Page 57 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate
Luna followed him to the pedestal. “No wonder Xavier kept it hidden.”
As Dominic reached for the book, Luna’s instincts screamed a warning. She grabbed his wrist. “Wait! It’s protected.”
Wasn’t this why they brought her?
She focused, searching for the magical trap. It took several moments, but finally, she found it—threads of dark energy woven around the grimoire like a spider’s web.
“It would have set off an alarm if you had touched it,” she clarified.
In the dim light, Dominic’s eyes met hers. “Nice catch.”
Luna took her time, breaking the spell one thread at a time. The effort caused her forehead to bead with sweat, but the gloomy energy eventually faded.
“Now,” she said, taking a step back.
After removing the grimoire from its pedestal, Dominic placed it inside his backpack. “We are leaving now.”
Suddenly, an explosion shook the building, just as they were about to reach the door. The walls trembled around them, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
Dominic snarled and grabbed Luna’s arm, saying, “It’s a trap. We must leave now!”
Gunfire reverberated from somewhere in the warehouse as they sped through the hallways. With ruthless pace, Dominic drew Luna along with him, his hand never leaving her arm.
“What about the others?” Luna gasped.
“They can handle themselves,” Dominic replied, his voice hard with certainty. “Our priority is securing the grimoire.”
They burst through a side door into the cold night, only to find themselves surrounded.
“Dominic Blackwood,” one of them called out. “By order of Commander Xavier Storm, you are to surrender immediately.”
With his body contorted and poised to attack, Dominic shoved Luna behind him. He whispered, “Run when I tell you. Go directly to the trees.”
Dominic charged before Luna could object. He killed two hunters before they could react because of his unnatural speed. The others started shooting, but Dominic was already there, taking them down.
Luna didn’t run. Instead, she raised her hands and focused on the nearest hunter. Energy surged through her veins as she sent him flying backward into a concrete wall.
“I told you to run!” Dominic shouted, ducking under a knife swing before breaking the hunter’s arm.
“I won’t abandon you!” In response, Luna unleashed another magical blast that knocked two more hunters to the ground. Dominic was shot in the shoulder by the final hunter. He stumbled, but instead of falling, he sprang forward and crushed the hunter’s bones as he hit the ground.
Their labored breathing was the only sound to break the silence. Dominic’s face was tight with pain as he put a hand to his bleeding shoulder. Luna hurried to his side and said, “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing,” he snarled. “We must relocate.”
However, more hunters came out of the warehouse as they began to head for the trees. Luna took hold of Dominic’s good arm and dragged him in the direction of a drainage ditch that she had previously noticed. As bullets splintered the ground where they had been standing, they slid down the muddy hole.
They had to crouch as they moved through the small, dark concrete tunnel. The water sloshed around their ankles, cold and foul. Luna took the lead, keeping Dominic close, with one hand on the slimy wall for guidance and the other gripping his wrist.
“You’re bleeding too much,” she said when they’d put some distance between themselves and their pursuers.
Dominic urged, “Keep moving,” but his tone had weakened.
Luna stopped and turned to face him. In the dim light filtering through a grate above, she could see the bullet had done more damage than he admitted.
“Sit,” she ordered. “Now.”
To her surprise, he complied, sliding down the curved wall to sit in the shallow water. Luna knelt beside him, wincing at the cold seeping through her leggings.
