The Alpha's Rejected Mate

Chapter 4: The Feast of Broken Teeth

The cave spat me out like a rotten tooth.

I landed on all fours. My fingers dug into wet earth. The black light was still burning behind my eyes. That vision. Mom. Her blood spraying the snow red. Damian's claws. His lie. "This blood ends." But it didn't end, did it, you bastard? It waited. It grew teeth. And now? Now it's hungry.

Ryder was staring at me like I'd grown a second head. His hands were shaking. Poor Ryder. Always the scared one. Always cleaning up someone else's mess.

"L-Lila," he stammered. "Your eyes. They're... they're not red anymore."

I looked at the creek beside the cave. Dark water. My reflection stared back. My irises were black. Not grey. Not brown. Black like a dead star. And behind them? Something was smiling.

"What are they now?" I asked. My voice didn't sound like mine. It sounded like gravel and grave dirt.

Ryder swallowed hard. "Empty."

Good.

The howls were closer now. Five. Maybe six warriors. Damian's dogs. The same ones who watched him reject me. The same ones who laughed when I scrubbed their toilets. Now they wanted my head on a stick.

"Lila, we need to run," Ryder whispered.

I stood up slowly. My bones cracked. Not in pain. In anticipation.

"Run?" I laughed. The sound was ugly. Wet. Like something dying and something being born at the same time. "Ryder, baby, I've been running my whole life. Running from hunger. Running from shame. Running from the truth that Damian carved my mother open while I hid under the bed like a coward."

I turned to face the dark treeline.

"No more running."

The first warrior broke through the bushes.

Big guy. Marcus. Used to throw me against walls for fun. He had a silver axe in his right hand. His wolf was already half-out. Fur ripping through skin. Eyes yellow and stupid.

"The Alpha said dead or alive," Marcus growled. "I choose dead. Easier to carry."

He swung the axe.

I didn't move.

The blade stopped an inch from my neck.

Not because he was merciful. Because my hand had caught his wrist. My fingers were wrapped around his arm like iron chains. Marcus looked down. Confused. Then scared. His bones were making sounds. Small sounds. Cracking sounds.

"What the—"

I squeezed.

Crunch.

Marcus screamed. His hand hung loose. The axe fell. I caught it before it hit the ground. Then I gave him back his gift. Right in the chest.

He fell. Gurgling. His blood was warm on my face. It tasted like rust and revenge.

I looked at the axe. Then at the dark woods.

"Next."

Three more came.

They didn't announce themselves. They just attacked. Fast. Trained. Killers.

I was faster.

Not wolf fast. Not human fast. Something else. Something that didn't obey the rules of flesh and bone. I moved like a shadow with teeth.

The first one. Lucas. I ripped his throat out with my bare fingers. He looked surprised. Like he didn't expect the Omega to bite back.

The second one. Old Thomas. He'd given me scraps from the pack table once. I almost felt bad. Almost. Then I remembered he held me down while Damian rejected me. So I broke his spine. Quick. Clean. He didn't scream. He just folded.

The third one tried to run.

I let him get ten steps. Then I threw the axe. It buried itself in the back of his skull. He dropped like a sack of meat.

Silence.

Ryder was on his knees. Vomit on his shirt. His eyes were wide. Wet.

"Lila... you... you killed them."

I looked at my hands. Red to the elbows. Blood dripping like sweat.

"Yeah," I said softly. "And I'm just warming up."

Damian's howl tore through the night.

Not a command. A challenge. He knew. He felt his men die. He felt me.

I howled back.

It wasn't a wolf sound. It was the sound of a grave opening. The sound of a promise.

"Cursed blood eats kings."

I started walking toward the pack house. My bare feet left red prints on the dead leaves.

"Ryder," I said without looking back. "You can stay here. Or you can watch me burn it all down. Your choice."

I heard him stand up. His footsteps followed.

"f**k," he whispered. "f**k, Lila. What did you become?"

I smiled. Blood on my teeth.

"The thing your mothers warned you about."