The Alpha's Rejection...

pine and wood smoke hanging in the air, and I heard the distant murmur of voices from the few wolves still awake, but it was far away-from a past, almost ou

out the pack that n

all, they wer

d brushing against my arm, pulling

iver thrumming my chest. "I don't know," I whispered, lowering my voice

n between her brows. "We'll be all right,

of nowhere knew so much about me, and even about the rejection. About things I hadn't even put into words myself ye

ly on the door, and it swung open wide to show Marcus standing behind his desk. His silver hair shone in th

ice rusty with age, but noneth

y under growing tension in the room.

arkened slightly. "Sit," he said motioning to the

mell wafted in great eddies of leather and aged wood, did nothing to unwind the knot in m

ng. The guys in the woods. Rafe and Dante. They knew ab

r. His fingers tapped against the desk, the rhythmic sound building the

bove a whisper. "And they said they would be waiting. For me

where I couldn't explain, but even she seemed rocked loo

air in the room tighter. When he finally spoke, his voice was lower, darker than it had been before. "Strangers do not just drift in

e my hairs on the na

othered?" Marcus stopped pacing. He turned toward us; his eyes focused on mine before speaking. "We

asked, my voice barely level. "I'm no one

This isn't about rank. It's about something else. And

s. "Do you think it has somethi

arely touched the trees, making everything in the slightest shade. His voice came low, almost disconnected, when he finally spoke again. "An Alpha turning

deep in my bones. Vulnerable. That word

ce firm but urgent. "We can't just sit

his grim expression set firm. "We n

nt him involved. He's made it perfectly clear tonight that he doesn't care about me." Marcus furrowed his brows, a faint lifting of his eyes. "This has n

uld Marcus expect me to go off to Jaxon? How could I look

ound firm but managing to quaver only

hand on my arm. "Tessa, we get it. But Marcus is

nd Dante threatened the pack, then I could not turn my back on them for the world. Besides, though

shoulders. "But I'm not going to him

speak to him in the morning. But for now, I need you to

ords settle heavy over my chest. As much as I hated the fact, I had to acknowle

idea what

than before. Shadows seemed longer, darker, and the faint creak of

ant?" I whispered to Mara

e door, looking at me with green-filled concern. "I don'

the knot in my st

and her voice was laced with exha

tand there, allowing the silence of the pack house to sink in inside me. My he

old house creaking beneath my feet. The house which ha

The room was cold, the faint scent of pine drifting in on the open window. I crossed the room, my footsteps heavy, and s

shed the curtains togethe

half-hidden in the black shadows of the wood. My breath came to a stop, an

ill out ther

it