Page 58 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“Briella, I’m going to need you to spread the word that I am Jax’s mate. I am living in his house. I am sleeping in his bed. And until I say otherwise, he belongs to me? Got it?”

Tears sprang to her eyes as she sputtered an apology, turned and left. Releasing, Anna, I watched with some amusement as she stepped away from me like my touch had burned her and sat back down. I looked over her body appreciatively.

“Were you hot, my dear?” I asked as I sat our bag of sandwiches on the table.

Leaning back, she gave me a cold smile and dragged a finger along the grain of the wooden table. “I was anticipating you bringing me something hot to eat,” she said sweetly.

Except I knew Anna. She was not sweet. At least, not toward me. “You’re angry with me.”

“Most men would not assume a half-naked woman waiting at his table was angry.”

“That is because most men don’t know you.” Pulling the chair out, I sat and let my gaze linger. When the mating bond first snapped into place, she was skin and bone. Her father was a monster in more ways than one. “And since you didn’t know that Briella was going to walk in with me, then it’s not about that.”

She’s filled out since then. Not thanks to me but to Parker.

“She’s just a young girl, Anna. I don’t deal with girls. I have my hands filled enough with you.”

Still nothing.

“You don’t like Finn,” I guess.

“Finn is wonderful. He’s going to teach me how to drive.”

The fuck he was. A growl rose inside me, but she looked me directly in the eye. “They could have burned it to the ground,”

The vandalism. I should have known. “They’ve been punished.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

Opening the bag, I pull out the subs. “I have a pack to protect and a great darkness to prepare for. A little vandalism slipped my mind.”

“Did you order it?”

Her words struck deep. “Excuse me?”

“It was the only thing I asked for, Jax. You must have known how important this was.

Did you order them to wreck it to strike at me?”

“You have all the funds of the pack to fix whatever is broken, Anna. I’m not petty or stupid enough to strike at you this way,” I said quietly. “Is this really what you think of me?”

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. “It won’t take much money. Some new chairs. A little paint to cover the slurs and crude poetry writing on the walls of my room.” Standing, she pushed the sandwich away. “Should probably replace the mattress. Someone defiled mine.”

Shit. I’d asked about the damage to the restaurant, but I hadn’t asked about her old room.

“I’ll fix it.”

“I’ll fix it,” she snapped. “With all the funds of the pack. I dressed like this so you’d get a good last look. I’m done with these games, Jax. You can have your room back. I’m moving into one of the guest rooms.”

“You can’t.”

“Don’t you get it, Jax? It isn’t working! Your pack doesn’t care if I smell like you. They hate me more at the thought of me fucking you. Oh, if only they knew the truth. That even you don’t think I’m good enough for your bed.”

“You can’t, Anna, because in a couple of weeks’ time, maybe less, the alphas and their witches will be here. Including Emerson Triggs.”

26

Anna

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