Page 121 of Rejected By the Alpha

He nodded. “I’ll be back.”

Suddenly, the thick, impenetrable fog rolled into the forest. Within a moment, we were back in Black Hollows, by ourselves, with the Crimson Order nowhere to be found. No scent, no trace. Just gone.

Once I got ahold of my surroundings, I sniffed the air and peered in the direction of Davix’s scent. A trail of blood led from the forest toward the path that continued to his property. He was heading back home, and if I knew anything about why he had stormed into that war … it was because Ember had asked him. Maybe not directly, but she had.

She must’ve been at his house, and now he was going to reject her.

Chapter Sixty-Six

Ember

With Pumpkin in my lap and Daisy skipping in the grass, I sat on the rocking chair on Davix’s front porch. Hazel had had an emergency at the pack hospital and had to leave about a half hour ago, but she had said I should be safe here.

The scent of banana bread drifted through my nose. Davix had had some mix in his pantry that I decided to make for him as a small thank-you for doing this for me. It was the least I could do, even though I wanted to eat it all the moment it came out of the oven.

I rocked back and forth, my eyes closed softly, finally feeling content for the first time in a very long time. Pumpkin and Daisy were safe, I had made it to my birthday, and Davix was out in Black Hollows … protecting us.

It was like we were a cute little family.

Heat grew inside my chest, and I kicked my legs back and forth like I was five again and had my first crush. While I loved Cade, I still maybe, kinda had feelings for Davix. Okay, not maybe and definitely not kinda.

I did. And a lot of them.

What would life look like if I didn’t have to die in the next couple of years, maybe months? Would I have a family? Sit on the front porch like this and watch Davix—or Cade—chase those little kiddos around the front yard? Who would I end up with?

A branch snapped in the forest, and I opened my eyes to see Davix approaching. His brows were scrunched, his jaw tight, and a decapitated head lay in his hands. I set Pumpkin down on the seat beside me and stood.

“You’re back?” I asked.

“Here,” he snarled, tossing the head in my direction.

It landed at my feet.

“Is this the man who hurt Pumpkin?” I asked Daisy.

She stood on her hind feet, examined the head for a couple of moments, then nodded.

Warmth filled my chest. Had he really done all this for me? Killed someone who had hurt my Pumpkin? Just because I had told him? Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I’d always made him out to be. Maybe he was … growing on me faster than he should’ve been.

“Thank you,” I said, gently brushing my fingers across his elbow when he approached.

Davix shrugged me off him and turned his body away. “Now leave.”

My eyes widened. “I … what’s wrong?”

“You need to leave here for good,” Davix growled. “No more of this bullshit.”

“What do you mean by bullshit?” I asked, brows furrowed, grasping his elbow again.

He turned around and ripped himself away from me, glaring down at me. “Everything that comes out of your fucking mouth is bullshit, Ember! I’m tired of you inserting yourself into my life and making me do shit for you.”

Hot tears filled my eyes, and I didn’t know why. “I didn’t … I …”

“Yes, you fucking did,” he said between his growing canines that dripped with saliva. “Nobody would bat a fucking eye if you weren’t here.”

If I wasn’t here? My throat closed, and I found myself opening and closing my mouth, gasping for air. Nobody would care if I wasn’t here?

Did I make everyone that miserable? Should I have stopped those sessions at the hospital months ago?