Page 88 of Wolf's Rejected Mate

A low moan escaped my lips as I looked toward my broken door, fear again overcoming me.

“He’ll come back for me,” I whispered.

“He won’t tonight,” Elijah insisted. “He’s hurt. And you’re not staying here.”

Biting on my lower lip, I nodded.

“Will you come back to the suite with me?” he asked, still holding my face, his stare wilting my doubts as it always did. “You’ll be safe there.”

I pondered the request, licking my lips. I wanted nothing more than to do what he asked, venture off into the protection of my mate, the man who I knew would do everything in his power to keep me safe.

Everything but die. He can’t die for me.

Swallowing, I nodded.

“Yes,” I mumbled, falling into his embrace. “I’ll go with you.”

“Good,” he murmured. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

* * *

By the timewe arrived back at the Sandstone, the last of that strange haze had faded away from my mind, leaving me thinking clearly again.

“It looks a little different from the last time you saw it,” Elijah warned me as we took the elevator to the thirteenth floor.

As we stepped onto the floor, the smell of dried blood hit my nostrils. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I peered at Elijah, but he didn’t stop, marching forward with my duffle bag on his shoulder until he stood in front of the door of the suite. It looked different, and I glanced at him questioningly, but he didn’t meet my eyes.

I gasped aloud when he opened the door, noting the bloodstains all over the entranceway and dining area. Broken furniture lay in piles, as if someone had made a half-hearted attempt to clean up, but it didn’t hide the horror of what had happened there.

“Oh, gods!” I exclaimed. “This is where it happened.”

“Never mind all that,” Elijah told me urgently, leading me toward the sitting area. “I need to talk to you about something.”

It was hard not to look at the destruction, not to ask what had happened. I suspected I already knew the answer.

“Look at me, Abby.”

Inhaling, I drew in and steered my eyes back to his face.

“I know how I came to be here now,” he told me.

I blinked, the fight in the suite forgotten for the moment.

“What?!”

Elijah nodded, sinking back against the sofa.

“After you left me downtown, someone showed up,” he explained.

“Who?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t get a name, but they knew enough about the Verity Gang to make me believe that they’ve been around for a while.”

I frowned, and more questions were ready to spring from my lips.

Elijah continued, stopping me from asking anything. “That’s who found me in Seven Rock,” he went on.

“Why didn’t they just come to you directly?” I demanded, managing a query after all. “And why now?”

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