Page 28 of Rejected Alpha Mate

The front door swings open before Nicholas can even move, Hunter’s booming voice filling the house with his usual cheer. “Knock, knock! I hope we’re not interrupting the honeymoon!”

My face flushes instantly, but Nicholas doesn’t react, doesn’t even flinch. He just sips his coffee and mutters, “Hey, guys…you’re not interrupting anything.”

Delilah follows Hunter, followed by Arianna and Tyler. Their laughter fades almost immediately when they step inside, tension replacing lightness as if the oxygen has been sucked out of the room.

Delilah freezes in the doorway, her head tilting slightly. I notice her nose twitching and her pupils dilating, recognizing what’s happening to her. Her witch senses are tingling.

Something is wrong.

“Nicholas…” she murmurs, her voice soft but firm as she takes a cautious step closer. “What did you do?”

I glance between them, my stomach tightening when her tone dips low, wary.

Nicholas stiffens, only his brows knitting with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

Delilah walks toward him slowly, nostrils flaring. “You smell disgusting. You reek of darkness.”

The air stills as Hunter’s grin falters, his eyes widening at his mate as she approaches Nicholas.

“Excuse me?” Nicholas’s voice is sharp and defensive, with a flicker of wariness.

“Don’t move,” Delilah warns softly, ignoring his tone. Her gaze flicks over him, landing on his left shoulder. “You were bitten.”

Nicholas’s hand instinctively moves to that exact spot, and my pulse stumbles.

“It’s healed,” he says tightly. “It’s fine.”

Delilah’s eyes darken. “No. It only looks healed. But it’s not.”

Delilah steps closer, her fingers hovering over his shoulder, close enough that the air ripples faintly between them. I swear I can feel it, too—the strange hum that seems to emanate from him, sharp and cold like static before a lightning strike.

“There’s magic in you,” Delilah breathes with surprise. “Dark magic. It’s old…but…familiar.”

Nicholas’s jaw tightens. “You mean Tobias.”

Delilah nods once, her expression grim as she briefly glances at the others. “That bite wasn’t just a wound. It carried a curse. A link. Whoever sent him used Tobias as a vessel.”

Arianna’s hand flies to her mouth. “The dark lord….”

Delilah’s silence is confirmation enough, and my stomach flips. The words sound unreal, like they belong to someone else’s nightmare. “Wait—you’re saying Tobias cursed him?” I murmur in disbelief, my heart pounding as I turn my face toward Nicholas, and Delilah shakes her head slowly.

“Not directly,” Delilah says quietly. “But whatever darkness is in Tobias, it flowed through him and cursed Nick.” Her voice lowers, distant now, like she’s remembering something painful. “It’s feeding on his energy. His wolf is fighting it, but if the bond holds…” Delilah’s voice trails off, and the silence that follows leaves a gaping hole in my chest and in my tummy.

Nicholas is cursed with dark magic?

All the resentment I’ve been feeling crumbles and leaves only one thing behind.

Worry.

I still care about Nicholas, no matter how much I hate him.

Hunter moves closer, his tone grim as he places his hands on Delilah’s shoulders. “If it spreads, it’ll consume him. Just like it tried to do with Delilah.”

A chill runs through me when I realize what this means, recalling that story—the night Delilah nearly killed Hunter, when the darkness used her as a host until Hunter drew it out.

Nicholas’s voice rumbles low, steady but dangerous. “So what do we do?”

Delilah stares at him for a long moment, then her eyes turn to me, narrowing slightly, and I feel it before she says it, the weight of her realization pressing on my chest.