Page 8 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

The entire run through the forest, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing backwards again and again to make sure she was still there. When Rhie would fall behind, I’d be right there to keep pushing her forward until finally, finally, we were back in my territory.

At first, I thought she would be amiable, feeling some gratitude for what I’d gone through to free her, but as soon as I mentioned that she wasn’t headed home tonight, her attitude shifted.

Not that I could blame her for it. It was still the same day I’d insulted her at the bookshop.

I guess there’s only so far saving her skin can get me.

But I couldn’t let her go. My instincts were screaming that the rogues were right on our trail, even if I hadn’t seen any evidence of that.

I wasn’t stupid enough to believe I’d seen the last of them; while they’d made a deal to not bother any of the packs in the Crystal Creek alliance or cross into our territories, something told me they weren’t the type of wolves I could trust at their word.

Now she was arguing with me about where we would both sleep tonight, and my frustration was mounting. No amount of understanding about how scared she must still be would erase my need to get her somewhere safe and defensible.

“If you don’t want to go to the cabin, we can go back to my actual home, but then my entire pack would know you were there, and something tells me you don’t want that.”

She balked at the idea. “I’m not going anywhere near your pack. If the way you treat me is any indication, I don’t think I’d have a good time with them.” Rhie’s tone was sharp and sarcastic, and it got my hackles up.

“I just saved your life, Rhie, and you repay me by insulting my pack?” I grabbed her by the arm and started hauling her in the direction of the cabin. I wanted out of the open woods. Every minute we were there, we became more vulnerable.

She twisted in my grip, pulling out of my hold just enough to walk beside me, and I let her. As long as she didn’t run, it didn’t matter to me how she got there. “You can’t just tell me I’m going somewhere with you, Jayce. I’m not your prisoner.”

“No,” I conceded, “But you’re an Omega, in danger, and the alliance dictates that I’m responsible for you.”

“Oh, that’s funny,” she laughed, but it was an angry sound. “Did the alliance also dictate that you should threaten me in the bookstore? Or insult me when I was still in your bed?”

The words hit harder than I expected, but I wasn’t going to rise to her bait. Instead, I clenched my jaw and offered the words, “I deserve that.”

That gave her pause, “What?”

“You’re right. I treated you like shit. I don’t blame you for being angry about it, but why do you think I discovered that you were missing in the first place? I was there to clear the air.”

Rhie opened her mouth and then closed it, facing ahead in surprised silence.

“For what it’s worth,” I continued, “My pack isn’t a bunch of slavering ferals. They might be standoffish, but most of them aren’t assholes.”

Rhie snorted, and her point was clear.

“I said most.” I rubbed the back of my neck, exhausted and frustrated with the situation.

“Look, Rhie, I don’t like the man I was when I spoke to you that way.

Both times. I still think you should have been more open with me at the bar about who you were and that you knew me, but that wasn’t an excuse to be a prick to you.

I am an Alpha, and I should be setting a better example.

I…you…fuck.” I tilted my head back and looked at the stars through the canopy of trees. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

Rhie was quiet for a while longer, but finally, I heard her exhale as the cabin came into view. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.”

“You’re right. It’s not. But we’ve got bigger things to worry about.

” She looked at the cabin, and I could see that the color had drained from her already pale face.

The sense of déjà vu was strong. It hadn’t been all that long ago that we’d arrived here and been all over each other.

Now our relationship had significantly soured, and we were potentially being pursued by rogue wolves.

“At least you know your way around the place,” I offered.

The look she gave me was withering. “You aren’t funny.”

“I know.” I unlocked the door and stepped inside, flicking on the light as I went.

I hadn’t considered it until that moment, but no one had even been inside the cabin since the night Rhie and I had spent together.

My stomach clenched as I looked over to the bed, which I expected to still be rumpled from the two of us, but it was neat and tidy.

Still, the tension in the room was painfully high. I could still scent what we had done together, and the memory of her spread out on that red plaid comforter hit me like a freight train. It felt like stepping into the past, and from how still Rhie was, she was just as thrown off about it as I was.

I fumbled for something to say to break the silence, landing on, “You made the bed?”

Rhie exhaled, hands grazing the doorframe like she was afraid to fully enter. But finally, she crossed the threshold, pulling the door shut behind us and flipping the lock. “I’m not an animal.”

“You could have trashed the place, and I would have deserved it,” I dragged a hand over my face. “I can sleep on the floor.”

Rhie didn’t respond right away, her head turning as she took in the cabin for the second time.

Her eyes landed on the bed for a moment before pulling away, color returning to her face in the form of a blush.

When she spoke, it wasn’t in response to what I said, but another question. “Why? Why did you come for me?”

A bunch of thoughts hit me all at once. Because I never stopped thinking about you, because knowing I hurt you makes it hard to sleep, because I would have fought all of those wolves just for a chance to save you, even if it doomed me.

I didn’t say any of that, though. “Because it was the right thing to do. And,” I tried to add a little humor into my tone. “If I didn’t save you, how else would I have been able to apologize to you and clear my conscience?”

There was more to it. Of course, there was. But I thought the two of us had been through enough that night without me also making things emotional. Rhie looked like there was more she wanted to ask, but she just shrugged and said, “Fair enough. Are you sure you’re okay sleeping on the floor?”

I’d rather you invite me to bed, I thought, but instead told her, “I’m too tall for the couch. So yeah, the floor it is.”

“Far be it from me to question your chivalry,” she sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. “This is just for tonight, though…right?”

“Right.” What I didn’t tell her was that I had other plans, they just didn’t involve me living in my tiny hunting cabin for the foreseeable future.

They did include Rhie, though.

With nothing left that either of us was willing to say, we went about our own separate tasks, getting ready for sleep in the small cabin.

I had a few spare sets of clothes in the dresser, and I was able to give her an old pair of sweats so she didn’t have to sleep in the clothes the rogues had dragged her through the woods in.

The shower in the bathroom was minuscule and left a lot to be desired, but Rhie didn’t complain, and apparently made do with the single bar of soap she managed to find.

Hearing the water running and knowing she was naked under the steaming water so close was hell on my nerves, and it was an unwelcome surprise to find out how powerfully I was still attracted to her.

She was objectively pretty, of course, but Rhie was just my type, and since I knew firsthand how strong our chemistry in bed was, it only made it harder for me to ignore her.

The cabin had always been small, but with her in it, it felt damn near claustrophobic. Rhie’s presence, her scent, her energy were already soaking into the old wooden beams of the place, and I wondered how many years I’d have to leave it empty before she would fade away.

Once she was done showering, I took my turn, clenching my teeth and trying my damndest to ignore how much I liked seeing her in my clothes, which she was drowning in, and how much I wanted to lick the drop of water I could see traveling down her neck.

Alone in the shower stall, I gave in and jerked myself off in a handful of quick, punishing strokes, Rhie on my mind the entire time. I thought if I could get off that, maybe I could purge the need for her from my mind and body, but even when it was done, I felt no better.

Afterwards, I found her sitting on the bed, the weak overhead light turned off, and a few candles lit. Rhie was sitting on the bed, her arms crossed, turned half away from me. The candlelight softened everything, and it made her look ethereal, even with her stony expression.

I dared to sit next to her, and she tensed even more. I knew she wanted her distance from me, but that just wasn’t going to happen when we barely had room to move.

“Rhie,”

She looked at me, and I couldn’t tell whether she wanted to reach for me or slap me.

Neither one would be too much of a surprise.

It was only when she fully faced me that I saw a bruise forming over one cheekbone, and I clenched my hands into fists as rage filtered in to join every other fucked up emotion I was having.

I reached out to touch the spot, but she flinched away. I buried the disappointment deep and touched the mirrored spot on my own face. “Your cheek. Is that from…?”

“The rogues? Yeah. They didn’t knock me around too much, but that was from after they tied my hands and threw me to the ground. I guess they didn’t have the foresight to know that I wouldn’t be able to catch myself.”

“Put ice on it tomorrow. I think I have a first aid kit around here somewhere with some aspirin—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rhie cut me off. “We’ll worry about all that in the morning.”

“You should get some sleep,” I told her, keeping my voice low. “I’ll take first watch.”

She frowned. “What do you mean by ‘first watch’?”

“Someone needs to be awake in case the rogues manage to track us down. I’ll take the first shift.”

Rhie swallowed, genuine fear on her face. “You really think they will?”

I hesitated. It would be easier to lie, so she agreed without argument, but I’d done enough lying to the she-wolf in front of me. “No, not tonight. But I won’t take any chances with you.”

She scoffed, turning away from me again. “Nice to know you care now. ”

The barb hurt, but I took it on the jaw because I deserved it. “I’ll stay up a few hours and then I’ll wake you up so we can switch.”

“Sure.” Rhie was dead on her feet, her voice heavy with exhaustion even as she was still stiff with wariness. Whether she was more wary of me or the rogues, I wasn’t sure, and that made me feel sick.

Still, I ignored it. As soon as she let herself relax and the adrenaline wore off, she was going to be out like a light.

I snuffed the candles out one by one and sat on the couch, listening as Rhie wiggled herself under the blankets and let out a long, shaky breath.

A full hour passed with me listening to her toss and turn in the dark before her breathing finally grew even and she fell into a deep sleep.

Good. She needed the rest, and I wasn’t nearly as tired as I should have been. My thoughts kept me wide awake, bouncing from Rhie to the rogues, and back again. How in the hell was I going to keep her safe when she obviously didn’t want to be anywhere near me?

The rogues weren’t stupid enough to try again that very night, but something told me they’d be back to collect their debt at the worst possible time.

I couldn’t even fathom what they might want, and I dreaded having to tell the other Alphas that I’d had to make a deal with the rogues.

It was the only way to get Rhie out safely at the time, but it was still a dumb fucking move when I thought about it for too long.

I understood why Rhie had been a target, and that was a failing on Scott’s end, not mine.

She hadn’t been in his pack long enough for a wolf to be able to tell she was a member of the Shadowbay pack on scent or energy alone.

She was also an unmated Omega, something that was irresistible to lonely wolves yearning for a connection, anything to replace the pack they had lost.

Rhie lived alone, in an isolated area near the edge of the pack, and no one but the Lunas, who were increasingly busy with their own lives and packs, would have even thought to check on her for days.

It was a stroke of luck that I had. I felt cold, thinking about how if I hadn’t discovered she was missing, they’d have been long gone with her before anyone else had noticed.

She needed protection, but something told me she wasn’t going to be easily swayed, especially if that protection came from me. It shouldn’t have to, considering she was part of another pack, but I wanted to keep her safe. As an apology for how much I’d fucked up with her already.

That, and I didn’t trust anyone else to do it right.

And because deep down, I couldn’t deny the pull I felt towards her.

The same pull I’d felt when I’d first seen her in the bar, and we were strangers who couldn’t keep our hands off each other.

I wanted her to acknowledge that pull, too, and wanted her to trust me the way she had that first night.

But wanting something didn’t mean shit. I was going to have to earn it.

So, I sat in the quiet while she slept in the same bed that we’d shared, gently snoring, knowing that I had zero intentions of waking her up for a second watch.

I’d done plenty of all-nighters in my time, but I had my doubts that Rhie could say the same.

Tomorrow, she’d fight tooth and nail against me sticking around to keep an eye on her. It would be a fresh reason for her to hate me. But for the rest of that night, I simply listened to her breathe, kept an ear out for any strange sounds outside, and waited.