Page 19 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

To that, Juniper started faking some gagging noises with a look of pure horror on her face. Everyone laughed, and I just rolled my eyes. This was how they dealt with tense situations.

And like it or not, we were all tense.

It was hard to research Shadowed Moon Mountain without getting into Shadowed Moon Mountain. From what I could tell, my predecessor had some contacts, but he’d lost touch with them. I was walking my strongest wolves into a dark place practically blind. I had no idea how to even begin to look for someone named Emerson, but I knew how wolves worked. They might be wild and free here, but there would be a network. There would be connections.

I just had to talk to the right person. Even if I couldn’t find Emerson, he would no doubt find me, if for no other reason than curiosity.

Juniper was right about one thing. I’d been feeling a little off since Maya appeared.

Was she carrying my child?

Marrow used to talk about fatherhood. He’d become one early, without the benefit of a mate or even the mother sticking around, and he’d raised a good kid. Rune was a strong wolf and a grounded and fair man. He took after Marrow, although Marrow often said he took after me.

We both knew it was a lie. I’d look at the love Marrow had for Rune and know there wasn’t the same kind of love in me. He believed in second chances and saw the good in people.

And I saw the world for all of its cruelty and harshness.

Now I was king of that world. Oh, the irony.

But to be a father? The crown was nothing more than a stepping stone toward my vengeance. Fatherhood was no stepping stone.

Of course, there was also a chance I was not the father. There was no point in dwelling on it until Maya gave birth. Her father would keep her safe until then, and if I was still alive I’d deal with it just as I said I would.

I did my best to push the thoughts aside as we continued to walk. So far, there wasn’t a hint of a wolf in our vicinity, but I knew that could change any minute. Just because I couldn’t sense a wolf didn’t mean that one wasn’t tracking us from far away. We were in their element.

“Her bruises were recent,” Tessa said suddenly. My healer was a small woman, normally very soft-spoken. Her wolf was just as submissive as the human, but she was the best damn healer I’d ever met. Despite her submissive nature, she could calm any wolf.

And she rarely spoke.

“Whose?” Dante asked.

“The woman you sent away. Her bruises were fresh. Not more than two days old, I suspect.”

I’d noted the same, but there were marks on her that night in the hotel room as well. “Some women like it a little rough,” I said tersely.

“Did she tell you that?” Tessa’s voice was a little sharper than usual, and I frowned and turned my head toward her.

“Is there a point that you’re trying to make?”

Before she could answer, panic struck me hard, and even Juniper gasped.

Duke.

My second didn’t panic easily. Juniper and I immediately turned. “Duke. Something wrong,” I growled. We started back when the wind shifted, and a scent hit me.

Wolves. Several of them. Immediately, I started to shift, and nobody hesitated to follow. We formed a protective barrier around Tessa, our weakest, and growled into the thicket of woods.

The attack came without warning. Six wolves leaped at once through the brush, two aiming at me. I considered letting my power out, but it was so damn soon. I didn’t need the whole wood to know my status, so I pulled it in and focused on my strength instead.

These wolves didn’t seem to have any training, but they worked well together, and they fought raw.

They were used to fighting for their lives.

Claws ripped into my shoulder, but I ignored the pain as I easily flipped one wolf onto his back and sank my teeth into its throat. There was a roar of despair from the other, but it didn’t live long enough to mourn for long. Turning, I pulled one of the wolves off Dante, leaving him to circle back to Tessa, who was facing her own wolf.

My wolves hadn’t all been with me for long, but they were seasoned. They knew how to fight and protect. By the time two more wolves broke through the woods, our six attackers were dead. I whirled around and stopped short when I saw the two joining us.

Duke and Maya.

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