Page 105 of Rejected By the Alpha King

Anxiously, I stared out at the woods. Irene had done her best to get a warning to Lunessa, but what if she was found out there? If she died and her magic drained, all really would be lost.

“Ah, Anna Kipling. Alpha Jax’s mate. I was hoping that we might have a word.”

Amelia snarled and immediately placed herself between Emerson and me, but Emerson hadn’t crossed the boundary of wolves circled around us.

None of them had moved to defend me either.

Emerson was fully dressed, although I’d watched him shift and join the rest of the hunt. In his hand, he had a small rabbit. “My apologies for startling you. You are the judge of the hunt, are you not? I’m here to be judged.”

“The hunt is still another hour, alpha Emerson,” I called out. Damn it, my voice shook just a little.

“Yes, but speed and creativity are two of the marks. I think you’ll find it rather interesting how I caught this rabbit. Besides, hunting is not a sport I enjoy. I thought I might sit the rest of it out and we could chat.”

“Ginger,” Amelia barked. “Relieve alpha Emerson of his prize and see to it that his hunt is studied.”

The blonde shifter moved and stepped toward Emerson. I almost called out a warning, but Emerson handed over his rabbit without a fuss. Only a small amount of relief swept through me.

“I can’t order him to leave,” Amelia whispered. “What do you want me to do?”

“He won’t kill me.” Knowing Emerson could hear every word, I didn’t bother to whisper. “If he wants to pass the time here, in this protected circle, he’s welcome to.”

“Of course I wouldn’t hurt you. You’re my host,” he said graciously as he came closer and sat on the grass. Sitting cross-legged, he stared at me. “I’m sure you’ve been dying to speak to me. Wouldn’t you rather do it now rather than wait?”

He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t want to be alone with him, but I also didn’t want to keep waiting for him to make his move. He had no chance of kidnapping me tonight, not when the woods were full of wolves.

“Amelia, join the guards,” I said quietly. “I’ll let you know if I need help.”

“If you have to shout for my help, it’ll be too late,” Amelia said anxiously. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s all right. I know what I’m doing.” At least, I hope I did.

Furious, she stomped away, but she turned and stared at me. If Emerson tried to move any closer to me, she would strike.

“She’ll be able to hear you, you know.”

“No. She won’t. Sound muting charm, but don’t worry. It’s only affective at a certain decimal. If you shout, she will still hear you.”

I stared at him. “I’m supposed to take your word for it?”

“I know you think me a villain, Anna, but I am not here to harm you. I would never do that. I respect you too much.”

“Respect?” I snorted. “You forget that I know you. You respect nothing.”

“That is because you do not know what it is that I did for you. Do you really think that shifter you released into the woods would live long enough to return to Jax? I knew your plan. I had my witch heal her enough to get her across the border. I am the reason that Jax found you and murdered your father.”

Horrified, I stared at him. “Why?”

“Dean told me he was still killing. He was going to bring ruin down on all of us if he didn’t stop. I made it happen.”

How casually he admitted that Dean worked for him. He was so confident that whatever plan he had set before would work, he wasn’t even trying to hide it. “Cora died,” I said tightly.

“You had a witch heal her just enough to make her journey but not enough to heal her? That makes you a monster, Emerson.”

“Not a monster. Just a man who understands the bigger picture,” Emerson said gently, as if he was talking to a child. “Cora needed to die to inspire Jax to do the same.”

“He could have killed me. Then where would you be with your big picture?”

Cocking his head, he studied me with a smile. “What makes you think you’re important to my bigger picture, Anna? Is there something special about you that I should know about?”

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