Untamed (Rejected Mate Academy #1) - E. M. Moore Page 0,4

and politics shit.

“Why don’t you go ahead and read why your mate rejected you. It’s in the big box at the bottom.” My gaze tracks down the page. Curiosity brims at the surface, but I know anything he says is going to be the biggest bunch of bullshit. He doesn’t like me because no one likes me. Because I’m different. Because they got it in their heads when we were pups that I wasn’t like them. “Aloud, please,” she instructs.

I snap my jaw shut. Apparently she wants my humiliation to be spoken instead of just internalized. I’d thought she was pretty cool, but I’m rescinding that assessment.

I clear my throat. “Kinsey Walker has never tried to become part of Lunar Pack. Due to my future position under the alpha, I don’t believe she and I will be the perfect mating pair.” My jaw practically dislodges. “I’ve never tried to become part of Lunar Pack?” I screech and then laugh. “He’s kidding, right?”

She leans back, crossing her legs at the ankles. She looks so regal sitting there with her long, black hair against the purple chair that I calm my tone a bit as she narrows her eyes. “I don’t imagine he is. He lodged the complaint with the Council, and he’s aware what that would have done to him as well.”

I glare at her. I really want to tell her that Jonah can go fuck himself. He’s the one who brought this on both of us. In fact, I know a way he could’ve avoided this all together.

A trickle of unease rolls through me at that. You can’t force mated pairs. It’s the ultimate F-U to the universe. Hence the reason for Greystone Academy’s existence.

What I don’t understand is why it’s always me that has to suffer.

“Why don’t you tell me about Jonah’s position in the pack?”

I blink down at the summary box. He’s literally only written those two lines as if he wanted to give me nothing to go on. “Is it in here somewhere?”

“It is. I’d like to hear it in your own words, though.”

I smile smugly. If I never tried to join the pack, how would I know anything about them? Living amongst the wolves who hated and feared me gave me a lot of time to watch, listen, and learn. “His family is third from the alpha. They’ve taken over alpha security, sometimes whole pack security and Council security, too.”

My advisor presses her lips together, frowning. “A political position.”

I roll my eyes. “Very.”

“I understand his concern, then.”

The bite of her words puts me back in my place. I keep forgetting where I am and what I’m supposed to be doing. Despite everything riding on this, I can’t find a reason to fight for my fated pairing. I don’t know how anyone who gets stuck here does.

Feral, my wolf reminds me.

Fuck. That’s right. I shiver. Living solo means no chance of survival. Lone wolves aren’t equipped to sustain themselves. We persevere in packs. The shifter race has a long history—and a dwindling population—that proves this very thing. The solution to our problem? Fated mates. It’s the only coupling that will breed healthy wolves. They’re so important to our society that we do anything to protect them.

“No comment?” Ms. Ebon probes.

I eye her, still unable to figure her out. Is she on my side? Or theirs?

Hell, who am I kidding? I’ve never had anyone on my side.

Time to play the part like I’ve been attempting my whole life. “Yes, I can see that,” I tell her. “His mate will have to be involved in alpha and pack business.”

“Kind of hard to do that with a wolf who hasn’t tried to be a part of the pack. The alpha’s family has to trust you.”

I stifle the eyeroll that threatens, but I don’t quite curtail my tongue. “Why couldn’t Jonah have mated with someone who they could trust, then?”

She tilts her head to the side. “You don’t want a mate?”

I backtrack quickly. “No. No, I do,” I lie. Well, it’s not totally a lie. I never wanted a pairing from Lunar Pack. Give me one from any of the other seven packs, and I would have been happy. I think.

She doesn’t seem as if she believes me, and that’s a problem. Saying I don’t want a mate is like saying I deserve to be here, among other things. Like fucked-up, living feral things.

I clear my throat. “I was just wondering aloud that if fated pairings are essential to pack life,