Page 92 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“I can hide in the woods. That won’t be a problem. Do you know which witches are here?”

“Cam Lee is Maeve’s witch. London traveled with a witch named Ava.”

Lunessa’s head snapped up. “Ava? That is London’s witch? Are you certain?”

“I am. Is that a problem?” Jax asked.

“No. I just…she’s a perfectly fine witch. I just imagined that London might be able to do better, that’s all. I’m not familiar with Cam, so I’ll have to be careful with how I communicate with Irene. When you’re ready for me, find a reason to pull Irene aside. She will find me.”

Lunessa looked up at the sky and frowned. “You should hurry. I sense that trouble has crossed your borders.”

“Trouble?”

Lunessa looked at me. “A dark thread directly tied to you.”

My gut twisted. “Emerson.”

42

Jax

“Breathe,” I told Anna as we approached the house. There was a new SUV parked in the drive. My phone had numerous texts about Emerson’s arrival. I responded with a quick on my way which was then immediately followed up with a slew of questions about where I was.

I declined to answer them. Anna and I had both managed to snag some clothes, but there was still some blood on both of us. Luckily, none of it was hers.

Or I’d ask a witch to resurrect Bridget and Dean so I could kill them.

Bridget. Just the thought of her opened up a cold darkness inside of me. She was my third in command. How dare she betray me like this?

“What?” Anna asked.

“You’re not breathing. Emerson will not touch you, but if you can’t stand to be in the same house as him or even on the same land, just say the word. I’ll find some place safe for you.”

“So now you’re concerned about finding me a safe place?”

There was a tone of bitterness in her voice, and my chest squeezed. I’d been so fucking wrong about her, but I couldn’t take the time to fix it. If I made even one mistake over the next few days, Anna would pay the price.

We all might.

“Did they say anything to give you any reason to believe that they were working for Emerson?” I asked in a low voice.

“No. We have no proof, but you better damn well believe that I’m not leaving until we do.”

She’d grown so much over the past few months. Even though I knew I wasn’t the one to take credit, I was still so damn proud of her.

“Stop smiling at me,” she snapped. “What should I expect when I go in there?”

I considered. “Emerson will probably have heard that you’re my mate, so I doubt he’ll act surprised. In fact, I doubt he’ll act like he knows you at all. This is not the place for anyone to learn that he was friends with your father. He’s probably banking on you being too afraid to say anything. You should lean into that so he’ll feel comfortable.”

Anna snarled for a moment and sighed. “Fine. I can do that.”

“He’ll need to explain why he’s late. And everyone will want to know why we’re covered in blood. For now, we need to hide the truth. We can’t let anyone know about Bridget’s betrayal.

The last thing I need is for the other alphas to realize there is dissection among my shifters.”

“We can say it was a training exercise that went too far, and you stepped in to protect me.

It’ll make Emerson happy to think that I’m both vulnerable and weak,” Anna said sourly.

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