Page 38 of The Alpha's Rejected Arranged Mate

Whatever calm had come over him disappeared again. If she died, it was because he was careless. It didn’t matter how much she talked about choices and the consequences, being ones she accepted. It shouldn’t have gotten to this point in the first place. She never should have had to make the choice, and now that she had…

The thought made his wolf howl, all traces of celebration evaporating. He wanted to scream as the emotion bubbled through him.

But the last thing she needed right now was to handle his emotions as well as her own. So he cupped her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her lips lightly.

Elin’s eyes fluttered shut as she lifted her face to his, inviting him to deepen the kiss. Part of him wondered if it was wise to keep going or if he really did need to keep the boundaries in place. On the other hand, what good were boundaries if she felt like she was facing all this alone? Stress about how she was going to raise a baby as a single mother would surely be determinantal to her health.

It was too soon for him to say it, though. She wouldn’t believe he meant it.

“I need you to stay strong,” he told her instead. “I care about you, Elin. It’s not just lust. You’re a good person, and I care. Just… just know that, okay?”

She held his wrist, rubbing her thumb across his pulse point as she stared into his eyes. Silently, she nodded.

Finn kissed her forehead and reluctantly broke away from her. He didn’t want to leave her, but there was nothing left for him to do. He needed to find out more so that he could help Elin through this. Christine waited in the hallway. Her eyes sharpened on his face, and she opened her mouth, but he held up his hand.

“Please look after Elin. Whatever medication she needs, get it. Use my personal bank account if you have to. I’m going to talk with the rogues. If anyone knows how to get more information on demons, it’s the ones that have been serving an archdemon.”

Christine studied him, then slowly nodded. “Be careful, Finn. For all we know, Dukiel could be setting a trap to lure you to him.”

“Right,” Finn muttered, hardly listening. Dukiel couldn’t have planned for this, for Elin to get pregnant. But he would use it against them as soon as he found out.

***

The rogue woman who had confronted them at the orphanage looked warily at Finn when he and Derek entered her cell. It was a cramped space, but she appeared to have recently showered, and an empty plate was on the bench near her. Good. They were being taken care of, as Finn had ordered.

The rogue got to her feet, eyeing him warily. “Alpha Finn.”

“What are Dukiel’s plans?” Finn asked without preamble. “What did he tell you to do?”

“He… ordered us to cause chaos. Sew strife between humans and wolves wherever we could. He didn’t explain himself to us,” she continued. “But it’s fairly obvious he was hoping to weaken ties. Make the packs more isolated and therefore more easily overpowered.”

That sounded like a demon. “Anything else?”

The rogue hesitated. “Like what?”

“Like, where is he staying? Any favorite places to camp?” Finn asked.

“He doesn’t camp. It’s beneath him,” the woman said. The derision was clear in her voice.

Finn narrowed his eyes as he viewed her. Would an archdemon allow such obvious disrespect in his ranks? Or were the rogues themselves beneath him, so long as they did what he said? There was a reason these rogues gave themselves up.Whether they were truly disillusioned with their lord and master or it was a trap, he didn’t know.

In either case, they could tell him where to find the archdemon.

“Where is he?” Finn asked, his voice low and rumbling.

The woman flinched back from him. “There’s a palace in the mountains. He had us build it, and when it was finished, he had us cover the rooftop with dirt and plant trees so it wouldn’t be visible from the air. I can show you where it is on a map. When he’s not ordering us around, he’s in there. Writing, I think. I saw him with a book once, but it was in a language I don’t know.”

Finn studied the rogue, trying to get a sense of whether she was lying or not. The demon influence around her had weakened since he’d had them brought here. It was wisps of red fog rather than a thick red glow around her.

Again, he wasn’t sure how to take it.

“We’re supposed to believe that a demon is writing poetry?” Derek growled, unconvinced.

The woman shook her head. “Sometimes when he talks about… about where he comes from, he rants about being cast out. I think he’s writing his history. At least, his version of it. It seems to me that the thing he fears most is being forgotten. But I can’t say for certain. It’s not like he shares anything with us.”

Finn grunted. He left the cell, letting the door clang on his way out. Derek hurried after him, a furrow on his forehead.

“You’re not going to just take her word for it, are you?” Derek asked, his voice low.

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