Page 116 of Rejected By the Alpha King

He weaved back and forth a little bit. “Saul said I didn’t need to be there anymore,” he said defiantly.

“Saul said Finn could go home. To his own bed. We were taking him there,” I said clearly.

“Amelia, take Finn and make sure he gets in bed. Anna won’t need a bodyguard. She’ll be with me for the day.”

I was? But Jax was going to be in meetings with the alphas all day?

My stomach turned. That meant I was going to be in meetings with the alphas all day.

London, who could never meet my eye. Emerson who stared at me all the time. And now Maeve, who had all but admitted a huge dark secret in my presence.

“Joy,” I managed. Amelia and Finn headed back to Amelia’s car, and I faced Jax. “There was nothing in the body or on it. All Saul could say for sure was that a wolf killed her.”

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, you mean all the alphas coming out of the woodwork to accuse my father of killing their siblings? Swell.” When Jax looked down at me, I wrinkled my nose. It wasn’t fair.

Neither Saul nor Maeve had pointed a finger at me. Just, rightfully, at my father.

Still, it was another connection from me to an alpha on this mountain. “You think London has some weird and fucked up connection to me that he’s not saying?”

“I’m your mate. Do you consider that a weird and fucked up connection?”

“Definitely.”

With a low rumble, Jax wrapped his hands around my waist and pushed me up against a tree.

By the time his mouth descended on mine, his hands were pulling me up until I was cradled between his thighs. Bark bit into my back, but I didn’t give a damn.

His kiss chased away the ill feelings rising up inside me. When his teeth grazed down my neck, I moaned, but he froze before he could kiss me again.

A second later, I smelled the wolf approaching us.

“Angelica,” he growled, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. Instead, he gently lowered me back to my feet and kissed the top of my head before he turned around. “Is there something that you needed to report?”

“Sorry for interrupting. I was going to report to Jenson, but then I smelled you.” Angelica bowed her head in respect, and when she looked again, her gaze slid to me. She couldn’t hide the sneer.

Jax didn’t miss it. “Are you challenging my mate?” He said softly.

“No, of course not,” Angelica stuttered. “My apologies.”

“Report?”

“I’m worried about Bridget. I know you sent her on a mission, but I haven’t been able to reach her through text or email. We’ve been planning a surprise party for my mother. It’s next week.”

I schooled my features and resisted the urge to hide behind Jax. To his credit, Jax didn’t even tense. “I’m sorry, Angelica. I wasn’t aware of that. Bridget is on an assignment that doesn’t let her contact anyone. It was a last-minute assignment, and I didn’t give her a chance to reach out to anyone. I only told her family so they wouldn’t worry.”

“So she’s reached out to you to check in?” Angelica asked. “I wanted to ask Irene to check in on her, but I know she’s busy with the other witches.”

“She’s given us no reason to believe that anything has happened. Do you have reason to suspect differently?”

“Um. No. I guess not. Dean is also gone.”

No way that just happened to come out of her mouth next. Angelica knew that Bridget and Dean were mates.

That also made her a suspect.

“Dean is gone,” Jax said flatly. “I don’t want any wolves in my territory who aren’t pledged to me while the other alphas are here.”

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