Page 40 of The Wolf's Pregnant Rejected Mate

“No,” Ryder repeated. Then he got into the van and stared straight ahead.

The weight of the stares on her was suffocating. Tess did the only thing she could—she ran. She ran through the town and into the forest. She shifted to wolf form and kept running, determined she would get lost and die in the forest rather than be Monroe’s mate.

***

It was that determination, that certainty that she would rather be dead than Monroe’s mate, that saved her. It gave her the strength to reject him, to face the backlash that came with it. After all, life as an outcast wasn’t as bad as starving to death in the woods.

She had survived the worst times in her life. She would survive this, too.

Finally, she was at her home. Tess stumbled in, ready to have a complete breakdown. But through her tears, she spied a pair of shoes at the entrance. Elin was home. Fuck! Why did she have to be home now of all times?

“Tess?” Elin called. “I’m making some supper. Do you want some?”

“I’m good,” Tess called back, but the words ended up strangled on their way out.

She didn’t make it to her room before Elin appeared. Her brows pinched together, worry in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Tess didn’t want to tell Elin anything. Didn’t want Elin to be the first person to find out. But the pain that ripped through her was too much. Her strength gave out, and she sank to the floor, sobbing and shaking her head.

Elin rushed to her. “Tess! What’s the matter? What happened?”

“Ryder,” Tess choked out. “He asked me to be his mate.”

Confusion knit Elin’s eyebrows together.

“I rejected him,” Tess sobbed. “I rejected him.”

Chapter 22 - Ryder

Ryder veered to the left while Finn went right, and Blayke continued straight on. The brimstone scent of the fucking demons was strong on the wind. They were getting closer. They’d finally had a trap that injured the big bastard. Ryder’s lips pulled back over his teeth, a growl rumbling in his throat. They’d catch him once and for all.

He burst through a raspberry bush, losing tuffs of fur to the thorns. The scent of blood hit his nose as the big wolf came into sight. A deep gash ran down his side, matting his fur with blood. Ryder put on a burst of speed, leaping at the big bastard.

Fury pulsed through him as he landed on the big wolf’s back. His jaws clamped down around his neck, and he shook his body. His teeth snagged on the leather strap, and it snapped. The big wolf threw him off and whirled, snarling as he snapped at his throat. Finn came in from the other side as Blayke dashed from the trees.

But even as the three surrounded the big wolf, a handful of possessed wolves burst through the trees. They all focused on Finn, chomping and clawing at him. Ryder had to abandon the fight with the big wolf to shove the demons away from Finn. Blayke snapped at the throat of one of the wolves and reared to his hind feet, clawing across another’s throat.

The big wolf dashed away, disappearing into the trees. Ryder howled his frustration as he focused on the attacking demons. He used the weight of his body to slam one into a tree, and it went down, whimpering before it lay still. Finn shifted rapidly from human to wolf form, dodging and ducking through them. He grabbed a rock and smashed it over the head of one before leaping onto the back of another and snapping its neck with his jaws.

A howl burst through the trees, and the demons scattered. One of them stooped to grab the Demon Seed that had fallen to the ground. Ryder went after it and grabbed hold of its hindquarters. The demon tossed the Seed; another demon caught it and took off into the woods. Then it turned and bit into Ryder’s face, teeth narrowly missing his eye.

Blayke attacked the last demon. They took it down quickly, but the other demons were gone. The big wolf was out of reach. Ryder growled, considering going after him. But they’d been running enough already, and when he glanced at his men, he saw both were heavily bleeding. The battle had been short but fierce.

If they pushed through now, they’d only be fighting increasing odds.

He hated turning back when they were so close, but it was the only intelligent thing to do. He snarled low in his throat as he turned back. They’d killed three of the demons, but two were still only unconscious. He nodded toward them and jerked his head toward town. These ones didn’t have the tell-tale red eyes. Maybe they were still able to be saved.

Finn shifted to human form again and used the ropes he’d brought to tie up the demons. Ryder’s tail cricked in annoyance. It would be useful if they could all bring things with them when they shifted.

The three of them dragged the two wolves back to town and threw them into the holding cells for the exorcism to be performed later.

At the Alpha’s house, they stopped in the mud room so Blayke and Ryder could dress before reporting. Blayke poked at one of his injuries and grimaced.

“You know, something occurred to me today,” he said in a conversational tone.

Ryder rolled his eyes. “And what’s that?”

“The demons know Finn here is our secret weapon, yeah?” Blayke awkwardly slapped a piece of gauze over his bite wound. Finn knocked away his hand and taped it into place.

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