Page 32 of Resisting Fate

As far as I know, she hasn’t made that sort of attempt yet. There is only so much rejection people can take before they give up. I can’t make my mate want me, and I wouldn’t want to force her into this mating anyways. That’s not the kind of life I want for her.

I stand there staring at the house she went back into, feeling empty. No wolf, no mate; no feeling.

Just a numbness that never leaves me.

I don’t know how long I stand there but, all of a sudden, Hailey is shouting at me and waving her hand in front of my face.

I blink out of the trance I was in and look down at the beautiful woman before me. When did she get here?

“Sorry, what?” I say, clearing my throat.

She looks at me with concern. “I was shouting your name for ten minutes and you didn’t move at all.”

“Must have been lost in thought,” I murmur.

“Can we talk about what happened?” she asks.

“It’s alright. I get it. After how I treated you our entire lives, I can’t expect you to want to mate someone like me. Even if my wolf took that choice out of my hands,” I say before backing away from her.

I feel the first hints of my wolf as he stares at our mate longingly.

I feel a partial shift take over before I force it back.

Hailey looks at me with wide eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be your mate. It’s just, I’m just not ready to be a mate. I’m still new to this whole wolf thing and everything it entails. I just need more time,” she states.

I raise an eyebrow at her. “The mate thing? You were ready to mate Max before when you were human, and you knew everything that came along with that. It’s just because you didn’t get the wolf you really want that you are reluctant. You don’t want to settle for something lesser than the dream life you had planned and the perfect mate you wanted.”

She shakes her head as tears fall from her eyes. “That’s not important anymore. Max is just a friend.”

“Of course, he’s just a friend. You guys didn’t become fated, and Max won’t settle for anyone less than his fated mate. I don’t want to live being someone’s second choice. You made your feelings loud and clear when you didn’t claim me. Let’s just move on and forget any of this ever happened,” I snap.

“You wanted Penelope! If anyone is someone’s second choice, it’s me. You wanted her, but Ryker got her and now you are stuck with me! The pathetic human who lucked out on becoming a shifter,” she shouts back angrily.

“I only wanted Pen because it was better than being beaten and locked in a cage at home. I chose to live outside of those walls so I could pretend I had freedom, and she was my only option to avoid winding up near death every single fucking day. She was never my choice; she was an escape,” I snarl.

Hailey looks back at me in shock at my words. “I-i never knew any of that. It’s hard to believe any of that still.”

“Of course, you never knew. You spend so much time trying to condemn me for my past that you don’t bother to ask what other shit happened to me. Since the beginning, it has been about how you feel and how I’m a fuck up. You were my light in the darkness, but I guess that’s gone. It doesn’t matter anymore,” I say in defeat.

She tries to grab my arm, but I pull away, ignoring the hurt in her eyes. “Please, if I just had more time,” she says with a sob.

“I don’t have any more time,” I state with a sense of finality.

She looks at me in confusion before my wolf takes over. I can’t fight the shift as he shoves me to the back of our mind and takes off while we hear our would-be mate call after us.

Chapter Twelve

Isaac

My wolf ran faster than it ever had before. I could tell that he did not want Hailey to follow. I felt his sorrow and pain. It wasn’t until we lost her that he made his way to the forbidden forest.

The barrier around the forest used to be taken down for the Rite of Passage ceremony, but then Ryker put a stop to it. Now the only way in is to turn feral, and the only way out is to find your humanity again.

Which is how it is supposed to be.

A shock comes over me as my wolf passes the barrier without anything to stop him.

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