Page 27 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

“What do you mean?”

“As a healer, Hofter struggles to handle others’ pain. He internalizes it, but it wears on him. Because of this, he’s been working on some magical charms that alter a patient’s perception of time. Hours of pain will only seem like one to them. I am so sorry. I’m going to go speak to him right now. If you’d like to come with me, you’re more than welcome. I promise that we are not trying to play any tricks on you.”

“Maya is not in intense pain. There was no reason for us to be there for hours,” I growled.

Tessa cleared her throat delicately. “Forgive me for interrupting, but based on these ingredients, I would say that Maya has been hiding a great deal of pain. It has a building effect, but if you’re already feeling relief, then it probably has been several hours with at least two or three applications.”

Furious, I turned to her. “You do not hide pain here, do you understand?” I snarled. “Any weakness at all that I don’t know about could get us killed.”

“You were the one who told me to come along,” she said under her breath. “I’m happy to go my own way.”

“You’re not fucking going anywhere.” I turned back to Sera. “While we are here, there are to be no magical charms.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I apologize, wolf, but I will remind you that you are in our home. We should not have practiced magic on you without your knowledge, but we will not abide by your orders.”

Starkly, I realized what Duke had been trying to tell me all along. I would be without power here. If I revealed my status, it would be the death of us all, but even so, these were not wolves. They were not under my command.

I hadn’t even realized how used to the power I’d grown in such a short period of time until it was no longer available to me.

Tessa and Duke stared at me, awaiting my orders. “You are correct,” I bit out. “I would appreciate it if no magic were practiced on us while we are here.”

“A reasonable request. Does this mean that you will be staying tonight? We have several accommodations. I believe two of your wolves are already examining them,” she said pleasantly, as if we hadn’t just had a tense standoff.

It was late. I wasn’t sure if we were safe here, but I knew the risks of leaving. Plus, I wanted to make sure that the salve on Maya’s knee was going to help her. I nodded shortly.

“Wonderful. Dinner should be ready shortly. Did you want to accompany me to speak to Hofter?”

“I’ll speak to him at dinner. I trust he’ll be there.” Before she could refute me, I took Maya’s arm and steered her away. “Take me to the others,” I directed at Duke.

We found Dante and Nash arguing about the two sleeping accommodations. One was for wolves and one was for humans. Juniper was making the final call, and I agreed with her. The cabins were easier to protect than the wolf dens. There were two beds in each cabin, so we paired off with Dante and me in one, Nash and Duke in another, and the three women sharing a cabin.

We returned for dinner. Hofter was there, and he bowed to us. “I am truly sorry for any discomfort that I have caused you. I forgot the charms were there when you entered. I have removed them and will leave them down for the duration of your visit.”

After a moment, I bowed my head and accepted his apology. It seemed plausible enough, and as far as I could tell, the only thing it had done was keep us here overnight. I was still a little on edge that something would happen tonight, and I would regret it.

Hofter explained that he was not a trained witch, but had some affinity for the craft and tried to hone it where he could. He had more talent for healing than anything else. He’d bought the amulets from a witch and was working on the spell coating them to suit his needs.

Witches. This mountain was so much more dangerous than I’d first anticipated, but I would not back down.

Maya seemed so much more relaxed than usual, smiling and quietly chatting with the humans around us. None of the conversations were relevant, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off her.

After dinner, I gave my wolves their instructions. The huts were close enough that two guards could be posted at all times, shifting throughout the night. And when I walked into my hut, I was met with my temporary roommate snarling at me.

“What the fuck is this?” Maya demanded. “You don’t expect me to sleep with you, do you?”

“Yes. I do.”

14

Maya

“You so much as touch me, I will scream so loud…”

“Settle down, princess,” Rhyson sighed. “I’m not here to fuck you. We need to talk.”

Was he really so pissed about my knee? It was all that I could do not to roll my eyes. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my knee, but let’s be honest. You didn’t ask a lot of questions, and you certainly didn’t invite a conversation. I believe your words were ‘speak only when spoken to.’ My knee has hurt for years. It hurt when you bent me over the bed and fucked me from behind. I’ve learned to live with it.”

His eyes turned gold, and I had a feeling I was skating on thin ice, but I wasn’t done. “You want to know about my other injuries? You’ve seen my scars. They’re not battle scars, but they don’t hurt anymore. My ankle was fucked up for a while, but it really only hurts when I run on it as a human. The knee bothers me as a human and a wolf, so it’s a little more difficult to navigate. It’s better now. I won’t slow you down.”

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