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Chapter 21.1
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REJECTED MATE Chapter 22
To my relief, Marianna wasn’t working, but I still couldn’t eat most of my lunch. I sat beside Griff inhis usual booth, picking at my fries. “Are you all right?” Griff asked.I gave him a trembling nod. “Just a little nervous.” “You can dismount,” he said.“Of course.”“And place a rock in a harness?” he asked in a low voice. I turned to him and frowned. “What’s this about?”“That’s the only thing you need to do today.” He took a huge bite of his burger.I nodded and dipped my head toward my tall milkshake, which was mostly ice cream with a splash of milk. The cool, creamy liquid filled my mouth with a burst of vanilla that made me sigh. “You’re right,” I murmured. “If I stop overthinking things, it will be over before I know it.”The other members of the pack, who were usually rowdy during mealtimes, mostly kept to the bar. They spoke in low voices, so I couldn’t hear them under the disco groove of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing.”It was an effort not to tap my foot to the beat
REJECTED MATE Chapter 22.1
I swallowed hard. In other words, it was up to the wolves to decide if they wanted to accept Fenrir’s offer of a better afterlife.We reached Glinda, who lay on her front and flicked her head toward her hind quarters, indicating for me to mount her. After shouldering on the backpack Griff had given me, he handed me a pair of guns and showed me how to attach them to the holster in my jacket.“You know how to use them?”My insides writhed with shame as I remembered the bullets I had fired into his kneecaps and then his chest, when I could have shot him through the eyes. If only he knew.Griff pulled one of the bandoliers off his shoulder and draped it over my head. “Don’t use it unless there’s an emergency,” he said.I slipped onto Glinda’s back, and she stood. Griff waited at our side and gazed up at me through proud eyes.Any other time, I might have basked in his admiration, even though I hadn’t done much to earn it. But I kept thinking about all those people who would be left behind.
REJECTED MATE Chapter 22.2
It looked like he would do a round of the Asphodel Meadows until each of us had a soul crystal, then once the last of us had rejoined the procession, we would all return to the tunnel. This went on for another twenty minutes, and we passed a few large mansions that had to be where the demons lived. Glinda and I continued, waiting our turn, until it was us riding behind Griff.My heart thrummed with anticipation as we rode through a field littered with obelisks. I kept my eyes on Griff, waiting for him to show me my pick-up, and then he slowed by a pile of stones.The soul crystal sat among them. It was bright orange, the size of a small watermelon and with white mist clouding its inside like a playing marble.Beki barked.I smiled and ordered Glinda to stop. “Yes, I know.”As soon as my feet hit the ground, the other Hellhounds continued without me. I rushed to the glowing stone and shouldered off my backpack. When I tried to pick it up, it was too heavy of me to lift.“Of course,”
REJECTED MATE Chapter 23
The demon kept in pace with me for several heartbeats, his fiery glower fixed in my general direction. I curled my fingers into Glinda’s fur, trying to ignore the infernal hoofbeats hitting the grass in counterpoint to my frantic pulse.Our surroundings became streaks of orange. The only things remaining clear were the crimson clouds above us and a craggy hill that blotted the green landscape. It was backlit by the sky as though they’d both been set alight, and this part of Hell was becoming too hot, too stifling, too deadly.I leaned away from Glinda’s neck, but his glaze didn’t shift with the movement. My throat spasmed.“He can’t see us,” I told Beki. She barked her agreement. “If we stop to dismount—”Becki’s panicked growl had my spine stiffening, and I blurted into our bond. “I won’t leave Glinda as a decoy. It was just a hypothetical thought.”She remained silent, giving me an approving nod. I bit down on my bottom lip and considered my options.
REJECTED MATE Chapter 23.1
What about the others? One of the first pieces of information I had given Hades was about the secure enclosure of Hellhounds. He was bound to assume that the pack had returned to his domain to steal souls.“Let’s seek higher ground,” I whispered to Glinda. “Maybe we can see the others.”She ran through the trees, and I swore that some of the branches were trying to reach for us. A few grabbed my arm but snapped off as we passed. My breath turned shallow. Even the dead trees in Hell were hostile.The forest inclined upward in the beginnings of a hill. We ascended at a rapid pace, using the dry vegetation as cover, until the incline became too steep. Glinda bowed her head and panted with effort. The air wasn’t exactly thin, but it was obvious that the strain was becoming too much.I patted Glinda on the side of her neck. “Let me down.” She shook her head.“It’s all right, we’re not separating,” I told her in my gentlest voice. “We’re going to make better progress if we walk side by sid
REJECTED MATE Chapter 23.2
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” I whispered to Glinda. “If the time comes and it looks like I’m about to be captured, run for your life.”She shook her head.“For fuck’s sake, Glinda. Save yourself.”Her low growl told me that we would stick together, no matter what.“All right,” I whispered as the footsteps became heavier, cracking twigs and shifting stones. It sounded like there were three sets, of which I would shoot two, and Glinda would tear out the other one’s throat. “If they come inside, then you attack.”She gave me a sharp nod.I clenched my teeth, trying to keep my head clear. This time, I would wait to make sure the demon was dead. Then I would steal his flare or anything else he would use to send an SOS.“Katie,” growled a familiar voice. My stomach dropped. Was that Griff?“What the fuck are you doing up here? Come out of that tent.”“What are you doing here?” I whispered, in case it was a demonic trick.His rolling growl made the fine hairs on the back of my neck sta
REJECTED MATE Chapter 24
I thought Griff would start talking right away, but he stood and walked out of the tent with Glinda’ssaddlebags, leaving me staring at his broad back. My gaze dropped to my hands, and I reached into my bond with Beki, since she was so deeply connected with his wolf.“Is he furious?” I asked her.She hesitated before shaking her head.“Then he’s angry?”She nodded.“Because I screwed up the mission?” When she tilted her head to the side, which meant I was getting close, I asked her, “Because we’re both stuck in Hell and there are demons looking for us?”Beki’s sharp nod told me that I was describing exactly how Griff felt.Moments later, he stepped into the tent, followed by his huge, black Hellhound. “These two can bunk together for the next couple of days,” he said, his words gruff. “You and I will stay in my shelter.”I rose on shaky legs and moved aside as Griff settled the massive creature at Glinda’s side. He was the alpha of their pack and fair
REJECTED MATE Chapter 24.1
Even Beki flinched at his assessment. Maybe I was proud, but what was the alternative? Smiling while people talked to me like I was shit was out of the question. Not if I wanted to retain an ounce of self-respect. The moment wolves spotted a weakling in a position of power, they would have challenged me until I was at the bottom of the pack.Sagging a little, I sat heavily on the mattress, waiting for him to eviscerate me with his words. It wasn’t like I set out to be single my entire life, but wolves didn’t throw themselves at women, especially when they weren’t beautiful or submissive.“So, my wolf and hers were the same?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.“Cathwulf’s other half was the most radiant Arctic wolf in existence,” he said with a fond smile. “Mine was utterly smitten.”“But you didn’t feel the same?” I asked.Griff hesitated for long enough for me to gauge that his lack of an answer was a resounding no. “She was a di cult woman to love.”“Because she didn’t dance?”“S
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