Page 93 of Rejected By the Winter Wolf

“She doesn’t have her own kind,” Gage says. He sheds his shirt. “She’s a hybrid. She’s singular.”

I grimace.

There’s a rush of murmurs, just louder than the wind, and our attention is drawn back to the darkening clearing. A white wolf pads past the tree line.

My heart skips—then takes off running. It pounds in my ribcage harder and harder, like it wants to escape into the trees with Kian.

It’s been almost two months since I’ve seen him. I almost gave up hope.

He’s the lesser evil, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still, you know. Evil. Sexual tension or not. That shouldn’t even factor in, because they’re only meant to cloud my judgment.

Regardless of the fact that he ripped apart a coven to get to me.

Regardless that he’s going to do the same to this pack.

Fuck. He needs to win this fight.

Gage stares down at him, his jaw ticking. He seems mad. Maybe he had some more speeches to give to his pack so they’d fight harder for him.

“Greetings, cousin,” he calls down to the white wolf.

Kian shifts. It’s smooth and easy, a blur of movement, and then he’s in his human form.

His gaze locks on me. The weight of it is a heady rush, and I hold tighter to the railing. He scans me, his focus dropping to the cuffs on my wrist, then the woman beside me. His blue eyes are furious—for me.

See what I mean? He’s dangerous to a girl’s willpower. He doesn’t even acknowledge Gage until I give him a small nod that I’m… well, I wouldn’t say okay. But I’m alive, and that’s enough for now.

Someone throws him sweatpants, and he puts them on without comment.

“Cousin,” Kian finally answers.

“You’re here to pay for your crimes,” Gage says. “For murdering one of my pack, they demand retribution.”

There’s another howl. Then another. They rise all around us, each singing their own tune. And then they all pour out into the clearing. Gage motions behind him, and floodlights kick on. The clearing is suddenly illuminated far better, showing a vastly outnumbered Kian. Humans and wolves of Gage’s pack surround the alpha of the Silver Ridge Pack—and still, the Winter Wolf only smiles.

It’s full of menace and confidence, and I try to suppress my shiver. Even surrounded, he doesn’t so much as flinch.

“You want a war, Gage, you’ll get one. That’s a promise.” Kian steps forward. “There’s a reason our fathers fought so hard for peace between our packs. They were equal when they were alphas. But now… you’re slacking. With a witch on your side or no.” His nostrils flare, like he disproves of it.

Does he realize she’s a vampire, too?

“You also had a witch,” Gage reminds him. “Until you lost her…”

“I’m not lost yet.” My voice is hoarse. I’m not dead yet—and that’s the only way I’ll truly be lost. Even if it feels like I’m dying every time Sonia bites me.

Kian smirks.

Gage glances at me. He takes a step in my direction, and I bump into Sonia in my backpedaling. She shifts to the side, not stopping me from putting distance between me and the wolf shifter.

“Fight me like a wolf,” Kian snarls. He draws his cousin’s attention back to him. “Unless you wanted to bring me here to prove that you couldn’t fight me one on one?”

Gage’s eyes flash. “Are you challenging me?”

Kian inclines his chin. “I want my witch, cousin. If that means I need to challenge you, then so be it. But I’m not coming for your rank or your wolves. Just her.”

A rustling goes through the watching wolves. They press closer, eager to see what their alpha does. This seems like a brash way for them to determine who gets to keep me. My witch. Gosh, that does something to me. It takes me a second to put my finger on it.

Fucking butterflies in my chest.