Page 106 of Rejected By the Alpha King

Annoyed, I rolled my eyes. “What do you intend to do? The Darkwyn coven foresees a future of darkness. How do you benefit from that?”

“Please. The Darkwyn coven are nothing but lying hags. They’ve manipulated the witches and the wolves of this region for years. Their end will be swift and satisfying for all. It’s time for the wolves to be out in the open. To reign supreme. To take the power we’ve always wanted.”

Was he talking about coming out to the humans? To let the world know that magic existed?

That was madness. “And you want to reign as king?”

“I will be a god, Anna. And you will be my goddess. You’ll have the kind of power you always dreamed of. No one would be able to hold you back.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Except you?”

“We would be equals. You will be my mate. My lover. My everything.”

Bile rose up in my throat. He believed every word he was saying. How could he not see that it wasn’t possible? “Jax is my mate. Wolves do not mate more than once. You know that.”

“The bond is false. When I break it, you will see. You will come to me willingly.”

“You have to know that I’m going to tell Jax everything you’ve just said. He already knows you’re behind Irene’s kidnapping and the dead witches.”

“It’s nothing. A single leaf in a forest. He’ll never be able to convince the other alphas without proof, and he has none. Jax is powerful, but he is only a wolf. I have magic on my side.” His eyes blazed with intensity. “I will have everything that was promised me.”

And just who the hell was promising him anything? Here I was thinking that Emerson was the mastermind, but what if someone else was playing him like a puppet?

A wolf’s howl sounded in the night, and Amelia and the others immediately turned their heads. They were feeling something in the pack bond. Something I couldn’t. “What is it?” I shouted as I ran to her.

“Trouble,” Amelia said shakily. Pulling up her radio, she ordered a status update.

I whipped my head around and stared at Emerson, but he hadn’t even bothered to get off the ground. Lying back, he just stared into the night sky.

The radio beeped. “We have a body.”

48

Jax

The moment Anna joined me, I could smell Emerson on her. My nostrils flared, and I snarled, but she shook her head. “I’m fine. What is going on? Who’s dead?”

“I don’t care if you’re fine. I want to know why the fuck you smell like a man who shouldn’t have been able to get within twenty feet of you.”

“I let him.”

“You…” Horrified, I stared at her. “Tell me I did not hear you correctly. You let him? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Narrowing her eyes, she planted her hands on her hips. “No, I’m not. I thought maybe if I wanted to know what he had planned, I could just ask him. And later, I will tell you what he said, just not fucking right now. Who is dead?”

If she thought this conversation was over, she was dead wrong, but this really was not the time to continue the discussion. Kenzi’s cry had alerted everyone, and they were all coming here.

“I’m not sure. No shifter. She’s female and human. Saul is on his way, but I’m waiting for the other alphas to arrive before I move her. I want to make sure she’s not attached to their entourage.”

“Can I see her?”

I didn’t want her anywhere near the dead body, and I had no reason to suspect that Anna would recognize a witch or a human that I didn’t, but I nodded. I already had a perimeter set around the body so none of the hunting wolves would trample over her again.

“Kenzi found her. She’s pretty shaken up,” I said as I walked Anna toward the clearing.

Anna’s head snapped up. “Oh, I just bet she’s torn up.”

“Anna…”

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