Page 35 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“Something wrong?” Jax said tensely.

“Stupid bitches think they have a say in what I can and can’t do,” he snarled. “This one is mine. Dirk gave her to me, and I’m taking her. You can find yourself another bitch or you can die.”

“Don’t,” I whispered to Jax. If he shifted, he’d have a harder time hiding his alpha status.

Especially if he fought. I could handle Marsh. I needed him to believe that.

“Dirk always wanted you to keep your virginity for me. Then he had to fucking die. Now I’m going to see if that pussy is as good as that mouth.”

My stomach rolled, and Jax started to shift. Marsh just laughed.

I was not going to die out here in Wisteria Woods because one man couldn’t keep his mouth shut and the other couldn’t keep his shit together. In one smooth motion, I pulled the flare gun out from under the pillow, aimed it at Marsh’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

A look of horror crossed his face as he screamed and stumbled back. Jax’s wolf bolted out of the ten after him, and I followed. “No,” I shouted. “Idiot. Shift back. Now.”

I didn’t even bother to see if Marsh was dead. It was preferable but not necessary. I had bigger problems, like the fucking power that was oozing out of Jax’s angry wolf. He looked at me, curled his lip, and started to shift back. From the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow move. I swung the flare gun around, aware it was no longer loaded.

“It’s just me. I tried to follow him back to warn you that he was on his way, but I wasn’t fast enough. Every wolf in a two-mile radius probably felt you. We need to lose your scent now.

I hope you can swim.”

“We can trust him,” Jax said, a little breathlessly, as he pulled some clothes out from his pack. He’d already shredded two outfits.

“I don’t trust you at the moment,” I snapped. “How could you be so stupid and let him goad you like that?”

“He said your father gave you to him,” Jax growled. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Take a minute to come up with a plan that didn’t involve you going all alpha on him and me shooting him with a giant flare gun! I can defend myself from assholes like that. I’ve been doing it my whole life. My father promised me to a lot of people, including Emerson Triggs.

Why do you think the alpha of the Snake River knows so much about me?”

Furious, I stormed back into the tent to grab my things. Snapping my pack around my waist, I glared at him from the opening.

He looked equally mad. “What about Danny?”

Really? That’s what he wanted to bring up? “I could have gotten away from Danny if your wolf had not intervened!”

“As fascinating as this conversation is, we need to leave now,” Finn said dryly.

I finally spared a look at Marsh. There was a gaping hole in his chest, and he wasn’t moving.

With a smile of satisfaction, I plunged into the woods after Finn, Jax right at my back.

“You never told me about Emerson.”

Jax’s remark pissed me off, so I focused on doing my best to rake my fingers through my wet, tangled hair. We hadn’t just crossed the river. We’d spent the remainder of the night wading down the shallowest part of the river and then huddled in the water under a rock while a wolf cleaned himself after a night of hunting.

I was wet, tired, cranky, and lost. It was barely noon, but we both needed rest. Finn’s instructions had led us to one of his stashes, of which he had nearly a dozen spread through Wisteria Woods. We were going to lose a day of travel, but Finn swore that we were out of wolf territory.

And into the witches’.

“You never asked.”

I hated not knowing where we were and having to follow the instructions of a stranger.

Finn had risked a lot to see us to safety, though. So much so that Jax didn’t think he was safe in Wisteria Woods anymore. He gave the young man instructions back to Black Diamond with a message his guards would understand.

When Jax returned, Finn would have a chance at joining a pack. I was a little sorry that I wouldn’t be there to see it happen.

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