Page 52 of His Rejected Fated Mate

Lucas smiled. “I don’t worry with you being Alpha. I know you do good work.”

Just then, we could hear the front door open and close. “I’m here.”

We all turned and spotted Martin as he entered the house. I couldn’t help but frown. I could feel Elize tense up a little before she forced a smile. “Uncle Martin. Glad you were able to make it.”

“Sorry, I’m late. I lost track of time. How is everyone doing today?” Martin walked into the living room, giving a jolly smile. It made my insides twist up how he could put a mask up so easily. “Elize, you look wonderful. Eva. Lucas.” Martin’s eyes paused on me before he looked back at Elize.

“It’s great you could join us, Martin,” Eva said. “I was just about to pull out the chicken. Can you guys move to the dining room? Honey, can you help me pull out the rest of the food?”

Her parents slipped out of the room, and the space fell quiet for a moment. Martin looked at Elize and walked closer. “How have you been, Elize? Are you still mad at me?”

Elize glanced at her uncle and offered a smile. “I’ve been good, and I’m not mad at you anymore. Upset that you didn’t just tell me the truth. I thought we had a better relationship than that.”

Martin frowned. “We do have a better relationship. I told you, they just threw me off.”

I wondered if Elize believed him. She didn’t give any emotion away. She just smiled. “Well, I hope you make it up to me tonight, Martin.”

We headed into the dining room, where Lucas and Eva were setting out the food. Eva gave us a kind smile. “I hope everyone is hungry.”

“It all looks really good, Mom.”

We all took seats and started to dish up. I took the chance for the silence to get the conversation moving.

“So, Martin, have you and the council members found anything new?”

Martin froze for a split second before he smiled. “No, nothing new to report. Was there anything you needed to share?”

“No.”

Martin passed the beans to Eva. “We’re all in this together. We’re just hoping an answer comes to us eventually.”

“How is the cauldron?”

Martin gave another smile. “It’s fine, and if you don’t mind, I don’t want to discuss work while we are here.”

“Oh, we don’t mind,” Eva quickly added. “We have wondered where the cauldron came from. There are a lot of rumors about it.”

All eyes went to Martin, who didn’t drop his smile. “It just appeared like we told the Alphas. We hide it away to ensure no one gets harmed.”

“It just appeared?” Lucas asked. “Where did it appear?”

Martin shrugged. “I wasn’t there the day they got the cauldron. I was out with a cold, but they said in the woods.”

“So strange,” Eva said. “For it to randomly appear.”

“Yes.” Martin nodded in agreement. “It was.” I watched his eyes narrow on me, and I knew he wasn’t going to give me anything we wanted.

The meal continued without Martin giving up anything useful. I grew irritated because I could see how well Martin was with his words. He knew how to turn the conversation around if he didn’t want to discuss something, no matter how many times I would get it back on track.

I was feeling disappointed as we grabbed our jackets an hour and a half later. We thanked Eva and Lucas for the meal and headed out to the car.

“Well, that went well,” Elize chirped as we got into the car.

I turned the car over and shook my head. “I still don’t trust him.”

Elize raised an eyebrow at me, seeming uncertain now. “He didn’t have anything to share. Maybe there is nothing he’s hiding, Troy.”

I frowned, hearing the shift in her voice. Martin clearly got to her as well. “Don’t tell me you believe that act he put on. Anyone should be able to see through that.”