Page 28 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate
“The binding rings,” he explained, his voice strangely gleeful. “Once the ceremony is complete, your magic will be permanently bound to Dominic’s control, unable to manifest without his permission.”
Luna gazed at Dominic with terror. “You’re going to be my keeper?”
His face was a stiff mask, but his eyes revealed his internal anguish. “I’m also hearing this for the first time. It’s the best option,” he stated, his voice tense. “Otherwise, your magic would be bound to an inanimate object, and you’d be left…”
“Empty,” Xavier concluded as Dominic hesitated. “A shell of what you once were.”
Luna shook her head, tears in her eyes. “This is not humane. This is slavery.”
“Enough talk,” Xavier snapped. “Priest, proceed.”
The old man stepped forward, taking one of the rings from Xavier. He gestured for Dominic to hold out Luna’s hand.
When Dominic hesitated, Xavier’s face clouded. “Is there a problem, Alpha Blackwood?” he inquired, his tone dangerously soft. Dominic’s jaw tensed, but he accepted Luna’s left hand in his much larger one.
The contact sent a jolt of awareness through them both, their mate bond—dormant for years—stirring to life.
The priest began repeating what sounded like wedding vows in the same ancient tongue before switching to English. “Do you, Dominic Blackwood, take this witch’s power as your own, to control and contain for the safety of all?”
Dominic’s eyes met Luna’s, a tempest of emotion swirling behind them. “I do,” he answered, his voice lifeless.
“And do you, witch, surrender your power willingly to your alpha mate, to be bound for eternity?”
Luna scowled at the priest, then Xavier, and lastly Dominic. “Never,” she snarled.
Xavier chuckled. “Her consent isn’t required. Continue.”
The priest nodded and placed the second ring in Luna’s hand. “Place it on his finger,” he instructed.
When Luna refused, Xavier nodded to Marcus and Kieran. They moved forward, each standing at her side; their actions were enough of a threat.
With no other option, Luna placed the ring onto Dominic’s finger, her touch lingering longer than necessary, afinal plea in her eyes. When the ring was placed, the silver lines on the floor blazed with light, and the priest began his final incantation.
Luna felt her power respond by rising to the surface of her skin like electricity. Something was wrong. Instead of being suppressed, as she had feared, it seemed to be amplifying, becoming more powerful with each word the priest said.
She looked at Dominic and saw his eyes widen in shock. He felt it, too—the surge of power, the strengthening of their dormant mate bond rather than the suppression of her magic.
The rings on their fingers began to glow with a warm golden radiance that spread up their arms, connecting them with visible tendrils of pure magical energy.
“What’s happening?” Xavier demanded, stepping forward. “This isn’t—”
His words cut off as Luna’s magic surged powerfully, the golden light enveloping both her and Dominic completely. Through their connected hands, she could feel her magic flowing into him, through him, and back to her in a continuous circuit that grew stronger with each passing second.
And then, in a blinding flash, the glamor hiding Xavier’s true nature shattered to them.
Where the imposing Council Leader stood, they could now see a twisted figure, his skin gray and leathery, eyes glowing red in a face distorted by inhuman features. Beside him, the priest’s elderly disguise fell away to reveal another demonic form.
She felt Dominic’s shock ripple through their newly strengthened bond, saw his face pale as he stared at thecreatures he’d served for years. The demons that had been masquerading as the leaders of the Hunter Organization.
In that moment of hesitation, Luna knew what she had to do. Meeting Dominic’s stunned gaze, she leaned close and whispered urgently in his ear, “Be smart, don’t give yourself away.”
Then, before anyone could react, she pressed her lips to his in a desperate kiss, sealing their bond and completing the ritual in a way none of them had anticipated.
Chapter 7 - Dominic
The ritual concluded with a searing kiss, one that Dominic vaguely registered Luna had initiated. Her soft lips pressed against his with unexpected urgency, but his mind was too fractured by shock to fully process the sensation.
The golden light still pulsed between them, connecting their bodies through the rings on their fingers as his world tilted on its axis.
