Rejecting the Alpha

Alpha Gavriel was looming over me furiously, his eyes flashing the gold of his jealous wolf as he stared at the marks on my skin.

"My mark," I said simply, because there wasn't anything I could do to avoid this conflict.

He growled. "Why is there a second bite?" He was angry, his wolf as near the surface as possible without completely taking over.

I shrugged, pretending it wasn’t a big deal and trying not show my fear before the wolf.

"Was it the rogues?"

I shrugged again. "Probably. I was unconscious a lot since they kept knocking me out with wolfsbane." It wasn't like any of them were alive still to suffer for my lies, Alpha Gavriel and his brutal pack had already seen to that. And even if they somehow were, it was their fault that we were all in the power of this monster now. Not mine.

"Then why is it not fading?"

"No idea."

"You shouldn't be able to have two marks at once. Your body should reject the intruder."

Another shrug. "I don't know why I have two.”

His eyes narrowed and he looked at me furiously. "You're doing this, somehow."

"No, I'm not. Maybe it's because my wolf hates you now since you killed my baby right after you killed my family. Maybe she'd rather accept and mate with anyone rather than you, even a feral rogue." Tears sprung at my eyes at the memory of losing the only good thing I had ever gotten from this psychopath.

For one moment I thought his wolf would take complete control and kill me for what I was saying, but instead he turned around and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

I had been saved, yet again, but how many more times would it take before my luck would run out?

I spent as much of my time around the other members of the pack that I could, because I hoped that being around other people would make the alpha less inclined to drag me off to his bedroom. I worked hard with the beta female and the gamma, hoping that my dedication to learning to be a good luna would make him reluctant to interrupt me.

As the sun began to sink on the edge of the horizon, my nervousness grew. I stalked back and forth in the luna's office, wishing the sun would stop moving.

Finally, I had to let them both go because I had run out of excuses to keep them there, and it really wasn't fair to keep someone working all night, especially when I was only putting off the inevitable. I stayed where I was, reading through documents as if I cared about the pack even though none of the words stuck in my mind.

Then the door opened. I froze, fearing that I’d finally exhausted the alpha’s patience. Then, I blinked, not really understanding what I was seeing, who I was seeing. I was hallucinating again, that had to be it.

But then Vander crossed the room and his arms felt entirely too real to be a hallucination spawned by my terrified mind. His scent was faint, almost imperceivable, but still he smelled like comfort, and my wolf perked up in my mind, for the first time since we been brought back to Stonemason.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, not daring to speak out loud.

"Rescuing you, of course," he responded, kissing me fully on the lips.

"He'll be able to smell you on me."

"No, he won't, because he's never going to see you again. I'm here to get you out of here."

"I can't go. He'll attack Lightwood. The rogues who kidnapped me told him where I had been staying, and that's the first place he'll look. This is what I was afraid of, Vander."

Vander kissed me harder and my mouth responded hungrily. I had missed him. "No, Kylie. We knew what we were getting into, and I won't leave you here with him to suffer. If you don't come, we'll declare war on Stonemason, since he stole our delta female."

"Well, that's not exactly what happened. His brother actually stole me to use as a hostage, but Alpha Gavriel ripped his throat out. I warned him..."

"You can't save people who don't want to be saved. I can’t do it, either. So Kylie, agree to let me save you. I don't want to live without you, I'm not sure that I can now. Please."

I exhaled slowly. There was something about the warmth of those beloved brown eyes that made me do things I knew were foolish. "I'll come with you." I would trust in Vander, and in Lightwood.

With my agreement, he wasted no more time. He sprayed me with some sort of deodorizing mist, and we slipped through the hallways, avoiding anyone coming in our direction.

He went around corners recklessly without even checking and I flinched, worrying that we would be caught.

He did not slow, but he did explain. "Jack's hacked the security footage and he's directing us." He tapped his ear, and the almost invisible earpiece that he wore that I had not noticed. "Believe me, I would have been here sooner, but I was forced to do this the smart way instead of running straight in with fangs bared like my wolf wanted. We also hacked a hunter facility and stole some of their anti-scent compound, and right now we've got Stonemason's security footage running on a very uninteresting loop."

"You've thought of everything.”

"I'm sure we've missed something. That's why we've got to get out of here fast."

Once we were outside, Vander led me into the nearest trees before re-spraying us both with his mist. Then, we shoved our clothing into his bag and shifted into our wolves.

The race through the trees was invigorating, but also terrifying, because with every passing minute I expected someone to shout the alarm. Surely the stolen hunter's spray could not work so well that no one would pick up on our scent.

And yet, it seemed they had not. We were nearing the territory line, and something like freedom lay just ahead of me. I tried not to think about the consequences, that Alpha Gavriel would declare war on my new pack because of my actions today.

Maybe Alpha Timothy was right that Stonemason needed to be stood up to. I couldn't regret that I was back with Vander again.

Back with Vander, and leaving Alpha Gavriel. My wolf's pleasure was undeniable, being back with her mate, running through the forest, there was not much more that she could want.

Until I heard howls in the distance, and they made my blood run cold. "I think they know I’m gone."

"We're almost where I left the car. By the time they manage to track the faint trace of your scent, we'll be long gone. And if he dares to come for you I'll kill him."

His confidence was reassuring, but he hadn't seen the way Alpha Gavriel had brutally ripped apart his own brother. What more would he do to the one who threatened the bond with his mate?

And as if in answer to my question, a furious growl echoed through the forest, not far behind where we tore through the trees. The alpha was coming.

And he was close.

Too close.