Page 31 of Rejected By the Alpha

Ember

An order was placed at 2:15 p.m. by Reaper.

After being poked with needles all day and being asked a ridonkulous number of questions by Dr. Yoder, I stared down at my phone and arched a brow at the notification from my online custom art store.

Reaper? That was a weird name.

Maybe the Grim Reaper was coming a bit earlier than I’d expected, dropping hints left and right over here. First at the hospital, when I had seen that weird shadow standing behind Janice once Cade left for Java. And now? This.

Furrowing my brows, I clicked on the notification. When all the buyer’s details filled the screen, my eyes widened. No, no, no, no. Someone had to be playing tricks on me. The town in the address section read Black Hollows …

Where I lived.

Davix? Hazel? Someone in their family maybe?

There was a message attached to the custom order.

Note: Your self-portrait with a wolf.

My door opened, and Cade appeared behind it.

“I’m heading out,” he said. “I have some errands to run. Don’t leave the house.”

After pulling my iPad to my chest, I shuffled to my knees on the bed. “Wait a sec.”

He arched his brow. “What?”

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

When Cade had returned to the hospital with my banana bread earlier, he had acted so … weird.

I couldn’t place my finger on what could’ve twisted his mood, but the upbeat brother’s best friend I had known for so long was suddenly cold. Not to me. But his demeanor … it was something different.

And I thought I’d liked it.

“No,” he said quickly. “Why?”

“Because you’re acting … different.”

The infamous smirk crossed his face, and he leaned against my doorframe, crossing his huge arms over his chest. “I hope you mean different in a good way, Em. Or else I’ll have to bend you across my knee for thinking such things.”

My nipples hardened inside my bra. Oh God!

“Oh, yeah?” I whispered. “That doesn’t sound too bad if you ask me.”

He drew his tongue across his lower lip, a small chuckle leaving his mouth. “Stay here.”

“Yes, sir.”

His brow arched. “Yes, sir?”

I giggled and stared at him through my lashes. “I said what I said.”

“You have a mouth on you,” he murmured, shaking his head, his eyes glowing the faintest color gold. I had only seen them flash like that a handful of times. “You’re lucky your brother will be home soon.”

“It’s not like him being home has stopped you before.”

He growled as if I was testing his patience, and I was. Of course. As always.