Page 100 of Rejected By the Alpha

“It’s nothing,” she said.

“Ember, what is it?”

She shrugged. “I’ve just been thinking about not going back to the hospital.”

My chest tightened, and suddenly, I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I grasped her hand. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t wanna go back. I don’t think it’s helping.”

But I could tell there was more. I couldn’t place it, but Ember was hiding something from me.

“Why are you saying that?” I asked. “The treatments have been working. I talked to Janice the other day about them. And … come on, Em. It’s almost your birthday.”

I wanted to see her live for longer, and if she stopped them now … I honestly didn’t think she’d make it until then. I knew they took a toll on her. I knew it was annoying.

But … she was being so selfish.

Or maybe I was.

“Why?” I asked again.

“It’s hard to explain,” she whispered, looking down at her feet. “There are a few reasons, and I … I don’t want to talk about them right now.”

“Well, I do.”

“You don’t have time to talk about them right now.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you⁠—”

Before she could finish her sentence, I captured her face in my hands and lifted it so she was looking right at me. Tears filled her big eyes, threatening to spill over at any second.

“Cade—”

“Why? Where is this coming from all of a sudden? It’s come out of nowhere.”

“I’ve been so selfish,” she finally said, voice cracking. “Even if my brother is paying you, you shouldn’t have to take time out of your life to care for me. You shouldn’t have to worry about me being kidnapped. And then I’ve just expected Davix to … to choose me when I know he can’t, when⁠—”

“Fuck Davix,” I said. “He doesn’t matter. He makes his own decisions, and he refuses to choose you. Because he doesn’t care about you.”

“That’s not the reason,” she said through a hiccup. “He’s looking out for his pack, so nobody else will have to experience this …”

She grazed her fingers against the scar on my neck, and memories of my mate flooded through my head.

I tried to shake them away, but her eyes—those eyes that I had been in love with—had always haunted me. And now, when Ember, the girl who I … who I loved now … was bringing her up, it was so much worse.

“You know I’m right,” she whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. She dropped her head. “I thought I could be selfish because I’m dying, but I don’t want to be anymore.”

“It’s not selfish to want to live,” I said.

“No, but what is life if I can’t have the one I want?”

“What do you want?” I asked, grasping her face harder. “Tell me, and I’ll get it for you. I’ll give it to you. Anything to keep you here longer.”

“You can’t give me what I want,” she said. “Because I want to live without all these tests and medications. I want to be able to do art again, without being distracted by Davix or you or that red-eyed wolf. I have one commission I still haven’t finished yet because I just don’t have the motivation to do it. I don’t have the heart. I’ve been putting it off and putting it off, and I don’t even know what to tell the guy who ordered it.”

“It’s okay,” I said, pushing some hair out of her face.