Page 17 of Rejecting his Mate (The Wolves of Black Mountain #2)

Chapter 17

Cade

A s we reclaim our seats in the booth, I watch Halle. She seems smaller than she did when we first walked into the diner. I wonder what the hell she’s thinking. If her aunt did something to her memories, I don’t see how Halle can ever get past that. She stole the last bond she had to her mother, of her life before they shoved her into the role of mindless pack member.

Tentatively, I test our pack bond, but nothing is coming through, nothing I can use to help me understand anyway.

I focus on her instead. She’s trying to hide it, but I can see the tension, the fear, and the sadness in her expression as she fiddles with the salt shaker.

I move closer to her, making sure our bodies are touching, even if it’s only slightly. It seems to soothe her a little, relaxing her enough to release her hold on the shaker and focus on the rest of the group.

“You know what you want?” Sawyer hands her the menu, and she takes it from him with a murmured thanks. I give my brother a grateful look for trying to make things normal again.

I know she loves her aunt, but right now, I want to hurt her as much as Halle is hurting. If that’s what Adeline has done to Halle, it makes me question everything. Someone you love wouldn’t remove the very essence of who you are.

And I absolutely believe Adeline took Halle’s memories. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. If Halle knew back then that she was not a full wolf, that she had witch in her, she would be a liability. One wrong move, one slip-up using magic in front of someone she shouldn’t, and her life would be over.

I understand why Adeline would want to protect her from accidentally outing herself, but taking her memories was fucking cruel.

I have to wonder what the fuck Adeline was thinking back then. She put Halle in a position where she was always doomed to fail. Did she do something to her witch half too? Why can’t she access it?

At first, I thought it could have been because she only had a small amount of power, but the way she healed Jackson… that wasn’t a small amount of anything. She fixed him, inside and out.

This shit is above my pay grade. I don’t know witches or what they’re capable of, particularly when they’re mixed with wolves. I’ve never met a tau wolf nor come across one in my lifetime, and I don’t know anyone who has.

I’d guess Adeline didn’t know shit about tau wolves either, but she must have had some notion that her niece’s witch half would oppress her wolf.

Everyone knows hybrids can’t always pull their wolves out.

What the hell did she think would happen during the first moon ceremony?

I refuse to believe she expected Halle would shift.

She had to know—or expect—she wouldn’t be able to transition into her wolf. Did she think suppressing her magic would make her wolf stronger?

I stare at the side of Halle’s face, wondering if I should tell her my suspicions, but I can’t add that to her plate. She’s already overwhelmed thinking her aunt took her memories from her.

The waitress returns, and everyone orders. Halle’s gaze goes to the window when she’s done, as if she can’t look at any of us, and that makes me pissed. She’s done nothing wrong, nothing to be ashamed of, and yet I see that in her expression.

As someone who has struggled with facing the fact I’m different, I understand it. My vargr blood makes me an outsider among my own kind, even though I am a pure-blooded wolf and all that shit those assholes value. The Order of the Crescent Moon would hunt us, but the agreements we have in place keep us off their radar—or did. I wonder if our interference here will put us back on it.

I barely give the waitress any attention as she places the food in front of each of us. She can’t take her eyes off my brother, which isn’t unusual. Despite what he is, women are always drawn to Sawyer.

Humans are stupid creatures. They walk through life wearing blinders, not seeing the truth of what lives among them, even when evidence is presented. So many wolf attacks are blamed on wild animals. There was a time when our kind walked among theirs, and they knew of our existence, but over time, those truths became legends, and we were lost.

Now, wolf shifters have to remain a secret. If this human society discovered the truth, we’d all be hunted down and snuffed out. There are rules in place, methods that help keep us hidden.

Like the Order.

Its sole purpose is to take out anything that could unveil the truth about us. Keeping bloodlines pure means there is less chance of a hybrid accidentally wolfing out and ending up in a viral video on the internet.

In the time we live in, there is always some asshole with a cell phone, ready to upload anything to social media. This is why more and more packs have moved out of cities and into remote locations.

Less chance of being caught.

It’s dangerous for us to mate with humans, less so with other supernatural creatures, but there’s still the risk of an impromptu shift that could tell humans we exist.

There are plenty of wolves who agree with the Order using any means necessary to protect our kind.

I’m not one of them.

As a kid, those hunters used to terrify me. I used to lie awake, ready to protect my brother and my parents if they came for us. We might be wolves, but those hunters can’t always tell the difference when they’ve got bloodlust inside them.

It doesn’t surprise me they would hunt and be prepared to kill a little girl just to keep that secret. Halle would have posed a threat that had to be eliminated. The thought alone makes me angry.

Even knowing we were safe, I had bags packed and ready in case those fucking assholes decided they wanted to add my kind to their shit list. Never trusted them to uphold any agreement. Wolves who kill their own won’t care about who they target.

I never let my guard down.

Now, I’ve put myself, my brother, cousin, and friend in the middle of Halle’s problems. I should walk away, protect my family. She’s not my business, but the thought of leaving her to deal with this alone?

I can’t.

Somehow, she and I are tethered together. It is why I was always drawn to the woods where she was. It is why I am risking my life to keep her safe.

I look at the wolves who have been with me for years. Wyatt, my cousin and one of my closest friends. Jackson, who has become blood to me. And, of course, my brother. Sawyer has never let me down, but I have to give them the chance to walk, to leave without judgment.

“You guys want to go?” I ask. I haven’t even picked up my fork yet, but the others are shoveling food into their mouths and stop, glancing up at me.

I feel Halle’s eyes come to me and her shock. Is she surprised I want to stay or that I’m giving them the option to bow out of this oncoming storm?

It mirrors the shock coming from my brother. “What the fuck, Cade? I’m not leaving.” He sounds insulted that I even suggested it, but I had to give him the chance. What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t?

“If Dalton was telling the truth, the Order is coming for us.”

And it is us because while Halle might be wearing someone else’s mark, I can’t stop fighting for her.

Those times when I watched her in the woods, when she had no idea I was there, all I could think about was how sad she always seemed. It ground my gears knowing she was.

Chosen mate matches are tricky. There’s always the risk that the feelings between two wolves won’t grow, won’t develop, and they’ll be stuck in a loveless pairing.

It’s rare, but it does happen.

Most chosen mates are picked because feelings are already there, but it’s clear to anyone that was not the case with Halle and Dalton. It was about what her name could do for him and what his position could do to protect her.

All those times I visited her, I could sense how much she wanted to change her life. I didn’t think I would see that happen.

I understand why her aunt pushed for their match, even if her reasoning was flawed, but it exposed Halle to danger, and that I can’t excuse.

“So let those assholes come,” Sawyer snaps.

“You so eager to die?” Wyatt growls his words out .

“Well, that’s dramatic.” I can sense the anger and tension in my usually jovial brother through the pack bond. “If you want to run, tail tucked between your legs, then by all means. Fuck off.”

Wyatt glares at him, and I feel the strain between them. “Never said I was running.”

“I want to stay and help,” Jackson interjects. “Halle saved my life.”

“I think you should all go,” Halle says, her fingers wrapped around her fork, though she hasn’t touched anything on the plate. “I can handle this on my own.”

“Not happening,” I tell her, refocusing on Wyatt. I need him here, his strength, his ability, but if he wants to go, I won’t stop him. “You want to leave, then go. No hard feelings.”

Sawyer grunts. “Speak for yourself. I’ve got plenty of hard feelings about this.”

“Sawyer,” I snap the warning at my brother. This has to be their decision. No one should be made to stay.

“We’re a pack.” Sawyer leans into us, his fingers gripping the edge of the table. “What kind of fucking pack runs when things get hard?”

“We didn't agree to bring Halle into the pack,” Wyatt mutters.

Sawyer pushes to his feet and grabs our cousin by the collar of his shirt. They both go eye to eye with each other, anger spilling out of them.

Shit.

“Sit down,” I hiss at them, not moving from my seat. I push the command down the pack bond too. “Sawyer, let him go. ”

My brother’s mouth is pulled into a snarl as he releases his hold on Wyatt and reclaims his seat. Tugging his shirt back into place, Wyatt sits too.

The waitress looks like she’s debating calling the cops, but I give her one of my most disarming smiles, and she gives me a watery one back. “You trying to put us on the radar of every fucker in the area?”

Sawyer’s whole face is contorted angrily. “Fuck you, Wyatt. You want to go, then go. No one is going to beg you to stay.”

“I didn’t say I was going. I just said Halle being in our pack wasn’t our decision.”

He’s right. I took that upon myself, and I shouldn’t have, but I can’t change it, and I wouldn’t even if I could.

“Halle’s in the pack, for better or worse,” I say. “You want to leave, no one is going to stop you. Not even this asshole,” I say, glaring at my brother.

Wyatt doesn’t move. He picks his fork up, pushing the food around his plate. “If we do this, you know we’re all gonna die, right?”

“Says who?”

“Logic. As soon as the Order knows she’s a tau, they’re going to send every wolf they’ve got.”

That’s not a lie, and it is what will happen.

“So, we have to be smart, stay ahead of them.”

“How?” Jackson asks.

I don’t have an answer to that, so I stay silent for a moment.

“My mom kept running,” Halle says. “She was terrified every minute of the day that they were going to find us.”

I reach over and grab her hand, but she pulls away. As much as I hate it, I give her whatever space she is clearly craving.

“I can’t let that happen to you guys,” Halle continues. “Once we’ve eaten, we’re all going our separate ways. End of discussion.”

“Absolutely not,” I say at the same time as Sawyer and Jackson speak their disapproval too.

“This isn’t your choice,” she says. “It’s me they’re hunting, not you.”

“And how are you going to defend yourself?” I demand.

Her shoulders shift. “I have witch power. I’ll figure out how to use it.”

“Right, because you’ve been able to access that for all of what? Five minutes?” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice, and it makes her narrow her eyes at me.

“I’ll learn.”

“This isn’t even a discussion,” I growl. “You’re not going anywhere alone, and I don’t give a fuck if any of you want to come or not. That’s your choice, but if you try to leave without me, Halle, I’ll just come after you.”

She rolls her eyes and goes back to playing with her food. I take that as a win. I turn to my pack brothers. “Eat. We’re leaving in ten minutes. Use this time to decide if you’re coming with us or not.”

I barely taste my food as I eat it, focused instead on coming up with a plan to keep us safe. Traveling by car means we’re harder to scent, but we also live in modern times. There are other ways to track us. Even the truck could be a liability.

We just have to keep moving.

Keep running.

That’s all we can do.

Once I’ve finished, I place my cutlery on the plate and wait for the others. Halle ate a little but she’s finished with still half her food uneaten. I guess her stomach must still be in knots.

Sawyer is the last to finish, and as soon as his knife and fork hit the plate, I speak.

“Who’s coming?”

“You know I am,” Sawyer says.

“Me too,” Jackson adds.

I slide my gaze to Wyatt. “I’m coming too.”

I don’t show the relief I’m feeling, even though I want to. “Let’s get back on the road then.”

Halle doesn’t speak as I leave the bills on the table, and the five of us head out to the truck. She doesn’t need to say a word. I can sense her emotions through the pack bond, but her body language tells me even more. She’s very transparent.

Once we’re back in the car, I slip my hand into hers, and while she doesn’t give me her attention, she doesn’t pull away either.

My wolf is instantly soothed by her touch, as am I. I feel her relaxing as well.

Wyatt drives us out of town, heading west toward the Idaho state line. It’s a good direction to go. More mountains and remote towns we can hide in. Moving around every few days should be enough to keep us off the radar of anyone still following us, or so I hope.

We’re about an hour from the Wyoming-Idaho border when Halle’s head slides against my shoulder. Peering down at her, I see her eyes are closed, and her breathing is deep and even. I’m glad she’s sleeping. Dalton hurt her pretty bad, and if we could, I would give her a few days in bed to recover, but we can’t risk staying at the same place for that long.

Wyatt catches my eyes in the rearview mirror before glancing away. I know my cousin is worried, but I can’t explain my need to help Halle. It is greater than my desire to do anything else, including protecting my pack.

And I make no apologies for it.