Page 19 of Rejected Mate

I set my jaw. "It's not her responsibility to track down rogues."

"Ordinarily, I would agree, but in this case you're wrong," he said, a smile appearing on his face that showed off his fangs. "Her bloodline is why we're even here. She's an Omega. If she were an ordinary wolf, she wouldn't have survived. Not at all."

"She's a wolf just like the rest of us. She's done nothing to hide her bloodline." It was my turn to smile. "If she were this Omega, we would know."

He leaned forward, his long, bony fingers wrapping around the back of the chair. "This is the only time we'll ask for your cooperation. Give us Mayia and we'll consider allowing Fagua and the rest of you to live."

Growling, I said, "Fuck you."

Alister’s smile faded and then he gave me a slow nod. "Has Mayia contacted you?"

"No, she hasn't," I said, trying to remain calm.

"Has Fagua had any contact with her?"

"She isn't helping a vampire," I said, shaking my head.

"I don't believe you," he replied, and there was something cold in his voice that froze my blood.

He got up and walked toward the door. "I'm afraid you're not taking this seriously. Let me show you a taste of what we'll do if you don't cooperate."

He walked out the door and then reappeared a moment later with a man who was tied up, gagged, and bleeding from his ear. He was covered in bruises and his eye was swollen shut. The wolf looked half-dead and his shoulders sagged like he’d been defeated. Like he spilled whatever secrets Alister wanted him to.

"Thanks to this wolf giving us information, we are close to capturing our enemy. This vampire has killed a lot of our client's loved ones, and we are going to find her. You will bring her in or we will kill you, your brothers, and your precious Fagua."

Alister looked at me, expecting me to ask questions, but I didn't have any. Everything in me wanted to shift and leap across this table and rip his heart out.

As though knowing my thoughts, he sat in his chair, smiling. He cleared his throat, waving a hand and two vampires dragged the beaten wolf out of the room.

"I bet you're wondering where I'm getting all of my information."

I shrugged.

"Your name and your brothers' names have been mentioned in a lot of places lately."

"Really?" I laced the word with as much sarcasm as I could. First, we had Fagua's pack and bounty wolves come after us, now damn vampires.

"Yes. But let's not get sidetracked. Are you going to bring in the vampire bitch or not?"

"Do I have a choice?" I growled.

"No." He steepled his fingers. "You can't stop us. And if you try, we'll kill your brothers and your Fagua."

I stalked to the door and opened it. I glared over my shoulder at him. "Try it and you'll have a war on your hands."

6

Fagua

The heel of my foot tapped underneath the table as I stirred my iced tea with the straw. Every time the bell over the diner chimed, I glanced up, waiting for my mom.

Yet, I had no idea if she would show. Or if it would be my father and his goons. I had sent her a cryptic text to meet me here and now my conscience was screaming at me that this might be a bad idea. I couldn't tell Sky or Winter, as they'd never have agreed to this. Instead of feeling free and loved as I had first been with them, I felt trapped like I had when I was stuck in SmallHeath. My fingers brush my necklace, the one Husk, Winter, and Sky had charmed to help me break through the magical spell that kept me from leaving my hometown despite the many times I had tried on my own before.

A man with a bushy beard entered the cafe, and I went back to my watered-down iced tea.

"Need anything, hun?" the waitress asked me for the second time.

"No, thanks, I'm good." I smiled back, silently promising I'd leave her a big tip when I left.

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