Page 24 of Rejected Mate

CHAPTER NINE

“Letters!We’vegotletters!”

Violet sprung into my room, flapping envelopes in my face. I blinked into the dim bedroom light, disoriented from sleep.

“What time is it?”

“Seven p.m.” She sounded as if it didn’t matter that it was almost night again. “You have a letter here from… Felix Ravenmoon.”

I sat up, pushing the comforter away. “Give it to me.”

Violet placed the letter in my hand before retreating to a chair beside my bed to read hers. If she was mad about Callan picking me over her, she seemed over it, or at least she was acting like she was. When I’d gotten back from the gymnasium, she’d already gone to bed, and her door was locked. This was the first I’d seen of her since she’d burst out of there crying.

I wanted to talk to her about what happened, but it was clear from her perky attitude she wanted to move past it. Plus, a letter in my hands from my grandfather took precedence over everything else. What could it be? An escape plan? A coded message I’d need to decipher?

Yet, before I opened my letter, I examined Violet’s face for puffy eyes or tear streaks, but found none. Maybe she’d realize that her attraction to Callan was rash. I would have to hope, for our budding friendship’s sake, that was the case. This entire business was messed up, and she was not Laurel. Even in the short period of time I’d known her, I could tell Violet had a good heart. She was not the kind to play manipulative, power-hungry games, which Callan seemed to prefer.

Ugh. Callan. I had to go on a date with him tonight. Or did I? Ares had said we didn’t have to do anything we didn’t want to. It seemed I might be testing that theory very soon.

“What does your letter say?” Violet asked without looking up. “Mine’s all, ‘Do us proud,’ and ‘Don’t mess this up.’” She blew out an exasperated breath. “Like I don’t already know the pressure they are putting on me.”

Had everyone gone crazy? How could her parents be asking Violet to do well? We hadn’t come here to find vampire mates. What exactly were they showing on that video feed of theirs?

I ran my finger under the flap and pulled the envelope open. The green paper inside was on my grandfather’s letterhead. The Supreme Alpha sigil was embossed on the top. I ran my fingers over the raised edges, wishing I could speak to him in person. Then I read.

Dear Wren,

I am sorry to be writing you a letter instead of speaking to you directly, but it seems right now we have no choice. In fact, we aren’t sure if you’ll even receive these words, but we have to hope that the vampires will be fair if they want to form alliances like they claim.

We heard your message. We know that our region’s vampires suffer from an affliction not unlike the things shifters have seen. The vampire correspondence with us indicates that they hope a successful mating of vampires and shifters might solve both our problems. That has yet to be seen, but, for now, we are asking that you make the best of the situation. The Grimhowls are challenging our position as head of the packs. If we fall to them, I don’t need to tell you how dire that would be.

You will need to come out of this with a strong match. There is no other choice.

I know you will not be pleased with this directive from me. I can almost hear you now, telling me what an old fool I am. Old fool or not, my first concern is for the well-being of our pack. My second concern is for you, my little dove. Know I would not ask this of you if I didn’t think this was your best chance at survival. We cannot enter into a war with William Raith. We would not survive. An alliance is our best option, then time will tell.

Love,

Your Grandfather

I dropped the note into my lap and stared off. None of his words were what I’d longed to hear. I’d hoped he was mounting a rescue, calling all the packs together to form a plan to take down the vampires. However, it seemed the vamps had managed to intimidate our families—not hard to do, considering that they had us at their mercy. If the vampires killed us, the future of all the west coast packs would be in jeopardy. Our kind was already having trouble producing offspring. Another blow would make us nearly extinct.

But what was this about mating with a vampire? Everyone kept using that word, but maybe they just meant a pairing, a union of forces. Because actual mating wasn’t really possible, right? This was definitely something I needed to know more about.

I stared at the letter, unable to believe this was his message. Be a good girl and go along with the vampires’ ploy? Maybe he was working on an escape in secret and couldn’t risk revealing his plan. I could only hope. And that last thing he’d said.Time will tell.Maybe he only meant that I should go along until it was over. Then, when I was free and out of the vamps’ dangerous reach, we would fight. They were holding us inside a fortified castle, after all. Not a place easy for anyone to bridge, much less a bunch of weakened shifters.

The bit of information about the Grimhowls trying to challenge our pack’s superiority and his position as Supreme Alpha didn’t surprise me. Laurel was a piece of work, so any of her pack probably followed suit. No wonder she hated me so much. The feeling was becoming mutual. She wanted the best match, and encouraging me to drop out would help her achieve that goal. I didn’t want Ares or Callan, but I also couldn’t risk her making those alliances.

Ugh! This situation was growing more complicated by the second. My head began to pound.

“Shit.”

“That bad?” Violet looked up from her letter. The pages in her hands were plentiful, and she’d only made it through two so far.

I folded my letter carefully and slipped it back into the envelope. “My mother broke her favorite casserole dish.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Will she be okay?”

“I’m sure. It’s only a dish. What does yours say?” I asked, changing the subject.

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