Page 73 of Rejecting his Mate

“Right, because you’ve been able to access that for all of what? Five minutes?” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice, and it makes her narrow her eyes at me.

“I’ll learn.”

“This isn’t even a discussion,” I growl. “You’re not going anywhere alone, and I don’t give a fuck if any of you want to come or not. That’s your choice, but if you try to leave without me, Halle, I’ll just come after you.”

She rolls her eyes and goes back to playing with her food. I take that as a win. I turn to my pack brothers. “Eat. We’re leaving in ten minutes. Use this time to decide if you’re coming with us or not.”

I barely taste my food as I eat it, focused instead on coming up with a plan to keep us safe. Traveling by car means we’re harder to scent, but we also live in moderntimes. There are other ways to track us. Even the truck could be a liability.

We just have to keep moving.

Keep running.

That’s all we can do.

Once I’ve finished, I place my cutlery on the plate and wait for the others. Halle ate a little but she’s finished with still half her food uneaten. I guess her stomach must still be in knots.

Sawyer is the last to finish, and as soon as his knife and fork hit the plate, I speak.

“Who’s coming?”

“You know I am,” Sawyer says.

“Me too,” Jackson adds.

I slide my gaze to Wyatt. “I’m coming too.”

I don’t show the relief I’m feeling, even though I want to. “Let’s get back on the road then.”

Halle doesn’t speak as I leave the bills on the table, and the five of us head out to the truck. She doesn’t need to say a word. I can sense her emotions through the pack bond, but her body language tells me even more. She’s very transparent.

Once we’re back in the car, I slip my hand into hers, and while she doesn’t give me her attention, she doesn’t pull away either.

My wolf is instantly soothed by her touch, as am I. I feel her relaxing as well.

Wyatt drives us out of town, heading west toward the Idaho state line. It’s a good direction to go. More mountains and remote towns we can hide in. Movingaround every few days should be enough to keep us off the radar of anyone still following us, or so I hope.

We’re about an hour from the Wyoming-Idaho border when Halle’s head slides against my shoulder. Peering down at her, I see her eyes are closed, and her breathing is deep and even. I’m glad she’s sleeping. Dalton hurt her pretty bad, and if we could, I would give her a few days in bed to recover, but we can’t risk staying at the same place for that long.

Wyatt catches my eyes in the rearview mirror before glancing away. I know my cousin is worried, but I can’t explain my need to help Halle. It is greater than my desire to do anything else, including protecting my pack.

And I make no apologies for it.

Chapter 18

Halle

Gentle hands shake me. I blink back sleep as the truck cab comes into view. Cade is in front of me, his expression as morose as ever.

“What happened?” I ask, more alert.

“We’re stopping for the night,” he says.

I relax, my gaze sliding to the window. We’re parked in a motel parking lot. It is dark outside, with lights from the sign and the streetlights chasing the shadows.

A sense of unease washes through me.

Just like my memories.

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