Page 27 of Rejecting his Mate (The Wolves of Black Mountain #2)

Chapter 27

Halle

T he way Cade talks about protecting me makes my stomach flutter. I send calm through the mating bond, but also gratitude. I like knowing someone has my back and that I am not alone.

My time in the Red Deer pack was lonely and difficult at times, particularly after the mating with Dalton.

As I’m rinsing the last plate, Tessa steps into the kitchen. I can sense Cade close, so I relax, knowing if anything happens, he’ll be there. Although I do not think Tessa means to hurt me, maybe Cade is right about showing a little hesitancy with these people.

“With everything that happened tonight, I don’t think anyone else actually congratulated you on your mating. Cade seems like a good wolf. Protective, too.”

I can’t stop the dreamy quality from entering my voice. “I didn’t know it could be like this.”

She gives me a soft smile. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, thinking you were never going to escape from the situation you were in with your first mate, and I can understand why that would give you trust issues. There are things Hester does that I don’t understand either, things that I question, but since I’ve been here, she has taken care of all of us.”

I glance over my shoulder toward the door, making sure we are truly alone before speaking. “She seems nice, but I feel like something more is going on here. Cade is right, Hester is building something. I’m not saying it’s an army to fight hunters, but there is a reason she is bringing us all together like this.”

Leaning against the counter behind her, Tessa crosses her arms over her chest, her gaze locked on the floor. “Does it really surprise you that she would want us to be strong enough to protect ourselves?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Until I met you guys, I had never heard of a tau wolf. I didn't even know I had magic that could protect me. I didn’t know I was being hunted, that there were people who would want to kill me just because of what I am. I didn’t think I would need to protect myself.”

Tessa studies me, her eyes focused as if she can pull my thoughts out of my head with her magic. I wonder if that is possible, so I try to empty my mind just in case. “Apryle, Roux, and I train daily with Hester. We learn to harness the gifts we have in case the wards that surround the sanctuary ever fail or in case we have to go out into the world again to rescue another hybrid like us. If you want to learn how to harness all that magic inside you, you’ll not find anyone better than Hester.”

“I don’t know how to deal with all this. A few days ago, I was looking forward to meeting my wolf at my first moon ceremony. Now I’m learning I’m not a full shifter, and I have access to this insane amount of power that I can’t control. I’m struggling with everything. Other than Cade. He is the only thing in all of this that feels right.”

I hate the sympathetic look that crosses Tessa’s face. I don’t want pity. I want answers and direction. “It’s a lot to take,” she agrees. “When I first came here, I was terrified too. I wasn’t sure if my father was dead after helping me escape, and I didn’t know if this place was truly safe. I put my faith in Hester, even though I didn’t know her. Trust doesn’t come easily to me either, Halle, but we live in a world that wants us dead. So yeah, Hester may be building an army of us. Maybe she knows deep down this place will never truly be safe, and she wants us to be as protected as we can be. I don’t know if I can be angry at her for that.”

I mull over that, coming to the same conclusion as Tessa. We are safe here for now, but that may not always be the case. I killed the hunters in Spencer, but that had been luck, not some strategic plan to get us out of there. If my magic hadn’t worked, if I hadn’t been able to draw on it the way I did, that situation could have ended very differently.

“I want to be able to protect myself and Cade.”

“Then learn. Hester has already taught me so much about my magic and how we are far stronger as a group.” She grabs the cloth from the sink and wipes down the counter. “This witch business is not an exact science. Some of us have more magic than others. Roux is more wolf than witch. I have more magic than the others, but alone, we are vulnerable. I can’t raise the same amount of magic as Hester.” There’s a hint of hesitancy before she speaks again. “When you touched us back in Spencer, the surge of power that came from you was like nothing I have ever felt before. You are so powerful, Halle, that it actually scared me a little.”

Ice settles in my gut at those words. I don’t want anyone to be afraid of me. I also don’t want that amount of power inside me. It already feels like too much. “I hate that I am different.”

Tessa dumps the cloth back in the sink and turns to me. “You only hate it because you have been told it is bad to be different. But what is so bad about what we can do?”

I blow out a breath. She’s right. Having magic doesn’t make us evil or an abomination. Some wolves are good, and some are bad. Dalton was more animal than anything else, and he was from a well-respected line. Klaus killed his sister, and yet no one seemed to care about that in my old pack.

I sense Cade’s presence, and when I twist my head, he is standing in the doorway. His eyes are drawn to mine, just as mine are to his. Will it always be this intense between us, or is it just because the mating bond is so fresh? I don’t want to pull out of this honeymoon period we are having. I like how it feels too much.

“The table's cleared,” he says. “I'm taking Halle back to the cabin.”

Tessa surprises me by hugging me. Her hold is tight, comforting. “You’re not alone. Not anymore. I know it is hard to trust, but you have to let someone in. Let it be us.”

She lets me go and walks out of the room. Cade steps out of the doorway to let her pass, then he comes to me, his hands instantly slipping around my back to pull me close to him. I want to get lost in him and forget any of this is happening.

I peer up at him, hoping he can see how insanely besotted I am with him already. “Everything okay?” he asks.

I nod, and he dips his head to press his mouth to mine as if he has been waiting for dinner to end to do it. I melt against him, my body molding to his. I fit perfectly in his arms, and I understand why fated mates believe they are created to be with each other.

When he pulls back, I let myself get lost in his eyes for a moment before he takes my hand, and together we make our way out of the back door toward our cabin.

The lights twinkle in the darkness, shadows crowding behind the buildings as we make our way down the path that leads to the cabins. Lights are on in Roux’s cabin, and I wonder how she can resist Sawyer if she is his true mate. There is nothing that could stop the pull I have toward Cade.

As we pass the cabins to the right, I scent Wyatt before I see him. He is sitting in the dark on the porch of one set back from all the others. Cade senses him at the same time, changing direction and wandering up the path toward the building.

“You’re back.” It’s an obvious thing to state, but neither Cade nor Wyatt pull me up on it. “Did you bring Sawyer back?”

“Yep.”

“Is he okay?” I press.

“Nope.”

I scowl at him in the dark. Some of the light reaches this far, casting shadows across his face. It’s then I notice the bruise on his jaw. At least, I think it is a bruise. The entire bottom part of his face looks black.

I suck in a breath. “Did Sawyer do that to you?”

He doesn’t answer, and Cade speaks. “Did he?”

Wyatt leans back on the bench he is sitting on. “Your brother has quite the temper when he is pushed into a corner.”

That image does not fit with the Sawyer I have come to know. Then again, I don’t know that I blame him. If Cade had rejected me the same way Roux rejected Sawyer, I think I would be angry too.

“Where is he?” Cade growls.

“Leave it alone,” Wyatt says. “He didn’t mean it. He’s not exactly thinking straight right now.”

“That’s not the point.”

I agree with Cade. Wyatt hasn’t been my greatest fan, but he doesn’t deserve to get sucker punched trying to protect his cousin. “He shouldn’t have hit you.”

“I would have hit me too,” Wyatt admits. “He doesn’t want to be reasoned with. He’s hurt, he’s angry, and he’s confused.”

Cade huffs. “Did you see anything suspicious while you were out there? ”

Wyatt shakes his head. “I didn’t scent or see anything.”

That information relaxes Cade almost as much as it does me. It’s hard not to imagine hunters gathered around the perimeter of the wards, waiting for a weak moment to strike. I don’t want to think that, but I do anyway.

“Anything changes, you find us.”

Wyatt makes a sound of agreement in the back of his throat, and Cade gives me a little tug to get me moving again.

Our cabin seems lonely down here, even though we have Tessa and Abel next door. Cade unlocks the door and pushes inside. It is warm in here, chasing away the chill that hangs in the air. It’s not quite winter yet, but it is certainly cooler here than it had been back home.

However, the shiver that runs through me has nothing to do with the weather. I feel as if we are on a chessboard, and the pieces are being moved around us. I don’t know how to protect those I care about from whatever is coming.

I watch Cade as he sinks onto the edge of the couch and undoes his boots. As he slips out of them, I remove my own sneakers, leaving them by the door. He gestures for me to come to him, and I obey. When I’m standing in front of him, he pulls me into his lap, his arms banding around me. I lean my head against his shoulder, soaking in him. “I feel so bad for Sawyer.”

“You have a good heart,” Cade says, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “Things with my brother will work out because his little tau wolf will not be able to resist the pull of the mating bond for long. There’s nothing I could have done to stop myself from having you.”

Warmth spreads through my chest. It is the same thought I have had myself, but it feels good knowing he is on the same page. He collars the back of my neck, his fingers kneading my nape. It feels so good, releasing the tension that has built in my muscles. “I understand her hesitancy if she has been hurt before, but Sawyer is not like that. He would never hurt his mate.”

Cade tightens his grip on me. “I don’t want to talk about my brother while I have my mate in my arms.”

I smile. I like that he is already obsessed with me. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Whatever you want, just not that.”

I twist my neck to the side as he finds a particularly stubborn knot. “I know things aren’t perfect, but I do think we can be happy here. It’s nice to stop running. I don’t know how long we could have done that.”

“I should have been able to give you a stable environment.”

I turn to him, our mouths nearly touching. I can feel his breath on my skin, the heat of it making me want more. “It doesn’t matter how we got here. All that matters is we did.”

“Just… Don’t get too comfortable. In truth, we don’t know what we are facing here.”

I know he’s right about that, but I desperately want to have someone in our corner, and some of the things Hester explained made perfect sense. We are stronger together. I felt that when I was connected to the other tau wolves. Those hunters are not going to stop coming for us until they have done exactly what they set out to do.

Even if Cade doesn’t trust Hester and her motives, I am sure she is trying to protect us. I sense the wards hiding us, shielding us from the hunters who want us dead.

Do they want us dead?

The thought enters my mind unbidden, but it makes me think. When they fired at us back in Spencer, none of those bullets were aimed at the women, only at the vargr wolves and Abel. I didn’t notice at the time because I was too busy trying to protect us, but now that I think about it, a horrible thought dawns in my mind.

They wanted the tau wolves alive.

“You okay?” Cade asks, his grip tightening on me.

I straighten in his lap, pushing my hair out of my face. “Those hunters weren’t trying to kill us, Cade.”

His brows draw together, and he stares at me as if I have lost my mind. “The bullet in my shoulder suggests otherwise.”

I wave a hand, dismissing this comment. “No, they were trying to kill you ,” This earns me another flick of his brows, “but they weren’t trying to kill me or the other tau.”

“They fired at us. A hell of a lot of bullets.”

“Yes, they fired at you and the other shifters, but none of those bullets were aimed at us.”

I scramble to get off his lap. He doesn’t want me to go and tries to keep hold of me, but I slide out of his grasp, pacing the floor as an idea starts to take root in my head. Cade moves as if he wants to offer comfort, but I don’t want that right now. I need to think.

“Why would they not shoot to kill?”

Cade rubs his head, and I feel his confusion through our mating bond. “I don’t really stop to consider the motives of hunters, Halle.”

“They wanted you dead, you and the guys.” My mind is racing, and I’m not sure how to link my thoughts together. “They are taking tau wolves alive. That’s why none of those bullets were aimed at the females. Only the males. Vargr and a normal shifter are not of interest to them.” I lift my gaze to his. “But why?”

I can see he is struggling to keep pace with my racing words, but I am fairly certain I am on to something here.

“The Order doesn’t care if hybrids live or die, Halle. Their only mission is to annihilate them. That’s why they came in numbers.”

I drop my hands to my hips, unsure why I’m not getting through to him.

“Then why didn’t they aim their weapons at us?” My thoughts are colliding inside my mind as I try to make sense of a bigger problem. I feel the answer is close, and I push harder to understand.

“What are you thinking?” Cade doesn’t dismiss my suspicions, something I was used to with both my aunt and my pack.

“I don’t know. It just—” As it comes to me, my stomach rolls savagely. “If they don’t want us dead, that means they want to take us alive. What could they possibly want with us? ”

His expression morphs into one of disgust. “If they need hybrid wolves breathing, I can guarantee there’s something nefarious behind it.”

I’m glad he doesn’t mock me because I am certain the truth is nastier than I can imagine. “What could an organized militia possibly want with magical wolves? I don’t know much about witches, but they don’t like our kind. They don’t, and won’t, help us, even though almost everything we do is rooted in magic. Pack bonds, chosen mating bonds, first moon ceremonies, fuck, even fated mates. Knowing and being able to control these things would be important, wouldn’t it?”

I don’t like the emotion that bleeds into his eyes. It isn’t fear, but it’s close enough. All I can feel through the mating bond is his heightened anxiety.

“You think they are collecting tau wolves to control shifters?”

I shrug, unsure if my theory sounds stupid. “How many times have chosen mates failed to cement their bonds and been stuck in a loveless mating?”

“I don’t know. It happens, or so I’ve heard.”

“And the only way to remove a chosen bond is through magic.”

“That bond was weak to start with.”

“It was, but what if other tau can do the same? What if we don’t need to rely on alpha magic to create packs? What if we don’t need alpha and beta magic to draw the first shift?” I lift my eyes to meet his. “What if Hester isn’t the only one building an army of hybrids?”

He doesn’t speak for a moment, just digesting what I just said. My stomach tingles with nervous energy as I wait for him to tell me I’m sleep deprived and delusional.

But he doesn’t.

“If that is the case, then you and the others are in much more danger than we imagined. You’re stuck in the middle of a war we don't even know exists.”

Cade comes off the couch, striding toward me until he is standing in front of me. I have to tip my head back to meet his gaze, and his broad shoulders block my view. Everything about him is big.

He presses his hands to either side of my neck, rubbing his fingers against the tight muscles. “No one, and I mean no one, is going to lay a hand on you. Hester is not using you as cannon fodder against these fuckers. And hunters won’t get their hands on you. These bruises,” he swipes over my face where Dalton hit me, “are the last you will ever wear.”

I lean into his touch, needing that connection with him. I can’t even tell him how grateful I am for everything he is. I thought I would be shackled to a monster for the rest of my life, but those chains Dalton put on me weren’t real.

He brushes my hair back from my face before his arms wrap around me, holding me in a safe cocoon. I wish we could stay like this forever, wrapped in each other, the outside world fading to nothing, but there is no peace to be found.

“I know my dad wasn’t a tau wolf. I’m not even sure males can be tau. One of the things I remember from my past is that my aunt blamed me for my father being killed. He was protecting me and my mom. My mom could have been tau.”

“It’s likely. I don’t know how it is passed down, but it would make sense if one of your parents were one.”

I close my eyes, trawling through my memories before meeting Delphine. We were running, and then there is nothing. “I don’t remember how I ended up with Adeline. The last thing I see is my mom and me together, so what happened to my mom? Did the hunters catch her? Was she killed, or was she taken?” My eyes pop open, and I find Cade’s. “If she was taken, she could be alive.”

And if she is, I have to find her. But first, I need to recover the memory of my last moments with her, which means I need Hester’s help.