Page 24 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“Relax and breathe, Anna. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have let you bleed to death, remember? The faster we get to the river, the faster we get back so you can rest.”

His words made sense, but I could not relax. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to drown out the panic. Surprisingly, I discovered the panic was all my own. My wolf was curled up peacefully inside me.

Oh, good. After years of terror and anxiety, she was perfectly happy after one nuzzle from her mate.

I couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. All that I’d done to protect her, and now she was content? Traitor.

“Nice trick with the flare gun,” he said conversationally. “Used that before?”

“If you’re asking if I’ve shot another wolf before, the answer is no.”

His shoulders tensed, and for a moment, I thought he was going to drop me. “That’s not what I meant,” he muttered.

The water was cold when Jax gently lowered me into the river, but I didn’t mind it.

There was a strange sense of relief at hiding my naked body beneath the surface. Most shifters didn’t care about their nakedness. Usually, I didn’t mind either, but I felt so damn vulnerable around Jax. Not because he made me feel vulnerable, but because I couldn’t shield myself around him. One look from him, and I wanted to crumble.

His hands were firmly wrapped around my waist, and I realized belatedly that he was guiding me into deeper waters. “Wait,” I gasped.

“I can swim,” he said roughly. “See that boulder?”

“Yes.”

“It’s shallower there, and it’ll keep the current from carrying you away.”

“You’re going to leave me alone?”

“No,” he muttered. “You’d no doubt find a way to drown yourself.”

We reached our destination, and I grasped at the rock. It was shallower. I could stand, but the water was still up to my shoulders. Jax’s hands disappeared, and I made an involuntary sound of panic.

“Anna? Relax. This was what you wanted.”

“I know. I’m fine,” I lied as I squeezed my eyes shut. Memories I thought were long buried surfaced. My father throwing bodies into the water. Some dead. Some not. The water didn’t care. It carried them to the end anyway.

Behind me, Jax cleared his throat. “I’m going to clear your hair. Try not to jerk away.”

My body tensed, but his hands were gentle as they massaged my scalp. Involuntarily, my body grew warm at his touch. Something tugged deep inside me. Want and desire betrayed me, and I held my breath as I tried not to picture those caressing fingers moving down my body.

“Turn around,” he said gruffly. “There’s blood on your forehead.”

For a moment, I thought of telling him no, but then I remembered how much he hated me. I certainly didn’t need to worry about him wanting me the same way. Slowly, I turned.

His gaze met mine, and I realized just how wrong I was. There was a hunger there that took my breath away.

With a hand on my abdomen, he pushed me against the rock. “Jax,” I whispered.

What was I going to say next? Kiss me? Let go of me?

Fuck me?

“Don’t. Just…let me do this,” he growled.

Do what, exactly?

His hands framed my face, and he stared at me before cursing under his breath and running his thumb over my forehead.

The hunger was still there but also disgust. It was enough to ground me, and I averted my gaze and went about trying to scrub the rest of the blood off my body. Without soap, there was only so much I could do, but it was better than nothing.

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