Alpha King Rejected Mate

27

“I don't know if any of the packs would believe it,” Amos said. “Hell, I can hardly believe it.”

“We have to try,” Wesley said, stepping forward. “We need to unite as many of the packs as we can against the Sun Witches. We know that the Leos won't be swayed, but we have to get the other packs on our side if we want to break free of their control.”

“The Capricorns will join with us once they hear what happened to their betas,” Amos said. “I will pass along the information. There is no way they can ignore this now.”

Eileen sat up straighter. Her eyes were red and wet with tears, but she pulled her shoulders back and looked Kaden square in the face. “I will return to my pack and tell them everything. You will have the Sagittarius's full support.”

Though I'd once felt hesitance or jealousy when it came to Eileen, now all I felt was sympathy. She'd lost everything today, and yet here she was, still trying to put on a brave face and help lead her people. Her eyes flicked to me as if she'd heard my thoughts, and they were so full of pain, I shuddered to think I'd been in the same position if I hadn't been able to help Kaden today.

“I can contact the Virgo pack again,” Wesley said. “Now that we have more packs on our side, they might be more receptive to joining us. Especially after the events of today, they really can't ignore what's going on any longer. If we have most of the packs on our side, we might even be able to convince the Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio packs to turn against the Leos as well.”

I didn't think that was possible, but I wasn't going to tell Wesley as much in front of so many of the other packs. We needed to present a united force. And it was possible, just not probable.

"I'll contact some of the other pack alphas too," Ethan said. "I've tried to remain neutral in all other pack conflicts, so they'll listen to me when I tell them neutrality won't work any longer."

Kaden nodded. “Then we all know what to do. For now, we must rest and recover, because tomorrow we will leave this place."

“I'll help get everyone settled,” Stella said, rising to her feet. "Come with me and we'll find a place for everyone for the night."

She led the other shifters out, leaving Kaden and me seated beside each other. He looked over at me and arched an eyebrow. "You look like you're about to pass out. Time for bed."

“Yes, please,” I said with a groan. Before I could stand up, Kaden was already on his feet. He leaned over and lifted me up, bridal style. I pretended to struggle. “Hey, I can walk.”

“I doubt that,” Kaden said dryly, and carried me up the stairs to the door of our bedroom. “You need to rest.”

I opened my mouth to protest again but then decided against it. I was in Kaden's arms, the exact place I'd wanted to be for the past few weeks. I leaned my head against his chest and listened to the beat of his heart until he set me down on the bed.

I was home.

CHAPTER TWELVE

My heart rate picked up as Kaden began stripping his shirt off. He stopped and gave me a hard look as I ogled his muscular chest.

"Don't even think about it," he said.

"I can't help it. It's been months since I saw you." Emotion welled up inside me and I took a long breath. "I didn't know if I would ever see you again, but here you are, in front of me. Alive."

He stopped and c****d his head. "Did I really die?"

"You did." I shuddered a little at the memory. "And then the Moon Witches dragged me away and I didn't know if I would be able to save you."

"But you did."

"With Selene's help. I prayed to her when it seemed like my healing wasn't working. She's the one who really saved you."

He cupped my cheek and gazed into my eyes. "Because of you. When I was...dead...all I saw was darkness. No light coming for me. Nothing. But then I heard you say my name and I found my way back to you."

He bent down and kissed me softly, and I slid my hands across the hard planes of his chest. I was exhausted, but I wanted him too. I'd been craving the touch of his skin for what felt like years. I needed to feel him inside me to know this was real.

He pushed me away when my hands slid down to his jeans. "No, you need to rest." When I opened my mouth to protest, he raised a hand. “I will make you sleep if I have to.”

“Your alpha command won't work on me,” I said, giving him a wry smile. “You can try, of course, but you'll just look dumb.”

“I'll have to bite you instead,” he said, nuzzling my neck. “Knock you out like we did with Jordan.”

Jordan's name was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, but the thought of Kaden sinking his teeth into the soft flesh that joined my shoulder to my neck made my breath catch. I remembered all too well how that felt, and one day I wanted to mark him as my own too.

Kaden breathed in my scent with a dark chuckle. "No, I can tell you'd like that too much." I sighed and fell back on the bed, and caught a whiff of the smoke that still wafted off of me in waves. There was no way I could go to sleep smelling like a forest fire. I looked down at my hands, which still had streaks of blood and ash across the backs of them. Yeah, there was no way I was going to bed like this. "Fine, but I need a shower at least."