Page 13 of Half Wolf Mate

“Is this some kind of game?” Cole asked.

“What?”

“You know damn well who the Moon Guardians are, don’t you? You know who I am.”

My eyes darted around the room. “The CEO of this company?”

He snarled, and my eyes widened.

“How are you my fated mate?” he asked, but I suspect that was a rhetorical question.

“W—what’s a fated mate?”

He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Would fate really be such a bitch to screw me over so epically?”

My heart dropped into my ass. “I don’t understand.”

This time when his eyes landed on me, it wasn’t the smoldering look he’d given me a couple of times since we’d met. His gaze was so cold I almost shivered.

“I think you do.” He inhaled and averted his gaze. “I can’t help you. You should leave.”

“But I—”

“Go.”

I stood, staring at him, but he refused to look at me. My heart felt as if it was about to shatter, which I didn’t understand. I’d dealt with rejection and hate my entire life, but coming from the man I’d just met, it cut me deep. “Can you at least tell me if there’s really a group called the Moon Guardians?”

He looked at me then, his eyes flashing a feral yellow. I gasped and jumped back.

“Stay the hell away from my pack,” he growled…like an actual animal.

“Oh, my God. You’re…you’re…”

“The same thing you are, Sydney. Only better. I’m not a half-breed.”

Everyone kept throwing my half-breed status in my face as if it was a crime—Uncle Sam, the hunter, and now Cole. The only difference with Cole spitting the words with such disdain was that it hurt my feelings.

“What’s so wrong with me?” I whispered. “I’m still one of you, aren’t I?” It was no use living in denial now. What I saw in Cole’s eyes had me convinced that shifters were real.

He kept me in his icy stare. “You’ll never be one of us.”

Pulling my quivering lips between my teeth, I grabbed my backpack. Glowering at him, I said, “Macy said you were a good guy. Clearly, she was wrong.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

I scampered out of the office because the man I’d felt the most potent attraction to just confirmed that I was part werewolf. And he was a full one! Yet, he wanted nothing to do with me. Aunt Lydia was wrong. My mother’s people wouldn’t help me unless there was someone else I could go to. Cole confirmed that there was a pack called the Moon Guardians. I’d simply go to their leader.

Although my spirit had been shot to the ground, I still felt a sliver of hope. Who was Cole Grayson, anyway? A massive asshole, that’s what. Hating that I was still drawn to him, I stomped into the reception area.

Violet shot up from her chair. Her eyes swung between me and where I’d left Cole. “How did it go? Did he claim you?”

“Excuse me?”

She clamped a hand over her mouth. “What? I mean, nothing.”

Eyes narrowing to slits, I inched closer to her desk. “Are you one of them? Are you like Cole? A shifter?”

She gasped. “He told you?”