Page 53 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

“I don’t understand.” I choked, trying to keep the tears back. No such luck with me. “I’m just confused.”

“About what?”

I wiped my face and then held my cheeks to keep myself from falling over. “Why me?”

“Honestly, Robyn, I don’t know how to answer that. Because I haven’t quite figured out why me yet either.”

I laughed bitterly. “Great.”

“But I can tell you one thing for sure—it takes a lot of strength to be the Alpha’s mate. It takes patience, kindness, and compassion. You have all those things.”

I sniffled, remaining quiet as I squeezed her hands.

“You’re tough stuff, Robyn. You faced down demons with your mate. You worked together to defeat the person who caused suffering for your people. That’s a big deal.”

“I guess it is.”

She chortled. “If you start doubting things now, you’ll never survive what’s to come.”

My whole body quaked. “Wait, what’s coming?”

“What?”

“You said something is coming.”

Her eyes hardened as she got quiet. “I don’t know what you mean, Robyn.”

I released her hands and promptly skittered back from the table. “You know what? I think I need to go for a walk.”

And then, I ran.

As hard as I could.

***

Coward.

That word circled my mind as I shuffled past the park and my mother’s house. I headed south toward the cul-de-sac where Bill’s house was located, the very same home that had been abandoned for nearly two weeks now. I marched right up to it, skipping past the open gate and heading for the steps that I took by twos to get to the door.

The knob wouldn’t turn.

Drat.

At least I wasn’t calling myself a coward anymore. I kept standing there, staring at the knob, trying to figure out why I ran away from Faye when she looked at me like that. The stare was hard and invasive. It felt like she was trying to read my mind.

My heart skipped a beat.She’s a witch. Is she psychic?

After vigorously rubbing my arm, I turned around to inspect the porch, noticing the way the swing rattled slightly when the wind blew.

I plopped down into it. “What am I doing here?”

I dropped my face into my hands and let out a desperate groan. This week was a wild and hectic ride that refused to get better. At every turn, I felt like I was fighting off another wave of grief, anger, and confusion. I was tired. I was lonely.

A rock clattered against the porch. I lifted my face from my hands, seeing the very man who had come crashing back into my life with all his problems walking toward the porch, dragging his boots on the cement sidewalk and kicking rocks like a child. His eyes glittered with curiosity as his bootsthunkedup each step of the porch until he was in front of me.

“Did my sister insult you?”

I huffed and then shook my head. “No, it’s fine.”

---