The Sixteenth Moon: A Rejected Mates Romance

Chapter 15: Goodbye, Ingrid?

"Ingrid...the consort mating...was a mistake."

She recoiled violently, as if he'd struck her with a Buick.

She was silent for long moments, her usually plump lips pressed into such a tight line he could barely see the mouth on her face. Her eyes glimmered at him, furious.

"Are you serious?" she shrieked, her eyes flashing a glowing ice blue, indicating her wolf was close to the surface.

His wolf, incensed by her disgusting attempt at dominance pushed out a wave of Alpha pressure, which slammed into Ingrid.

"I suggest you pull your wolf back, Ingrid, because I am already on the edge as it is," Rueger grit out, his canine teeth descending from his gums, his wolf primed to shift and ravage the bitch.

Alarm made Ingrid's face pale, her eyes returning to their natural denim blue.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, her mouth plumping into a familiar pout, one that did nothing to rid him of his anger.

His wolf grunted, annoyed with her play at sympathy. She would get none from either of them now.

"I didn't mean it, Rueger, but you have to understand my shock! What happened? Why would you think our mating is a mistake? I thought we were finally...falling for one another," she murmured, dipping her face to peer up at him through the fan of her lashes. "I...I think I love you, Rueger."

Once again, his wolf grunted. If a wolf could roll its eyes, his wolf would.

"Ingrid, this isn't about love—it's never been about love. It was about duty to the Pack. It was about forming ties between your father and mine. It was about fucking to sire pups for the good of both our families. You knew this when you signed on, you knew this when you stood before me during the ceremony and bound yourself to me, and no words of love or devotion were shared between us. It was business. Calculated for the best outcome. Come on—we basically promised to fuck and have babies for ten years and then reassess, like the end of any contract. You knew it then and you know it now, so please...don't make this more complicated than it already is. Don't say things you don't mean just because you think you or I want to hear them. I do not love you, Ingrid, and I never could. You and I aren't fated for one another—"

"You don't know that!" she cried, throwing her hands into the air.

"I do know that, I have known since the night of the ceremony."

Ingrid snarled, her lips pulled back to flash her fangs.

Without thought, his Alpha pressure pulsed out quickly reminding her who the fuck she was dealing with.

But...apparently, she still hadn't learned, her next words proving that.

"It's her, right?" she sneered.

The fur along his wolf's nape bristled, this female's tone making him wary.

"Watch your tone, female," he growled.

Again, Ingrid proved she was more brass than brains.

"You mean that tiny, weak, ugly, fat, freak that interrupted our ceremony? The same freak you rejected and banished from Pack lands? The same bitch you had no problem forgetting about every time to stuck your cock in me?"

Anger at himself and Ingrid boiled in his blood.

"You will not speak of my mate with such disrespect," he snapped. She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Yes, the same female—my female. I know what I did, the foolish choice I made rejecting her when I should have claimed her, cherished her—" Rueger couldn't ignore the sharp gasp of pain and the hurt in Ingrid's eyes— because she was the one Sister Fate chose for me. And you're wrong...I never forgot her. Not for one minute, and every time I fucked you, the guilt ate away at me until even the thought of pressing my body against yours turned my blood to ice."