Rejected and Pregnant by the Alpha King (Forbidden Alpha Kings #4)

49. Raine

49

Raine

The smell of blood is the first thing that alerts me that something is wrong.

My eyes scan the scenery around me. Nothing’s moving in the overgrown, dried-out shrubs surrounding the porch, nor is there any kind of noise to signal that something is passing through. Why would there be blood?

It smells fresh and not that rotten kind that comes with a dead carcass.

Slowly coming to my feet, I swing my pack back around and secure it behind me. The steps creak again when I move down them. I take the pathway back toward the creek, breathing in deeply as I go.

The water only heightens the scent, carrying it over to me in an overwhelming burst that has my eyes practically watering. What the hell?

That’s when my ears pick up the sounds of fighting, hard to hear over the din of water rushing past me, but they’re there.

My heart pounds as I shrug off my pack and tuck it out of view under a tall shrub. I’m probably being stupid by doing this, but what if whoever is fighting is a part of Soleus? What if…what if Daniel’s changed his mind and has come for me in order to sell me to someone else?

I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s done crazier things, like convince my fucking fated mate that I was lying to his face about our baby.

Shifting, I head toward the sounds of fighting. Keeping to the shadows is easy—I’ve always been light on my feet, given the amount of times I had to sneak into my own pack while everyone was asleep in order to steal supplies and food for myself.

Over the years, I got good at my operation, to the point where I considered myself virtually undetectable.

Two shifters race past me, both female, while they crash through the dry brush and head back for Soleus. Neither of them seems to have spotted me as they run, clearly much too occupied with running back to the safety of town.

A loud howl has me ducking under a tall bush entangled with a very old and dead cactus. One of the shifters involved in the fight thrashes as they’re subdued by another, familiar now that I’m up close.

Wren.

He tears apart the shifter under him, ripping through the other’s chest and neck with a deep swipe of his claws. Blood spatters all over him and the sand underneath the body, bits of meat caught in the curve of his claws.

If Wren’s here, then—

Just as I’m searching for him, I see him. He’s facing off against another shifter, an alpha by the looks of it. Nyx’s large body is quite bigger than his opponent’s, both in stature and in how long his limbs are.

His legs fold back, readying him to launch himself forward, only for another shifter to tackle him from behind and take him down by the scruff off his neck.

No!

Without thinking, I leap out of the brush and run over to him, bounding over a fallen shifter with their head partially severed from their neck.

Fighting has always terrified me. I don’t know what triggered this, but from experience and with this other pack so close to Soleus’s pack borders, it has to be some kind of territory dispute.

Who in the hell would challenge an alpha king to something like that? Only an idiot.

Nyx snarls while trying to fight off the shifter on top of him, his hind leg caught in between the teeth of the other alpha, who uses it to drag him back and away from the rest of the fighting. The other shifter on his back has him by his scruff, pinning him down and rendering his teeth completely useless.

Hey! A familiar voice that sounds an awful lot like Wren shouts in my head. Go back!

Ignoring him, I leap off of the ground and full-body slam into the shifter on top of Nyx. We go flying, bits of fur from Nyx coming with us. They rain down around us like snowflakes falling gently from the sky as we land in a heap together, me on top of him.

He shoves me off, snapping his jaw at me in annoyance. I’ve never been in a fight before, let alone one this intense with another pack.

Instincts take over, my wolf howling at me to let her take the reins and use her preternatural instincts to guide us. I give over full control, letting her have this while I take a backseat.

My ears flatten back on my head as I let out a growl. The other shifter has no time to react before I’m lunging at him and sinking my teeth into his leg, clamping down hard until I can feel bone and tendons snap.

He howls at me, his leg jerking while he tries to kick me off. It’s no use; I’m locked in at this point. Blood pours into my mouth from the wounds, the awful metallic taste coating my tongue and teeth.

I hold him there while he struggles, aware of Nyx getting up from the ground and engaging back in his fight with the other alpha.

He can hold his own, I know he can. Every part of me believes in him. He isn’t an alpha king for nothing. The rumors about him aren’t just for show.

I know all of this, and yet I jumped into the fray anyway, determined to protect him, as stupid as that sounds.

With Wren occupied, who else would be looking out for our alpha?

Our.

This is the first time I’ve thought of him like that.

The leg in my mouth is ripped right out of my teeth, the other shifter moaning in pain as he collapses onto the ground from having basically shredded his leg by yanking it from me like that.

I spit out the blood in my mouth, shaking my head a few times and growling to get my message across for him to not get up. He struggles anyway, clearly not caring at all that I can just as easily make his other leg match his first one.

He drags himself up onto his remaining feet and starts for Nyx again, not getting very far before I tackle him once more and lay him out in the dirt. He struggles under me, not quite giving up like I thought he would.

Whatever, he’s just going to be pinned under me until the rest of the pack get control of the situation.

Glancing up from him, my heart shatters in my chest when I see the other alpha’s mouth around Nyx’s throat.

No!