to his own pack. “You must think awfully highly of yourself to take on protecting our entire species, especially after being unable to protect the royals and your own pack.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, surprised by my own words. I hadn’t even processed what I was about to say, and now I’d sounded almost as cruel as he was.

His eyes darkened once again to where I couldn’t see the color anymore. The little bit of the person his pack members had told me about vanished, and I swallowed. However, this version of Ryker I understood, and seeing him helped me remember all the reasons I should never be around him.

“I think I’m not the only one changing after suffering a loss like that.” He arched a brow and sneered. “Because, based on your reaction, the old Ember wouldn’t have said anything like that.”

My face heated, and I hated how accurately he’d just called me out. In fairness, I’d just done the same thing to him. I deserved it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t apologize to me. You meant it.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “You just hate that you spoke the words out loud to me. See, that’s the difference between only thinking it and having the guts to say it.”

I straightened my shoulders. “What I think in one moment doesn’t mean it’s my truth, and sometimes, it’s better not to say something without thinking through the consequences.”

“Maybe in normal times, but Rebel , we’re at war. We don’t have time to cater to people’s feelings . If we waste time like that, then our enemies will find us, and we’ll be dead.”

He’d completely missed my point, and my hands itched to strangle him. “It’s not necessarily only feelings that would be impacted.” I jabbed my finger in the direction of the woods. “You just tortured someone who witnessed an entire nest get destroyed. Someone who might’ve been willing to talk if you hadn’t started drowning him, especially since we all understand what he’d just gone through.”

Groaning, Ryker rubbed a hand down his face. “Get over the fucking vampire. You’re investing way too much time in him.”

With hurried steps, I moved within a few feet of him. “That’s my point. Who’s going to want to help you when word gets out that you have no issues tormenting someone?”

“First off, he was a vampire. No wolf shifter or witch is going to care.” Ryker dropped his hands, his expression sharpening. “And second, I don’t care if you don’t agree with my strategy. My decisions are my own, and I do what I believe is necessary. I followed you to ask you to come back, so are you coming back with me or not?”

Wow. We didn’t know each other well, and what we did know of each other drove each of us insane, but he’d come after me remorseful then changed back into the jackass I’d been determined to get away from. I’d known better than to stop to talk to him. Damn my traitorous legs. “And why would I do that? You were the one who basically told me to leave just now. Good job pretending to be sorry for a few minutes. You did enough to get me to listen to you. Until now .” I hated that I’d been so foolish. I still didn’t understand why I’d even stopped.

Ready to fix that problem, I pivoted to get back to getting the hell out of here.

Feet shuffled behind me, and a massive hand caught my wrist and tugged me back around.

His scent filled my nose, making me dizzy and further pissing me off.

“Look, I get it, okay?” he said through clenched teeth. “You’re not happy with me. If we focus more on following your pack link while trying to find answers, will you stay?”

I jerked away from him, my skin colder where he’d touched me. “Yes, because going about things your way hasn’t worked. Look at where it’s gotten us.”

His eyes narrowed. “If you hadn’t—”

“Freed a vampire who we hadn’t seen do anything wrong from being beaten, you’d have gotten everything you needed,” I snapped, cutting him off. This was the entire point. He still wasn’t sorry, but his pack must have influenced him to try to get me to stay. At least they seemed like decent people. In fact, I felt bad for them. Not only were they dealing with the loss of their pack, but they were also forced to do things against their will.

Throwing my hands up, I took several steps back, needing distance from him. “We keep having the same conversation, so let’s just cut ties and be done. Let the other three know you tried to get me to come back, but the differences between us are too great. I refuse to lose more of myself by being around you.”

He blinked hard and growled. “Fine. I’ll try to abstain from doing anything you would disapprove of this strongly.”

“Why? Why would you do that if you’re so adamant that you’re doing what’s right?” I must be missing something…something that would explain— Cold realization drenched me, and I realized that I had control over this. I’d bet his pack members hadn’t told him to rush after me after all. He hadn’t expected me to walk. He’d thought I’d stand down because I didn’t want to be alone.

“Because it’s not right, you being alone when they could be targeting you.” He rubbed his hands together. “You can’t defend yourself and—”

“You have no leads.” I crossed my arms, victory soaring within me. He had nothing to go off of, and the enemy hadn’t attacked him and his pack again despite their not being quiet about where they were. However, I might be a different story, especially if they had my sister. “And you’re hoping they’re using my sister to track me. My pack link is the only thing you have in your favor to locate them.” I refused to be played. Maybe my wolf wasn’t as strong as his, but I wasn’t dumb or weak. “You need me more than I need you.”

Face reddening, he laughed, but it sounded strained. “That’s a bit extreme. There are four of us and one of you.”

“But I have something to go off of.” It would work, too. It would just take longer than someone handing over the information.

“Are you coming back with us or not?” He scowled.

“On one condition. It’s nonnegotiable. No more torturing or hurting someone who hasn’t done anything to deserve it.” Even though I didn’t like it, I did understand that there could be times when torture might be necessary, but this incident with Simon was different. In a perfect world, we’d imprison or exile wolf shifters who’d done something awful, but that wouldn’t fix this problem. There had to be a pack out there, if not multiple ones, working together. We had to defend ourselves, no matter the costs.

He grimaced. “I will have…”

I rocked back on my feet, waiting for him to tell me there was no way in hell he’d agree to that. But the color of his irises brightened, and I thought I could see his true self once more.

“I’ll struggle with that, but I’m willing to oblige you as long as you focus on finding your sister.” He cleared his throat and kicked at the ground.

Air swooshed into my lungs, and my brows arched. “Did you just agree to my condition?” That was the last thing I’d expected him to do.

“Yes, I did.” A vein in his neck ticced like it pained him to admit that.

Part of me wanted to gloat and make this a huge deal, but we didn’t have time to waste. It was petty and wouldn’t accomplish anything except taking longer to locate my sister.

I needed to focus on our pack bond. My heart sank. I knew that by doing this, I would have to acknowledge the one hundred and three missing links. I couldn’t deny that not wanting to face the loss head-on had allowed me to go along with Ryker’s plan. Anything was better than allowing the grief to dig in.

Maybe him asking me to come back wasn’t a great thing after all.

“Having second thoughts?” He arched a brow, the flecks of his irises warming.

There was no way I’d admit weakness to him. “Let’s go back and get this going.” I couldn’t lie to him without him knowing, but I also didn’t want to let him see my concern.

He pressed his lips together like he was stopping himself from saying something. Instead, he nodded.

Without another word, I walked back toward the group, Ryker by my side.

The eerie feeling of being watched surged through me again. A shiver ran down my spine, but I forced my eyes to keep looking forward. I wouldn’t let my mind distract me again.

Within a minute, Ryker and I joined the others. Kendric was pacing in front of the other two while Gage leaned on the vehicle and Xander sat on the hood. The three of them watched us approach.

“I knew you’d get her back.” Gage beamed and winked. “We haven’t had this much fun in a long while.”

Fun? I wanted to laugh, but the urge died in my throat. I was fighting with Ryker about everything he and I did. We were at complete odds. “I’m not sure you could call it that.”

A cell phone dinged, and Ryker removed one from his back pocket. He looked at the screen and frowned. “Holy shit. This isn’t good.”