Page 25 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

My sweet mate said very little on the drive home, choosing instead to look out the window at the passing scenery, a sad and unsettled energy pouring off her and down our bond.

My instinct was to push and make her talk to me, to get to the bottom of why she was so bothered by what happened, but I gave her space instead.

Before we had left the healers, he had reassured us that Brian would be able to leave the following day.

He gave Rhie one uneasy look before I fixed him with a glare, and he wilted beneath my power.

I didn’t care how anyone else felt about her newfound magic; they weren’t going to shame her for it if I was around.

Shifters healed fast. Brian’s bones would stitch together before the weekend. But Rhie knew that, and it hadn’t assuaged her guilt. So I let her sit in silence until we got home, and I helped her out of the car.

“Go sit down,” I told her, motioning towards the couch. “I’ll bring you some tea.”

When I returned with her drink, she was curled up in the corner of the couch like she was trying to disappear. I handed her the hot mug and dropped into the seat beside her, rubbing her calves absentmindedly as she drank.

After some time, I asked, “You know, that broken arm wasn’t even in the top ten worst injuries I’ve seen a wolf get…and most of them weren’t even during a fight.”

She turned her face towards me, curious. “Oh?”

“Yeah. One time, during a pack hunt, one of my wolves named Jax took a wrong turn chasing a squirrel and ran off a cliffside. Broke two of his legs and dislocated his shoulder. You should have heard him scream when he had to shift back to human form.”

She winced, but then her mouth quirked up, just slightly. “And I’m sure you let him live that down easily, huh?”

“Oh yeah. We only mention it about a dozen times a year.”

Rhie laughed softly into her cup, and it encouraged me to continue.

“There’ve also been plenty of times where they got messed up in the middle of a fight. Next time you hang out with Mara, ask her about the time she got gored by a boar trying to chase it away from her sister and her sister’s pups. It was impressive, but man, that was a lot of blood.”

Rhie didn’t laugh that time, but her eyes were wide. “I guess I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life for a shifter.”

I didn’t point out that her father’s use of dark magic was plenty of trauma for one shifter’s life, choosing to squeeze her leg affectionately instead. “Maybe so. Do you want to hear some more?”

She nodded, and I continued. Between the time my grandfather ruled the pack and when I took over, there was an endless supply of dumb hunting injuries, friendly brawls that got out of hand, and heroic acts of protection.

I left out the real, bloody fights that my father had dragged us into.

That wasn’t what Rhie needed to hear. She needed to hear that injuries like the one she gave Brian weren’t rare, and that her guilt was unfounded.

Eventually, my mate relaxed, not completely, but enough that I didn’t feel like she was going to shatter if I touched her too firmly. When she set her tea mug aside, I checked the time on my phone and offered, “You want to get something to eat? We can order in. Whatever you want.”

Rhie looked at me with a mixture of humor and disbelief. “Are you seriously offering to buy me my choice of takeout after I broke one of your men’s ulnas?”

“Yes. In fact,” I lowered my voice, sliding my hand up her shapely calf. “That’s one of my secret turn-ons.”

She screeched, offended, pushing my hand away.

I persisted, and her complaints dissolved into laughter when I crawled over her and wrapped her in my arms so tightly, she couldn’t escape.

I didn’t kiss her mouth like I was dying to, but settled for pressing my lips against her pulse point until she sighed, going limp beneath me.

“Okay, pervert. Let’s get Indian food. But only if I can get extra naan.”

“Anything for you, my little bone-breaking Omega.”

***

By the time the food arrived and we started the first of many movies we’d end up watching, Rhie had abandoned the couch corner and was curled against me instead.

Her hair smelled like the forest, pine needles and fresh berries, and when she laughed at some stupid joke on the TV screen, it was genuine and stress-free once more.

We both ate our fill, and it brought me satisfaction to be able to feed her and care for her.

Having Rhie in the house and being able to provide for her seemed to be the final thing that turned my Crystal Creek house into a home.

I paid attention to any of the movies, so wrapped up in her that it was borderline ridiculous.

I’d never planned on having a mate, but now that I had Rhie, I understood why the other Alphas were so protective of theirs.

I could pretend it was just the mate bond, or my Alpha instinct to care for my Omega.

Hell, I could even try to convince myself I was seducing her so I’d be able to make use of her magic when the pack needed it. But none of those things was the truth.

I thought that even without the bond, I would have been drawn to Rhie. She fit me like nothing ever had. I had carried an emptiness I didn’t even know about, but my mate filled it. It wasn’t just lust, or her heat cycle, or the fact that the sex was amazing.

I simply liked spending time with Rhie. Her sharp tongue, her stubborn comments, and her vulnerability drew me in, and her sweetness kept me close.

It didn’t hurt that she was beautiful, of course. And God, was she beautiful, even with a fleck of curry on the front of her shirt.

She was mine. My Omega. My mate. Which was exactly why, even with her well-fed and mostly asleep in my arms, I couldn’t relax.

My mind kept drifting to what I had been doing when Rhie was out berry picking and defending herself against asshole wolves.

I’d been checking the territory perimeter again, frustrated as well to find yet another trip wire tripped with no tracks to follow.

Something was fucking with me, but what?

The rogue shifters had been too quiet for too long.

There was a chance they’d been satisfied with the money I gave them and left the area, but the open-ended favor I’d offered in order to escape hung heavy on my mind.

I hadn’t regretted it in the moment, but the thought of what they might ask for haunted me.

They hadn’t taken Rhie the first time on a whim. If they came back, which I was sure they would, they’d seek her out. I couldn’t let them near her, but what could I do to protect her when they were setting off my traps and leaving like ghosts?

As she dozed off on my shoulder, I held her tighter, soaking in the warmth of her body. They won’t touch you, mate. Not while I’m breathing.