Page 45 of The Alpha's Rejected Arranged Mate

Exhaustion rolled over her again. It didn’t take long for her to sink into a deep sleep. She dreamt of her baby again. This time, she was standing in the middle of a desert with the sun blazing overhead. There was no relief to be found.

When she woke, Finn was no longer in her arms. She felt empty and aching as she lifted her head.

To her surprise, she wasn’t alone. Christine was in the room. She looked up and grinned. “Good! You’re awake. I’ve been doing some research about pregnancy. I have an idea.”

Chapter 21 - Finn

He didn’t like lying to Elin.

But with her in her current physical condition, he couldn’t risk putting more stress on her. Not to mention the constant dashed hope that this would be over soon. So when his forces thought they had pinpointed Dukiel’s palace, he couldn’t tell her. Not when they’d been down this road before. Whether the rogue woman had lied about the original location of the palace or not, the description she’d given of the surrounding area was accurate.

“Stay close and keep a wary eye out,” Finn ordered, his eyes raking over the outside of the… well, he supposed it could be a palace. It was made of polished granite, but the building was squat and square, with a flat roof covered in dirt and plant life. It looked less like a palace and more like a hippie library.

The front door was slightly ajar, and there was no sign of any sort of security. Finn shifted to his wolf form, joining the others, and sniffed the air. Traces of wolf and brimstone curled into his nostrils, but nothing that indicated that anyone had been around here recently.

The quiet of the air sent chills down Finn’s spine. He tried to push it aside as he led the troops into the palace. He left four at the door, guarding it, and continued on.

The interior of the place smelled more strongly of brimstone. Clearly, Dukiel had beast demons within the complex. They were the only ones that gave off the scent. Aura demons had no scent at all, not when they were floating ghosts and not when they possessed a person. From his limited experience with archdemons, they didn’t have any telltale signs, either, at least not that other wolves could pick up on.

The layout was fairly simple. A few stairs went downward into the earth, but the main floor quickly opened into the library the rogue woman told them about. The scent was the weakest here. Maybe Dukiel didn’t think beast demons had an appreciation for literature.

Finn shifted to human form. “Derek, your team keeps wolf form and watches the door. The rest of you, let’s start collecting these books.”

Silently, the team shifted and grabbed the bags they’d brought. They started stuffing the books into the bags, handfuls at a time. Finn wasn’t choosy as he filled his own bag. There were thousands of books in here. They couldn’t take them all—but hopefully, they’d get enough.

***

Hayden frowned at Finn, a furrow between his eyebrows. “I just challenged Monroe, Finn. It’s not safe for any of the team to go wandering around the town by himself.”

Finn shrugged, attempting to look casual. The sheer amount of demons he saw in that town hall moments ago left his teeth on edge. “I won’t go far. Just down the road and back. I just need to move, okay?”

“Okay,” Hayden said slowly, the furrow deepening. “But no further than the end of the road.”

“Yes, Dad,” Finn said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Hayden cuffed him lightly on the back of the head but turned away with a chuckle. Finn stepped out of the big, old house and breathed in the cool air. The atmosphere that hung over the special ops team was oppressive. And that went doublysince Hayden had returned with a certain human woman tossed over his shoulder.

Finn trotted down past the property line. The long street was deserted, with only the occasional streetlight still working. There were few other houses in this area of town, and most of them seemed to be as deserted as Hayden’s home had been. No sign of demons lingered in the air, so Finn started to walk.

Coming to the hometown of half the special ops was… interesting. In the few hours they’d been here, he already saw the connection that Hayden, Ryder, and the others had with this place. Would he have the same reaction if he returned to the orphanage? It had been where he lived for most of his life, yet… he didn’t consider it home.

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t notice at first the woman who had shied back into the shadows at his approach. The light glinted off her eyes; otherwise, he could only see her outline. He stopped just inside the pool of light from a streetlight.

“It’s all right,” he called. “I’m just going for a walk.”

The woman came forward uncertainly. Her shoulders were tense, her eyes wary. He couldn’t tell what color they were. The streetlight gave her a halo of gold in her otherwise dark hair. Her face was round, her lips full. The moment he locked eyes with her, an alien sensation swept through him. His wolf danced in his chest, yipping and howling with excitement.

She stared at him as though equally fascinated and terrified. Finn’s breath caught in his throat. He hated that she was afraid of him. Unthinking, he lifted a hand and stepped toward her.

The spell that was over them broke in an instant. She took her wolf form, her clothes tearing off at the seams, and shebolted. Finn stepped after her again but stopped. He didn’t want to scare her any more than he already had.

But he knew, from this moment on, his life would never be the same.

***

Finn shook the memory off as he tugged the bag around his shoulders. Around him, the others were finishing up their collections, too. A tinge of red started to seep up from the floor. And in an instant, Finn knew what was happening—aura demons trying to possess his people.

It was an ambush.

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