Page 40 of Rejected Wolf Mate

“Again, your word isn’t worth much at the moment,” he said. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you, but walking away right now seems like a dumb decision.”

I gritted my teeth. “Let me put it this way.” I raised the knife again. “I’m going after Thea. I’ll come quietly and stand trial, or get arrested, or whatever you guys want. But only after I get her out of that hellhole. I’m making sure my sister is safe first. I’m not letting her die.”

Tannen stayed where he was, face inscrutable.

“Just… let me go save her,” I plead. “Please.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking back up at me. “You going by yourself is a stupid decision,” he said. “I’ll come with.”

I shook my head. “No. Go back and tell the others what I told you about the attack.” When he looked at me dubiously, I added, “Rand didn’t listen. One of you should at least know what’s going on and tell the others. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure about that?” he asked, not bothering to hide his disbelief.

I snorted, shaking my head and brushing the hair away from my forehead. “I’m not sure about anything at this point,” I admitted. “But there aren’t a whole lot of other options, now, are there?”

He tilted his head back and forth in a “you’re not wrong” gesture. “Odds are, this is an incredibly dumb decision. You know that, right?”

“You’ve said as much.”

“Right. Right.” He scratched his head, looking around as he weighed the limited options.

“Go warn the others,” I urged. “Worst thing that can happen to me is that I die.”

“That’s… pretty bad. You do realize that, right?”

“Sure,” I conceded. “But it’s preferable to the whole town getting destroyed and a lot more people dying. Which will likely happen unless you tell them what I’ve told you.”

Tannen rubbed his face. “You really are as stubborn as Rand,” he muttered. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

My mouth quirked upward. “So you know how serious I am, then.”

“No kidding.” He shook his head, staring off into the trees. He nodded, coming to a decision. I waited, not breathing.

“Get your sister,” he said. “I’ll tell the others. If you tell me where you’re going, then maybe we can spare someone to go that way once we’ve assessed everything.”

I sagged, nearly collapsing into a puddle in relief. “Thank you,” I said.

“Don’t,” he warned. “I’m betraying my best friend to do this. Thank me by saving your sister.”

“I intend to.”

He gave a short jerk of his head, then shifted back to his great brown wolf. He nodded once at me before disappearing into the trees.

I stayed where I was, waiting, listening, half-expecting an ambush. My wolf tugged at me, begging to keep moving to get to Thea, but I wanted to make sure it hadn’t been some sort of trap. After a minute, the grip on my knife loosened, my shoulders uncoiling.

The only sound came from the birds overhead, and the only smell was that of earth and dirt and the woods. No one was coming. It hadn’t been a trick.

I forced myself to move, knowing I had no time to waste. I stuffed my knife in my bag, then stripped, shoving my clothes in as well. When I was done, I shifted, grabbed the bag in my mouth, then charged through the woods, ready to rescue my sister.

Chapter 18 - Rand

One by one, the Silver Wolves returned to the mansion. Each time, I hoped to see Astrid in tow. Each time, I was disappointed.

The problem was, I couldn’t tell if I was disappointed because she was a wanted criminal who needed to be taken in so we could get the information we needed, or because I wanted to see her again. It had to be the first one. Because there was no way in hell I would want anything to do with Astrid now.

But every time I told myself that, I wondered if I was lying.

When Tannen, the last of the group, came back empty-handed, I slouched back on the sofa, bristling. But instead of just shaking his head and reporting that he hadn’t found anything like everyone else had, he stated, “I found her.”

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