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He sneers at me for a second, then his face goes completely blank. I’m half-tempted to drop my gaze, just to check out that hard physique I ran into yesterday, but I manage to refrain. He doesn’t seem to be having the same struggle. His eyes stay unwavering on mine, studying me with a calculating stare.
If my wolf wasn’t screaming so agonizingly loud in my subconscious, I would think I’d imagined the mate bond altogether.
I expected my mate to be a little more… interested. This guy looks about as excited as someone double-checking their grocery list. My wolf whimpers at the realization.
Even Warner for a mate would have been better than this. Better than the most attractive man I’ve ever seen looking at me like I’m some kind of monster rather than the mate that fate chose for him. I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“What’s your name?” he asks, every bit as demanding as he looks.
“Tess,” I answer, my voice sounding too soft next to his.
“Full name.” He stalks closer to me, leaving only a few feet between us. It takes everything in me to not close the distance, my wolf desperate to be close to him despite the warning bells in my head.
“Tess Jarreau.”
He grimaces, opens his mouth, and then closes it. Whatever words he’s trying to say seem to get stuck until he lets out a long, frustrated growl. Shaking his head in a way so similar to how I shook out my fur, his eyes focus on mine with a penetrating stare.
In a voice that sounds pained, he forces out the words, “I, Alpha Dominic Parker, reject you, Tess Jarreau, as my mate.”
I can feel black creeping in on the edge of my vision.No! My wolf cries out, pain searing through my chest as his words sink into a deep internal wound. I can feel her wilting inside of me, my wolf trying to curl up into a ball.
We’re not doing that, I tell her, grabbing at strength I don’t really feel.
I’ve heard the stories, though rare and far-between; I know what happens to a wolf that’s been rejected by her mate. She spends a lifetime pining for him. If she survives at all. I’ve only just shifted for the first time; I refuse to let this absolute stranger destroy my wolf before she’s even stood a chance.
It’s that protective instinct that spurs me to respond.
“I—”
Don’t do it,my wolf pleads, knowing exactly what I’m about to do. It’s killing her, but I know it’s the only way to save me.
My voice comes out a lot more certain than his did. “I, Tess Jarreau, accept your rejection.”
There’s a flicker of annoyance on his face, but it pales in comparison to what I feel. The words light a match inside of me that starts to burn me from the inside out. My wolf cries in anguish, but I refuse to show it to this man. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse that he is an Alpha rather than a rogue. Either way, he’s made his decision, and I’ve made mine.
I expect him to say something else, at least acknowledge my acceptance of his rejection. Instead, he stares blankly at me as I retreat several steps, desperately needing that distance between us.
The silence of the woods feels deafening.
With no other choice, I turn and flee, leaving my birthday dress behind. Leaving Dominic Parker behind. And leaving a tiny sliver of myself behind, too.
Chapter Four
Tess
Three years later…
“You missed a spot,” Callum says from just behind me, his breath teasing the back of my neck since my hair is pulled to the side in a long braid. I fight a smile as I wipe the spot on the window that he points to.
“I got distracted.” I raise an eyebrow pointedly, knowing he can see my reflection clearly in the glass.
“Ogling my wolf again?” His lips pull wide, showing off his wolfish grin. He’s just barely shifted back into human form after sparring with some of the younger wolves just outside the office window. Which may or may not be why I decided the windows were overdue for a cleaning…
I jerk my elbow back to nail him in the gut. He lets out an oomph, but I know it didn’t really hurt him. He’s the East Terrace Green Alpha, he’s not exactly a wimp.
“What are you still doing here, anyway? Aren’t you and Jimmy due for a run?” I glance at the clock in the office and note I’ve got about thirty minutes still until Tasha’s expecting me over for girls’ night.
“Your sister is in heat, so he asked me to give them an extra hour alone first.” Callum smirks when I make a gagging noise.
