All Chapters of Claimed by my Rejected Mate: Sold to the Brutal Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

KAI’S POV It drenched me to my bones as the thought always struck my mind to why I rejected her years ago. I thought I was doing her a favor keeping her safe from my old pack politics, convinced I was helping her. I thought if I stayed cold, I could keep her out of the circle of my own sins. I was a goddamn liar. The image of Jax’s mouth on hers the way his rough hands had cupped her jaw even while they jumped in shock like nothing happened was a brand burned into my skin. My rage was cold vibrating under my skin. Now the curse was forcing my hand, and every step I took toward her felt like another nail in the coffin of my control. I found her half way back into the rear passage. She was crumpled against the damp, sweating stone. Her knees were drawn up to her breats, her spine were curled up in a silent, agonizing scream that tore through the silence of the cave. “Kai… help…” The mark on her back was pulsing a sickly, violent purple through the thin linen of h

KAI’S POV The Black River didn’t just want to drown us; it wanted to erase us. The water carried a huge weight on its own, a crushing force of liquid ice that crushed into my lungs and turned my blood to drool. But the cold in the river was nothing compared to the cold in my heart as I watched Jessica. She was drifting away. The violet glow on her skin, the Sovereign mark was fading like a dying star. I reach out to hold her, my fingers tore through the wave. “Don’t touch her, Kai,” the wolf inside me roared, a sound of pure agony. “You’ll shatter her.” I caught a glimpse of her face through the dark water. Her eyes were closed, her silky hair floating effortlessly in the water, and for a terrifying second, she looked like a corpse. The woman I had pushed away years ago to “save” her from my own darkness was now draining in energy because I was too ignorant to know if I could save her. The irony was a bitter salt in my mouth. I had spent a lifetime pretending she did

JESSICA’S POVI was still sitting on the floor near the fire, wrapped in Kai’s shirt. It smelled like woodsmoke and rain, a haunting reminder of the boy I used to love. The scent was so strong it felt like he was pressing against me, even though he was on the other side of the thin wooden door.Through that door, an argument growled, turning their earlier conversation into a jagged fight."Kai, she is a beacon," Jax continued, his voice rough as gravel. "The Hounds we killed tonight were just scouts. Thorne probably knows we’re here by now. And you want to train her? She can’t even stand up without shaking. The Hounds coming next will be worse. She isn't ready.""I am not leaving her to be a breeder, Jax!" Kai’s voice was so loud it shook the floorboards. "If we don’t teach her to control that power, she’ll destroy this mountain. You saw the river. Her power is getting stronger every day, but it’s weighing her, we have to teach her how to handle it.""Then we’re getting weaker," Ryde

KAI’S POVEach breath I took was a choice between my sanity and slaughtering someone right now.I stood in the shadows of the kitchen, the narrow space feeling less like a kitchen and more like a cage. The cedar walls, usually a source of comfort, seemed to sweat in the humid heat, pressing inward until the air felt thick enough to drown inMy fingers were locked onto the edge of the oak counter, the wood groaning under the pressure. I watched my knuckles turn a ghostly white, but I couldn't let go. If I let go, I’d kill him.The air was a toxic cocktail. Beneath the familiar scent of woodsmoke and dried sage, the cabin reeked of her. Jessica’s sweetness something like jasmine and rain was there, but it was bruised. It was tangled with the sharp, musk-heavy scent of Ryder. My Beta.The smell of them together was a physical weight on my chest, a fog that blinded my vision and stirred the beast beneath my skin. The wolf wanted blood. He wanted to claim the space, to tear the scent of

JAX’S POVThe white rose was still shaking in the wood of the door, a scary, mocking ghost against the old cedar. The scent of it, very sweet and expensive—like a poison.Kai didn’t look at the rose. He looked at Ryder, and for a second, I thought the cabin was going to implode from the pressure of his aura. His hand was still half-extended toward Jessica, the gentleness he’d tried to show her at breakfast was now frozen into an dangerous feeling. He felt like a fool. He’d let his guard down to apologize, and in that moment of weakness, a problem had occurred."How?" Kai’s voice was a low, vibrating growl directed straight at Ryder. "ly. "You are supposed to be watching the perimeter. How did this arrow get past you, Ryder?”“ Is Thorne’s scent so familiar to you now that you just let it walk up to our porch?" He inquired.Ryder’s face went pale, then it turned angry red. "It wasn’t Thorne’s scent, Kai. I didn't smell a damn thing until the wood broke. That rose... it doesn't smell l