Page 49 of Escaping Rejection

Kolton and his parents were probably dealing with the political fallout from the coming war, and gods only knew what kind of shit the Ninth Pack was putting them through with Jayson leading them. If I had to guess, that would be the very first skirmish that broke out in the war. Jayson and the rest of his sycophants probably couldn’t wait to go after the Durst family pack lands. That thought sent a tremor of unease through me.

Kolton and I had thrown a few fists back in Fangmore City, but that was rare. Kolton had never been a fighter. If war came calling on his doorstep, I didn’t have high hopes for his survival. He was the polar opposite of his sister; he did not seek out and conquer dangerous things. He sought out and conquered books.

My unofficial pack would be there, and they could handle themselves. They would align with Kira’s pack since they’d given us shelter and a home, but they were nowhere big enough to be a true army. We needed to get off this stupid island and back home before war really did break out.

“Goodnight,” Mika whispered as we stepped back into the alpha den.

“Night,” I grunted, quietly pulling my clothes off beside my bunk.

Gavin wasn’t yet asleep. He turned to see me. Our eyes locked for a second, then he grimaced and rolled over to turn his back to me. Well, at least the feeling was mutual.

I slipped under the covers and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow, the real revolt would begin. I’d do everything I could to get under Von’s skin. I wanted to see that bloodsucker squirm for once instead of making us squirm. I also resolved to find some way to break the rules about contacting people off the island. There had to be some way that these people communicated with the mainland. I was desperate to get a hold of someone back home, and by the gods, I would.

Chapter13

Kira

Chelsey downed the glass of wine as soon as Wyatt was out the door. “You want another?” I asked.

She put the glass down and waved a hand over it. “No, I’m good. One was enough.”

I joined her on the couch. “Okay, then. What brought you over? I hadn’t thought I’d see you up here this late. It’s pretty close to bedtime.”

Chelsey glanced into my eyes, and I could see the fear lurking inside her. “That changeling thing freaked me out. Kira, it lookedjustlike you. I’ve never seen anything like it, and then when it changed?” She shuddered.

“I keep hearing that. Pretty bad, I guess?”

“It was awful. Honestly, the worst part was right before that thing revealed itself. Everyone thought everyone else had to be the monster. We were ready to start killing each other. Other than when they took my brother, it was possibly the scariest thing I’ve been through. I mean, at least out in the jungle or in the water earlier, you know what wants to kill you. This was totally different.”

“You’re going to think this is crazy, but I’m kinda disappointed I missed it.”

Chelsey looked at me like I had three heads.

“I mean, I wish I’d been there to help fight it. It’s not right that I was asleep while you guys were doing all that.”

She looked relieved. “Oh. Okay, I get that.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. She wanted to say something, and it was clearly something that made her feel uncomfortable. She really wasn’t good at hiding her emotions.

Reaching over, I put my hand on hers to stop their fidgeting. “It’s fine. Say what you need to say.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry Von burst in on you and Wyatt like that. It wasn’t right. I also don’t think it’s right how they’re targeting you two.” She sighed. “I really did like Wyatt. He’s great—and so are you. The two of you should get an even playing field to find a mate like the rest of us. If Wyatt is your fated mate, then that would be how this plays out.”

“Thanks for that. I really appreciate it,” I said.

The wordsfated matepaired with Wyatt’s name made me both uncomfortable and excited. A girlish thrill went through my chest each time the subject slipped into my mind—a whole host of butterflies in my stomach and jelly in my legs. It was silly to think about such things when your life was literally on the line, but it was a thought my inner wolf liked latching onto. It was both irritating and pleasant at the same time.

Pushing away those thoughts, I tried to delve deeper into what Chelsey came here for. “I’m not sure you came all the way up here tonight to tell me that, though. Is there something else on your mind?”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. I let the silence build, giving her time to get out whatever she wanted to say.

“This is embarrassing,” she said.

I laughed. “I just had about a hundred million people see me half-naked. If it had been a few minutes earlier, they would have seenwaymore. I think I know a thing or two about being embarrassed. Spit it out.”

“Well, I came to see if you had any more ideas about how to bring the show down. Like, that was themainreason I came here.” She huffed a breath. “Okay, that’s a lie. That was, like, the last of the things I wanted to talk about. I miss my family. I, uh, sort of needed a friend, and I look at you as a friend. That’s stupid,” she added quickly. “I’m dumb for saying that, we barely know each other. I should go—”

“Hang on, chick.” I smiled at her and patted her hands. “I didn’t say anything. Why would you think that was dumb to say?”

That’s not what I thought she would say. To tell the truth, I was happy it was something simple. I didn’t make friends easily. Never had. At least not since the night of my first shift. Once that happened, I saw myself as a monster and threw all those walls up. It was a huge reason I could never see how Wyatt felt for me. Other than Zoe, I didn’t really have any friends. Kolton was the person I was closest to, but a sibling relationship wasn’t the same as a friendship. Not in my mind. If Zoe hadn’t been so easygoing and quick to befriend me, I might not have anyone I could call a friend.

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