Page 131 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“You think I’ve hurt her?”

“I know you have.”

“Hm. I have regretted the actions of my past. Her father was…influential. I am here to make amends.”

Amends. I almost laughed as I buttered the biscuits. Then, I paused. The biscuits might be enough for Anna, but I was going to need a little bit more. I headed to the fridge again to grab some of the leftover chicken. “How is that going for you?”

“I must admit, I wish I could stay longer. I do think I was making progress. Not that it matters. It’ll be all over tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh. You will be leaving. Without her.”

“Not without her.” Emerson stood. “Enjoy this evening, Jax. It’s the last night you’ll have with her.”

Straightening, I turned to him. “Did you just threaten her?”

“No. I won’t hurt her. I won’t even threaten her. I don’t have to. She’ll come on her own.

She’ll come because she wants to. She’ll come because she’s mine. She always was. I told her that from the very beginning, but you haven’t been paying attention to her. Too distracted.

You wanted to use her, and now you’re going to lose her, and it’s too late. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

60

Anna

The sun rose over the horizon, and I stood by the window and stared at it. Jax’s promise to fuck me all night long fizzled after he brought up food. We ate, and he’d held me, but when he asked me to talk to him, I hadn’t known what to say. So I pretended to sleep.

And he pretended the same.

He walked out of the bathroom fully dressed. It would still be several hours before the alphas departed, but it was our last chance to talk to Cam, assuming Maeve’s guards would even let her. Saul had already texted to complain that they almost didn’t let him in to his own infirmary.

I was planning on going alone, but Jax had immediately vetoed it. He wasn’t even letting me call Amelia or Finn.

Something weird was going on with him.

“You could get more sleep, and I could talk to Cam.”

“Really?” I turned and cocked my head. “Okay.”

I sat back on the bed and watched as he looked at the door, the window, back at me, and frowned. “You know what, we should go together. Then you can get some sleep.”

Right. So he really wasn’t going to leave me alone. Slowly, I stood. “All right.”

When he held his hand out to me, I stared at it. Really? We were going to do the handholding now? Did he want to put on a show for the others?

For Emerson?

With a frown, I took it and let him pull me to his side. It didn’t feel like a possessive move.

It felt like…

I didn’t want to think about what it felt like.

He drove us to the infirmary alone. No guards. “Worried about what Cam will say and don’t want anyone else to hear?”

“Kenzi’s comment about seeing a ghost worried me. I don’t want to cause panic until I know exactly what is going on.”

“And she couldn’t be more specific about the ghost?”

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