Page 7 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

I didn’t scream when they grabbed me. At least not at first.

I was proud of that fact because I was scared to death.

When they grabbed me, I’d been on my way back from my painting shed, and the smell of turpentine had masked their scents.

I’d already packed my car to run, but I’d only needed to put a few finishing touches on the piece I was currently working on, and I figured I might as well send it out and get paid on the way out of town.

It was only a handful of feet from the shed to the back door of the trailer, but they must have been watching me for a while, and two of the rogue wolves were able to snatch me before I even knew what was happening.

My first emotion was terror, followed by the offended squawk that came out of my mouth when I realized they’d knocked the freshly finished painting out of my hands, and it’d landed face down.

When my brain started to work again and I could process anything besides pure fear, I still didn’t scream. They hadn’t covered my mouth yet, and I didn’t want to give them any ideas, so I kept quiet and tried to parse through what exactly had been happening to me.

It didn’t take me long to figure out they were rogues—no one in the allied packs smelled as filthy and wrong as the five of them did.

I had a brief second to wonder if I would have been in such bad shape if I had been able to actually go rogue like I had planned, but I quickly swept the thought away.

There were way more important things to deal with.

I didn’t fight, either. Not because I didn’t want to, but because even with my Omega instincts to submit, I still wanted to protect myself and escape if possible.

And that meant biding my time, because I was no match for the men who had stolen me.

I knew how rogues worked, too. If I’d have shown too much panic or fear, they would have fed on it and become more feral themselves.

There was a reason wolves like these were packless.

Most rogues didn’t run, like I’d planned to.

Instead, they were pushed out of their packs because something was terribly wrong with them.

Something rotten, even. And from the words and laughter of the wolves around me, I could tell they were the type that enjoyed cruelty.

So, I wasn’t going to give them any reason to punish me if I could help it.

There wasn’t any point in questioning why they wanted me, either. Either they were trying to form some twisted pack of their own and needed a few Omegas to round out the numbers, or they planned on ransoming me to my Alpha. Little did they know I was basically worthless.

When we’d made it back to their campsite, they’d dumped me next to the fire and bound my arms and legs. The things they said they would do to me…they were too horrible to even think of. I knew my fear was saturating my scent and energy, and that even if I didn’t speak, they knew how afraid I was.

Did they want money out of me, or were they hoping to just make me a prize? A trophy to pass around?

How many times was I going to be put into such horrible situations, where I was helpless and at the mercy of others? I’d never wanted to be a fighter more than I did in that moment, the rogue’s leader in front of me saying lurid things, his foul breath washing over my face.

When they asked my name, I gave it to them. When they asked my pack, I gave them that, too. It was easy enough knowledge to obtain, and I really, really didn’t want to piss them off.

I’d fallen deep into my mind, willing myself to go somewhere else, when things changed. Someone emerged from the trees to my left, and whoever it was made everyone freeze and look in their direction, and I couldn’t help doing the same.

My breath caught in my throat, and a thin ray of hope cut through my despair. It was Jayce , eyes burning and Alpha energy rolling off him. He looked massive compared to the thin rogues, who had likely been surviving off their hunting skills and nothing else.

But why had he come for me? He’d made it perfectly clear how he felt about me, how much he loathed me. I couldn’t make sense of it, but when he met my eyes, energy crackled between us, and the ray of hope grew.

Maybe he hadn’t come for me and just found the rogues by accident, but once he was there, I had the strangest feeling that he wasn’t going to leave without me. Even if it was foolish, I leaned into that thought, soaking it in and letting it give me strength.

Jayce didn’t challenge them, and while I’d never been more glad to see anyone than I was to see him, and also knew five against one was a fight he couldn't win. The desire to help him was so strong that I felt something stir deep down inside of me, something that wasn’t my wolf.

It felt eerily familiar, but it didn’t have the same taste of darkness as it had last time I’d encountered it.

Magic. I’d always suspected, after what my father had done, that I’d had the capability to wield such power too.

Except when he wielded it, nothing but death and destruction came of it, and what I’d seen had frightened me so badly that I’d vowed never to even attempt to see if I could cast, too.

Even when Kiera, Nayeli, and Gwen, one by one, showed that they had magic that could be used for good.

I knew that if there was any potential in me, it could never be good. Not with my bloodline.

But Jayce needed me, and maybe if I used it just once…

Gently, I brushed the ember of magic, and it grew. I pictured myself cupping my hands around it and blowing gently, and the ember glowed brighter and brighter, until it was warming me from the inside out.

Just once, to save me and Jayce. Then I’d lock it away forever. I pushed down the memory of my father’s terrible power, and drew the warmth of the new ember to my fingertips—

Jayce, who had been focused on the rogues, jerked his head in my direction, shocked. He quickly schooled his expression and shook his head tightly, just once. Stop, he was telling me.

Against my better judgment, I let the ember die away until I was cold through and through once more. Why would he tell me to hold back?

My answer came as I watched him negotiate.

It was a magic all of its own. It was like he was weaving a spell over the rogues with just his voice, all of them giving him their full attention.

I was barely hearing his words, but instead, I was soaking in the deep timbre of his voice.

He was so confident and unbothered, owning the space, slowly moving forward until he was just a foot away from the leader.

The spell broke then just a little, and the leader bared his teeth again, warning Jayce that he was too damn close. I blinked, finally hearing what they were talking about, and it made me suck in a shocked, offended breath.

Jayce was offering to buy me from them. I’d expected that sort of callous possessiveness from the rogues, but hearing it from Jayce was a new kind of betrayal. I was sure there was no way he could hurt me more than he already had, but apparently, I was wrong.

Logically, I knew I was in no position to feel insulted. Jayce was talking about me like I was an object, but if I were honest with myself, I’d much rather be an object in his possession than remain with the rogues.

The forest floor was digging into my knees, and my hands and feet were going numb. Whatever Jayce was doing, he needed to hurry up.

Jayce jerked his head to the treeline far from the other rogues, and the rogue leader reluctantly followed him there so the two men could have some privacy. The other four rogues, with nothing else to do, zeroed back in on me.

“You’ve got to have something special going on for an Alpha to come risk his own tail for you,” one of them laughed.

“Yeah, you must be the softest, sweetest, most submissive little Omega if you’re worth all the trouble,” another added, a hint of venom in his voice. “I'm hoping the boss man will keep you around for a little bit. It isn’t often we get premium girls—”

“Untie her.”

The words came from the rogue leader, and he didn’t look happy about it, either. Jayce walked behind him as they rejoined the fire, and while Jayce had apparently gotten the upper hand, the rogue leader obviously still had his doubts.

Which meant we needed to get away as fast as possible. Once the rogues realized they could take Jayce hostage just like they had me, we were in a lot more trouble. Being an Alpha had gotten him this far, but he wasn’t their Alpha, and his influence would fade before long.

One of the wolves untied me, and then he grabbed me by the hair and shoved me into Jayce’s arms. He caught me easily, my hands splayed out on his wide chest, and there was a striking look of relief on his face when he gazed down at me.

The other rogues looked unsure, all of them fixating on their leader.

“I thought we were keeping her,” one moped.

The leader grunted. “He offered me something I couldn’t pass up.”

While they argued, Jayce lowered his head just enough to breathe into my ear, “We have to run. I let him think he was getting one over on me, but as soon as he realizes he got the short end of the stick, he’s going to try to keep you.

Head east towards my territory. I’ll lead. Howl if you lose sight of me.”

My head was spinning with all the instructions being thrown at me at once. “But—”

“No buts. Ready?”

“Jayce—” I hissed, but then he was shifting, and a massive, slate-colored wolf stood in his place. He shocked himself off and looked up at me expectantly.

Dammit. I didn’t really have much of a choice but to listen, even if I really hated shifting in front of people.

I took one deep breath, then another, and called my wolf forward. She flowed over me excitedly—it had been a while—and in seconds I was on four legs, pawing at my face to try and ease the spots in my eyes that always accompanied the shift.

I was smaller than Jayce, which wasn’t a surprise, but it meant I had to push myself past the brink of exhaustion to keep up with his longer stride. The rogues paid us barely any mind as we raced away, and it was all I could do to keep Jayce in my sights.

Part of me was sure he wouldn’t leave me after all the trouble he’d gone through to get me free, but the way he ran had me doubting myself.

Then there was no room for anything inside of me except adrenaline and the will to run so hard that I was sure my paws would be bleeding by the time we made it back to Blacktide land.

Had it been under any other circumstances, running with Jayce through a crisp fall night would have been something to savor.

But fear and urgency had poisoned everything we did, and when I started to fall behind, he’d circle back and nip at my haunches to make me go faster.

I wanted to whip around and nip him back, but he was shockingly fast, and when I tried, he was already ahead of me again, leading me at a punishing pace.

I didn’t feel it when we crossed into Jayce’s territory, since his pack wasn’t mine, but the change in him was instant.

He stood taller, a quick shudder going through his body as if he could feel the extra strength that came from an Alpha being on his own land returning.

Heck, maybe he did. I wasn’t an Alpha, so I didn’t know for sure.

When we came to a stream, Jayce finally stopped, and I had to backpedal to keep from skidding into the water. He took a few long drinks still in wolf form, and then shifted again, wiping the cool, clear water from his chin with the back of his hand.

“Good job keeping up.”

I growled, but decided my complaints were better spoken. I shifted back, too, but my anger bled away with my wolf form. We were on more equal ground on four legs, but as humans, he intimidated me quite a bit.

As hard as the run was, he’d saved my life. I decided to let the heel-nipping slide. “Jayce, thank you. I don’t know why you’d bother, but thank you. I’m, uh, going home and try to sleep—”

“Like hell you are,” he growled, grabbing me by the upper arm. “After what I just witnessed, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you be on your own tonight. You’re coming home with me.”

“What—”

“Don’t worry,” he grinned at me, and in the moonlight, his fangs still looked a little too long. “The cabin isn’t far. You remember the cabin, don’t you, Rhie?”