Page 20 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“Shift and hunt. I’ll keep an eye on her,” I said stiffly.

With a nod, Saul stood and walked away. I grabbed a pack and walked closer to her and tossed it to her feet. The light of day had dimmed, and she was lit up by the orange glow of the fire. I could see every line of exhaustion on her face and the pain still lingering in her gaze.

There was no point in bringing it up. She was stubborn. If she didn’t want to shift, if she just wanted to be in pain, that wasn’t my fault. I didn’t give a damn.

“I have some dry packets for soup. If you refuse to shift and hunt, that is what you’ll have to eat.”

She didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me.

“There’s a pot and some water in the pack. You can make it yourself.”

Still nothing.

“I won’t be ignored, Anna.”

“I’m sorry, I was waiting for permission to speak. Thank you so much for the soup, alpha. It sounds delicious.”

At the flatness of her voice, I jerked. She still didn’t look at me but dutifully reached for the pack. I watched as she assembled the items and hobbled closer to the fire. All of Saul’s hard work would be destroyed, but she didn’t ask for help. Just silently focused on her task.

Swearing silently to myself, I picked up the log she’d been resting on and dragged it closer to the fire. “Sit,” I ordered. “Then make your damn dinner. And I’m not your damn father.

You can speak around me.”

She looked up at me, and something strange glittered in her eyes. “No. You are definitely not my father.”

Unsure of how I was supposed to take that, I watched until she ate every bit of her soup.

The other wolves had returned by then, so I left to hunt on my own. When I returned, my shifters had formed a protective ring around Anna. It wasn’t, I knew, by choice.

She was still awake, staring up at the night sky with her leg elevated.

My wolf’s own pain was too strong to ignore. For the first time in a long time, I gave him the reins, and he approached her cautiously and sniffed at her knee. Her whole body had gone stiff, and she’d paled.

She was afraid of him. Good.

No.

My wolf growled internally at me and nudged at her arm. After a moment of hesitation, she moved it slightly and placed it on top of his head.

Contact.

He shivered in pleasure and collapsed next to her. Feeling her body against his nearly undid me. She was so small. So frail. So goddamn broken. How was she even still alive?

I wanted to take pleasure in this moment. To soak it in. It was easy to hide behind my wolf. We were each half of the same spirit. To deny one half too long was dangerous. I could give him this.

He sensed them before I did. This contented wolf who only wanted to be by mate. I was distracted. Torn between him and myself, and by the time I realized there were other wolves nearby, there were already two on me, fangs sinking into my skin.

Anna screamed.

9

Jax

We were outnumbered by three. Just as my wolf managed to get to his feet, another wolf threw himself on top of me. Around me, wolves roared, and I felt the pain of my shifters through their bonds.

My claws ripped through flesh, but they had the advantage. I needed to get to my feet.

Distantly, I heard Anna scream again. There was a flash of orange, and fire seared my fur. Two of the wolves yelped and released their grip on me. I rose to see Anna standing with a flaming log in her hand. Twisting, she picked up another log and swung it like a damn baseball bat.

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