Page 9 of His Rejected Fated Mate

Martin frowned. “We were going to talk about it at lunch. I was not planning for it to go like this.”

“You brought me here for other reasons than lunch, Martin! Out of everyone in this place, you should have told me the truth.”

Dean tapped his hand on the table. “You two can continue this argument later. Right now, we need to discuss this.” Dean waved a hand around the table. “Elize, Troy is the next Alpha to be matched, and you’re his mate.”

“I don’t care,” she said as she shrugged, crossing her arms. “Why should I care about this pack? Why should I care if there are any issues? I’m not a member here anymore. This pack hasn’t done anything for me.”

“Because the convent is within the pack’s boundaries and it’s only a matter of time before the problem hits you guys.”

Her face fell now, and she looked at them, confused. “What are you talking about? What problem?”

Had Martin not told her anything? Did she not know what was going on? Typical to pull her in without explaining anything.

Martin offered her a sad smile. “The pack’s bonding is failing due to dark magic. It’s only a matter of time before it starts to affect you guys.”

She shook her head. “We don’t have bonds. We may be in these pack boundaries, but we are our own community. So whatever is going on here doesn’t concern us.”

“We don’t know how this dark magic works. It might not be affecting you guys right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t do something to you guys. We can’t take that chance.” Martin moved closer to her. “We need you, Elize. Please. Think about what’s best for everyone.”

She chewed on her cheek, and I could see how uncomfortable she was. I hate it. I hated how he was throwing weight onto her like it was no problem. I hate that there was clearly more to the story here that they weren’t telling. I knew the council couldn’t be trusted, but this was on another level.

And now Elize was in the middle of it as well. I knew that getting her to agree to this idea wouldn’t be easy. She had noreason to trust me. She’d be stupid to agree after everything that happened.

I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. I couldn’t protect her before, but I could this time. There was no way I was letting Martin step into this. He’d already hidden her away from me once more. I could see the weight on her. I don’t know what she’d been through, but I wanted to change what I could.

“Elize, I know you have no reason to agree, but it’s true. This dark magic will only continue to grow. You should think about it.”

“I hate you,” she snapped the words. “If they had asked me to marry anyone else, I’d maybe agree. But it’s you. I’m not agreeing.”

“Elize,” Martin’s voice boomed, switching into a strict tone. “Stop acting like a brat. Let’s leave the past behind and move forward. You guys are kids anymore.”

I watched the way her lips pressed together tightly. I ground my teeth together, needing her to agree. I could see just how much of a hold Martin had over her.

And then I realized what Martin had said. She was part of a convent. “Elize, I can protect your convent.”

Her eyes snapped to me now. There was no love in them, but I could see something else behind them. I could see a little spark of hope. “We don’t need your protection.” Even as she said those words, I could hear the shift in her voice. She wasn’t sure about her own words.

“I think you do,” I countered. “No one can have too many allies, Elize. I’m not your enemy here.”

Chapter 4 - Elize

My stomach was churning, and I felt the need to throw up. I didn’t know what was worse. The fact that my uncle knew about this plan and never told me, or the fact that I was standing in the same room as Troy.

This was not how I wanted to see him for the first time. I’d hardly pulled myself together to leave the house with Martin. I grabbed the first thing I could find and threw it on. Troy, on the other hand, looked like all he’d done since we split was work out.

I hated that he looked so put together. Troy looked so much like himself. I had expected him to look harsher, like what you’d expect of an Alpha. But he didn’t. He just looked like Troy.

“Elize,” The council was waiting for me to answer. I looked away from Troy, hating that my heart missed him. I thought after all the years apart, I would have moved on, but I guess I’d been wrong.

“Fine.” I turned without another word and stormed out. I walked down the hallway, and I could hear someone following behind me. I feared it might be Troy wanting to talk, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Elize!” My uncle shouted my name, and I halted.

I turned at the exit as he walked down the hallway toward me. He composed himself, looking like he’d done nothing wrong. “I swear, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down.”

I curled my hands into fists. “You lied to me, Martin. Out of everyone in this pack, you are the one person I trusted.”

“Elize…”