Page 34 of Rejected By the Alpha

Hazel sighed. “Because he’s a dick.”

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled underneath my breath. “No offense.”

She giggled again. “None taken.”

Suddenly, the foxes froze completely, then turned on their heels and ran in the opposite direction. I lifted my gaze and spotted a shifted wolf in the forest ahead.

Poor things.

Hazel continued toward the wolf, moving our arms back and forth, a huge smile on her face. “You should really⁠—”

The wolf lunged ahead, and Hazel wasted no time grabbing my hand and running in the opposite direction. Things happened so quickly that I could barely spot who the wolf was.

But I pumped my legs to keep up, a small giggle leaving my mouth. Adrenaline rushed through my body.

Is this Davix chasing after us like he did with me last time?

This is what living really feels like, isn’t it?

Not just the happy moments, but the exciting ones, the ones that filled you to the brim with both fear and exhilaration, the ones where you felt like you were both running for your life and living it, all at the same time.

I didn’t have that long left, but this was the best thing I had done in years.

“Ember, come on!” Hazel picked up the pace. “We have to get to our pack property!”

It was almost like she was scared, and if she was scared, that must’ve meant …

“Wait!” I shouted, breathing heavily just from running for a few moments. Dr. Yoder had been telling me to ease up on the physical activity, not that I did much anyway because I exhausted myself too quickly. “You don’t … you don’t know them?”

“No!” she said, hand tightening around my wrist. “Come on. We have to go. Now!”

I pumped my legs faster, my heart beating so hard that I felt it against my rib cage. “Go ahead,” I said, trying to wiggle myself out of her death grip. My body was slowing down, quicker than I wished it to. “I’ll catch up to you.”

“Are you crazy, Ember?!” Hazel exclaimed. “Davix would kill me!”

“Well, this wolf is about to kill both of us, so⁠—”

A ferocious growl echoed throughout the woods, and suddenly, I felt the beast’s claws on my back. I landed flat on my stomach with branches digging into my flesh from underneath me and leaves in my mouth.

Stars danced in my darkening vision, and I tried to scramble to my feet. Yet my legs gave out, and I fell onto my hands this time, slicing my palms right open on sharp rocks. I cried out in pain.

“Go without me!”

“Did you not just hear me?!” she asked, putting herself between the beast and me.

“Davix will not care if I’m dead.”

He would if his sister was though.

The sound of bones snapping made me shiver. I turned onto my ass, the way I had whenever Davix chased me through the woods a couple of days ago, and watched Hazel transform into a small wolf.

She was not even close to the size of Davix or the beast in front of her. I gulped and backed up until my shoulders hit a tree. The beast was almost the size of Davix.

How is … how is she supposed to …

“Please, Hazel,” I cried, tears running down my cheeks. “Please, run!”

No matter how hard I tried, I still held her back. I held everyone back in my life. I could never help myself. From Pavel to Cade and now to the only friend I had in this new town …