Rejected By My Alpha Mate

Chapter 12

The deeper we go, the stronger the pull. It coils around me like invisible chains, tightening with every step. My breath comes shallow, my pulse a frantic drumbeat in my ears. The trees here are skeletal, their branches twisted into grotesque shapes, as if frozen mid-scream. Shadows flicker between them, darting too fast for my eyes to catch.

I don’t look too closely. I’m afraid of what I might see.

Selene moves with purpose, but I can tell she feels it too—the way the air thickens, the way something unseen presses against our skin. Damien stays close to me, his grip firm around the hilt of his sword. His usual sarcasm is gone, replaced by grim silence.

Then, the whispers return.

not whispers. voices.

A chorus of them, overlapping, clawing into my thoughts. Some urgent, some soft. Some familiar.

ariana

I stiffen. That voice. I know that voice.

My father.

I turn so fast that Damien nearly collides with me. The mist shifts, swirling in unnatural patterns, and then—

He’s there.

Standing just beyond the treeline, half-shrouded in fog. His eyes are the same as I remember, warm and kind, filled with unspoken promises.

Dad.

I take a step toward him.

A hand grips my wrist tight, unforgiving.

I whirl around to find Selene staring at me, her golden eyes burning with warning.

that is not your father

The words slam into me like a punch to the gut. I glance back at the figure, and for a heartbeat, I see it—the subtle wrongness. The way his features are too smooth, too still. The way his feet don’t quite touch the ground.

Then the illusion shatters.

A Lurker, shifting, its form unraveling into something grotesque. A mouth too wide. Limbs too long. Eyes black and endless.

It lunges.

Selene moves faster. A surge of golden light explodes from her palm, slamming into the creature’s chest. It shrieks, writhing as its body burns from within. The shadows around it ripple like disturbed water. Then, with one final scream, it vanishes.

I stagger back, chest heaving. My heart still races, my mind still trapped in the moment before I realized the truth.

Damien catches my arm. "Are you okay?"

I shake my head. "No."

Selene exhales sharply. "We have to keep moving. The Vale is growing desperate."

I tear my gaze away from the spot where the creature disappeared. "Desperate for what?"

Her expression darkens. "For you."

I don’t ask what she means. I don’t want to hear the answer.

We press on, the mist swirling thicker around us, as if the Vale itself is trying to hold us in place. The path narrows, and ahead, a structure looms from the darkness.

A temple.

Half-buried in the earth, overgrown with roots and decay. The entrance is an archway, lined with symbols that glow faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Selene’s shoulders tense.

"This is it," she says. "The last threshold."

Damien looks at her. "And what happens when we cross it?"

She hesitates.

"Something irreversible."

My pulse jumps. "You mean—"

A sound cuts through the air.

A low, guttural growl.

Not from in front of us.

From behind.

The mist shifts violently. Shapes emerge.

Wolves.

Dozens of them, their eyes glowing with an eerie light. Their bodies unnaturally still. Controlled.

Damien swears under his breath. "Rogues."

Selene’s hand glows brighter. "No." She grips my arm, pulling me toward the temple. "Not just rogues."

I don’t have time to ask what she means.

Because then—

The wolves move.

Fast.

I barely have time to draw my blade before the first one lunges.