The Sixteenth Moon: A Rejected Mates Romance

Chapter 14: Waiting in the Dark

**Note: Everyone, thank you for your patience. I appreciate you more than you know. Please, read and enjoy!

Unsettled, Rueger's wolf paced back and forth inside him. Prowling. Slowly. His senses attuned to his human's mood. The wolf was excited, eager, not giving a shit that what was about to happen could very well cause a rift between two long-standing allies. Not carrying that his human was angry.

And Rueger was angry. Viciously so. Because the more he thought about the contract between his father and Magnusen, the more he wondered how much his consort mate knew. He wondered if the woman he'd spent the last two years living with, trusting in his home, with his body, was as innocent as she appeared to be.

He'd find out tonight. Because tomorrow he would begin the search for his fated mate in earnest. First, though, he needed to speak with Ingrid, learn her truth, and then tell her his. That he was ending their mating and seeking out the one he should have been with all along.

Standing at the bay window in the massive living room that overlooked the two acres of freshly mown yard, Rueger counted down the minutes as he watched the sun set over the tops of the pine trees in the distance. The sky changed from deepening blue to ink purple to navy. And as the colors shifted from one to the other, the pinprick of scattered stars grew, from a drizzle to a shower, to a downpour, until the sky settling overhead was flooded with beads of light, winking at him. After his confrontation and then his father's banishment, he couldn't stand being in his oppressive office one more minute, but undressing and shifting hadn't been an option, not when he'd needed to find Ingrid. To finish what he started. To make right what had gone wrong two years ago that night during this ill-fated consort mating ceremony.

A flash of dark eyes, pained eyes, eyes filled with fear and betrayal poured through his mind. If he lived a million years, he would never forget her face, pale, devastated, but still unspeakably beautiful.

Kana.

Gods, Kana. What have I done?

If Sister Fate had mercy enough even for a bastard like him, he would find Kana Yamamoto. He would make it right, even if he had to rip out his own heart and lay it at her feet.

Behind him, the sound of Ingrid's Land Rover pulling down the long gravel driveway sounded, making the wolf within him tense.

They both—man and wolf—knew what was coming, and while Rueger dreaded it for the pain it would cause, his wolf was primed. He'd never liked Ingrid.

And that should have been enough for you to realize something was wrong. That the whole godsdamn thing was wrong.

His arrogance, bitter pride, and the unrelenting voice of his father demanding Pack over personal gain, duty over desire had blinded him...deafened him to the truth beating within him.

And now he was paying for it.

Kana was paying for it.

But he would make it right.

He had to.

He knew, from the depths of his soul, that he couldn't be without her. His fated mate. His Luna. The true keeper of his heart. Now, to go find her and give the fucking thing to her.

As Ingrid's SUV parked, Rueger remained where he stood, waiting for her—as he'd been waiting for the last four hours. His muscles strained against the urge to run her down and pin her to the ground, his hand around her throat, his elongated teeth snapping in her face. That was what his wolf wanted him to do, to show her his strength, his rage, to weed out the truth from her. Because if she had anything to do with the lies, the betrayal, he'd make her wish she was dead long before he was finished with her.

Yes, give her pain. Make her bleed....

His wolf panted within him, vibrating with suppressed energy. And Rueger held him back but barely. It wouldn't do to tear her to pieces before she set foot through the door.

Gritting his teeth, he bit back a curse.

She's innocent...she has to be. There's no way I spent the last two years living with someone who conspired against me. Against my Pack. Against the will of Sister Fate.

His wolf snorted his disagreement.

Letting out a sigh, Rueger turned to face the door when Ingrid finally strolled through it, seven familiar-looking shopping bags dangling from her arms.

She'd gone shopping again, and no doubt she'd spent an astronomical amount of money in the several hours she's been gone. That's what she did. As the pampered daughter of an Alpha, Ingrid was used to getting everything she wanted. He'd known that when they'd first met, even before the mating. Though Ingrid liked nice, expensive things, she'd never let her taste for the material sour her personality. In public, at Pack gatherings and amongst her friends, she was vibrant, charming, fairly glowing with unearthly beauty and grace. In private, she was more reserved, chose her words with care, and often seemed...thoughtful, as if she were contemplating something only she could solve. And in bed...she was wicked, wild, lush, and giving—a perfect bed partner, someone who fucked nasty and left you reeling. Ingrid was the whole package—grace, sensuality, and intelligence.

She just wasn't for him.

"Rueger," she called, dropping her bags on the floor by the door. "Why're the lights out? What're you doing standing over there in the dark?"

"Waiting for you to get home," he answered. "You didn't answer your phone."

He'd called several times, hoping he had the chance to speak with her before his father called her father, and her father called her. He needed the chance to explain to her what was to happen and...hopefully, get the truth from her. Was she part of the conspiracy, or an innocent victim of their fathers' greed as he was?

Only one way to find out.

Moving to the switch on the wall, Rueger turned on the lights and blinked, his shifter vision quickly acclimating to the brightness.

Ingrid saw him and tensed. Her blue eyes narrowed at him. She was dressed in head-to-toe designer fashions. Her dress was a soft pink that brought out her natural tan and blonde highlights. Her makeup was perfect as always, and she was dripping in diamonds—gifts from her father and Rueger.

She sashayed toward him, her lush hips moving provocatively, a silent invitation to see them move over him as she rode him naked. In the beginning, before their mating and even in the few months following, he would have gladly taken her up on her invitation, now, though, it left him cold. Leaning in, Ingrid made to kiss him, but he turned his head, flinching when her red-stained lips pressed against his cheek.

Stepping back, Ingrid stared at him, her brows furrowed in confusion.

She could sense something was wrong. Her wolf spirit brushed against his, their connection built by so many months together was tenuous but palpable. Unlike a true fated-mate bond, the connection between he and Ingrid was one of familiarity between their spirits. Not a commitment. Not a true weaving of souls. Just a loose, easily broken string.

His wolf pulled away, refusing to allow Ingrid's wolf to push for answers.

The man and the woman would speak, the wolves would observe.

The tension in the room mounted.

Her gaze pinned to his face, Ingrid answered, her tone one of wariness. "My father kept calling and I kept ignoring until finally I turned the fucking thing off," she replied, and some of the tension rolled from his shoulders. "Why?"

Good. That meant he still had time to speak with her before he had to deal with Magnussen.

Thrusting his hand through his hair, he watched as the woman he'd committed to a life with took a tentative step toward him, raising her hands as if to touch him.

His wolf snarled.

"Rueger, darling, what's going on? You look...unraveled."

Unraveled? Try ravaged, wrecked, and wrung out. He was so close to shifting and tearing into the night that he could feel his wolf's hot breath on his face.

Finding his words, Rueger spoke, "Ingrid...the consort mating...was a mistake."