THE REJECTED BETA
It was a simple question, but it carried the weight of everything he had done to get me here.
I swallowed, the water helping the dryness but not the ache. I looked at him really looked at him and remembered the headlines Kaelen had been shouting about, the rejection, and the fact that I was now a woman without a pack, a pariah held in the clutches of his enemy. I felt a cold, hard knot of pride tighten in my chest.
"I'm fine," I said. My voice was flat, devoid of the gratitude or the vulnerability he was clearly searching for.