Page 119 of Rejected By the Alpha

“You can have her,” I said.

“No,” Cade growled. “He can’t.”

Instead of responding to Cade, Alaric walked over to me. “No, that’s not what I want.”

“Then what do you want?” I asked.

He stopped inches from me and smiled. “For you to reject her.”

My chest tightened, and I clenched my fists so hard that I drew blood from my palms. It leaked out onto the forest floor beside my feet.

No way. No fucking way. I wasn’t going to … I couldn’t …

Cade peered over at me, staying too fucking silent this time. Of course he was. This wasn’t even a war between my pack and the Crimson Order, but he wanted to see me lose. He wanted me to end it with Ember for good so he could step in.

Fucking piece of shit.

“This isn’t my fucking war,” I said, stepping back.

“You’re the reason why this started, and you know it,” Cade spat. “Reject her.”

I wanted to wrap my hands around his fucking neck, but I knew that, alone, I wouldn’t be able to make it halfway to him before someone from Braveclaw or the Crimson Order attacked and killed me.

“All I want is the warrior who injured the fox on my property,” I said.

Another long silence dragged out between us, until Alaric stepped forward again. “If you don’t reject her, I will wipe out every pack in Black Hollows by tonight. There will be nobody left, and everything you’ve done for your pack won’t matter.”

There was no reasoning with him. He wasn’t giving me a choice.

I had made a promise to my pack that I would always protect them, that I would end this curse. But what hurt me the most was that I had also made a promise to Ember that I would take care of this, that I would kill the warrior who had hurt the fox she cared so deeply about.

It was a hasty promise, but a promise nonetheless.

My entire body was stiff, but I kept my gaze steady to show that this asshole didn’t intimidate me. “If I reject her, you’ll give me the warrior who injured the fox in the woods? You know I will kill him for what he did.”

Alaric nodded. “You have my word.”

“Your word doesn’t mean shit to me,” I said. “Give me the warrior first.”

When he looked over his shoulder, the whispering from his pack stopped. He gave them one look, and suddenly, a warrior stepped forward. I pressed my lips together and eyed the man, nostrils flaring.

Why was I agreeing to this? Why couldn’t I ever have her?

“How do I know it’s him?” I asked.

“It is.”

“How do I know?”

“Smell him,” Alaric said. “His claws reek of fox blood.”

Tension filled the air, and I eyed the warrior as he approached. He didn’t say anything, his face void of all emotion. He knew I would kill him, and he didn’t even care, did he? This pack was willing to die for their leader. No questions asked.

“What are you afraid of? That he’ll kill you?” Alaric laughed. “I had the chance many times now. If I wanted you dead, I would’ve killed you myself. Smell his claws and take him. He knows we don’t injure our enemies unless we have to and definitely not those caught in the cross fire.”

A low growl rumbled through my chest, and I grabbed the warrior’s hand, opening up his closed fist and smelling his bloodied claws. The scent of fox drifted through my nose, and I snapped his hand back closed.

I swallowed hard and swiped my claws across his neck. Blood spurted out everywhere, drenching me in his scent. I sank my claws deeper, breaking his spine and decapitating him completely. This man would be the reason I rejected Ember.