Rejected Mate (Feral Shifters 1)

Malix chuckles but covers his mouth with a hand and pretends to cough as Kian glares at him. Frost ducks his head, his face hiding behind his hair. No smile, though. I’m starting to think he doesn’t know how.

Kian takes a single step closer to the bed, eyes narrowing. “You ruined my bike.”

“Oh, so you know about that, huh?” I lean back against the headboard, trying to channel my best don’t-give-a-damn expression. “I was worried you wouldn’t see my handiwork.”

“I watched you do it,” Kian says, his voice more like a growl.

“With your magical vanishing scent skills?” I rotate my bare feet in front of me with a shrug. “You took my shoes and tied me to a bed. Forgive me if I’m not sorry.”

“Your shoes are on the floor next to the bed,” Kian snaps, clearly irritated by my snark. “You can have them when we’ve concluded our business.”

My interest piques. “Business?”

Frost cuts in before Kian can speak again, his voice low. “The poison. The shadow was after me, but it attacked you too. We’ve been poisoned.”

“As you’ve already told me,” I say impatiently. “But I feel fine.”

“That’s how it works,” Frost tells me. “You’ll feel fine until you don’t. The pain will come and go as the poison destroys you from the inside. Eventually, we will both die without the antidote.”

I draw in a deep breath and study their serious faces for several long moments. Death isn’t all that frightening to me. Clearly, I don’t want to die—no healthy person does. But when the time comes, I’ll be content with shifting, going into the wilderness, and giving myself back to the earth as she gave to me. It’s the ultimate gift, a return to the wild that can never be taken away. When the time comes.

Unfortunately, that time cannot be now. I have a duty still to fulfill. If both Kian and Malix were poisoned as well, I’d be happy to stand back and let the poison do its work. All of us die, the world is saved, huzzah. As it stands, however, if Frost and I die, my other two mates will be free to do whatever they please.

My being alive is the only thing that stands between them and total destruction.

I nod. “Okay

. Do you have the antidote?”

Kian shakes his head. “We can obtain it, but it won’t be easy.”

Malix grins. “That’s why we brought you here, kitty. We can work together to get the antidote.”

I ignore his irritating use of that nickname and roll my eyes. “You have got to be kidding me. You want me to work with you? You know why I’ve been following you, right?”

Frost steps in front of Malix, shooting him a warning glance before he can taunt me further. “It’s the only way we will both survive.”

Kian speaks up again. “A temporary truce. Long enough for us to find the antidote and save Frost.”

“And me,” I point out, an edge to my voice.

Kian’s lips quirk, and the little half-smile on his face does dangerous things to the area between my legs. “And you. As long as you’re on your best behavior.”

I study them, weighing my options. Try to kill them before the poison kills me? Too much room for failure. I have no way of knowing how long the poison will work. Hell, I could die tomorrow, still tied to this fucking bed. I can’t die while they still live.

If I join forces with them, I could theoretically learn more about them. Figure out their weaknesses and strengths, formulate a fool-proof plan to get rid of them once and for all. And if we get the antidote in the process… win/win. I’d love to go back home. Be with Ridge and Sable and the kids. Be settled. Have peace.

I’ll never have any of it as long as these assholes are still alive.

This could be the answer.

“Fine,” I say.

Kian nods, his golden brown eyes unreadable. “So it’s decided then. A truce.”

Chapter 10

A truce.