Reject Me, My Alpha

Chapter 2

Annabel POV

The elders were simply washing.

They didn't say anything and I wondered if they were going to believe what they had just heard.

But one thing was certain. Whatever Jane claimed I had done to her, I had nothing to do with it.

This is exactly where I had been, arranging the flowers while the elders remained seated around the table.

I thought that would be enough. I thought someone would speak up when my innocence was questioned.

After all, Jane had just appeared from nowhere and accused me of attacking her.

“She did it,” Jane said again, louder this time. “Annabel attacked me in the hallway. She just came at me.”

I stood so quickly that the chair scraped hard against the tiled floor.

“That’s not what happened. I haven’t even stepped out of this room.”

No one was looking at Jane anymore.

Everyone in the dining hall was watching me.

“Look at her,” Mrs. Ann said coldly. “Look at what she did to this poor girl.”

“I didn’t touch her.”

I looked around the long dining table.

“Mrs. Ann, I have been in this dining hall in front of these elders the whole time. Jane was supposedly attacked while I was here. You know that.”

The twelve elders remained silent.

Not one of them spoke.

I looked at the oldest woman among them. She was sitting at the far end of the table.

Our eyes met.

She immediately lowered her gaze.

The oldest man among the elders beside her shifted his chair.

He said nothing too.

I looked at the others.

Not one of them was willing to say they had seen me in the dining hall.

They had all been there.

They had watched me arranging those flowers.

But now that I needed them to speak, they were silent.

Bruce, who had been standing in front of me with anger in his eyes, suddenly crossed the room and rushed to Jane.

“Jane, are you hurt?” he asked. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

Jane wiped her eyes.

“I was walking to the kitchen,” she said, her voice trembling. “Annabel came out of nowhere. She grabbed me and pushed me into the wall.”

She paused and pressed her hand against her stomach.

“I think...” Her voice broke. “I think she was trying to hurt the baby.”

Several elders gasped.

One of them leaned forward, his eyes fixed on Jane.

“I haven't even gone near the kitchen,” I said quickly. “All of you know I have been here working on those flowers.”

One of the elder turned toward me.

Doubt filled his face.

He stared at me for a few seconds before looking back at Jane.

“Why would she lie about something like this?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

How could he even think I would do something like that?

“Bruce, think about this. Does it really sound like something I could do?”

He said nothing.

His silence told me enough.

Jane stepped toward me.

She reached for my wrist and grabbed it.

I tried to pull my hand away.

Then her fingers brushed against the silver bracelet around my wrist.

She immediately let go.

Her eyes locked onto the bracelet.

Her mouth fell slightly open.

For a moment, she looked shocked.

But there was something else in her expression that I couldn't understand.

She stared at the bracelet as if she knew exactly what it was.

Then she quickly wiped her tears.

I looked down at the silver bracelet around my wrist.

They looked harmless, just as they always had.

I had worn it for as long as I could remember.

They had never hurt me.

Not once.

Although I had always known there was something unusual about it, I had never understood what.

So I kept it hidden whenever I could.

In this house, being different was dangerous enough.

I didn't need anyone asking questions about the bracelet either.

But Jane had seen it.

The way she had stared at it and how quickly she pulled her hand off made me feel uneasy.

Jane was supposed to be a shifter through and through.

So why had she reacted that way?

Something about it felt wrong.

I felt someone watching us.

I turned toward the door.

Van stood there.

He hadn't moved.

His eyes fixed on us.

Then his gaze moved from Jane's hand to my bracelet.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

He had noticed it too.

But he said nothing.

I turned back to Jane.

“She’s lying,” I said.

My voice was quieter now.

“Ask her to prove it. Ask her what actually happened."

Jane shook her head.

She wiped her tear, but more were still streaming down her cheek.

“She’s never liked me. Everyone knows that.”

“I don't hate you. I don't even know you well enough to hate you.”

Mrs. Ann slammed her hand against the table.

The plates rattled.

“Enough!”

She turned toward Bruce.

“Bruce, look at this girl. Look at what your wife has done to her.”

I turned toward him.

I waited for him to say something.

Anything.

I wanted him to remember the two years we had spent in the marriage.

I had never caused any trouble.

I wanted him to remember who I was before believing I could do what I was being accused of.

But as I looked at him, one thought wouldn't leave my mind.

How could two years of marriage be easily destroyed by one accusation?

Bruce stood between Jane and me.

His jaw tightened.

His hands curled into fists at his sides.

He looked at Jane.

Then at me.

Then back at Jane.

“Bruce,” I said.

My voice shook.

“You know me.”

He looked at me.

“I don't know what to think right now,” he said.

I stared at him.

Two years of marriage.

And he couldn't even say what I was capable of.

I looked away.

Bruce turned toward the door.

“Call the pack doctor.”

His voice was cold and controlled.

“Take Jane to the medical wing. Run every test. I want a full record of her injuries.”

“And me?” I asked.

He stopped.

Then he turned around.

“Don't I get a chance to explain?”

He looked at me for several seconds.

I waited.

“You're to be confined within the estate,” he said. “Effective immediately.”

My chest tightened.

“No calls.”

He continued.

“No visitors.”

My fingers curled against my dress.

“No leaving the grounds until we find out exactly what happened.”

“Bruce...”

“I want the pack doctor to examine you too.”

His voice remained flat.

“Tonight.”