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Chapter 71
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REJECTED MATE 71.1
When we reached the top of the slope, the road bisected a cattle field bordered by a small grove of densely packed trees that stretched fifty feet high. As Boris drove toward them, wards hit my skin like hailstones, progressing to tiny shards of ice that penetrated my skin. Clenching my teeth, I glanced across the back set at Griff, who shuddered.“Dain must have strengthened the wards,” he said.“Hopefully not to detect you,” I muttered.Griff rubbed his chin. “It’s doubtful, considering how long I’ve been dead. But he’s a paranoid bastard who makes lots of enemies. This is probably his way of warning people he’s well protected.”At the other side of the walls, our surroundings changed from vibrant green to sepia. Even the cows grazing on either side of the road seemed sickly. Something about the wards had created a cast of brown across the sky, turning the meadow dreary.I glanced at Griff, my lips parting. “Is this normal?”“It gets worse.” He shifted on his seat and grimaced.The
REJECTED MATE Chapter 72
Malachi swaggered out from the woods and across the graveyard, pausing twenty feet away from Griff.I held my breath and waited for him to make his first move. Gerrison and Dad had taught me all about challenges, guessing that there would be a stream of dickheads thinking a female alpha would be an easy target. In a situation where a potential challenger had crossed into one’s territory, a sensible alpha would show enough of a display of strength to make them think twice about risking their lives.Malachi looked more like a gorilla shifter than a wolf. His bushy eyebrows met in the middle, matching a beard he kept cropped around his angular features like turf. His facial hair widened around his jaw, making it look perfectly square. For all I knew, he could be hiding a pointed chin.The hair on his chest was so thick that it formed a velvet backdrop for the gold rings around his nipples. And it continued down a muscular torso into a pair of skin-tight jeans with the top button undone.
REJECTED MATE 72.1
Baring his teeth, he turned on his heel and strutted through the graveyard. The other men followed after him, offering words of encouragement and hefty pats on the back. Only the son remained, and he fixed his gaze on me.I straightened. “Anything you want to say before my mate takes control of the pack?”“You two made a big mistake coming here,” he growled. “If you have any sense, you’ll leave the island on the next rowboat.”“See you tomorrow night,” Griff said with a grin.Malachi’s son glared at us for several heartbeats. I squeezed Griff’s hand, warning him not to rise to his silent challenge. This was the second time the alpha and his inner circle had tried to goad Griff, and I suspected this would be a pattern.“Did you sense anything off about the alpha?” I asked Beki.She tilted her head to the side, saying that she wasn’t sure.“Is he really as strong as he appears?”Beki nodded.My lips tightened. I wasn’t imagining things. Their actions were subtle, but neither the alpha n
REJECTED MATE 72.2
I smiled, but it froze halfway toward my eyes. In my old body, I might have been able to last a few rounds against Malachi. Maybe even win if I took advantage of his ailment. This new form I occupied was strong enough, but it hadn’t had years of training with the likes of Gerrison and Dad.Griff spent the rest of the evening dodging and blocking punches from his former beta. When the training got heated, he took off his shirt and fought topless. His glorious muscles rippled as he moved, and it took every effort not to gape at his masculine beauty.There was a small Hatch on the wall, where I ordered refreshments and a box of salts enchanted to heal bruises and soothe aches. I walked around them, making corrections to Griff’s form and urging Boris to hit with all his strength. The real fight with Malachi promised to be brutal.After an hour, Griff’s movements slowed. Both men were sweaty and out of breath.I handed them each a bottle of water and gave Griff a shot of Dragonade. “Good w
REJECTED MATE 72.3
His lips touched mine in a kiss that melted my heart.I unbuckled his belt, wishing we could make love once more to strengthen our bond. Things would be so much easier if I could speak into his mind without breaking the kiss. Since I couldn’t, I drew back.“Griff,” I whispered against his lips. “You need to keep your strength for the fight.”His deep chuckle made my heart flutter. “There’s nothing stopping me from giving you pleasure.”“What?”He pulled back my unbuttoned shirt and cut open my sports bra with a fingernail he’d shifted into a claw.I glanced down at my exposed breasts. “When did you do that?”“Do you know how long I spent working out ways to get into your knickers?” Griff unbuckled my belt and popped open the buttons of my fly.“Are you serious?”He growled. “You doubt me?”I shook my head. “You’re just so…” My breath hitched. “Since when did I get so lucky?”His eyes softened. “I’ve been asking myself the same.”As Griff kissed me again, I took off his shirt and trous
REJECTED MATE Chapter 73
I hadn’t underestimated the depths that these bastards would stoop. Griff and I might have set up a trap to wipe them out if we’d known they would try a stunt like this. Now, we were tired, wet, and half-naked, staring down the barrel of a gun.Anxiety seized my heart in an icy grip, and all the relaxation I’d gained from the bath evaporated. Clutching my towel around my chest, I stepped in front of Griff, trying to create a barrier between him and the gunman. My wet hair streamed water into my eyes, and I swiped it out of my face.Griff snarled. “Get behind me.”“It’s not me they want,” I said.“Listen to your mate, woman,” the gunman snarled in a familiar deep voice.My jaw tightened. “What’s wrong, Malachi? Can’t you face my mate in a one-to-one fight?”“There will be no public challenge,” he said.Griff moved in front of me and raised his palms. “Put down the gun, step out from the shadows, and fight me like a wolf.”The gunman chuckled. “Your feisty mate is more likely to step in
REJECTED MATE 73.1
I stumbled to my feet and pointed it at his chest. “Who are you?”“No one.” He stepped back, his hands raised.I squeezed the trigger, firing a bullet in the doorframe, making him yelp. “Don’t think you can outrun a gun, because I’ll shoot you in the head if you make me chase you down the hallway naked.”His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Don’t shoot me. I had nothing to do with this.”“Get inside.”He took a step toward me, his hands raised.“Who sent you?” I asked.“No one.” The door clicked shut behind the man, making him flinch. “This was supposed to be a robbery, and I got paid by a man in the pub to play lookout.”“Who?”He turned to the corner of the room, where Griff’s wolf now rose from an unmoving black lupine. “Him, I suppose. He said you had something valuable. I didn’t know anything about the gun.”My eyes narrowed. Malachi probably wouldn’t keep someone so weaselly in his inner circle, nor would he want any of them to think he couldn’t face Griff in a fair fight. Expo
REJECTED MATE 73.2
“What if Malachi lost control of his emotions and ordered Griff’s execution?” I said. “Or decided to shoot Griff himself?”She tilted her head.“All of that is possible, so we have to put pressure on him to bring forward the alpha fight?”She barked a question.“Didn’t he seem to care too much about what others thought?”She nodded.“That’s a weakness.” My gaze darted to the dashboard, which said eleven fifteen. Closing hours for pubs in my time had been eleven, but judging by the amount of people still crowding the drinking establishment, there didn’t seem to be any restrictions. “We’ll get a huge crowd and psych them up to watch the ultimate alpha battle.”Beki’s happy bark told me that it was a good idea.Without needing any directions from Ramsey, Griff stopped the car at a paved square. In the middle of it stood a statue of a shirtless Malachi, standing with his arms outstretched. Behind it was a brick mansion with long, narrow windows designed to make it look like a miniature ca
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