Page 128 of Rejected By the Alpha King

I headed back up the stairs and closed the door to Jax’s room. I refused to go to the window and stare at Jax and Kenzi. Maeve’s voice was already rattling around my head, and it spoke the truth. Kenzi would have made the perfect mate for Jax.

Too bad he got stuck with me.

I’d just stepped into a hot shower when the door to the bathroom opened. Before I could whip my head around, I felt my wolf relax.

Jax.

“She thinks she saw who attacked Cam,” Jax said in a low voice as he joined me in the shower.

I didn’t turn around. “Let me guess. It was me.”

“Yes, but before it was you, it was a swirl of smoke, and she swears it was a ghost.”

That caught my attention. Jax’s arms caught my waist, and he gently turned me around.

“A witch?”

“She thinks so, and I’m inclined to agree. She asked for an opportunity to speak to you. To apologize to you. Apparently, she was left shaken by what she saw, and she thinks she understands how falsely you’ve been accused. I told her you would reach out to her if you were interested in her apology.”

“If I don’t seek her out, I’ll seem like a bitch,” I grumbled. “And if I do, then it’ll be like I want her apology, which I do not. She has reason to dislike me. She had expectations, and I ruined them. Maeve told me you took her to several alpha meetings. You dated her for several years.”

Jax sighed. “I did not take her as my potential mate. She is high on the hierarchy. Once I make it known that Bridget is dead, she’ll make an excellent candidate as my third.”

I tried not to wrinkle my nose at that. “The easiest thing would be for you to let me go. You could take Kenzi as your mate. Even if you never create the bond with her, you could make it work. Your pack would be happy. That is your concern.”

“And the threat to the mountain?”

I shrugged and turned back to the water. “It sounds like witches attacking witches. Maybe it has nothing to do with wolves. The crone likes to play games. Maybe she exaggerated her vision to see what would happen if I came to your pack.”

Jax’s fingers flexed around my waist, and then he pressed his back against mine. It took all of my strength not to lean against him.

“I’m not letting you go, Anna.”

59

Jax

The sound of the water hitting the tile was deafening. There was no other sound in the shower. In my arms, Anna was as hard as stone. She was collecting her thoughts, and I let her as I smoothed my hands up and down the side of her body.

“Have you ever let your wolf make a decision about your pack?”

“I follow his instincts, but he doesn’t make day-to-day decisions. Why do you ask?”

“Because that’s what you’re doing, right now. You’re letting your wolf make the decision.

The only reason we’re bonded is because of our wolves. But you, the human half, the part that has to run and protect a pack? You would have never chosen me. You’re never going to love me, but you’re still putting your pack at risk. Your leadership at risk.”

My heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t mad or upset. Her voice was neutral, her words even.

She’d thought about this, probably since the day I installed her into my bed.

Was she wrong?

“Every decision I make is for this pack,” I told her in a low voice. “I’ve sacrificed everything for it. You are good for this pack, Anna. Don’t doubt it for a single second. They’ll learn.”

Slowly, she turned and stared up at me. “After you killed my father and the mating bond snapped into place, for a split second, you were my hero. I hadn’t even known that I could still feel that way. That I could still believe in heroes. That I could still hope.”

“It didn’t last long, did it?” I would ache until my last breath knowing how I’d treated her.

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