Page 11 of Rejected By a Wolf

And now, the thought of this woman dying in this tournament bothered him that much more. In fact, he had become so unsettled he was growing nauseated, the thoughtphysicallyaffecting him.

“I’m, uh… I’m sorry.” He struggled to catch his breath. This woman was about to die, her only mistake being her selfless drive to save her parents.

“Your turn. What do you deem worth dying for?”

He wasn’t ready to give out that information, so he asked, “What happened to your parents?”

Though she crossed firm arms over her chest, as if to demonstrate her continued disappointment in him, her brows knitted together in confusion. “What?”

“Your parents - what happened to them?”

She blew out a breath and it was as if he could physically see the guard she had been putting up since they met drop a bit. “You really want to know?” She softly asked.

“I do.” Gods help him, he really did, though he didn’t have a clue why.

“Hmm.” He could see right through the strong facade she continued to project. Somehow, asking about her parents had been the right question. He didn’t know why, only that it had been. “I will, but not until you answer my question. Why are you competing?”

“Don’t act like you give a damn why I’m here.” He said this despite the obvious glint in her eyes that so plainly revealed curiosity. But her curiosity didn’t make much sense to him. Shewasn’t asking because shecared, she was only repeating her question to get a rise out of him.

So why did her curiosity look so damn earnest?

“Curiosity killed the cat and all that nonsense.” She waved a flimsy hand in the air. “You answer my question and I’ll answer yours. You gotta give a bit to get a bit.”

In that moment he realized she wasn’t the only curious one here. His unparalleled fascination to this fey had him debating revealing why he signed up for this tournament, if only to learn a little more about her.

“Okay.” His response was slow, unsure. He felt a certain comfort in talking to this fey that didn’t make sense, but he accepted it as something that justhappensto someone who ventures back into the world after having hid away for so long. “I’ll tell you.”

The excitement in her smile was genuine. “I’m listening.”

“I lost someone incredibly important to me a long time ago. I’m hoping to reverse her death and bring her back.”

Chapter Seven

Sophia Brenning

Sophia observed the way this rugged man’s gaze drifted when he answered her question, unknowingly revealing just how much the woman he spoke of meant to him.

But that moment of unmasked vulnerability didn’t last long. Because when he pushed that golden brown hair of his out of his face, she could see that the hardened expression he had been wearing since they met had returned. Though some deep rooted sadness lingered. It seemed his sadness always lingered.

This woman, whoever she was, meant a lot to him. Sophia could see that.

I know the feeling,she thought, wanting to extend a comforting hand, but she refrained from doing so.

Sophia couldn’t lie to herself, she was too intrigued by this man to walk away from their conversation. Never mind the small talk, his finely sculpted body was like a magnet to her eyes - she couldn’t walk away if she tried. Whenever there was a lull in their conversation, she found herself tracing the contours of his bulging arms, or looking into those inviting gray eyes for a bit too long.

It was possible that her attraction to him was all in her head, courtesy of the elven brew she had been drinking to drown out her anger.

After storming away from Casper earlier, she made it her mission to drink as much as she possibly could. She wanted to finally forget about him, even if only for a little bit. He took up too much space in her mind and she was tired of it.

That poorly thought out plan of hers was a total failure. The more she drank, the more Casper consumed her every thought.

And now I’m drunk.

But since meeting the man in front of her, not a single thought of Casper invaded her thoughts.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure it wasn’t easy when… when… well, you know.” She not only fumbled over her words, but she finished off her pathetic stab at empathy with a hiccup. “I’m just saying… I understand. I understand losing someone.” It wasn’t a lie. She once lost everyone and everything she ever knew. She was no stranger to loss.

He nodded, his stare drifting elsewhere again. The silence that followed grew uncomfortable, and yet they didn’t move. Not until he said, “You don’t have to tell me about your parents. It’s probably better I don’t know, anyway. Getting to know someone I may eventually have to fight to the death was never high up on my list of smart things to do.”