Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed by my Rejected Mate: Sold to the Brutal Alpha: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

JESSICA'S POV I broke the cabin door, with my skin still tingling at the contact of the Jax body with mine in the mud. I thought the kitchen would be deserted, but the tension of the room was as heavy as walking into a wall of water. Kai and Ryder leaned over the heavy oak table. The silver cylinder which Ryder had grabbed out of the arrow lay between them. It was little, and dirty, and marked with runes that chilled with a kind of sickly glow. “Jess," Ryder said, immediately scanning me with his amber eyes. He recognized the mud on my knees and the oversized flannel I was wearing slack on my shoulder and the bloom I could not conceal. His mouth clenched, an intense possessive fire flashing through his face, yet he made no movement. "You're shaking." “The wind is chilly,” I lied, with a thin voice. I headed to the table hoping that they would forget the smell of Jax that I believed was hanging on me. "What is that?" Kai didn't look up. His knuckles were white and his hands were

JESSICA’S POV The Grey Mist was as grey as it claimed to be. It was not merely weather, it was a bodily burden, a heavy rating of cloudy silver and ash, which almost seemed to absorb sound and light. It was a neutral ground, where the laws of the packs were laid aside, but it seemed to be rather a grave-yard. My ankle clashed in a sickening pop. "Ah!" I screamed, my knees sinking in the wet, mossy soil. The agony was like a white-hot needle piercing my leg. I waited for Kai to stop. I waited in hopes that he would growl my name, or turn back and examine the injury. But Kai was already twenty paces away and his broad shoulders had disappeared into the fog as he walked beside Vanya. Their heads were much together, their voices a muted low murmur I could not make out. He didn't even turn around. “Be Careful, Princess," a warm voice said. Ryder had his arms round me before I was in the mud. He picked me up as if it were nothing but air, a homey, honeyed warmth, which in general

JESSICA’S POV The journey in the Grey Mist had been a nightmare, but the night was to be worse. The throbbing my ankle was dull, constant heat, and the cold had begun to creep down to the bones of my body. “We’ll stay here,” Vanya called to him, indicating a little shallow cave. We cannot sleep out here, or we will be frozen before daylight.” I did not like how she said it, as though she was the one in command. I glanced at Kai who said nothing and merely nodded his head and went after her into the darkness. I could feel as though my heart was being squeezed. He had not looked at me, nor touched me since she came there. It was colder in the cave. It was wet stone on the floor, and the wind whistled through the cracks. Ryder and Jax began a small blaze, but the fire was small and feeble. “We can not rely on the fire,” Jax called out, with a deep, gravelly voice. He approached me, and without seeking permission, picked me up. He was so large and cozy that I made the

JESSICA’S POV The Den of Thieves did not simply smell like a city; it smelled like a wound that does not want to heal. All the breaths I got were filled with the smell of bodies that had not been washed, of fat being roasted and of the metallic, copper taste of blood. It was a feeling of suffocation. We threaded the busy streets like a ghost train, yet despite my low-turned hood, I could feel the glares of a million carnivores upon me. They did not look at my face, but sniffed the air, trying to scent the odour of a Sovereign Queen lurking behind the dirt of the Rogue City. Kai was right beside me, hiding the tension within himself. His hand gripped mine tightly, his fingers penetrated my palm with a force which was almost painful. It was not protection, but it was possession. I would have sworn that I could feel his heat, a desperate and possessive vitality that made me know that his wolf was not far under the surface, and throwing its teeth at every shadow that moved. “Keep

KAI’S POV I laid on the floor of the Vault, my body feeling like a hollow shell. Giving up a gallon of blood hadn’t just drained my strength; it had drained my soul. Every time my heart stuttered in my chest, it felt like it was trying to pump air instead of fire. My adrenaline surged, hot and toxic as I heard the heavy iron doors creaked open and that familiar, high-pitched laugh echoed through the chamber. "A perfect delivery, Vanya. Truly, your best work yet." The voice was like a drenching of ice water. It was the voice of the man who had haunted Jessica’s nightmares. Her stepfather. I tried to push myself up, my palms slipping in the pool of my own blood that still stained the molten floor. Jax who was beside me let out a low, pained groan, his massive hand fumbling for the hilt of a blade that wasn't there. Ryder even looked more miserable, his eyes rolled back in his head, his breathing a shallow, wet rattle. We were useless. We were three Alphas reduced to decaying