Page 45 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

I frowned. “We’re not mates, Bill. Even if we had done the ritual and bitten each other, you would have still been possessed. You were past saving.”

Red flushed his face, then faded into his neck, then disappeared entirely from his body. He was growing pale, thin, and fragile. He was fading. “I’m sorry.”

Oh, how I burned with indignation. “It’s not fair. You weren’t even given a chance to—to—” I dug my nails into my palms as I bowed toward him. “It’s not fair.”

“Forgive me.”

I gazed into his fading eyes, the ones that truly belonged to him, the intense green that would capture anyone’s attention. Those eyes looked livelier the more he melted. Parts of him were starting to go, and the back of his head was beginning to cave. He was going to ooze that weird lava light soon like the others.

I grabbed his hand. It was soft and squishy, shrinking three sizes under my grip. “I forgive you.”

He turned his pained gaze to Cliff. “You won. Fair…” He gasped. “Be better…than me.”

His head slumped.

And that was it.

I stared at his unmoving face for a long time while the world around me exploded with silent life. People moved past me with grim expressions. A couple of women helped me to my feet, turning me into a weightless ghost who floated with whoever held my hand. There was Sonya at first. Cliff took over at some point. I watched them carry Bill away. I watched them shuffle listlessly in the street, a funeral parade unfolding without much haste.

It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. I couldn’t believe it.

And then, all the world went white.

***

The smell of alcohol pinched my nostrils. I breathed deep, sat up from the bed, and stared ahead of me until I could get my eyes to blink, my vision to clear up. Cliff materialized in front of me with Sydney. My daughter gasped and wiggled right out of Cliff’s grip like a slimy bug, shooting up onto the bed and pouncing in my lap like she hadn’t seen me in years.

My heart lurched.Oh Goddess, don’t tell me I was in a coma.

I hugged my daughter. “Sweetie, are you okay? What happened?” I frowned while holding her still in my lap. “Hey, why am I here?”

“You fainted,” Cliff explained as he stood next to the bed with a plate. “Sonya said you did a lot of chanting.”

“I did my best.” I rubbed my forehead.Bill. “Is he…?”

I bit my lower lip. Tension began in my throat and spread to my back, my legs, my feet. I wanted to scream and cry. Iwanted to run. I wanted to howl to the skies that my Alpha was dead—long live the Alpha.

Bill was dead. I would never see him again.

“Robby?” Cliff extended the plate.

And that was when I smelled the pancakes that were piled on the plate Cliff held out to me. I snatched it up so fast that I would have dropped it if I weren’t so focused on getting one of those delicious, fluffy, syrup-soaked things into my mouth. After I munched down a couple of them, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

Cliff was staring at me.

I glowered. “What?”

He grinned. “Want some milk?”

Sydney squeaked and then did her famous flop and wiggle off the bed to get to the other side of the room. Since the excitement of waking up was over, I studied the rest of the room, noticing the drab grayish-green wallpaper with dark blue lines and the beige drapes. Scuffed tile that had seen better days surrounded a pristine white hospital bed. There was an IV in my wrist and a blood pressure cuff around my left arm. I yanked the mess off before it could squeeze me like a snake.

I turned back to Cliff when I was ready. “Am I okay? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, you’re okay. I think it was just a huge shock.”

“Yeah, a shock.” Sydney crawled onto the bed and rested her head on my thighs. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes. The poor girl looked ragged. “I have complicated feelings about it.”

“Wanna tell me about them?”

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