The Alpha Who Rejected Me Begged for My Return

The Alpha Who Rejected Me Begged for My Return 2

Chapter Three

The Awakening

Darkness swallowed the room.

For one second, everything stopped.

Then I heard it.

A growl.

Not from the man.

From me.

The stranger hesitated.

"What the—"

Pain exploded through my chest.

I dropped to my knees.

My hands dug into the wooden floor.

Something was moving inside me.

Something ancient.

Something furious.

My wolf had always been quiet.

Different from the others.

She rarely spoke.

Never pushed forward.

Never fought for control.

But now she was screaming.

Get up.

I gasped.

Seraphina. Get up.

The masked man stepped back.

"What are you?"

I looked up.

He froze.

I didn't know what he saw.

But judging by his expression, it terrified him.

My vision had changed.

The room was no longer dark.

I could see everything.

The chair near the window.

The broken pieces of glass.

The tiny drops of blood on the floor.

Every detail.

Sharp.

Crystal clear.

The man raised his silver blade again.

"No."

His voice shook.

"No, the bloodline was supposed to be extinct."

He attacked.

I moved before I even thought.

My hand caught his wrist.

The impact sent pain through my arm.

But I didn't let go.

He stared at me.

I squeezed.

A crack sounded.

He screamed.

I threw him across the room.

He hit the wall hard enough to crack the stone.

I stared at my own hands.

What had I just done?

The man slowly got up.

Blood ran from his mouth.

"You don't even know what you are."

He lunged toward the window.

I moved after him.

Too fast.

I caught him by the back of his coat.

He turned.

For a second, our eyes met.

Then he smiled.

"Too late."

A sharp whistle came from outside.

Three shadows appeared below the window.

More assassins.

My heart dropped.

The masked man jumped through the broken window.

I followed.

But the second my feet touched the ground, the others were already running.

I could have chased them.

I wanted to.

Instead, something else caught my attention.

A sound.

Footsteps.

Coming from the forest.

Someone was approaching.

The air changed.

My wolf went completely still.

Then she whispered one word.

Danger.

A man stepped out of the trees.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Silver eyes.

He wasn't wearing the Blackthorn crest.

I had never seen him before.

He looked at me for a long moment.

Not at my clothes.

Not at the blood on my hands.

At my eyes.

Then his expression changed.

Recognition.

"You."

My instincts screamed at me to run.

He took one step closer.

"My God."

"Who are you?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, his gaze dropped to the strange mark that had appeared on my wrist.

A crescent surrounded by three black lines.

His face went pale.

"You really are alive."

My stomach twisted.

"Alive?"

He looked toward the burning lights of the estate.

Then back at me.

"Your mother told me you died."

I stared at him.

"My mother never told me she knew you."

He stepped closer.

"My name is Lucian Voss."

I recognized the name.

Everyone did.

Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack.

One of the most dangerous Alpha bloodlines in the northern territories.

My hand instinctively moved toward my chest.

"Why are you here?"

His expression hardened.

"Because someone wants you dead."

I almost laughed.

"That's becoming obvious."

He didn't smile.

"Seraphina..."

The way he said my name made my skin crawl.

"What?"

He looked directly into my eyes.

Then spoke the words that shattered everything I thought I knew about my family.

"Your mother lied to you."

He pointed toward the mark on my wrist.

"You're not the last survivor of the bloodline."

I stared at him.

He took another step forward.

"You're the reason they destroyed it."

Behind us, somewhere deep in the forest, a wolf howled.

Then another answered.

Then another.

Lucian looked toward the darkness.

"They found you."

My heart stopped.

"Who?"

His eyes returned to mine.

"The King's Hunters."

And for the first time that night, I understood one terrifying truth.

Kael's rejection hadn't been the beginning of my nightmare.

It had been the warning.

Chapter Four

The Silver Moon

The howls were getting closer.

Lucian grabbed my wrist.

"We need to move."

I pulled away.

"You're not taking me anywhere."

His eyes narrowed.

"Do you want to stay here and let the King's Hunters carve you open?"

"I don't even know you."

"You don't need to know me."

He looked toward the trees.

"You need to survive."

Another howl.

Closer.

Branches cracked somewhere in the darkness.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

I hated that he was right.

"Where are we going?"

"Silver Moon territory."

"Why would your pack protect me?"

Lucian stared at me for a moment.

"Because your mother asked me to."

I froze.

"My mother?"

He nodded.

"Seven years ago."

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because my mother never mentioned you."

A strange expression crossed his face.

"She couldn't."

"Couldn't?"

He looked away.

"She was being watched."

Before I could ask another question, a howl erupted behind us.

Lucian seized my hand.

"Run."

We ran.

The forest blurred around me.

Branches scratched my arms.

Roots caught my boots.

But somehow I kept up with him.

That frightened me almost as much as the hunters.

Three days ago, I couldn't outrun an ordinary wolf.

Tonight, I was moving beside an Alpha.

And my body wasn't tired.

At all.

We crossed a stream.

Then another.

Finally Lucian stopped beside a massive stone wall hidden beneath vines.

He pressed his palm against the surface.

A symbol appeared.

Silver light spread across the stone.

A doorway opened.

I stared.

"What is this?"

"The old border."

He stepped through.

I followed.

The moment I entered, the pressure inside my chest disappeared.

My wolf relaxed.

For the first time since Kael rejected me, I could breathe.

Lucian watched me carefully.

"You feel it."

"What?"

"The border recognizes your blood."

I looked at the silver symbol.

"Why?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

He led me deeper into the territory.

Eventually we reached a large black-stone manor surrounded by silver-leaved trees.

People appeared from the darkness.

They looked at me.

Then at Lucian.

No one spoke.

A woman stepped forward.

Her silver eyes widened.

"The heir."

The words spread through the group like fire.

"The heir is alive."

I turned to Lucian.

"What are they talking about?"

He didn't answer.

The woman approached me slowly.

Then she knelt.

Everyone behind her followed.

My breath caught.

"Please," I whispered. "Get up."

Nobody moved.

Lucian finally spoke.

"Welcome home, Seraphina."

I looked at the kneeling wolves.

"This isn't my home."

His eyes softened.

"Not yet."

An hour later, I sat alone in a room I didn't recognize.

A fire burned in the stone fireplace.

My mother's letter lay open on the table.

I had read it so many times that the paper was beginning to tear.

There was one sentence I couldn't stop thinking about.

Our blood carries something they feared.

The door opened.

Lucian entered carrying an old wooden box.

He placed it in front of me.

"This belonged to your mother."

My hands went cold.

"Where did you get it?"

"She gave it to me."

"When?"

"The night before she disappeared."

I stared at him.

"My mother disappeared?"

Lucian said nothing.

That silence answered the question.

I opened the box.

Inside was a photograph.

My mother stood beside two men.

One was young.

The other was older.

I recognized neither.

Until I saw the silver eyes.

I looked up.

"Who are they?"

Lucian took the photograph.

"The old Alpha Council."

"And my mother?"

"She was their royal bloodkeeper."

I frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Lucian turned the photograph over.

Written across the back were four words.

The blood must remain hidden.

Then he looked at me.

"Your mother wasn't running from the King."

I swallowed.

"Then what was she running from?"

Lucian's expression became grim.

"Her own blood."

A knock struck the door.

Lucian immediately became alert.

A guard entered.

"Alpha."

"What?"

"We found this outside the eastern border."

He held out a black arrow.

A silver crown was carved into the shaft.

Lucian's face hardened.

"The hunters."

The guard nodded.

"And there's another message."

He handed Lucian a piece of parchment.

Lucian read it.

His expression changed.

He slowly looked at me.

"What does it say?"

He didn't answer.

I stood.

"Lucian."

He finally handed me the parchment.

Only six words were written on it.

Bring us the last Blood Heir.

My stomach dropped.

"They know I'm here."

"Yes."

"Then we're out of time."

Lucian shook his head.

"No."

He looked toward the window.

"We were out of time the moment Kael rejected you."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

His answer was quiet.

"Because the rejection awakened you."