Alpha Hell: A Dark Rejected Mates Romance (The Rejected Mate Series Book 1)

by G. Bailey

  “You don’t even know my name,” he warns me as his eyes glow.

  “Tell me then,” I breathlessly reply.

  He smiles and holds his hand out to me. “No but the next time we kiss, you will know who I am.”

  I take his hand, letting him lead me back to hell but something tells me the next time we kiss, his secret might just destroy any chance of a future.

  Chapter 19

  Lilith Thornblood

  “Faster.”

  Eziel’s shadow hangs over me as I obey his command and slam my fists into the gut of the rubber dummy. The burn from my muscles aches in my arms all the way to my stomach. I don’t know how long I punch the damn thing until Eziel places his hand on my shoulder, signalling for me to stop.

  Breathlessly, I turn around. “What… what’s next on your torture list?”

  “An assault course,” he replies, and my stomach drops.

  Eziel walks away and curls his hand, another signal, this time for me to follow.

  I ask, once I’ve jogged to his side.

  “Nope.”

  Damn, this dude is on a serious mission to break my body. I’m just worried he has no intention of putting me back together.

  We head through the courtyard, past two pillars, and then down a stone path. We pass the Crescent Mother statue, and I naturally look her way. Two candles are held in her hands, both of them lit with a red flame. The Crescent Mother is always a woman in a cloak, her face hidden, but I imagine she is beautiful.

  “I remember my mum telling me stories of the Crescent Mother and how she created shifters,” I say, needing to fill the silence. I don’t dare look at Eziel, but I feel his gaze on me all the same. “The story of a simple human woman who found a crystal on her beach, washed up by the sea—”

  “And over time the crystal started whispering things to her, promising her the world if she only asked,” he interrupts, but I don’t mind. He’s telling the story way better than I can. We both pause on the path and gaze at the statue. “When the woman’s only son got sick, the crystal promised it could save her child but for a price. The woman made the deal, unaware of the consequences.”

  “She died the second the deal was made, and her son was transformed into a wolf,” I carry on. “I always felt sorry for the young son. He must have been so scared and alone.”

  “The story didn’t end there in my tutorage,” he says, and I swiftly look at him. “I was told the wolf was unable to shift and spent ten years running around the woods by his house until he met a demon who escaped Hell. A succubus demon.”

  “They don’t exist anymore,” I say. “Succubus demons are considered too dangerous to be kept alive.”

  “I’m well aware of pack law,” he reminds me.

  Right. He’s a prince, after all.

  “What happened next in your story?” I ask softly.

  “The succubus used her magic to turn the wolf back, and he was a man by this point. Of course, the demon and the wolf fell in love, and a child was born from that love. The second the child was born, the curse of never being able to shift was broken. I imagine that part of the story isn’t told much to wolves outside of Hell.”

  “In my experience, it’s not,” I admit.

  He shrugs. “You said you’re from Stormfire, so how would you know?”

  I quickly come up with the practised excuse Caspian and I went over. “My mother liked to travel the packs to sell her wares.”

  He side-eyes me. “What did she make?”

  Fuck. We didn’t cover that part.

  “Erm… jewellery and stuff,” I say quickly.

  “Like that pretty bracelet?” he asks.

  “Yeah. It was the last gift from her before she was killed.”

  Something in his expression changes; he almost softens in his eyes.

  He pulls out the silver necklace he always wears and shows me it. At the end is a red pendant rock. “This was the only gift my mother left me.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I whisper, enchanted by gold flecks inside the rock.

  He smiles and tugs the pendant to his lips. The second it touches his mouth, red embers burst from the crystal, floating around us as I step closer to him.

  I smile and run my hand through the embers. “This is incredible.”

  “Indeed,” Eziel replies, but when I glance at him, he isn’t looking at the embers. The sparks reflect in his eyes, making them seem like a fire is burning the entire world down beautifully. The world seems to go still at this moment, and my heart pounds.

  The alpha’s son is really handsome.

  Eziel suddenly jolts back as though coming out of a spell, and it drags me from my reverie, too. What the hell was that?

  “Let’s get moving,” he says, already walking away.

  I force my unsteady legs after him.

  “I hired seven wolves to clean out the old assault course for our training and I’m interested to see how you fare on it.”

  “You should firstly show me how to use it,” I suggest sweetly.

  Maybe topless, too, because I could totally watch that.

  Intensely.

  He looks down at me, serious expression marking his handsome face. “If you feel that would benefit your training.”

  “It would,” I say with a nod, trying to be as serious as he is. “Very much.”

  We finally come out of the pathway to an arena built into the land, and in the centre of it is an assault course made for anyone but me. I count seven rock climbing towers, two pools of deep water, and five mud pits with nets above them. I don’t even peek at the rows of jumping hoops and logs I’m sure he expects me to hop over.

  No—fucking—way will I be able to cover that.

  I turn to Eziel, but he’s already heading down the stairs to the arena, unclipping his jacket and pulling it off as he walks. I follow him with keen, slightly nervous interest. He places his coat on one of the many stone benches and pauses.

  “Sit here and mentally take notes on how this assault course should be done.”

  “Yes, sir,” I say, sitting my ass down. I’d much rather watch him from the sidelines.

  He chuckles. “Why do I get the impression you’re looking forward to this?”

  “What do you think I could possibly enjoy?” I question, teasing him a little.

  He grins and then slowly, or I imagine it slowly, pulls his shirt over his head. Holy shifter. The alpha’s son is ripped as-F. His well-defined abs grab my attention until I force myself to drift my gaze up over his rock-hard pecs and muscular arms. The red pendant rests in the middle of his chest, and it jolts me out of my stupor.

  “So, umm…” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. “Break a leg.”

  “I believe I just found my answer, Lil,” he says, and my cheeks burn a little bit from the nickname. My mouth turns dry when Eziel leaves me to jog down to the start of the assault course on the left, in front of the first three rock climbing towers. That’s when I see his back, and my smile drops. In the centre is a circular burn mark, and I know what it’s from right away.

  I’ve seen the same markings on the medallion around the Stormfire alpha’s neck. Oh my goddess! He branded his own son with it. Just when I thought I couldn’t hate Rizer anymore than I already do.

  Eziel doesn’t look back, but he must know I’ve seen it. I try to blank my expression just in case he does glance over at me. Any sorrow I feel for Eziel would just embarrass him, I know it. He’s a proud wolf of royal descent.

  His father’s cruelty may have branded his flesh, but it doesn’t mark his soul.

  A whistle goes off somewhere, and I watch Eziel run towards the first rock wall and jump halfway up it in one single leap. Damn, son. The prince has got some moves. He grabs the hinges carved into the rocks and throws himself up each one like a damn monkey before climbing over the top. He hurdles effortlessly off the top of the rock tower onto the next one, not pausing. He climbs the rest of the way to the top of that one next. My mouth pops o
pen as he makes quick and sexy work of the last tower. After jumping off, he lies flat, crawling fast under the net, through the mud that smothers him. I’m never racing him in this because I don’t stand a chance.

  Within minutes, he has done the entire course, and he swims out of the water at the end. Water droplets fall down his chest when he stands out of the pool, and I gulp when he heads my way.

  “My time was three minutes. I expect you to do this in ten or we will keep doing until you do.”

  “There is no way in he—”

  “Get on with it,” he snaps.

  My body aches in protest before I’ve even made a step towards the assault course. I am so royally fucked.

  “You have a demon gnome in your kitchen eating nachos,” Dove whispers to me. She sits on the sofa, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. “Did you know? Is that why we always have dinner at mine? Want some help demon hunting?”

  “I told him to hide.” I sigh. “But yes. I also have a demon dragon in my room snuggling a hot water bottle. Don’t even ask.”

  “I’m not going to.” She laughs.

  I rest back and take a long sip of my lemonade and vodka Dove made for me.

  “So tell me about your family?” I ask her. We never discuss her life when we hang out, it’s always stuff anyone could know about her, and it bothers me. She regularly calls me her best friend, and I know more about Knight than I do about her life.

  She takes a drink and places her glass on the coffee table. “I have a sister, and my father brought us up when my mother died.”

  “I’m sorry,” I tell her.

  “Don’t be,” she responds. “My mother betrayed the alpha and nearly got us all killed. It was a mess, and I don’t know why she did it. I just know it left me and my sister as outcasts to everyone. It’s kinda how I became friends with Caspian because he was an outcast, too, with his demon side. He stuck up for me.”

  “He is a good guy like that.”

  “So… what is going on between you two?” She’s quick to change the topic. “The sexual tension is insane, and I’ve never seen Caspian this interested in anyone.”

  I look down into my drink. “He makes it very confusing. One second I think there is something and the next it’s gone.”

  “Okay, so tell me about the Rivermare wolf?”

  I blush and keep my focus on my drink. “I needed an escape, and it was just a kiss. Alaric is a mystery to me.”

  “But fucking hot. You are one lucky bitch,” she replies with a grin. “And I don’t even like guys.”

  “Their loss,” I say around a small laugh. “I’m glad we have become friends, Dove. I hope you become a professional demon hunter.“

  “Me, too. I have to become one before my sister enters next year. She’ll never let me live it down otherwise.”

  “Is your sister a redhead like us?” I question. “If she is, we would have enough numbers for a cult.”

  “Knowing her, she would be down for that, but she is sadly blonde.” She sighs. “Like, bright blonde and so stunning. I’ve always been jealous.”

  “She must have a downfall?”

  Something crosses her eyes, and for a second I’m sure it’s fear. It vanishes quickly, though.

  “She has terrible taste in men, and one day it will ruin her.”

  “I’d like to meet her one day,” I say just as the door slams open.

  Knight runs in so fast I just about see a blur of movement that lands on my cushion.

  “You must be Dove.” Knight nods at her. “I expected you to be a bird, and I am disappointed.”

  Dove laughs, as do I.

  “This is Knight,” I say.

  She smiles warmly at him. “Nice to meet you. Sorry I disappointed you. How come you’re living here?”

  “I have family here,” he replies, and it melts my heart a little. He considers us family. “And the food is good when the moody one doesn’t hide it with bombs.”

  “Bombs?” I echo, raising an eyebrow.

  He nods before disappearing and coming back in seconds with the diamond object I’ve wanted since seeing it Paris. The one Caspian had.

  “Put that down!” Dove shouts, rushing over and carefully taking it off Knight. “You’d blow this entire building up if you dropped it.”

  “I had no idea that was a bomb,” I whisper, biting my lip. “No wonder Caspian looks so scared when I threw it in the air like a ball.”

  Dove turns on me with wide eyes and gently places the diamond bomb on the table. “You are scary to hang out with, you know that?”

  “Apparently so,” I mutter and glance at Knight. “Any other bombs I should know about?”

  “Yes. The moody one has three drawers full of bombs, daggers, guns, and various other things. Want to see?”

  I shake my head, and Dove chuckles, returning to my side.

  “I like your pet,” she says.

  I glance at Knight and smile softly. “He isn’t a pet. He’s family.”

  “What does Caspian think of your family?” she questions, and I grimace.

  “Nothing good. He woke up with his pillow on fire every morning this month, thanks to Dragon. He likes to sleep with Caspian and somehow sneaks in every night,” I admit, and she bursts into giggles.

  “I should have got Caspian a dragon years ago.”

  I rest my head and laugh with her, even as my thoughts wander to Caspian. My gaze strays over to the door. I haven’t seen him in hours, or all day for that matter. Where the hell is he?

  Chapter 20

  Lilith Thornblood

  I pat my arm a few times, putting out the flames that the dragon spit up on me moments ago. My coat is a burnt, but it’s not as bad as the couch. I enter the living room where it sits with a massive burnt patch on it, and Dragon has dug himself a bed in the gap overnight. Caspian is going to be mad if he comes back.

  No, when he’s back.

  I leave the apartment after feeding Knight and Dragon, heading upstairs. I lift my hand and knock on Dove’s door a few times before it swings open. Standing in the doorway is Dove herself, wrapped in a white towel, her hair dripping water onto the floor.

  “Hey, bestie! What’s up?”

  My stomach gives a twist again when she calls me her bestie. “Have you seen Caspian this morning or last night?”

  She shakes her head. “No, why?”

  “He’s been missing since I got back from training with the prince and he was out all night,” I explain, but I smile so she doesn’t see how much I’m freaking out. “I’m sure he just got drunk at a bar but I can’t help but be a worried.”

  Truthfully, I am more than a little worried. In fact, I’m outright panicked about the idea that Caspian didn’t come back since late last night or this morning. It isn’t like him to be away this long.

  “I last saw Caspian around six yesterday morning, and he said had a mission somewhere in Wales,” she tells me. “I thought you’d be with him, to be honest.”

  I shake my head, my response dying on my lips. Why would he go on a mission on his own? My thoughts immediately go to how he seems so mad since I’ve come back from Japan with Alaric, which is unfair on so many levels. He’s made it constantly clear that doesn’t actually like me, let alone want to be with me. I don’t want to play games, and having a bit of happiness isn’t something I should be punished for. What happens between me and Alaric has nothing to do with Caspian, especially not when he will never want me as anything more than a friend.

  My hands shake in anger, and I clench them into fists. Fuck this. I’m going to hunt down my wayward partner and have a chat with him.

  I ask Dove as much as I can about the hunt Caspian went on, and thankfully she seems to know a lot regarding his location but nothing about what Caspian is hunting. I have to hope he isn’t in trouble since he’s been gone a long time. My training with the prince isn’t until this afternoon, so I have time to kill.

  Heading through the courtyard, I go to a portal on the
left side of DHT before jumping in with the thought of Wales in mind. I come out to the staircase inside a broken building, which is nothing more than dust and a frame. Not wanting to be here alone for long, I run up the steps and jump through another portal. I come out on a staircase in the middle of a room that nature has taken back. Right in front of me is a stag who instantly freezes when it sees me.

  I’m sure it senses what I am before I growl low to warn it off. The stag runs out the door, and I take in a long breath to scent the room. Underneath all the damp floors, moss, and animal scents is Caspian’s. The mixture of demon and wolf, and how unique he smells, isn’t hard to miss. The day has come for a shift. Finally. It might be risky, but I need my wolf to find Caspian or it will take me all day.

  “Your turn, girl,” I say to myself. I feel like part of my soul is finally going to be free. After stripping my clothes off, I pack them into my bag and take a deep breath and I shift. My wolf’s deep-red paws land on the floor, and she lifts her head, letting out a long howl before running out of the building.

  We charge through the forest, past hundreds of trees for more than half an hour before coming to the end of Caspian’s trail. The forest opens up to a strange lake with more than a dozen large rocks of all different sizes in the middle. Something smells weird here under the scents of the damp lake and usual scents a lake would have. I quickly shift back and get dressed, and make sure my weapons are ready, I walk up and down the sandy rocks.

  What the hell would Caspian be doing out here? And where is he? Frustrated, I grab a rock and throw it into the water. It instantly sizzles, and then the lake starts to boil until hot steam fills air above it. Shapes appear slowly and forge the outline of human shapes. The demonic energy raiding from them is strong and powerful. Shit, what the fuck are those?

  I count seven when I step back, and something cracks under my foot. I barely get a second to look down before the ground below me sucks me in and dirt smacks into my face as I close my mouth. Sharp rocks cut across my arms. I struggle around in the dirt, but something is pulling me down, and I can’t fight it.