Page 75 of Rejected By the Alpha

My words came out slower, softer. This fog … it wasn’t just fog, was it?

“Sweet dreams, Lightning. Sweet, sweet dreams.”

Chapter Forty-One

Cade

“Two slices of banana bread,” I said, clinking the side of my credit card on the counter at Java.

Carl, the barista, shuffled in front of me, typing something onto the computer.

I cleared my throat. “And a coffee, please.”

Once he took my card, I waited by the pickup area and crossed my arms, glancing out the large windows and into Black Hollows. While we were far enough away from Davix’s pack for any human to hear the howls of war, I could.

The sweet, sweet sound of Davix being defeated.

Music to my ears …

“Reaper,” Carl said. “Your order.”

After grabbing the bag of banana bread and my coffee from him, I headed out the doors and started on the pathway back to home. Howls echoed through the forest, the stench of blood filling my nostrils.

Ah, Davix being attacked by multiple packs …

Deserved it after I found him with Ember last night.

I tightened my hand around the brown paper bag and shook my head. I didn’t know what had come over me. What had possessed me to strut into her bedroom and take her while she was fucking him?

Jealousy? Possession?

A twig snapped behind me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. An eerie feeling washed over me, and I glanced around. Something didn’t feel right, but I … I couldn’t place it. I scanned the area for anyone hiding in the shadows.

Nobody.

Another snap, and two foxes ran out ahead of me.

Weren’t those the girls that Ember hung out with? She’d had them in her room last night. What were they doing all the way out here? Usually, they stayed within a short distance of our home. This was much farther than that.

They sprinted over to me and jumped up onto my feet, their eyes wide.

“What is it?” I asked.

They tugged at my jeans, so I scratched their heads and gestured for them to follow me back home. Must’ve run too far off into the woods and gotten lost. Ember would cry if one of those warring wolves ate them.

All the way home, they cried, running ahead and almost tripping me. They didn’t even run up the steps when I got to the front porch. Instead, they stayed at the edge of our property, staring at me through big eyes.

“Ember!” I called once I stepped into the house. “Come down here.”

After setting the bread on the counter, I glanced over at Pavel, who was staring intently down at his phone, brows drawn together. He rubbed his forehead and growled underneath his breath, mumbling something I couldn’t understand.

I decided to leave it because he had been pissy this morning, and I sat at the kitchen table, running a hand over my face too. What had gotten into me last night with Ember and Davix? I didn’t even like that fucker.

“Ember!” I shouted again. “You have some banana bread down here!”

Out of every fucking wolf she could have a little fascination with, why the hell did it have to be him? Any other Goddess-damn person in Black Hollows would’ve been fine. But him? Him?! And I’d played right along with it because I wanted her.

No, I needed her.