Page 28 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“I joined the supply run two weeks ago.”

I read between the lines of his casual delivery. The Blood Moon Pass pack was the closest to human settlement and actual civilization. That was also an errand that was far beneath Jax. He’d gone on purpose.

Looking for information.

“Discover any other deep dark secrets about me while I was there?”

“Why, Anna? Is there something you want to talk about?”

Abruptly, I stopped and pointed to our left. “Do you see that hollow?”

Stopping so closely that I felt his breath on my neck, his hand brushed against my waist.

Instantly, I tensed and stepped away. To his credit, he didn’t follow. “I do.”

“Anything seem strange about it?”

He looked a little bit longer. “It’s a perfect circle. I find that odd. The edges are a little bit blurred.”

“Magic, although it’s small. As long as no one tries to enter it, we’ll be fine.”

“It does look like it would make a good shelter,” he muttered darkly. “What does it look like to you?”

It lit up in a brilliant pink with vibrant tendrils reaching out. The whole thing pulsed. “It’s blurry,” I lied. “We’re officially in Wisteria Wood, so be on your guard.”

“Where were you going when you escaped? Were you trying to get to the coven?”

My thoughts turned back to the night I’d so desperately raced toward my freedom. “I needed to head to a source of water so my father would lose my scent. After that, I only knew that there was an area he avoided. I had no idea there were witches, not until I started to see the traps. Then, I only thought that it was the perfect place to hide. Honestly, I didn’t give a damn where I was going. Only that I could get away.”

All that work. Everything had been going my way. I’d finally found my freedom. And still, I hadn’t been able to keep it. The memory still made me bitter.

“Once he was freed from the trap, how did he get back to you?”

“My father was smart. He went back, gathered enough wolves, and threw their bodies at the spell traps until he reached me.”

Jax made a strangled sound in his throat, and I glanced over my shoulder. “Oh, you think I should feel guilty for their sacrifice? Every single one of them had innocent blood on their claws. There wasn’t anyone my father ran with that would deserve your respect.”

“Yourself, included?”

“I have innocent blood on my claws too, but then, you already knew that.” I glanced up at the sky. The sun was reaching its highest point in the sky which meant more rogues were waking up. Hard to know if the closest was miles away or if we were about to pass one napping overhead.

“Keep your power pulled in. We’re probably not going to be alone for long. Most rogues don’t have a problem with other rogues, but some are territorial, as you’ve already seen. Every wolf wants to think they have their own land, whether they're in a pack or not.”

“And some will challenge me for you,” he pointed out.

He wasn’t wrong. There were nearly ten times more male rogues than females, and alone on the woods, many rogues tended to be more feral. Consent was not a thing in these woods.

“But I’m sure this is what you’re used to,” Jax continued.

“It was. Then, for three years, it wasn’t,” I said quietly, remembering the man who’d sworn nobody would touch me. And somehow, after time, I learned to trust it. Trust him. Not a single wolf touched me when Parker was alive.

Jax stared at me, and when I turned my head, it wasn’t because I was scared. It was because a new anger had simmered to the surface. He blamed me for Parker’s death.

“Anything else you’d like to share with me about what we’re going to face?” His voice was dangerously soft. I shook my head. “I know you’re lying to me, Anna. I know every time that you lie to me. You might think I live a cushy life as an alpha, but if I decide that those lies are to betray me or my pack, I will kill you without warning. This mating bond isn’t going to save you. Do you understand me?”

A shiver went through me. Bringing up Parker had been a mistake. I felt the truth of his promise in my very core.

I had to be very careful to make sure he didn’t realize I was betraying him until the very end.

---