Page 4 of Rejected By Blood (Mated in Silence 2)

Her shoulders slumped before she reached for her whiteboard.

Am I keeping you from them?

Of course she thought it was her fault. It tended to be her thing.

“No, of course not. I’m still coming to terms with this turning into a hairy wolf thing, so I sure as hell am not ready to walk into my parents’ house like nothing is happening. I won’t ever tell them, but that’s going to be hard. When I do go see them, I want you to come.”

She nodded once and then did the sweetest thing. She touched her chest, right over her heart and then reached out to put her hand over my heart. It was Jillian’s way of saying she loved me. My wolf knew it. I knew it.

“I love you, too, but we should get to the alpha before we’re in trouble.”

We got dressed in a bit of a hurry before walking hand in hand toward the compound.

“Don’t you two have work to do?” Jerad barked out as we passed him.

“We have a summons from the alpha,” I clipped back, tired of his shit. The man was on a constant power trip, and it made him look like a jerk.

“Oh, okay. Well, get to work as soon as you’re finished.”

At the Alpha’s house, we waited outside while we were announced. As I stood there, thousand ruminations went through my head. Were we in trouble? If we were, I would take Jillian from here. It wasn’t the first time I’d entertained the idea but it was the first time I’d actually planned in my head on where to bring her and how to provide for her needs.

She shook our connection, our tangled hands, plucking me from my catastrophizing and back into the present.

I winked at her, trying to let her know I was okay. and she blushed. Not blushed like I’d said something cute, but the deep red hue in her cheeks said she was way more than flattered, she was turned on.

And damn it all if that didn’t turn me on as well.

“Dean, Jillian, please come in.” The alpha himself had opened the door to his office a. That alone should’ve tipped me off that something was up. Usually a beta or someone else would let us in.

“Jillian and Dean I’m assuming you know this person? Although, Jillian, he seems to think your name is Callista.”

I knew that man. He was one of the ones who I had encountered in the woods, asking all kinds of prodding questions about my mate, where she lived, and if I had allowed it, I assumed he would’ve asked many, many more.

Jillian’s heart thrummed in a rabbit’s pace in her chest. My wolf felt the tension and panic tornado inside her, making him on edge and ready to defend her, protect her from whoever in the hell this man thought he was.

The man bowed at the waist and looked down.

“There’s no need to bow to me,” the alpha said, going back to his desk to sit in his chair. The thing creaked as he leaned back.

“Forgive me, alpha, but my bow was not for you. My bow was for her--Callista.”

Chapter Five

Jillian

I reeled back, only Dean’s grip on my hand keeping me from landing on the floor.What the hell?After a couple of deep breaths I freed my hand and grabbed my whiteboard and marker from the bag I carried everywhere. Since I’d begun drawing, I had my pastels and drawing pad in there as well. But those did me no good now.

The alpha leaned a hip on the front corner of his desk and arched a brow. Clearly he waited for me to respond.

I am Jillian.I lifted the whiteboard so they could all see.

Dean had more to say. “Who is this guy? He accosted me in the forest asking some very personal questions, and now he claims my mate is this...this Callista? Alpha, Jillian is under your protection, and lately our lands have been overrun with strangers who seem determined to disturb our peaceful existence.”

He nodded. “What do you ask of me, Dean? Would you have us erect walls around our property? Surely you know it’s not feasible. The cost alone would be prohibitive much less the labor needed to raise our food. No one else seems to be having these issues.”

“No, of course not, alpha. I know that’s not the answer even if there was all the money in the world. But my mate is getting very upset at being accosted so often, and I wonder if maybe there’s another solution? I know I am new to this life, but I understood pack land was sacrosanct. Sure, humans might wander in by accident, but other shifters like this...this guy should know better. Unless you gave permission for his entry?”

Oh. Dean shouldn’t be confronting the alpha this way, especially in front of an outsider. I expected something bad to happen. He was the absolute leader of our pack and nobody should be telling him how to do his job or demanding to know why he might have made a decision, or even what it was if it didn’t affect them personally.

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