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Chapter 8
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REJECTED MATE Chapter 8.1
“Well, well, well,” he shouted over the infernal music. “Have you come to party?”Larissa placed her hands on her hips. “Only if you’re asking me to dance.”He swept an arm around her middle and pulled her into his larger body. “Let’s see how well you grind.”I was only vaguely aware of what they were doing because my gaze scanned the room for signs of Griff. He wasn’t at the bar, nor was he sitting at any of the booths. Leaving Larissa with Moongazer, I walked across Coyote Willy’s bottom floor toward a set of stairs that led to the mezzanine. Maybe there was a VIP area up there.Don had mentioned serving brunch, so it would make sense that there would be more tables and chairs than just the booths. I took the steps two at a time until I reached the stop and confirmed my suspicions. This upper level was more of a restaurant, but none of the people sitting at the table were Griff.“What are you doing?” a large hand grabbed my wrist.I turned to stare into Don’s furious eyes and snatched
REJECTED MATE Chapter 8.2
“Let go of me, you bastard.” I shoved against his shoulder with my left hand, trying to dislodge his grip, but he was too strong.My jaw clenched. In my old body, we would have fought each other evenly, but this new body was only six feet tall and lacked the bulk required to shove a large wolf on his ass.Griff gazed down at me, the light reflecting on the golden flecks in his irises. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”The words awakened every stupid butterfly in my stomach. They took flight and fluttered against my heart.“Cath—” I clamped my mouth shut. Shit, I’d almost revealed my identity. “Katie”“Well, Katie,” he said in a voice that rolled across my nerves like thunder. “I can’t have you beating up the members of my pack.”Relief swept through me like a breeze, and I exhaled a sharp breath. But it was too early to feel relaxed. Not when the man I hated even more than any sadistic demon stood within the range of a head butt.Griff raised his brows as though prompting me to speak. “They g
REJECTED MATE Chapter 9
As Griff stepped out of the door, the disk jockey turned on the music, but the bar wasn’t the same without the rowdy Hellfire pack. Larissa rushed past me toward the exit. I stared at her back, not knowing whether or not to chase after her.It was probably best that I didn’t. At least not tonight. I’d incited Griff’s hunting instinct, and rushing outside to watch him surrounded by a crowd of women was the best way to make him think I was one to discard.Don advanced me, his beady eyes glinting with fury. “You were supposed to do one thing.” He held up a trembling finger. “Not only have you failed to attract patrons, but you’ve driven away half my customers.”“Should I have sat back and let them beat my friend to a pulp?”He bared his teeth, perhaps stopping himself from hissing an answer.Don’s broad chest rose and fell like bellows, and the veins on his temple stood out like bolts of lightning. “Do you know what faeries do to people who can’t pay their exorbitant interest rates?”My st
REJECTED MATE Chapter 9.1
The footsteps paused.“Good evening, ladies,” he said.“Are you going to do anything about those girls who ganged up on me?” Larissa asked.“I reprimanded them,” Griff replied. “The Hellfire Pack is about uniting wolves, not tearing ourselves apart.”I snorted.“Do you have something to say?”Blinking, I turned my gaze to Griff, and held my features in a mask of boredom. Griff looked at me, his gaze penetrating. I’d seen that expression before. It had appeared earlier on in our ill-fated relationship, when he’d tried to work out my psyche like the Supernatural Times crossword puzzle.“Oh, I thought you were someone else.” I glanced over his shoulder, acting as though I found the sight of elephant shifters at the door of Coyote Wicked fascinating.“That’s what you’ve got to say to a man you kicked in the balls?”My gaze turned back to him. “That was you?” “Have we met before?” he asked with a frown.“Hard to tell,” I drawled. “There isn’t much to make you different from the average wolf
REJECTED MATE Chapter 9.2
“Early,” he spluttered. “It’s ten o’clock and nobody turned up for brunch.”I glanced over my shoulder and met Larissa’s curious gaze. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”“He just makes things up to suit his stupid bar,” she said. Don saved me from asking when he said, “How am I going to pay the staff when you’ve chased away the Hellfire Pack?”“Have you thought about letting them keep their tips?” “Shh.” Larissa rushed down the stairs of the top bunk andran to my side. “Don, is there anything you need from us?” “One or both of you is going to the Hellfire Pack andapologizing for last night’s disgraceful display. Then, if they agree to patronize us for brunch, I want you two to serve them.”My shoulders sagged. “You can’t be serious. After what they did—”“If you two can’t understand that I’m running a business, then you can pack your bags and return to the employment exchange.”I was almost tempted to tell him where to stick his job, but Beki gave me a sharp bark and brought
REJECTED MATE Chapter 10
A sharp breath whistled through my teeth, and I glanced around Coyote Willy’s interior. Everyone sitting around the bar now turned around, their gazes fixed on me. Even Ruby and Marianna were there, eating with the Hellfire Pack and smirking at how I’d screwed up my chance of redemption.Griff’ stepped toward me, his presence a festering wound. It ached and pulsed for attention. But none of that mattered right now because I’d set back our mission.“Did you hear me?” Don roared and pointed at the back door. “Out! You’re no longer an employee of mine.”Larissa rushed to his side and grabbed his arm. “Please, Don. She didn’t mean—”“Enough,” he snapped.She released him and turned to me, her brown eyes burning with accusation.My throat thickened. I couldn’t blame her. We were already behind the other team in our mission to infiltrate the Hellfire Pack and find its secrets, and now I’d set us back several steps. The pulse between my ears pounded hard enough to make my skull vibrat
REJECTED MATE Chapter 10.1
Behind the street was the black dome that concealed the Hellfire Pack’s territory. I ran alongside it, my nostrils filling with the scent of strong magic. There was no trace of the ozone that came with angelic wards, so I had to assume that Griff had employed a witch to construct the magical barrier. Multiple witches. No single person could create something so large.As I reached the twisted oak Don had said was the pack’s intercom system, a faint curl of Hellfire twisted around my senses. It hadn’t exactly been smoke or flame, but it was a hint of power that could only come from one place.It was as thick as a regular oak tree but with limbs that twisted in all directions, like how I might expect the snakes to appear on the head of a gorgon. Some of the branches trailed onto the floor, making it possible for even a wolf to climb to the top.I darted past the oak and into the woods. Considering that this part of Shifter City had once been the mage village Natura and used to be covered in
REJECTED MATE Chapter 10.2
The food weighed heavily in my belly, and every muscle in my body relaxed with a sense of contentment. This was how life should have been. Tranquil days in nature, relaxing after a successful hunt, and returning to rule over the pack with my mate.Beki whined her agreement.Griff nestled against her again and licked at her snout.She nuzzled back and let our eyes fall shut.At some point during the night, a breeze caressed my bare skin. I must have shifted back while Beki had fallen into a slumber.The forest was alive with the melody of cracking twigs, chirping cicadas, and the occasional hoot of an owl. I shifted on my side, finding my head resting on the crook of Griff’s shoulder. His arm wrapped around my back, keeping me pressed to his side.Every muscle in my body relaxed in the cocoon of his embrace, and I exhaled a contented sigh. Lying here felt so right, so perfect, that I didn’t dare rise from this blissful state.My arm twitched, and my hand glided down Griff’s
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