Page 4 of Alpha's Rejected Warrior
The scent of his fear spikes sharply. Adrenaline, sweat — the raw scent of prey that calls to the predator in me. I expect my mouth to water as my wolf responds to the hunt. Instead, she whines in protest, shoving against my consciousness harder than she ever has.
No! Mine.
Why this resistance now? Why this human? My wolf has never hesitated before a kill, and Iama fierce warrior, ruthless in protecting our pack.
A deep, instinctual pull rebels against harming him, even as my rational mind knows it’s the only solution to protect our kind. We can’t allow humans to know of our existence.
I reel back my clawed hand, ready to strike him across the throat.
“Commander, no!” Branson shouts. “Wait!”
“What?” My hand drops an inch, my sword still leveled. I’d just steeled myself to kill this human.
“Look at this.” He holds a dusty framed photo up to my face. It’s a picture of the man I’m now choking. He’s standing in a parking lot in front of a building with many windows and a neon sign above them that reads “Diner”. He’s smiling, his green eyes catching the sun gleaming on his chestnut hair.
Beside him is an unmistakable young woman with white-blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. . .Luna Thea?She’s grinning ear-to-ear and making that stupid V-shape with her fingers that she always does. Both of them are in matching blue uniforms, him in pants, her in a skirt.
I glare at my captive, loosening my grip just enough so he can speak. “Who the hell are you? How do you know our Luna?”
He just stares with terror on his face.
“Who are you?” I repeat.
“E-Ethan” is all he can utter.
Akila leans in close, studying the photo. “Hmmm. . .he knows our Luna. They look like they’re friends.” She looks back at me. “This complicates things.”
“Commander, perhaps you should let him down,” Branson says. “He can’t answer questions if he can’t breathe.”
I bite down hard and let him go. Ethan crumples to the floor, gasping and clutching his throat. My wolf exhales something I don’t have words for, a release so sharp it catches me off guard. Red marks from my fingers stand out against his skin, and something I don’t want to name tightens in my gut.
“Back up,” I order, drawing my sword and pointing it at his chest. “No sudden movements.”
Ethan scoots backward until he hits the wall, eyes fixed on the blade. His breathing steadies, but fear still pours off him, thick and sharp. The scent is both a lure and a warning, and I can’t decide which one my wolf hates more.
“Now,” I press the tip of my sword against his sternum, “explain yourself. How do you know Luna Thea?”
His head snaps up at her name. “Thea?Youknow Thea?” Hope flickers across his face, momentarily eclipsing his fear. “Is she okay?”
I push the sword tip a fraction deeper. “I’m asking the questions. How do you know her?”
He swallows. Raw emotion crosses his face. “We worked together at Cid’s Diner. We were friends. Good friends. She disappeared almost a year ago without a trace.”
I give him a sharp look. “And you’re in her apartment because...?”
“I’ve been maintaining it. Paying her rent, watering her plants, keeping it ready for if—whenshe comes back.”
“For a year?” Akila asks skeptically.
Ethan nods, that glimmer of hope returning to his face again. “Do you know who took her? Is she safe?”
The sincerity in his voice makes something twist inside me. His loyalty snags my wolf’s attention in a way I don’t appreciate, and I shove her interest aside.
“No one ‘took’ her.” I step back, lowering my sword slightly.
“Well, technically. . .” Akila chimes in.
“Akila!” I warn her against revealing too much before looking at the human again. “Your friend is exactly where she wants to be.”
