Page 1 of Rejected Wolf Mate

Chapter 1 - Astrid

I popped my knuckles and shifted from foot to foot, then marched into the office. Ansel looked up, brown eyes scrutinizing me even as his expression remained neutral.

“We need to talk,” I said.

He looked around, indicating we were the only two people in the office, and nodded.

“By all means,” he said, gesturing to the seat. “What’s on your mind?”

My jaw clenched as I closed the door and then turned back to face him, remaining standing.

“I’m done,” I said.

He had returned to the papers cluttering his desk. When I spoke, he paused, then raised his head slowly to regard me. He raised an eyebrow. I stayed where I was, arms folded as I stared back.

Finally, he sighed. “All right. I’ll bite,” he said. “What happened?”

“Aspen,” I said.

He blinked, as if trying to figure out what I was talking about. Then I saw comprehension spread across his face. “Ah,” he said. “I see.”

I bristled. He was talking about it as if it had been a normal, everyday occurrence. As if a kid hadn’t died.

“I’ll admit I’m a little surprised,” he said. “It isn’t as though this is the first time there have been complications on a job.”

“When I joined, I knew there were some sketchy things going on,” I admitted. “But I’d just gone along with it. You paid well, and I needed the money, and I thought it was mostly harmless. But Aspen was on a different level.”

It wasn’t just that. By the time I had figured out how seedy Ansel and his crew were, I was in too deep. Backing out would have raised too many questions, and I’d felt like I was stuck. He’d successfully sucked me into a life I had never wanted but had been forced into because of life circumstances.

Except Aspen had been different.

I had known something was shady when Ansel told us he wanted us to get some sensitive information from some council-related building. Except I had managed to not think too hard about it. I was just supposed to be a distraction while everyone else grabbed whatever information it was they were supposed to get. I hadn’t even asked what it was, preferring ignorance.

As I was distracting one of the guards with a trivial complaint, things had gone wrong. Alarms began to blare and scream. I kept my cover and managed to sneak off by blending in with the rest of the crowd. Except as I was ushered away, gunshots echoed out. When I finally managed to make my way back to base, I found out that one of ours—a guy who hadn’t been older than nineteen—had been shot. Hearing that had been the final straw, but it had still taken me a couple of days for me to get up the courage to break ties. But it was clear I had gotten in too deep, and I had more than myself to think about.

“I’ll admit that Aspen brought more heat on us than I would have liked,” Ansel said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re ruined or that our goals have changed. I doubt they know enough to come after us.”

My mouth dropped open. “This doesn’t have anything to do with worrying about getting caught. A guy died, Ansel. He was practically a kid. He was maybe a year younger than Thea. And once he died, it was effectively swept under the rug. I can’t be a part of a group that does something like that. I’m sorry.”

“And there’s no changing your mind?” he asked.

The way his eyes studied me made my skin crawl. I had never felt unsafe around Ansel, but that didn’t change the fact that sometimes the intensity lurking in his eyes made me uncomfortable, as though I was being studied under a microscope. I exhaled, reminding myself what I was doing and why. I couldn’t back out now.

“I’m positive,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone what I’ve done or anything about the group. I just want a clean break. We’ll move away, and you’ll never see or hear from me again.”

He nodded, resting his chin on laced fingers as he surveyed me. I waited, a lump beginning to grow in my throat.

“I won’t stop you if you want to leave,” he said. “You know I’m not that type of person.”

The comment made me pause for a moment, certain I had misheard him. I tilted my head, blinking. “Seems a bit risky,” I said. “Considering the fact that I can implicate everyone here.”

He gave a sly grin. “That’s because I don’t think you’ll leave.”

My skin prickled. Was he threatening me? My eyes darted from side to side, wondering if maybe we weren’t as alone as I’d thought. “And why’s that?”

He straightened, shuffling some papers around. “Because I have a job that I think you’re really going to be able to sink your teeth into.”

“I’m not interested,” I said.

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