Page 120 of Rejected By the Alpha

Chapter Sixty-Five

Cade

A loud thud echoed through the forest as the wolf’s body hit the ground. Davix held up the head with his fingers laced through the corpse’s hair. I stared at the dead man in disbelief. Davix now had to reject Ember.

Would she … finally be mine?

“We have a deal,” Alaric said to Davix. “You will reject Ember now.”

Davix growled and turned his back toward Alaric, his entire body tensing and his hand clutching the hair as hard as he could. “We have a deal,” Davix repeated, then stormed through the woods in the way that he had come. Thick fog crowded around his body until he disappeared completely.

“You will reject Ember now.”

Not only had Alaric ordered Davix to do it, but Davix had agreed.

My wolf howled inside me, making my heart thump loudly and my blood pump through every one of my vessels. This was it. Ember wouldn’t be distracted with his bullshit anymore. And maybe … she would finally, truly be mine.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my chest filling with warmth.

I might love Ember more than I’d loved Lilliana.

Lilliana had been my mate, and I had known her all my life. When she died because of the curse on her and Davix’s family, I never thought I would find anyone I could love as much as her. But Ember? Goddess, Ember was different in so many ways.

There was only one person standing in my way. My gaze traveled to Alaric. He wouldn’t have ordered Davix to reject Ember if he didn’t have a thing for her. He had kidnapped her and brought her home safely.

Two things I couldn’t understand the reasons for.

“So, this is over?” I asked Alaric.

Alaric opened his mouth to respond, but Leon, the leader of Braveclaw, cut him off.

“This isn’t over!” Leon shouted behind me, still bloodied from Davix’s torture. “I want revenge for this. You killed half of my warriors, and I will not stand for it. Our pack has been weakened because of you, and I⁠—”

“You allowed yourself to be kidnapped by Davix,” I growled at him. “You’re weak.”

“Weak?” He pushed himself to his feet. “I’m weak?”

“Yes,” I snarled, meeting him eye to eye. “You’re weak. You don’t have the strength to lead Braveclaw anymore. From now on, I will make the decisions about what’s best for this forest and the forests beyond.”

“You?” he spat. “Nobody will follow you.”

While I wanted nothing more than to slam my fist into his face—because I had taken his shit for too long—I curled my fist behind my back and looked at the other Braveclaw warriors I had fought with over the last handful of years.

One by one, they averted their gazes from the man who used to lead them to me, slightly bowing their heads in my direction to show where their loyalties lay. Leon shouted and screamed like the crazy old man he was.

He had led them from the safety of the packhouse for far too long.

“Stop acting like an idiot,” I snarled at him. “You’re welcome to stay in Braveclaw as a warrior or to leave Black Hollows and never return, but you do not lead us any longer, Leon. Your time has come to an end.”

With blood pouring from his wounds, he turned on his heel and stormed into the fog.

Alaric cleared his throat. “I never said this war was over, but I have other ways to defeat you, Cade, and I’d rather use those than to fight with blood. My warriors don’t kill anyone unless we have to.”

My stomach twisted into tight knots, and I nodded.

It didn’t matter what he tried. There was nothing he could do to hurt me or Braveclaw other than fight us physically. We were strong, but his pack was stronger and had lycan powers that we hadn’t unlocked yet.

“So, you’ll be back,” I stated.