Page 102 of Wolf's Rejected Mate

I swallowed my rage, the bargaining of her life for information on how she had ruined mine infuriating.

“You’re right,” I agreed, ready to shift back again, and she shrieked.

“Okay! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you, but you have to consider sparing me!”

I didn’t agree, but I didn’t reject the idea, either.

“It’s scary for a female, Elijah,” she moaned. “We have no options, no real future unless we’re tied to a powerful man.” She grunted in disgust. “You were spoken for,” she pouted. “But Orson… he had potential.”

She smiled dreamily, as if remembering him for the first time.

“He was so handsome, even in his gargoyle form. He and I used to fly off together, sometimes as far as our wings would take us…” Her smile faded. “He had no ambition; you’re right. He would have happily sat at your side, licking your boots as long as you’d have him.”

I bristled. “He was my lieutenant. He had his duties and was respected.”

“He ran your business for two centuries! He was more than that!”

“Because of you pulling the puppet strings,” I spat, unable to keep up the jovial tone any longer. “It was your idea to bury me alive?”

From behind me, I heard the shuffle of footsteps. Through my peripheral vision, I caught sight of Abby and Maisie, but I didn’t take my eyes from her face as I willed her to tell me everything.

“You can’t kill an immortal,” Etta snapped. “I would have been happy to wipe your memory away if I’d realized the spell could do that. I wouldn’t have taken such drastic measures. You see? I’m not an animal!”

Inadvertently, my fingers closed harder around her windpipe, and Etta gasped aloud.

“You promised!” she wailed.

I immediately let up, but remained on her as Abby drew nearer.

“You put a spell on me and had Orson bury me alive!” I barked. “Just to take over my territory?”

Etta blinked sheepishly. “I thought that you would eventually die,” she whispered. “How did you ever get out?”

An unbidden memory of my bleeding hands, clawing and raw against the dirt, stole my breath. Again, my finger clamped around her throat, this time unyielding.

“Was it everything you wanted? The money and power?” I rasped as she struggled beneath me. “Was it worth trafficking all those women who just wanted a life, just like you?”

Etta’s eyes bugged, and she shook her head violently.

“No!” she rasped. “Because Orson was in love with her!”

She extended a hand and pointed toward Abby, the hatred emanating from her in a torrent.

“She ruined everything!”

“No,” I corrected her. “You did, Etta.”

I bared my teeth at her, and I wasted no time cracking her neck now. The mystery of how I had come to be lost was finally resolved. A deep release fell over me as Etta perished beneath me, the evil of her core dissipating into the air and away from us.

Falling back, I exhaled as I landed on my ass, staring up at the sky while a dark cloud dissipated. Etta was gone.

“Elijah!” Abby whispered, throwing her arms around me.

I turned to bury my face in her neck, inhaling her deeply as we embraced on the street.

“I’ll find him some pants,” Maisie ordered from behind us, and I realized for the first time that I was naked, the back and forth shifting rendering me nude at this point.

“Never mind,” I told Maisie, but my eyes were fixed on my mate. “I don’t need pants where we’re going.”

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