Page 13 of Rejected Sold Mate
“Right.” What I didn’t tell her was that I had other plans, they just didn’t involve me living in my tiny hunting cabin for the foreseeable future.
They did include Rhie, though.
With nothing left that either of us was willing to say, we went about our own separate tasks, getting ready for sleep in the small cabin. I had a few spare sets of clothes in the dresser, and I was able to give her an old pair of sweats so she didn’t have to sleep in the clothes the rogues had dragged her through the woods in.
The shower in the bathroom was minuscule and left a lot to be desired, but Rhie didn’t complain, and apparently made do with the single bar of soap she managed to find. Hearing the water running and knowing she was naked under the steaming water so close was hell on my nerves, and it was an unwelcome surprise to find out how powerfully I was still attracted to her. She was objectively pretty, of course, but Rhie was just my type,and since I knew firsthand how strong our chemistry in bed was, it only made it harder for me to ignore her.
The cabin had always been small, but with her in it, it felt damn near claustrophobic. Rhie’s presence, her scent, her energy were already soaking into the old wooden beams of the place, and I wondered how many years I’d have to leave it empty before she would fade away.
Once she was done showering, I took my turn, clenching my teeth and trying my damndest to ignore how much I liked seeing her in my clothes, which she was drowning in, and how much I wanted to lick the drop of water I could see traveling down her neck.
Alone in the shower stall, I gave in and jerked myself off in a handful of quick, punishing strokes, Rhie on my mind the entire time. I thought if I could get off that, maybe I could purge the need for her from my mind and body, but even when it was done, I felt no better.
Afterwards, I found her sitting on the bed, the weak overhead light turned off, and a few candles lit. Rhie was sitting on the bed, her arms crossed, turned half away from me. The candlelight softened everything, and it made her look ethereal, even with her stony expression.
I dared to sit next to her, and she tensed even more. I knew she wanted her distance from me, but that just wasn’t going to happen when we barely had room to move.
“Rhie,”
She looked at me, and I couldn’t tell whether she wanted to reach for me or slap me. Neither one would be too much of a surprise. It was only when she fully faced me that I saw a bruise forming over one cheekbone, and I clenched my hands into fistsas rage filtered in to join every other fucked up emotion I was having.
I reached out to touch the spot, but she flinched away. I buried the disappointment deep and touched the mirrored spot on my own face. “Your cheek. Is that from…?”
“The rogues? Yeah. They didn’t knock me around too much, but that was from after they tied my hands and threw me to the ground. I guess they didn’t have the foresight to know that I wouldn’t be able to catch myself.”
“Put ice on it tomorrow. I think I have a first aid kit around here somewhere with some aspirin—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rhie cut me off. “We’ll worry about all that in the morning.”
“You should get some sleep,” I told her, keeping my voice low. “I’ll take first watch.”
She frowned. “What do you mean by ‘first watch’?”
“Someone needs to be awake in case the rogues manage to track us down. I’ll take the first shift.”
Rhie swallowed, genuine fear on her face. “You really think they will?”
I hesitated. It would be easier to lie, so she agreed without argument, but I’d done enough lying to the she-wolf in front of me. “No, not tonight. But I won’t take any chances with you.”
She scoffed, turning away from me again. “Nice to know you carenow.”
The barb hurt, but I took it on the jaw because I deserved it. “I’ll stay up a few hours and then I’ll wake you up so we can switch.”
“Sure.” Rhie was dead on her feet, her voice heavy with exhaustion even as she was still stiff with wariness. Whether she was more wary of me or the rogues, I wasn’t sure, and that made me feel sick.
Still, I ignored it. As soon as she let herself relax and the adrenaline wore off, she was going to be out like a light. I snuffed the candles out one by one and sat on the couch, listening as Rhie wiggled herself under the blankets and let out a long, shaky breath. A full hour passed with me listening to her toss and turn in the dark before her breathing finally grew even and she fell into a deep sleep.
Good. She needed the rest, and I wasn’t nearly as tired as I should have been. My thoughts kept me wide awake, bouncing from Rhie to the rogues, and back again. How in the hell was I going to keep her safe when she obviously didn’t want to be anywhere near me?
The rogues weren’t stupid enough to try again that very night, but something told me they’d be back to collect their debt at the worst possible time. I couldn’t even fathom what they might want, and I dreaded having to tell the other Alphas that I’d had to make a deal with the rogues. It was the only way to get Rhie out safely at the time, but it was still a dumb fucking move when I thought about it for too long.
I understood why Rhie had been a target, and that was a failing on Scott’s end, not mine. She hadn’t been in his pack long enough for a wolf to be able to tell she was a member of the Shadowbay pack on scent or energy alone. She was also an unmated Omega, something that was irresistible to lonely wolves yearning for a connection, anything to replace the pack they had lost.
Rhie lived alone, in an isolated area near the edge of the pack, and no one but the Lunas, who were increasingly busy with their own lives and packs, would have even thought to check on her for days. It was a stroke of luck that I had. I felt cold, thinking about how if I hadn’t discovered she was missing, they’d have been long gone with her before anyone else had noticed.
She needed protection, but something told me she wasn’t going to be easily swayed, especially if that protection came from me. It shouldn’t have to, considering she was part of another pack, but I wanted to keep her safe. As an apology for how much I’d fucked up with her already.
That, and I didn’t trust anyone else to do it right. And because deep down, I couldn’t deny the pull I felt towards her. The same pull I’d felt when I’d first seen her in the bar, and we were strangers who couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I wanted her to acknowledge that pull, too, and wanted her to trust me the way she had that first night.
