Page 15 of Rejected Mate

CHAPTER SIX

Areswantsmetosit next to him? Whatever for?!

I stared at him, too shocked to move, and too slow to process that he wanted me at the head of the table. With him. Had he scrambled his brain? There were nine other shifter females he could choose from, and each of them seemed to be more invested in this game than me. Or at least they were pretending they were. Did he forget I hated him? I’d been pretty clear in the hallway. The awful names I called him should’ve served as a hint. After our showdown, I would think he’d gotten the hint loud and clear. I wanted nothing to do with his “golden” ass.

Was this some sort of joke?

When I scanned the room, I found everyone’s eyes on me. Some of the other females looked jealous or pissed. Okay, now I knew they weren’t pretending. They were really into this sick game. Maybe their fear had scared them into submission. At least, that was my guess until I noticed Laurel’s expression. It made me think of someone who wished they could laser someone’s face off with a single glare. Violet, on the other hand, seemed happy for me. The world had tipped on its head and gone mad!

“Go,” Violet mouthed and gave me a thumbs up.

“Go?”

I turned toward the empty chair and the man behind it. Ares was watching me with a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face. Even though I didn’t understand what this was all about, there was only one way to find out.

As graciously as I could, I walked toward Ares.

He looked like a million bucks in his navy suit and white dress shirt. Everything was tailored to fit the hard lines of his muscular body. His five o’clock shadow and dark, inquisitive eyebrows only added to his sex appeal. And the cologne he was wearing? It had to be manufactured in a lab to make women lose their minds… and their panties.

The enthrall, Wren. Get your shit together.

Making my face expressionless, I sat in the chair he offered me. After he pushed it in, he sat beside me.

“You look lovely,” he said, his eyes sparkling in the candlelight.

“If sweet talk is your ploy, you can stop right now. I don’t need lies from vampires.”

“Who said it was a lie?” He arched an eyebrow.

I gestured at the other females sitting around the table. “If it’s looks you’re after, there are birds with much better plumage, I am sure.”

“Maybe it’s not only looks I’m after,” he said, regarding the other girls at the table.

I leveled my gaze at him. “Then what are you after, Ares?”

He pursed his lips and reached for a glass of wine. He took a long drink of the blood-red merlot. Or was it blood? I didn’t smell blood. Either way, watching the long column of his throat as he swallowed was far too sensuous. I stared at my place setting instead, noticing there was a conspicuous lack of knives. No one could say these vampires were stupid.

Across the table from me, Violet was having a completely different reaction to our staged dinner. It seemed she’d found herself another drink and was thoroughly enjoying it, along with the company of the vampire beside her. Alcohol seemed to embolden her because she flirted without shame, pushing one of her curled tresses off her shoulder before laughing at some joke I was sure wasn’t funny. The vampire suitor seemed to eat it up as he leaned toward her, smiled, and ran a hand down her arm. He looked like a young Johnny Depp, with light brown, shoulder-length hair, which was more lustrous and bouncy than most girls at this table. It was clear his appearance meant a lot to him, from his perfect locks to his expertly styled suit coat and shirt open to the third button. A gold chain rested on his pale chest and many gold rings decorated his slender fingers.

Yet, he was a smug bastard and a vampire at that. No charm or style could counteract those two facts. Under the table, I gripped my thigh. If that bloodsucker made one wrong move—

“Your heart is pounding,” Ares said, drawing my attention. “Is everything okay?”

I shook my head. “Your friend is putting his hands onmyfriend.” My right hand reached for the fork beside my plate. It wouldn’t be lethal, but it would surely send a message.

Ares’s hand came to rest on top of mine, the lightest touch of skin on skin. I startled as a zap of electricity shot through me, traveling across my body and spiraling to uninvited places. My eyes drifted from his hand to his eyes.

He drew back slowly. “I don’t think your friend minds the attention. I also don’t think that fork would do much good against a vampire like Callan.”

Callan. What a stupid name. I slid my hand back under the table. “Violet is far too trusting.”

She must have heard me because her attention turned from Callan to me. “Wren, have a drink. Relax. Try to have fun.”

I ground my teeth. Fun? Moons, she was tipsy already.

They’d captured us and likely killed many of our kind. They’d refused to release us even when we protested and were now forcing us to “date” them without giving us a choice. This was not my idea of fun. Not in the least.

“You should listen to your friend,” Ares said, taking another drink of blood-red wine. “Relax.”

---