Page 94 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

Rhyson growled, and the room stilled. Elonso, however, didn’t seem upset. “Sorry. I know you’re incognito here. I just thought we would go ahead and point out the white elephant in the room. How would you like to be addressed?”

“Rhyson. If I don’t like what you have to say, you won’t live long enough to address me at all.”

“You aren’t going to like what I have to say, but I’ve been told you’re not likely to shoot the messenger. Jax says you’re a good man, and I hope he’s right. What I have to say is private. Your wolves can stay outside. Jenson can remain, as Jax’s representative. I hear congratulations are in order.”

“My wolves will stay,” Rhyson said darkly.

“Then I’ll leave.” Elonso met his gaze head-on. “In other circumstances, I’d be telling you this in complete privacy, Rhyson. I’m not just protecting myself.”

What the hell did that mean?

Turning, Rhyson nodded at the others, who hesitantly filed out of the room. They wouldn’t be going far. I turned to follow them, but Rhyson snagged my arm. “She stays.”

“I don’t sense a mate bond,” Elonso argued.

Sure. Twist the knife why don’t you, asshole?

It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know.

“What she is to me is none of your concern. She stays or I walk.”

“Interesting.” Elonso shrugged and sat. “Fine.”

Rhyson pulled a chair out for me, and I quietly sat, wishing I could curl up in the corner. Everywhere I went on this mountain, everyone’s attention was on me. I was so not used to it.

Rhyson sat on one side of me and Jenson on the other. We faced London and Elonso. The alpha of Snake River Valley looked just as aggravated as when we first met him. I assumed that was because Elonso hadn’t divulged any additional information.

“You dispatched a problem for me. A deal is a deal. It is not possible that my predecessor killed your brother. He was with me that day, and believe me, I have no love for Emerson. I would not cover for him, especially now that he’s dead.”

We already knew this.

“You did not bring us here to regurgitate information,” Jenson muttered, echoing all of our thoughts.

“No. I did not.” Reaching into a bag next to him, Elonso pulled out a notebook and placed it in front of him. “I had my own private reasons for joining Emerson’s pack, none that I plan on divulging. Just know that I spent several hellish years gaining Emerson’s trust, and that means I did some things that haunt me every time I close my eyes. I still want to make it absolutely clear that what I am about to tell you happened before Emerson was even an alpha. It happened long before I even heard Emerson’s name. When I became alpha, it took time for me to realize everything he’d done. I have been trying to quietly undo the damage, but it’s an impossible task, and in most cases, a fruitless one.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” London growled.

“I know why Rhyson’s brother was investigating Emerson.” The cockiness fell from Elonso’s face, and for once I saw real sorrow there.

And fear.

“And you still think I’m going to retaliate against you,” Rhyson guessed.

“Not just me. The whole mountain,” he said hollowly. “I need you to understand that what happened was not our fault. Most of Emerson’s contacts on the mountain are dead. They died with Maeve’s bloody and insane thirst for power. As far as his contacts off the mountain, I’m at a loss. There are no names.”

Rhyson growled next to me. “Quit belaying the point. Why the fuck are we here?”

Taking a deep breath, Elonso pushed the notebook across the table. “In that book, you’ll find a list of names and dates. Female names are in one column. Some of them have numbers instead of names. In another column are the names of men. Mostly rogues. It took me several months before I could track one down and interrogate them to figure out what these names were.”

He took a deep breath. Whatever he was about to say was rehearsed, and still, he didn’t want to say it. “Emerson was trafficking young female wolves to the mountain. Mostly for rogues,” he said hoarsely.

Rhyson didn’t touch the notebook, so I opened it with some trepidation. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. “What the fuck, Elonso,” London whispered. “Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Oh, since we’re being so forthcoming about everything since Maeve’s death?” Elonso snapped. “Jax’s boy wonder took her place and immediately put walls up at the border. No fucking clue what’s happening there. You’re mated to the most powerful witch to ever be born on this mountain. Didn’t think that was important to share, huh? Let’s not forget all the secrets Jax and Anna have been hiding, like the fucking fae still being alive.”

“Enough,” Rhyson snapped. “I don’t give a fuck about your petty problems. Emerson was stealing our females? And my brother knew? When was the last wolf taken?”

“Like I said, years ago. I think the operation fell apart at some point. Maybe it was because he became alpha. I don’t know.”

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