Page 33 of Rejected Nanny Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #3)

Surprisingly, I slept like the dead once Joe left, my grief dragging me down until sleep was all that I had left.

In the morning, Kiera had made me breakfast, and we ate while watching Kit play in the backyard with his school friends. I smiled and nodded along when they spoke to me, but inside, there was just silence.

Mia had accused me, Kiera's spell had shown my magical signature, and Joe had sent me away. I didn't even have my sweet Rosie to wake up to. Everything I had come to treasure was gone.

After breakfast, Kiera went upstairs to take a shower, and Samson had already gone to work. I felt like I should leave, that I was imposing on them by being there, but Joe had made them swear I'd stay there until he'd figured things out.

As if he ever could. Mia was lying, but someone she had altered the spell to show my magic. She'd given everyone proof, even when there wasn't a drop of truth in her words.

So, with nothing else to do and desperately wanting to avoid even the friends I loved, I walked.

I had no destination. I simply walked the streets of Samson's neighborhood, stretching my legs and letting my mind wander. It went on like that for days. When nothing else occupied me, I wandered.

Sometimes, Kit would ride on his bike beside me and talk incessantly.

Other times, Kiera would join me, and while we had conversations, I retained none of them.

One morning, even Nayeli showed up, but she was so pregnant that she couldn't walk too far.

I gave in and sat inside with her for some time, but I wasn't much of a conversationalist when I was so steeped in misery.

It was the third day that the veil of sadness finally lifted. I missed Rose and Joe so much that I simply shattered in the shower that morning, bawling my eyes out. When I had my coffee and went to walk once more, my mind wasn't just blank anymore. Instead, I thought about what had happened.

Joe had let Mia stay in his territory. And that stung like nothing else.

But when he spoke to me last, he swore that he believed me.

It was his duty as a leader to be fair. It still didn't feel right, like he was choosing her over me, but he'd seemed so sincere that I found myself going over his last words to me over and over again.

Had Joe ever given me a reason to doubt his faith in me? To doubt that he'd ever pick anyone over me? He hadn't. I'd always been treated like an equal. Like someone he cared for.

Like a mate.

Wasn't that what mates were supposed to be? Supposed to do? Trust each other with everything? Support each other?

He was still working on proving that I hadn't attacked Mia. If he truly didn't believe me, he would have sent me away permanently. But he hadn't. And while he hadn't contacted me, I'd known him long enough to know that he was giving me space like I'd wanted.

Well...what if I didn't want it anymore?

But I missed him. So much. More than I'd thought I could. And I knew that there was one thing that needed to happen before anything else.

I needed to prove my innocence. By shutting down for all those past days, I'd put the burden of solving the mystery all on him. And if I wanted to go back to him, the quickest way would be to do it myself.

I didn't tell Kiera what I was doing. Instead, I woke up each morning for the next four days before dawn and shifted, running through the forest, past the territory line into Joe's territory, and laid in the leaf litter near the treeline of Malcolm's property, waiting to see Mia leave.

She finally did on the fourth morning. Malcolm had taken his big wheel late in the night and gone to work, and he wouldn't be home for days. A few hours after sunrise, Mia left and took off into the forest on the other side of the property.

Bingo. It was time to figure out just what she was doing with her spare time. It hadn't been lost on me that she hadn't even left to see Rose, but while that pissed me off, her being a bad mother wasn't going to prove my innocence. I had to stick to my plan, even though I just wanted to punch her.

Mia's scent trail wasn't hard to follow, and I followed it to a small clearing where a dilapidated cabin stood. I could sense Mia, but the energy coming from the cabin was dark and buzzing. It felt like there was more than just Rose's mother inside.

I laid low to the ground, ears forward and listening. I could hear Mia's voice, low and monotone, and it sounded like she was chanting.

Then, impossibly, I was hit by the overwhelming, unmistakable scent of ozone, and I felt the sickening magic skitter across my nerves.

It was the magic surge. The chanting had been a spell, and Mia had used that spell to create the surge. Shock rolled through me, but I didn't make a move. Instead, I crept closer, desperate to hear what Mia was saying.

I froze when I heard her voice again, but she was talking to someone else, not spellcasting anymore.

“See? I can cast them in minutes now,” Mia bragged. “We can make our move soon.”

“And you're sure they don't suspect you?” A slimy male voice asked.

“Not at all. Her friend was even the one to cast the identification spell and saw the fake magical signature I'd put on myself. They all believe it was her. The Alpha is confused and distracted. The territory is weak.”

“Good,” the voice said, “Our Alpha will be pleased.”

“Thank you, Beta,” Mia simpered. My ears flattened to my head as the puzzle pieces fell into place in my mind. She wasn't trying to leave her old toxic pack; she was working for them, trying to take over Joe's territory somehow.

I didn't need to hear anymore. I had to get back to Joe and warn him of what was about to happen, but when I turned to run away, a figure stepped in my path.

“Well, well. Are you eavesdropping, little wolf?” the person asked, and when I tried to run, he blocked my path. “Ah ah, if you run, you're going to have to take a nice long nap.”

Furious and terrified, I snarled, baring my teeth. The stranger shook his head and tsked. I charged him then, hoping I could knock him down and be gone before he recovered. But instead, he caught me mid-air, and his fist came down on my temple, hard.

I yelped and fell to the ground, pain ricocheting through my skull. I looked up at him through blurry eyes, and he grinned. “You might want to stay down.”

My vision swam as I tried to hold on, but it went dark a moment later, and the world fell away.