Page 61 of His Rejected Mate

“She’s shown up at the end of every season ofThe Reject Projectto bless the new pairing between the two winners. If she’s always there, that means the showrunnersmusthave some way of communicating with or finding her. Right?”

I saw where he was going and smiled. “I’dloveto kick a few of those assholes in the balls and get them to tell us where she is.” They’d been so shitty to me and Wyatt when they came to chew us out at the mansion. I wanted some payback.

“I don’t like the idea of testing our luck onanothergoddess, but I think we’ve got to give it a try.” Wyatt rubbed his face, and it was the first time I really noticed how exhausted he looked. “That’s enough for now. Let’s get some rest.”

Kolton checked his watch. “We should be at the coast in about five or ten minutes. We’ll refuel there and then head home. You guys have a seat. We can figure all this out once we’re safe back home.”

We trudged back to our seats and fastened our seatbelts. What I wanted to do was discuss my plan more. Flesh out the details and the leads we should track down. But that all flittered out of my mind as soon as I rested my head on Wyatt’s shoulder. Within seconds, a deep, dreamless sleep claimed me.

When I woke, I jolted forward with a start, panic and terror filling my mind. Where was I? Simon’s lab? The jungle? I flinched when Wyatt put a hand on my arm.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Wyatt cooed softly. “You’re awake. We’re home. It’s all right.”

Blinking away the remnants of sleep, I realized we were still on the helicopter. The events of the last few hours rushed back to my mind, and I trembled from sheer relief

“Did you say we’re home?” I asked.

Wytt grinned and nodded toward the back of the helicopter. The back hatch was slowly opening, letting in afternoon sunshine. I must have been asleep for a few hours.

That was when I realized the engines weren’t on. We’d landed. Were we really back in my pack lands? My hands trembled at the thought. Home. I was really going home, after all this time.

In my haste to get off the aircraft, my fingers slipped on the seatbelt buckle. “This stupid fucking thing.” I yanked at it in irritation.

“Here, let me,” Wyatt said. He unclicked it so easily, I growled.

As soon as I was free, I jumped to my feet and sprinted down the ramp to the ground below. Outside, I hit my knees, running my fingers through the grass, inhaling the familiar scent of the field we’d landed in.Home. As much as I wanted to be here, at the back of my mind, I‘d convinced myself I’d never see it again. In the depths of the worst horrors on Bloodstone, I’d pushed away any real belief that I’d return. Now here I was. It was like a dream.

“Kira? Baby?”

I gasped, choking on the lump that formed in my throat as tears stung my eyes. “Momma?”

I looked up to see my parents running toward me. My mother rushed forward ahead of my father, whose arm was in a sling. I stood and sprinted for them, grabbing my mom and collapsing into happy sobs as she hugged me. I was a child the last time I let her hold me like that.

Dad joined us and wrapped his good arm around me. We stood like that for several long moments before I managed to get myself back under control.

Releasing them, I eyed Dad’s injury. A thick bandage bulged at his shoulder under his shirt. The wound there reeked of silver.

“Are you okay?” I asked, touching his arm gently.

He waved me off with his good hand. “It’s fine. The Ninth Pack got their hands on some silver weapons. It’s a shallow stab wound, but you know how it is. Silver heals slowly. But enough about me. How are you? Are you all right?”

Wiping my eyes, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

Dad leaned forward, looking into my eyes. “I want you to know how proud I am of you.”

“Thank you, Daddy. I—”

“I can’t believe they stopped the show,” Dad said, cutting me off and shaking his head. “Those bastards ended it before you could win back honor for our pack. You were close to getting everything you went there for. I could see you were going to win.”

My joy at being home vanished in a blink. Before I could stop myself, I poked an angry finger in my father’s chest.

“Can you stop? All this crap about packs and hierarchy and honor and all that bullshit is over. Can’t you see it? This outdated ideology of the packs has gotten so many people killed, it’s ridiculous. You have no clue how awful that show was, Dad. They glammed it up for the viewers, but it was a hellhole. If theyhadn’tstopped the show, I’d probably be dead now. Is that what you want?”

My mother huffed a little breath, her nostrils flaring. “I, for one, am glad that the barbaric show is over. Good riddance. I hope it never comes back on. It’s sick.”

Dad looked at us both in confusion, like he didn’t know where he stood. I couldn’t hide my surprise at my mother’sreaction. Mom had acted like she’d been on Dad’s side when I left. She’d told me she was happy that I was going on the show, that it would be an avenue to restore our pack’s reputation. Had that all been lip service to please my father? Or had she seen through the shiny veneer of the show, seen the rotten, awful thing beneath and now regretted letting me go?

“Mr. Durst?” Wyatt called from the helicopter. “A minute, please?”

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