Alpha King Rejected Mate

23

A naked female crouched above a fallen shifter, crying and rocking back and forth. It took me a moment to realize it was Eileen, the female beta of the Sagittarius pack—and Kaden's former lover. She was hardly recognizable under the blood and dirt covering her. Then I caught sight of the dead shifter she was hugging. Her mate.

“We have to go,” I said, leaning down and shaking Eileen's shoulder. She glanced up at me, her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head violently, her fingers curled into the fur of her dead mate's body a bit tighter.

“I'd rather die here,” she sobbed, the words hardly coherent. “At least I'll be with him.”

I tried to pull her to her feet, but she was strong and wouldn't let go of his body. "Eileen, it's not safe here. He would want you to keep living. Please come with us."

Eileen shook her head even more violently. “No, I just want to be with him. You don't understand. I've lost half my soul...”

Wesley shifted back to his human form and frowned at her, clearly unable to understand her desire to simply die. But then again, he didn't know what it was like to have a mate. If I hadn't carried the hope of saving Kaden in my chest, I wouldn't have survived my time in Lunatera either.

"We need to go," he said.

The fire was starting to close in around us, and I didn't want to be here when it started consuming the bodies. As much as Eileen didn't want to leave her mate, I doubted she actually wanted to die here. As a Sagittarius, she wouldn't actually be hurt by the fire—but then again, neither would the Aries or Leo shifters, and there was no telling who else might find her here. Besides, I owed it to the Sagittarius pack and to Kaden to get her out of there safely. She would have to deal with her grief later, but there was nothing I could do about that.

I tore off my clothes and tossed them to Wesley, then shifted into wolf form. Before Eileen had a chance to understand what was going on, I sank my teeth into her shoulder and bit down, releasing my Ophiuchus poison. She let out a scream and struggled, trying to free herself, and I let her go. She scrambled away, looking wildly between Wesley and me like we were the enemy.

Wesley held his hands out in supplication. “We're just trying to help you."

She snarled but then keeled over to the side, passed out cold. I sniffed at her to make sure she was still alive, and then shifted back.

Wesley handed me back my clothes but stared at Eileen the entire time. “Do you think she'll hate us when she wakes up?”

“Probably. But I'd never be able to live with myself if we left her.” I didn't have time to get dressed—the flames roared closer, unbearably hot. We had to leave now.

My brother stepped forward and picked her up easily in his arms, even though he was still hurt. Like a true alpha. "Me either."

I grabbed onto Wesley and teleported us away. Once we were in the safe zone, Wesley laid Eileen gently on the ground. Kaden's head snapped to face us, and though he glanced at Eileen's prone form, it was me he came toward.

“Are you hurt?” His eyes were worried, and my heart softened as he ran his hands over my shoulders.

“I'm fine. The blood isn't mine."

Kaden called for Harper and Dane to check on Wesley and Eileen before he took my elbow and led me further in the woods. Mira and Aiden were resting on a log while speaking with the Pisces alpha, and I spotted Jack standing with the Libra alpha, Ethan. I was relieved to see a few other shifters with them too. Not enough though.

“Did anyone else make it?” I asked.

"No," Kaden said, his voice low.

Jack looked up with tired, dead eyes. “The Capricorn beta is dead. I tried to save him, but..." He shook his head.

I swallowed hard. We'd lost so many today, and there was no way I could go back and search for any more survivors. The fire had grown too intense, and now that I'd stopped moving, a bone-deep ache settled in my body. I'd overextended my powers, even with all of the rigorous training I'd done.

Larkin stood in the shadows, away from everyone else, watching and listening. I felt a flash of regret go through me. Had I made the right decision to have her come with me? I needed her help, but look at the world I'd brought her into. A world where she didn't belong.

Everyone in the clearing was quiet, and most were wounded, tired from the battle, and covered in ash. Some looked like they couldn't quite believe this had happened, and others were obviously heartbroken. The attack had been so unexpected and brutal, leaving us all shell-shocked. My mate bond tugged me toward Jordan, who was still unconscious a few feet away. This is his fault.

“We lost so many,” I whispered to Kaden. He met my gaze, and his eyes were haunted. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling after being brought back from death only to be thrown into another desperate fight for his life.

He clenched his jaw. “There's nothing we can do for the dead right now. What matters is getting everyone who survived back to safety. The fire is going to consume this area soon, and we need to get everyone up and moving quickly. We don't know where the enemy packs went, or if any Sun Witches are waiting in the shadows to pick us off.”

I looked around the group of remaining shifters. Getting them to move quickly would be impossible in their current state, and we'd left our cars back by the cabin. Kaden was right—this would be the optimal time for the Sun Witches and the Leos to make their big move to take us out. We had to get out of here somehow—and there was only one safe way to do that.