Page 36 of Rejected Alpha Mate

But I can’t stop. I won’t stop. I give it my all, but something doesn’t feel right.

It’s not working.

The black magic that was seeping to the ground is regathering, slipping back into Nicholas’s mouth as he whimpers, and it feels like I’m running out of time.

I thought I could do it, but there’s only one thing left to do, so I raise one hand, sharp claws slicing through the air with an almost-metallic sound before I slash them through Nicholas’s shoulder, closest to his neck.

That’s when the darkness cracks, black veins receding from beneath his fur, the shadows ripping out of him in wisps that vanish into the air. His body convulses once, twice, then falls still as a breath wheezes out of his lips.

The world around us goes silent.

Only the wind moves now, brushing the grass flat around us. I shift back slowly, breathless, trembling, my hands pressing against his chest as I sit up and back away slowly, too frightened by the closeness to stay in it. His heartbeat flutters weakly beneath my palms, steadying little by little as his wolf recedes, leaving him in human form.

When his eyes open, they’re green again. Human.

Nicholas blinks, dazed as he sits upright, unsteady, covered in dirt and blood. The others hang back, hesitant. Delilah watches quietly, tears shining in her eyes.

I say nothing. I can’t, even as Arianna comes to help me to my feet.

Nicholas looks at me then. Really looks. The bond between us hums faintly, softer now, and clean. Almost as clean as it was before it was tainted with rejection. His throat works as if he wants to speak, but no sound comes out.

The silence stretches between us like a fragile thread, and I’m the one who breaks it when I look away.

When I’m on my feet, I brush soil off my hands, my legs feeling unsteady, my magic fading. Nicholas remains where he is on the ground, shoulders bowed, gaze fixed on the grass as the others approach him.

He looks like a man finally surrendering to the weight of what he’s done. I should feel triumphant, relieved that it worked, that he’s free. But all I feel is hollow. Empty.

He’s alive, but the look in his eyes tells me he’d rather not be. Shame clings to him like the last shadow the darkness left behind, and I curl my hands into fists, stifling the urge to fling myself into his arms and beg him not to feel guilty.

Because I’m just glad to have him back, even when I won’t admit it out loud.

Not yet.

Chapter 12 - Nicholas

Shame remains a heavy companion even in the dawn of a new day, while my friends are outside, having stayed the night to watch over us, even if the darkness had been pulled out of me. The sound of voices drifts through the crack in the door, low and clipped, each word heavy with the weight of planning and exhaustion. I can tell who’s speaking without looking; Tyler’s steady tone, Hunter’s gruff practicality, Delilah’s quiet but certain cadence.

They’re talking about Tobias.

“Good thing Sean and Em left last night. He’s found a trace on Tobias,” Tyler says.

“Then that’s where we’re headed,” Hunter affirms with certainty.

“We can’t move until we’re sure Nick’s stable,” Dominic counters.

Delilah’s voice comes next, soft but as sharp as glass. “He bled the darkness out, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone. If Tobias carried a link to the dark lord, that power could still be moving. We need to find him before it finds another host. Before he infects someone else.”

Their words fade into murmurs as Arianna presses a warm cloth to my shoulder, snapping me back to my reality and bringing with it the immense weight of guilt about what happened last night. Her touch is careful, her presence calm, but I can’t meet her eyes. Not when I can still feel the blood on my hands, and hers as she cleans the residue off me.

The wound stings, but the shame burns hotter.

Outside, footsteps cross the porch. Cecelia’s voice joins the mix, revealing her arrival this morning, hushed and soothing, followed by Donna’s steady, restrained, too-calm voice.

That’s how I know Donna is still furious. She only becomes that quiet when she’s fighting to keep her emotions contained.

She’s probably furious with me after I attacked her last night. It’s a good thing she’s outside and not in this room with me. I don’t even know how I’m going to face her.

“I’m fine,” I mutter, even though Arianna hasn’t asked. I suppose it’s more for myself.