Page 35 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

She groaned. “But Mommy—”

I took a deep breath and held Sydney in front of me so she couldn’t see the crowd. “Honey, I need you to be good for me today, okay? This is important. I can’t let you go to Cliff right now.”

She inhaled uncertainly and then rubbed her eyes vigorously. I held her close again and cradled her head to my heart. “I know, sweetheart. You have a lot of big feelings for such a small body.”

I returned my attention to the crowd while continuing to bounce Sydney gently. I didn’t blame her for being restless. She was a sensitive kid who was under a lot of pressure without Cliff being around. Since he got here, things had gotten that much more complicated. I was sure she could sense that with the agitated crowd closing back in on their Alpha like they were preparing to protect him.

My heart skipped a beat.

What if Bill refused the challenge? Then what? With how this crowd looked, I worried about them getting out of control. Demons loved causing riots, and these were fine conditions for some kind of uprising. I rubbed the back of Sydney’s head to keep her face on my chest, hoping that she might choose to suck her thumb and nap instead of being so darn curious.

Bill stopped a few feet away from Cliff. Both men stood inside a circle made by the audience around them. The way Sonya glanced at me like a timid puppy told me that things were about to get worse. I held my breath while hoping beyond hope that things would stay civil.

This has to work, I thought.Please, let it work.

Early evening birds sang in the trees. Wind whipped around the houses, blowing leaves and debris around the street. Everything was still for a moment, almost still enough to be its own painting in the waiting room of a medical office. Sydney was drooling on my shoulder, but I was afraid to stop moving.

Cliff stood with his chest puffed slightly, and his chin tilted to the skin. Tall.Proud. Like a protective mate.

“Clifton Spears,” Bill greeted formally, “what brings you back when I forbade you to return?”

“Bill Parks, I challenge you for the title of Alpha.”

Gasps reverberated between the neighboring houses. I covered my mouth as my bouncing ceased. I knew Cliff was going to do it, but I didn’t realize the weight of his decision until he announced it.

Because if Cliff lost the challenge, then Sydney would lose her father the moment she found out about him. That wasn’t fair. None of this was fair.

I gritted my teeth.I can’t let him do this.

Bill smiled so hard that I thought his teeth might crack. But then I had to remind myself that it wasn’t Bill smiling—it was thatthinginside of him. “My Gods and Goddess, I must be hallucinating. Did you just challenge me, boy?”

“I sure did, Bill.”

“I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Cliff looked at me. Tears stung my eyes as my throat tightened up. My brows furrowed together as I tried to think of something to say.

But when Cliff smiled at me, I felt like I didn’t need to say anything. He had that covered. All that was left for me to do was watch.

He turned back to Bill. “I will soon enough.”

“Right you are, boy.”

And then I watched helplessly as Bill’s three lackeys descended upon Cliff.

Chapter 11 - Cliff

Moments after my announcement, the sun spread long webs of orange rays across the neighborhood, striking the windows of the house across the street and lighting them aflame. I met Bill head-on with a passionate stare that would have won a round with Robyn. The thought of her dragged my attention to the left, where my vision remained for a long time. She looked sick to her stomach.

And somehow, that look made me feel like the luckiest man in the world.

She could have shown little to no emotion. She could have played it cool. She could have even chosen to stay inside while I made a show of this challenge.

But she hadn’t.

She brought Sydney outside to witness my brave testament to protecting them. Nothing felt more right in this moment than what I was doing. I was pleasantly surprised to see the looks of approval in the crowd. Many of the women were trading glances of relief while whispering to each other about the upcoming event. While I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, I got the impression that this was a welcome event.

Good. These people deserved to be led by a non-possessed wolf who hadn’t done his own people dirty. Desperate wolf families were known back in the day to lop off some fur for trade or sale. But what Bill had done was invasive and disgusting. He deserved to be punished for that.

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