Page 9 of Rejected By the Alpha King

The step stool was still against the back wall so I could reach the top-shelf liquor bottles. Ignoring the aches and pains of my body, I spun and jumped. Landing on the step stool, I vaulted over the bar. His fingers brushed against my pant leg, but I was sober and faster. As soon as I landed, I raced to the front door. It was locked to keep people from coming in but not from going out. The alarm blared loudly as soon as the door opened, but I ignored it.

The cool air rushed against my face, and I ran. We were right on the edge of the territory.

If I could cross that border, Danny wouldn’t follow. Pack members weren’t allowed to leave the territory without permission. If he stepped over, Jax would know.

I prayed that it would be enough to save me. Once I was over the line, I would do exactly what I’d been warned to do.

Run.

Lungs burning, I tried to ignore everything but freedom. If Danny shifted, this would all be over before it started. I couldn’t hesitate for even a moment.

It wasn’t like I’d exercised. In three years, I hadn’t stepped out further than the trash cans of the bar.

But I knew my escape route. I’d memorized a map. There was a river ahead, and it was the natural territory border. I could swim, some. More, I was hoping, than Danny.

“Get back here, you fucking bitch!”

A human voice. That was good. I might just make it.

There was no moon, and I kept my eyes trained to the ground as I entered the woods.

Tripping over a root and falling would be an embarrassing way for this to end. Branches scraped at me and slapped me in the face. Gasping for breath, I pushed myself to keep going, to ignore the pain.

Ahead, I could hear the rushing water. I was so close. Almost there.

Overhead I heard the low warning rumble of a wolf.

No. Oh God, please, no.

A dark gray wolf stepped out from behind a tree trunk, directly in my path. Narrowly, I managed to pivot at the last minute before running over them.

My ankle twisted, and white-hot pain shot up my leg.

With a cry, I went down. Instantly, a human was on top of me. Hands grabbed at my shirt, sliding it up while I shoved.

The wolf growled again, and it was enough to make Danny stop.

“She tried to run,” Danny slurred as he stood and hauled me up. Pain shot up my leg again, and I folded, but he didn’t ease up on his grip. “No need to bother Jax about it now. I’ll handle it and tell him in the morning.”

The wolf didn’t move, and Danny did a mock salute and began to drag me away. I had no idea who the wolf was, but I knew better than to beg for help.

No one would save me.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said through gritted teeth as I stumbled. It didn’t slow him down at all. He just dragged me. “I’m Dirk’s daughter, remember? Disgusting. You don’t want me. Not like this.”

The bar was in sight. The alarm still blared, a beacon of doom. I scrambled to get upright, to fight, but both my ankle and knee collapsed under me.

Danny didn’t say a word. Instead, he dragged me around to the wide entrance. As soon as the door closed behind him, he threw me on the wood floor and flipped on the light.

Frantically, I looked around for a weapon. Everything in the kitchen had been neatly tucked away for the night. Nothing was in reach.

“Time to teach you a lesson.”

4

Anna

Bile rose in my throat, but before he could touch me, the glass shattered. He paused, and I scrambled under the nearest metal table and tucked my injured leg beneath me. I gripped the leg like my life depended on it.

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