Page 110 of Alpha's Rejected Warrior
“Sacred.” He speaks the word like it has the taste of poison. “This temple’s sacredness didn’t stop Lycans from slaughtering my mother on these very steps.”
The surge crests and holds. The air thins around me.
“She wore white ceremonial robes that day...the day the Moon Curse ended. She was conducting the spring blessing, like her mother before her, and her mother’s mother.” Holden’s eyes become distant. Seeing something none of us can. “I found her collapsed on the entrance steps. Blood spreading beneath her like spilled ink. Claw marks dragged across her side. Her back.”
Quiet settles. Dense. Suffocating.
“When I found her here,” he continues, “She was still alive, but it was too late. I held her hand as she drew her last breath. That was your kind’s handiwork.”
The image burns into my mind: a tanned woman in white, her long white hair matted with blood that seeps into the stone. The wet, red mess of wounds that no healer could fix. Her son kneeling beside her, watching the light leave her eyes.
Holden’s attention returns to the present, and to us.
“That’s whatpeacebrings.” His lip curls. “My mother’s blood in the snow. Weakness invites slaughter. My father never understood that.”
Xander doesn’t leave room for silence to take hold.
“So, you’d kill your own father for his position?” He closes the distance. “Betray your blood for power?”
Another surge crescendos and it feels like a fist to the sternum. Stone dust rains from the ceiling. The crystals blaze white-hot, and for a heartbeat, I swear the runes on the walls are moving. Creeping toward the altar like living things.
Holden spreads his hands, utterly calm.
“He forfeited his authority when he chose so-called peace over justice.” Maniacal certainty hardens his tone. “The Shaman need a leader who willact, not kneel. This ritual will make that unchallengeable.”
The candle flames stretch impossibly high, blue-white with heat and hungry. The pressure in my chest builds again, faster than before.
Then Holden’s focus locks onto me.
With predatory rapidity, his eyes twitch down to my torso, and his whole body stiffens. His composure falls away. “Why do you have my sister’s talisman?”
Chapter 41 — Ethan
My hand rises instinctively to the crystal hanging beneath my shirt.
For protection, Haron had said.
When I don’t answer right away, ugly hatred twists Holden’s features.
“Haron always did prefer sentiment over strategy.” He takes a step toward me, and Rhiannon shifts to block his path. He doesn’t even acknowledge her. His focus stays fixed on me like I’m the only person in the room. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”
The pieces click together. The cloaked figure on the perimeter. The dagger spinning toward my chest. Rhiannon staggering as the blade meant for me sinks into her instead.
“It was you,” I say. “You’re the one who attacked us outside the fortress.”
His smile returns. Spiteful. Vicious.
“Truth Seer, indeed,” Holden sneers. “You’re not half as clever as you think.” He touches his ribs absently and glares atConan. “Three against one was hardly fair. Though I must thank you for providing such convincing evidence of the Scarlet Wolf’s attack on yet another victim.”
My stomach turns. Holden set Jayme up by using the wounds Conan gave him while defending me. He must not have trusted his control over Jayme after what happened to Haron, and the coward didn’t want to risk himself.
Holden turns back to me. “You got lucky that day, human. I won’t make that mistake twice.”
The fourth surge begins to build. The pressure feels like it’s crushing my skull from the inside.
His gaze lingers on my throat, like he can see straight through the fabric to the crystal resting against my skin. “Not even my sister’s bleeding heart will stop me.”
Stop him?The words snag in my mind. He’s not just angry that Haron gave me her charm, he’s afraid that it’s powerful enough for me to use against him.
