Page 8 of Rejected Mate

“Don’t thank me yet.”

We waited quietly for a few moments. Slowly, our guards’ attention waned. A few of them gathered together, joking about something. One was glancing at his phone. Another was watching one of the girls with a lustful curiosity. These goons didn’t seem to be the cream of the crop. That or they were overconfident. Either way… not smart. No wonder they’d picked the others as the viable suitors instead of this lot.

Grandfather had explained that vampires had social classes, much like our shifter packs. There were the wealthy vamps, the social elite. Their faces were plastered all over social media and magazines. You couldn’t escape it if you tried. Many girls—humans and shifters alike—gladly overlooked their bloodsucking tendencies and swooned over them. Then there were the lower classes, which were the weaker, younger vampires. They were likely freshly made, or those that had fallen out of favor of the upper echelon. Since vampires could live basically forever, the older you were the more wealth and prestige you could amass. This created a sort of caste system. One I didn’t really understand. One the Raiths clearly did, since they’d managed to become the head of it.

Frankly, I couldn’t get past the beingdeadpart.

Either way, I wasn’t planning on sticking around long enough to find out what the vampires’ intentions truly were.

I watched the guards closely. My mind turned until an idea took shape.

“Violet, I have a plan. Can you make a big fuss about your head wound? Wave the blood around? See if that will get their attention?”

Her eyes widened, filling with panic.

“They won’t hurt you,” I reassured her. “If they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it already. I need to get a look around and see if I can get us out of here.”

Setting her chin, Violet nodded. “You can count on me.”

Despite appearing weak and falling apart after a confrontation, she had a brave streak.Good.

Pulling the tissue from her forehead, she headed towards the first set of doors with the bloody tissue in one outstretched hand.

“Help. I’m bleeding!”

The vampires whirled toward her, and their eyes locked on the blood, bright red against the white paper. If they had smelled it before, they’d have been able to ignore it, but now that it was thrust into their faces, a few of them acquired a predatory expression. As we watched, their eyes darkened and fangs began to elongate.

Oh, moons! Violet! This might not have been the best plan. What if they ate her?

I started forward, ready to put myself between her and the ravenous-looking vamps, but two of the guards beat me to it. I didn’t know if they were older or just better at controlling themselves, but they didn’t succumb to their bloodthirst and quickly dragged the others out of the room, leaving one of the doors unattended.

I watched for a moment to make sure Violet was safe, then sprinted for the exit.

Gripping the handle, I threw one of the doors open.

I started to run out, but a massive figure blocked my path.

“Leaving so soon?”

I glanced up, and there he was, Mr. Eligible Bachelor himself, Ares Raith.

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