Page 35 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

Seeing Maya, in human form, taunt that monster may have shaved decades off my life. She’d stood there with a flaming log and a smart mouth, and he could have killed her with one swoop of his claws.

He nearly had. I could still smell her blood.

Carrying her to the river, he dropped her on the bank and waded into the river. Pausing, I stayed in the shadows and tried to assess the situation. Maya wasn’t stirring. In the water, the monster clumsily started trying to wash himself. Blood ran off him, and he grunted.

When his back was turned, I crept forward to check on Maya. Relief swept over me when I saw her flanks moving up and down.

Her shift was too slow to risk right now. I nudged her head with mine, but she didn’t stir. Without any other choice, I shifted and picked her up. Draping her over my shoulders, I straightened just as the monster turned. Gritting my teeth, I unleashed my power and reached for his wolf. “She’s mine,” I called out. “And I won’t let her go while I’m still alive.”

He rumbled from the river and started to emerge.

I pushed more power, and that’s when I found it. There was a wolf beneath that monster, but it was crazed. I tried to take control, and for a moment, I had it. “Shift,” I commanded it. “Show me who you are.”

With a grunt, he fell to his knees, and for a moment, I thought I had it, and then the wolf’s panic hit me like a freight train. My command had unknowingly tipped him over the edge. He wanted to shift.

He couldn’t.

“Easy.” I struggled to keep my own wolf calm as his wail rattled my head. He charged from the river, and I braced myself.

Then, six wolves leaped from the shadows and threw themselves at the creature. They brought it down, and I crouched over Maya.

Finally, a wolf turned and shifted. An older man emerged slowly and walked over to me. “Easy, pup,” he said quietly. “We’re not here for you. We’ve been hunting Trevor for days. I’m sorry we got here too late. Your girl okay?”

“She’ll be okay,” I said tensely.

“I left a few wolves with your other woman, to protect them,” the man said with his hands up in submission. “We have a camp not far from here. We can help you treat your wounded. It’s the least we can do. Trevor was our fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“My name is Gideon. Trevor is one of my wolves. I lost him days ago. I take that personally.”

Trevor was one of his wolves? Hierarchy among the rogues?

I calculated my odds. Gideon sounded like he was willing to let me pick Maya up and carry her away, but if he wasn’t, then I’d have my hands full with Maya and unable to defend myself or her. And Tessa was all alone with strange wolves.

That wasn’t a risk I was about to take.

Slowly, I picked Maya back up again. “I appreciate your help.”

About two miles up the mountain, we entered Gideon’s settlement. Once again, I was shocked by the construction and feel of the area. We’d always assumed that the rogues here were spending more time as wolves, but these wood cabins were even more impressive than the human settlement. It wasn’t as well-protected, but given the werewolves I saw roaming the perimeter, they had their own protection.

A guard. My wolf growled at the thought. Were they armed? Did Gideon have his own militia? Was I carrying an unconscious Maya into an even more dangerous area?

The radio on his belt crackled, and Gideon picked it up. It was just like the fucking radios on the wolves who’d attacked us when we first arrived. My mind was uneasy with the connection, but I reminded myself that we were at least a week’s travel from that area. It made sense that if one group had radios, even more would have them.

“Your people are only a few minutes behind us. One is unconscious, but the others seem fine,” Gideon said kindly as he slowed down. “We have a few empty cabins that you can use to rest for now, but we should take her straight to a healer.”

“Where do you get the electricity to charge the radios?” I asked without thinking.

“Solar panels and generators. Same as everyone else,” he said easily and took a sharp left. Both wolves and humans stopped when they saw Gideon and bowed their heads. He almost always bowed back as he passed.

“You’re an alpha.”

Gideon gave me a strange side look, and I realized that by voicing my questions, I was talking like an outsider. “Of course not. We’re not big enough to be a pack, and I wouldn’t want to be a part of one, let alone lead one. We’re a community. We take care of each other. Here we go.”

Walking up to one of the buildings, he opened the door and walked in. I followed him, watching Maya’s chest rise and fall with each breath. She was still bleeding a little too much, but her breath was steadier. “Shit. Darla, where is Mason?” Gideon barked.

A young teenager, dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, sauntered out of the room until she saw Maya in my arms, and she immediately stiffened. “Dad got called away about an hour ago. Paisley returned.”

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