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His Rejected Mate (Game Of Wolves Book 3) 1
Chapter 1KiraThe all-consuming darkness slowly faded, leaving me confused and disoriented. What was this place, and how did I get here? What had happened? I couldn’t remember anything after seeing Leif break off from the pack of feral wolves. Everything else lay behind a gauzy barrier in my mind.Not knowing who might be around, I pretended to be asleep. Keeping my eyes closed, I focused on the sounds around me and did my best to figure out where I was. I heard bubbling, faint beeps, the scratch of a pen furiously scribbling on paper, and most disconcerting, the soft and disturbed chuckle of a man laughing to himself.In an instant, it all came back. The jungle, Leif, Simon. I’d been taken. A dart or spell or some sort of gas had knocked me out—I couldn’t remember exactly what. The last thing I remembered was Leif dragging me toward the volcano.I was a prisoner. The thought set my heart hammering. It took all my training to keep the placid, slack look of sleep on my face.Speaking
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Now that my mind had broken free of the drug he’d injected me with, I could see something was deeply wrong with this fae man. Corruption was my first thought, but he didn’t have the telltale look of pale skin and blackened eyes. Nor did he have the spoiled-milk scent I’d always noticed from corrupted fae. No, something else was going on here. Simple madness, perhaps? Whatever it was, his very aura and presence near my body made me mentally recoil from him.“What’s that?” I asked as I spotted the strange device in his hand.Simon’s eyes widened, as did the freakish smile on his lips. “This?” He raised the device. “A little toy of my own design.”He held it closer for me to see. A leather cuff of some sort, with buckles to strap it to something. On the outside, a few small devices and magic stones were attached to a small mechanism. A long, thin, and flexible hypodermic needle protruded from the inside of the cuff. It looked like a torture device, and cold sweat sprang out all over my s
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“You see, I am a bit of an anomaly. A half-breed: part shifter, part fae. My mother had a tryst with a wolf from a random unofficial pack. That was a year or two before she met the man who would be my younger sister’s blood father. The pairing between fae and alpha created offspring.” Simon touched his own chest. “Myself. Quite rare indeed. A one in a million chance, as you well know.”I stared at him, horror-struck. I’d never met someone with that type of lineage. They were whispered about, but rare enough that they were thought impossible. It all began to make sense.I glanced around the lab again, Simon’s purpose becoming clear. “You wanted to access your inner wolf?”Simon snapped his fingers and leaned forward hungrily. “Exactly. And you were the first step in my process. My dear girl, you have no idea how important you were to my research. I’d spent years developing a concoction that would unleash a suppressed latent wolf. A potion that would be strong enough to bend the will of
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Pressing my lips into a thin line, I gave him a belligerent look. I hoped he could feel the hate radiating off me. He hadn’t given me a gift; he’d made me think of myself as a monster for years.Instead of taking my silence as an affront, Simon just giggled in that mad way. “I like you! Most of my experiments are overly dramatic.” He rolled his eyes. “All the screaming, the pleading, the begging. Ugh.” He shook his head sadly as if remembering all the terrible moments from his past. “It’s exhausting, listening to it all. I like silence for a change.”The next words slipped from my mouth against my better judgment. “You’re crazy.”Simon’s eyes grew steely and deep, like pools of inky black madness. “Only those who don’t understand true genius call the gifted crazy. We aren’t crazy. It’s only that everyone else is too dense and can’t see our vision.”With that, he stood, his lab coat swishing behind him, and began to hum that awful song again. Near where I lay strapped down, a strange c
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“Do not frighten—or feed—on my first success,” Simon instructed them as he pointed at me. “I have a deep and particular liking for her. Without this specimen, none of this would be possible. I’ll be back shortly. Monitor her and the other wolf.” He gestured toward Abel.Without another word, he strode from the room. As soon as he left, it was like a heavy blanket had been lifted. The man had such a powerful, oppressive aura about him.After Simon’s departure, the vampires set about inspecting the devices attached to Abel and myself, noting random things on clipboards. Even with whatever magic-and-scientific hybrid formula Simon had pumped into me, I was more aware of my surroundings than just a few seconds before. My TO training compelled me to study the environment even more thoroughly. Maybe something would give me some clue or hope for escape.Leif’s scent still lingered, but there was no sign of him in the lab. He must have been in one of the rooms off the one they held me in. The
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The tip of the dart only confirmed my fears—it was rusty red and smelling strongly of Kira’s blood. Only one person on the island could have done this. Simon.Tossing the dart aside, I moved along, keeping my eyes glued to the ground. Soon, the picture of what happened formed. I came across another set of tracks—adult male. Leif’s paw prints. Kira’s prints stopped, but a dragging track formed, interspersed with the paw marks. Simon’s dart must have held some kind of sedative. Afterward, Leif had dragged Kira’s body to Simon’s lab. The same way he’d tried to drag me.Too preoccupied with figuring out what had happened to Kira, I’d allowed myself to forget that I stood in the most dangerous place on the planet. From my right, a dark figure erupted from the jungle, slamming into me. The thing hit me hard enough for every ounce of breath to burst from my lungs as we tumbled over.Spitting, hissing, and growling, the feral vampire had me at an immediate disadvantage. Unable to draw a breat
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Eli placed a calming hand on our chests, gently pushing us away from each other. “We will help you get Kira back,” she said to me. “But rushing into Simon’s lair with no plan and no backup is suicide. We have to think rationally, or it will go bad for everyone. Worst-case scenario? Simon kills her and cuts his losses. Best case? We underestimate him and we all get captured, too.”An irritated wince creased my face. She was right, of course. I knew better than to go off half-cocked. It was the kind of thing that would get you killed on the job. Hell, it was the same thing I’d always chastised Kira for at work.Still, it made me crazy to not search for her. Everything in me—my mind, my inner wolf, my instincts—told me to rush after her.Crew, visibly calmer, nodded in agreement. “I promise we’ll help Kira. The last thing I want is Simon messing around with anyone else. I’m not going to cut her loose to fend for herself, but we have to make a plan before attacking Simon. We’ve tried to f
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“Did you find Leif? Is he okay?”Knowing Kira was lost somewhere had put my temper on a short leash. “Yes, dammit,” I hissed at him, unable to stop myself. “We fucking found him and then lost him. We lost Kira, too.”J.D. shrank back a bit as I glared at him. From farther down the hall, more footsteps hurried toward us.“What do you mean you lost Kira?” Zoe asked. Mika, Chelsey, and Gavin trailed behind her.A deep, weary sigh shuddered out of me. I couldn’t talk, terrified I might actually burst into tears of fear and frustration.Zoe, obviously far less afraid of me than J.D., stomped over and shook me. “I said, what do you mean? Where is Kira, Wyatt?”“Gone. Gods almighty, she’s gone, okay?” My voice was strained, on the verge of breaking. My hands shook.“Motherfucker,” Gavin growled, rounding on me. “I knew she wouldn’t be safe with you!” He pointed an accusing finger at me. “This is your fault. If I’d been out there, you could fucking guarantee I wouldn’t have let Kira out of my
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Who knew what the future held? Maybe things would look even more different in a few years. After all, look how much had changed in a few short months.I walked down to get a better view of everyone. So many familiar faces. Chelsey and Crew, of course. Mika, with Zoe snuggled right up against him. J.D. and Leif, holding hands. Leif’s body, face, and attitude were stronger and healthier than during our final days on Bloodstone Island. It had taken weeks of intensive work with spell casters, healers, and psychologists, but he’d fully recovered. No longer feral, he’d begun working with J.D. to form a nonprofit company to help shifters who were in danger of going feral or who had recently slipped over. He wanted to give everyone the same help he’d been given.Abel had come with his new girlfriend, the woman he’d always thought should have been his fated mate. My brother Kolton stood beside Eli, their hands clasped together. Eli was even more beautiful than before. After we’d revealed all t
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I needed to speak to Kira alone. Now that everything was wrapping up, I had to see how she was doing. Taking her hand, I led her back down the hallway to a private alcove. I kissed her, my lips lingering on hers for longer than necessary. All the stress of the last few days—hell, the last few weeks—finally felt like it was easing. Now we would have time to think and recover.“How are you?” I asked. “After what Simon did to you in there?”Watching her turn into a mindless animal had frightened me even more than when she’d attacked me. Seeing those soulless eyes glaring down at me while she snapped and growled had damn near broken my heart.Kira took a steadying breath and nodded. “For a minute or two there, I really thought I might kill you. I had no control. The idea of killing my own fated mate was horrifying. I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified in my life. But it’s over.” That beautiful smile returned to her face. “Whatever Lucina did broke that spell. I don’t think I’ll eve
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The elevator trip was spent in silence, each of us basking in the other’s happiness and relief. Kira’s emotions bounced through my mind, and I was ecstatic that we hadn’t lost this deep, binding connection.At the ground floor, the doors slid open and we were met with two voices, one mewling and begging, the other pissed.“Told your ass not to run, didn’t I? And my name is fucking August, not Autumn!”What the hell was going on?“Please, you must let me go, you must. I have fans. Oh, gods, it hurts. What do you want? Money? I can get you girls. Boys, if that’s your speed? Whatever you want!”Von?I turned to look at Kira, and her eyes were as shocked as mine. We sprinted from the elevator and around the corner. Von was pinned to the wall with the broken leg of a chair. The makeshift stake pierced him in the shoulder rather than the heart. August stood before him, using a hand to hold the vampire’s head up. Seeing us coming down the hall, he let Von go, letting the host dangle six inch
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Movement caught my eye, and I glanced at our friends. August was talking hurriedly to Crew, who nodded and took over control of the camera. August then rushed over to take a seat at the table while Crew zoomed the camera in close to August’s face.“Good afternoon, world. I hope you enjoyed the latest episode of the new show, What the Fuck? I’m your host, August Evander.“Now that I have a captive audience, I have some cats—er, dogs—to let out of the bag. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy this. We all love dirt. Let’s spill the tea, shall we?”August rambled off the information he’d dug up, starting with Crew’s parents. He proceeded to discuss the Tranquility Council’s corruption, the assassinations carried out by Tranquility operatives, pay-offs, embezzling, blackmailing, paid-off judges, murders, and more. Nearly every alpha and beta from the upper packs were named in some dirty dealing or another.At first, we stood transfixed by August’s rapid-fire delivery, but eventually, the board membe
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Heline turned and registered the camera. A mix of emotions flashed across her face--confusion, understanding, shock, anger, fear, rage. Her face was even paler than before as she took in the truth. Millions had seen and listened to her admit to all she’d done.Behind me, Wyatt chuckled. “After all this, I can’t believe I’m happy to see a camera.”Heline’s eyes widened, and I thought she was going to unleash a tirade on us. But instead, she grinned and laughed along with Wyatt.“Yes, yes, yes, so funny,” she chuckled. “Of course I knew that camera was there. Do you really think the great Heline would let anything happen to her acolytes? I care deeply for them. I would never allow harm to come to them for something I allegedly did.”“Really?” I asked dryly.“I fully intended to make the fated mate pairings right again. I always did, my dear girl,” Heline added.The way she called me dear girl made my guts go watery and cold. The smile on her lips was no longer jovial. It looked like the
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Stop! Please no, don’t hurt him. Gods, please stop, I screamed out at myself from deep in my mental prison, but through my internal screams, I watched as the jaws that had once belonged to me snapped and bit at Wyatt. He managed to hold me back, his hands under my jaw, but I was strong and he’d been caught unaware. I couldn’t even hear his thoughts or emotions now. All I could see was the terror in his eyes as my teeth drew nearer his neck.“Enough!” a shout erupted from behind me.Even in the manic feral state of my body, whatever controlled me turned to see the mousy woman standing. She lifted her arms and a flash of magic shot forward, surrounding me in a net of darkness, the strands of it digging painfully into me. With a jerk of her hand, I was hauled away from Wyatt, leaving him blessedly safe.Inside the strange magical net, Simon’s influence melted away, the weird connection between us shattering. Suddenly, I was free. Freer than I’d felt since that night all those years ago.
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“I can’t die like this,” he gasped. “My fans. They’re watching. If I die on air, it will be appalling.”Ignoring Von’s pleas, Wyatt said, “Call for Heline, Von.”Von’s murmured begging ceased. “Excuse me?”“Of every person on this show, you’ve been around the longest. If anyone knows the moon goddess, it’s you. You see her at the end of every damned season. Call her. Tell her to get her ass down here. Now.”“But…but…but,” Von stammered. “My boy, I can’t simply call to a goddess—aah!” Von’s words cut off in a shriek as Wyatt dug the pencil in deeper.“Von,” Wyat said with a sad shake of his head, “I am not a fan of yours. Please don’t piss me off. I’ve staked enough vamps in my day to know exactly how scared you are of this pencil.”I couldn’t take my eyes off Von’s face. The sheer terror I saw there was both sad and cathartic. He’d put us through so much shit, had giggled, laughed, and applauded over it. Now he was getting a taste of the danger he loved—and it seemed he wasn’t a fan.
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Every time I tried to open my mouth, nothing came out. I must have looked guilty beyond belief. Wyatt turned toward me and saw the look of horror in my eyes. The fingers of his mind drifted into mine, and an instant later, he spun in his chair, angry eyes leveling on Simon.“He’s doing something to her,” Wyatt snapped.Simon adjusted his glasses and laughed. “Me? I’m doing nothing. Perhaps Ms. Durst is simply speechless with guilt for her crimes. Have you thought about that, Mr. Rivers?”Veins bulged at my neck as I tried to force words from my mouth, but it was like a brick wall had been built between my voice box and my mouth. I stared down at the table, at the pad of paper and sharpened pencil I had before me, trying to make sense of what was happening. Around the room, the other guests and board members glared at me with dark, accusing eyes.A hand touched my leg. Firm yet gentle, gripping my thigh. The fingers cool even through my pants. Von’s assistant. Surprised, I glanced down
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Chapter 25 Kira The hesitancy I felt as we walked toward the table nearly made me freeze in place, but I pushed forward. I would not let these assholes see me weak.Before each seat was a legal pad and pencil, as if they expected us to take notes or something. Wyatt took his seat, and I sat beside him, the mousy little assistant on my other side. The woman still hadn’t said a word, which didn’t surprise me. If I had to be around Von Thornton all day, I’d keep my mouth shut, too. The guy never seemed to stop talking. The poor woman had probably given up on speaking while at work.Simon’s eyes were still on me. Even without looking in his direction, I could feel them boring into me. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I could still catch small hints and whispers of his voice, calling to me. It was less like the connection Wyatt and I shared and more like a faint memory. Any hope I’d had that I’d imagi
