Page 6 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

I don’t know how it’s possible, but I become more and more of an asshole with each passing minute.

I’d fucked up. I knew I’d fucked up as the words were still coming out of my mouth, but I was in too deep and way too proud to back down. Even when the hurt on her face was crystal clear.

Even when all I wanted to do was touch her, hold her, and ease the pain that I’d been carrying around since the night I’d taken her home.

The ache I felt for her had coiled in my stomach from the second I’d left her lying in the cabin bed, and had only grown since then. It felt like something poisonous coiled in the pit of my stomach, ready to eat me alive if I didn’t give it what it wanted. And it wanted Rhie Watson.

I was an idiot, but I was also an Alpha, well-versed in pack dynamics, and I think part of me knew even at the beginning that Rhie was something more to me than a one-night stand.

The wolfish part of me knew it, at least, and was gnawing at the bars of the human-shaped cage I held it in, wanting to get to her and make things right.

To claim her as the mate, the most basic parts of me knew that she was. But instead, I shamed her and left her shaking in the back of the bookstore like a fucking asshole. When I got home and looked in the mirror, all I could see were the shadows of my ancestors.

My grandfather, the coward.

My father, the killer.

I’d spent my entire time as an Alpha trying to find the balance between the two of them, to be both strong but empathetic when necessary, and Rhie threatened to undo all the work I’d put into it. She made me feel feral, all animal and no man.

Sure, my pack was doing well in our new territory.

They were settled, fed, and safe. That should have been enough to let me relax some, but instead, I was even more on edge than ever.

It was like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, because it didn’t seem real that things could actually be easy.

I didn’t know how to be anything other than a fighter, didn’t know how to be good.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I let my guard down, all that I had gained would be taken from me.

I should still have been able to handle it better, not like a jackass.

The truth was an ugly thing, and I struggled to swallow it in the hours after the incident at the bookstore.

She’d looked so small and frightened there that it had nearly broken me, but once I had time to gather my thoughts, I knew that even if I’d reached out for her, she’d have pushed me back in the moment.

I was acting erratically, and Rhie didn’t deserve to have me push myself onto her instead of pushing her away like I had.

Instead, what she really deserved from me was an apology.

The truth was ugly because I’d lashed out at her, not because of anything that she’d done wrong, but because I was still more damaged than I was willing to admit.

Rhie shouldn’t have been able to get under my skin like that.

An Omega, someone I’d considered so far beneath me, shouldn’t have been able to shake me up enough that the worst parts of me would come roaring out.

I drove to an overlook where I could park and watch the ocean wash over the rocky shore, cut the engine, rolled the windows down, and just tried to think.

If I were being honest with myself, it wasn’t just Rhie or my leftover weaknesses from my long-dead family that had made me act the way I had.

It was also how different the packs around me were.

In Crystal Creek, where the Alphas gave a damn about their mates, who treated their Omegas like they were treasured and not just property, something in me had started to crack.

I was so sure I didn’t want a mate, but the way Samson touched Kiera like she was the most precious thing in the world, the way Scott would tear the world down to protect his pregnant Nayeli, and the way Joe couldn’t be in a room with Gwen without having a hand on her waist… it had all dug its way into my head.

I never thought I’d envy something like their connections, but I’d be damned if I said I didn’t. And then Rhie walked into my life, stunning and mysterious, and I’d let myself imagine that maybe I’d be worthy of something like the other Alphas had.

Then I’d realized who she really was, a lowly Omega, not someone prestigious or someone that could be beneficial to my pack, and I’d panicked.

I’d shot her down, and done it cruelly, out of shock and as a way to make sure that she never wanted to see me again.

I thought I was protecting us both, but when I woke up the next morning, the wanting was still there, stronger than ever.

Was she really all that different from the other Omegas who had become pack Lunas? Or was I just drawn to destroy the things I wanted because deep down, I didn’t think I was deserving of them?

Fuck. I couldn’t stop thinking about what she must have felt like, standing there in that bookshop, cornered while I tore her apart with practiced, painful precision.

I’d been cold, trying to hurt her any way I could, desperate to sever whatever was growing between us and terrified the other Alphas might see what I felt for her and consider me either weak or someone who preyed on the weak.

I’d seen her fear, her humiliation, and I picked at it, worsening the wound. Just like my father would have done.

Even if Rhie had been someone shameful for me to have been with, she still wouldn’t have deserved what I’d done. But she wasn’t shameful, was she? Rhie was…someone deserving of protection.

Scott would try to tear my throat out if he knew I’d spoken to Rhie, who was not only his wolf but his mate’s friend, the way I had.

Hell, Nayeli would probably do it for him. All three of the Lunas, really, and I’d deserve every bit of it.

Part of me was self-loathing enough to want to admit it, to let them punish me because I was too much of a coward to face up to Rhie. I’d take a beating before I’d say I was sorry.

But once again, that was my father speaking, and when I was questioning not only how to lead my pack, but how to live my own life as a good Alpha, I always strived to do the opposite of what he would have done.

Which meant I couldn’t fess up and just let the three Lunas tear me down. I had to apologize, even if it killed me.

Eventually, the need to act reached a fever pitch inside of me, and I had to make a decision. I’d spent an entire day torn between self-loathing and trying to reassure myself that I’d done the right thing, but the longer I dwelled on it, the more I knew I needed to act sooner rather than later.

I needed to find Rhie, look her in the eye, and speak to her the way I should have the entire time. It wasn’t her fault that she made me feel something I wasn’t ready for, and made me dwell on the past when I’d tried too hard to put it completely behind me.

I considered calling her, but I didn’t have her number and knew the questions would never end if I tried to ask one of her friends for it.

As far as her address went, I didn’t have to ask for that.

After the night we’d hooked up, I’d been so twisted inside and restless that I’d dug up all the information I could about the little Omega.

I still hadn’t been able to find out why she was an outcast or why she’d left her previous pack, but I’d gotten the address for an out-of-the-way trailer deep in Scott’s territory.

I didn’t know what I’d tell her if she asked why I knew where she lived, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

It took some time to drive to her place, which meant I had about a million opportunities to second-guess what I was doing—not a great quality for an Alpha, but also not anything I was able to fix in the moment.

Scott really had hidden her place well, maybe anticipating that there would be some in his pack who weren’t fond of her, but I finally found the right address.

Her home was surrounded by trees and tidy, but all the lights inside were off.

I frowned. It was night, sure, but it wasn’t so late that I’d expect her to be asleep already.

Then a breeze blew, and her front door swung lazily open like it had been left unlatched.

My heart sank, and I was out of the car before I could even second-guess myself.

I was struck by her scent in an instant, sweet florals and a hint of astringent paint, but there were other smells there that weren’t familiar to me.

Her old Subaru was still parked, but I was sure she wasn’t home.

Something sinister had happened to Rhie, and it made my wolf snarl beneath my skin.

Giving into the urge to shift was an easy choice, and once I was on four paws, I inhaled deeply, my eyes closed.

Rhie’s scent led into the forest, surrounded by the other unfamiliar scents, all of them foul, like the wolves they belonged to were unwashed or tainted in some way.

I wanted to plunge into the trees and run full tilt to find her, but if someone had taken her, I needed to be careful.

Still, the further I ran, the more uneasy I became. The scents of the other wolves became stronger. There were four of them, and their paths never diverged from Rhie’s, which meant she hadn’t been on the run from them. They were moving together.

It was looking more and more likely that she’d been taken. The smart thing to do would have been to stop and call Scott, or any of the other Alphas, really, but every second mattered. I at least wanted to see her before I made any other decisions.

I crested a hill and all of their scents hit me like a slap in the face, tangled with the smells of campfire and sweat.

Then I saw her.

Rhie was on her knees in front of the fire, her wrists bound, flanked by two men, while a third was prowling the perimeter.

Her clothes were torn and her face was dirty, but otherwise she appeared to be unharmed.

Her expression was distant, like she was dissociating, and it made my heart ache to see it.

There were two other men, with the larger of them clearly being the leader. He approached Rhie and lifted her chin with his finger, sneering into her face. “You’ve been so quiet, Omega. Aren’t you excited about this new adventure you’re about to go on?”

She didn’t even grace him with a look, either out of terror or stubbornness. I wanted to kill them all, rip out their throats, tear them limb from limb, but there was only one of me and four of them. I had to keep myself under control. Work smarter, not harder, or however the fucking saying went.

Crouching, I let the shift come over me once more until I was standing on two legs again. The leader of the strange wolves was still kneeling in front of Rhie, saying something to her quietly, and none of them had managed to get my scent yet. Amateurs.

I squared my shoulders and let my Alpha power rise, falling over me like a cloak before I stepped out of the tree line.

They still didn’t scent me, but they heard me, and all of them, Rhie included, turned to look.

She was the most shocked out of the group, but I was just glad to see anything else besides cold detachment on her pretty face.

“Real brave, five wolves against one Omega.”

The one that had been speaking to Rhie shoved himself to his feet and snarled. “Who the hell are you?”

I let my senses spill out, assessing my enemies.

None of them was anywhere near as dominant as I was, but they didn’t look starved or weak, either.

If Rhie wasn’t bound and could lend a hand, I might have tried to fight, but I wasn’t cocky enough to think I could take all of them at once. I needed to be smart, strategic.

“You’re on allied territory, boys. Let her go, and I’ll let you leave without a fight.”

They laughed, all of them, and their laughs were more hyena-like than human. It made a chill run up my spine. “I don’t care how big your pack is, man. I can smell that you’re alone, and we can have you both dead before help arrives. You’re going to have to do better than that.”

The other wolves had started to spread out, and I could feel one of them somewhere behind me, too close for comfort.

I let my power uncoil slowly, Alpha energy rolling out and hitting the other wolves one by one.

Two of them were submissive enough that they hesitated, but whatever hold their leader had steadied them.

“We’re not scared of you, Alpha. We don’t play pack politics games, and we caught this Omega fair and square. She’s ours…unless you want to try and play hero?”

Part of me definitely did, but then Rhie and I would both be incapacitated if I lost. “Nah. She’s not important, and she’s not even my wolf.

But she does belong to an Alpha I’m allied with, which means I have more stake in her than you.

” I stalked forward, but still none of them moved back, and I cursed internally.

Rhie was looking up at me from the ground like she couldn’t believe I was real.

“You take her, and you’re signing your own death sentence.

The Shadowbay pack won’t stand for rogues taking one of theirs…

and that’s what you are, isn’t it? Rogues? ”

No one said anything, which told me everything I needed to know.

I pushed on, hoping the single gaze I was able to shoot Rhie was enough to keep her calm.

“I thought so. Look, you can attack me, maybe even kill me, but my allies will be forced to avenge me, and that would be really, really bad for you. And since I don’t have any interest in dying tonight, how about we make a deal that will benefit us all and make sure we all get out of here alive? ”

The leader lifted his lip like he wanted to growl, a clear sign that the line between man and beast had blurred within him, but he crossed his arms and considered me for a long moment. “What kind of deal?”

Bingo. I’d got him.