Page 115 of Rejected By the Alpha

“Please, help her,” I cried into his neck. “I don’t want her to die. She can’t. Please. I⁠—”

“She won’t,” he said, running his hand across my torso to soothe me. “I promise.”

He stopped at a smaller house about thirty feet from the packhouse. “Hazel!” Davix shouted, kicking the door with his foot because his hands were full.

“Go away,” she yelled from inside. “I’m still pissed at you!”

“Open up now,” he snarled, the sound almost a command. “Ember’s here.”

“Why do you care about—” After opening the door, she stopped mid-sentence and stared at us through wide eyes, her gaze drifting from Davix to me to Davix cradling Pumpkin in his left arm. “Oh my Goddess. What happened?”

“The war,” I said, scrambling out of his hold. “Please, please, help her.”

Hazel took Pumpkin and examined her belly, brows furrowing. Then she started through the woods with Daisy hot on her heels. “I’ll do what I can, but I don’t know if we have everything I need at the pack hospital after the battle the other day.”

“Davix,” I said, staring up at him through watery, burning eyes. “I don’t want her to die.”

“She’s not going to die,” he said, pulling me into a hug.

I gripped on to him tightly, a loud sob catching against his chest. “Please …”

He gently ran his hand back and forth across my shoulder, and I wondered where the Davix I had seen last time went, the one who was always pissed and angry, the one who’d rather choose someone else over me.

Why was he being so nice? Why now?

After another cry, I shoved him away and turned my back toward him, heading after Hazel. I needed to ensure that Daisy and Pumpkin were good, and then I was going to find who had done this. Plus, I doubted that Davix actually wanted to spend his night with me … when her scent was all over him.

“Ember, where are you going?” he asked, following after me.

“To find who did this to Pumpkin.”

Davix captured my hand and tugged me back. “No, you’re not.”

I yanked my hand out of his and spun around to face him, brows furrowed. “Yes, I am.”

So many emotions flooded through me. It was my birthday, the one day a year that I didn’t mind being somewhat selfish about my life, and it was already ruined. Nobody remembered, a war had broken out, the red-eyed wolf had betrayed me, and Pumpkin might die.

When Davix grabbed my wrist again, I shoved him back, but he didn’t let go this time. Tears spilled from my eyes. My cheeks were hot. I slammed my fists into his chest, wanting someone else to hurt rather than me.

“Get away from me!” I shouted. “I hate you!”

“Happy birthday.”

“I hate—” My brows furrowed, and I dropped my fists. “What?”

He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around my waist, staring down at me with the softest eyes that I had ever seen from him. “Happy birthday,” he repeated. “I know this is a shitty start to it, but I wanted you to know that not everyone forgot.”

The tears in my eyes got even hotter, and my lips parted.

No … no, this wasn’t how it should be. Davix should’ve ignored me on my birthday, Cade should’ve been the one to say it this morning, and that red-eyed wolf … should’ve never shown his face in Black Hollows again after bringing me home.

None of this made any sense.

“I … but … don’t you …”

Davix tucked some hair behind my ear. “I’ll fix this for you.”

“Davix, I …”