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

by G. Bailey

  I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!

  Suddenly, I’m free, and I slam into what feels like hard flat rock with a strangled grunt leaving my lips. I crawl to my feet in the darkness, feeling around my bag for the matches I know are in there while trying to slow my heartbeat down. I’m hidden from the steam creatures, at least. For now, I think. Unless this is where they take their victims to die.

  Caspian, if you’re alive, you’re so dead for getting me into this crap alone.

  Finally, I get the matches and drop my bag to light a few of them. The flames burn light into the room, and I see that it is a rock cavern and water is dripping down the sides, slowly leaking steam inside. So the demons are chasing me. Great. I freeze when I see a shape on the floor and walk over, leaning down to see it’s Caspian.

  “Caspian?” I whisper, a little fear trickling into my chest. Shaking his shoulders a few times doesn’t seem to wake him, so nervously I touch his neck for a pulse, relieved when I find one. Faint, but it’s there.

  I come up with an idea that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I lift my hand and slap him hard across the cheek, my matches going out at exactly the same time in my other hand. I can just see his outline as he jumps up and goes still, swearing under his breath.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Lilith?”

  I shove my hand into his chest. “Saving your ass even though you left me behind. What the hell is your problem?”

  Staring back in the darkness, he doesn’t answer me. I can’t see him, but I can feel his glare burning me to the spot. He doesn’t reply, so I carry on.

  “I can’t believe you went on a mission on your own and you clearly got yourself knocked out! You could have been killed, you complete idiot! This is why demon hunters have partners! I don’t want to see you die!”

  “You seemed like you were busy,” he answers coldly to my rant like I’m insane and have no reason to be mad. “And I was fine until you came here and told all the demons where I hid.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it!” I snap.

  The walls around us shake, and more demon energy leaks in, likely from the steam that is making the cavern warm. The steam demon things will be here soon, and he is still being an ass.

  “Why did you come here? What are they?” I ask, needing to put our personal problems aside for a moment before we both get killed.

  “Fine,” he snaps with a sour tone. “Late last night I heard about this mission that qualified demon hunters had turned down because these demons had killed an entire village nearby. These are called Lullaby Demons because they use steam to travel and sing you to your death.”

  “So you came to them on your own?” I ask. He’s an even bigger idiot than I thought.

  “Well, yes, because I know how to knock them out long enough to get them to hell,” he counters, and no one could miss his smug tone. “And this mission would settle us both in the top ten. That was always our end goal, right?”

  “How can they be beaten?” I ask, ignoring his taunt.

  “They can be revealed with demon light, and then we can shoot them,” he explains with a huff. “I would have been fine on my own to do this.”

  “You best make some light then ‘Mr I need no help but looked as helpless as Bambi before I got here.”

  He pulls me behind him before he lights up the room, and red beams of light flash out of his hands in two lines that spread down the sides of the cavern. He makes demon magic seem easy when it’s incredible.

  I unclip my gun and step to his side just as the end of the cavern is filled with at least ten of the Lullaby Demons. The second they move closer, the steam is washed away with the light, and they look almost real and not so human. They’re more like huge, skinny sausage dogs that stand up on two feet and aren’t the least bit cute. I don’t pause. I shoot three of them in the chest, and they drop like sacks of flour. Caspian uses his two guns to shoot the rest.

  “Nice aim. Did Alaric teach you that?”

  “No, Eziel did,” I answer just as coldly. “And what do you care what Alaric teaches me?”

  He doesn’t answer, but his shoulders tense when he turns to me.

  I stare up at him in the magic which highlights so many of his features. “What’s wrong, really? What’s going through your head?”

  He shakes his head but never breaks his eye contact with me. “You don’t want to know, songbird.”

  “I think it’s because you like me and you just won’t admit it.”

  His features twist into a grimace. “You’re my best friend’s sister, so it doesn’t fucking matter, does it?” His words cut through me despite that it’s just a defence mechanism because he doesn’t want to talk about this.

  “Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” I cross my arms and hold his glare. “You still treat me like the little girl you knew back in Caeli. The best friend’s sister, the one who annoyed you because she was head over heels for you. I bet you still thought of me like that until recently. Now you want to pretend there’s nothing between us to make yourself feel better.”

  He steps closer, his dark eyes narrowed. “There is nothing between us.”

  “But everything changed when I kissed Alaric. Caspian Hardling had to admit to himself that he didn’t like it,” I say, ignoring his cold, dismissive reply. “You were jealous, and that isn’t nothing, Caspian. When you look at me, you want to pretend I’m off limits so you can feel nothing. Why do you even bother? You don’t see me as anything other than an annoyance, so here’s an idea, don’t you fucking dare tell me who I can and cannot kis—”

  He crushes my lips to his, stealing the rest of my words—the very air from my lungs. My tirade is extinguished the moment his touch sears through me to the depths of my being. It unlocks something between us, something urgent and possessive that speaks of a deep, burning passion that incinerates our bodies. His anger, jealousy, and inner conflict transmit from his mouth to mine and conveys everything he’s been unable to say out loud.

  I never want this to end.

  His hand cups the back of my neck, and his other settles on my waist, pressing my body to his, but with a jolt, he pulls back and shoots his gun four times. I search the cavern in a daze. Four more Lullaby Demons crumble on top of the pile.

  I don’t know what’s hotter. The kiss or him pausing to shoot things.

  It’s a bit of both.

  “I can’t do this,” he breathes out, taking a step back from me and cutting my heart to pieces with those four simple words. “It’s nothing to do with you or how much I want you.”

  “Like that excuse hasn’t been heard by a million women before,” I mumble, crossing my arms again.

  Something changes in his eyes, like a wave washing ashore only to bathe the sand in darkness. For the first time in my life, I’m reminded that Caspian isn’t only a wolf. He takes a step closer and ever so slowly runs his fingers up my arms. A shudder of desire rakes through me. Every touch is like a jolt of lightning.

  “With one brush of my lips, I could have you obsessed with me, my magic controlling your thoughts. My father is a succubus demon, and I’m born of his sin and lust. I’m made of lust, Lilith. Do you know what that means?”

  “No,” I reply, my heart thrashing against my ribs.

  Succubus demons were erased from Hell and Earth hundreds of years ago because of how dangerous they can be. They can seduce an entire pack into doing what they want and they have done so before.

  They’re pack destroyers.

  Caspian is far more powerful and complicated than I ever thought.

  His dark chuckle fills the silence. “It means once I have you, no other man would ever compare, and I would never let you go. You’d be mine, and I’d show you what real lust can do. I’d break you, Lilith, and I would love it because that’s all demons like me can love: lust.”

  “I don’t believe that,” I whisper.

  He leans his head close to mine. “Then be careful. While my wolf will simply po
ssess you, my demon will own you mind, body, and soul. I’m not pushing you away because I don’t want you. It’s because I know my demon will claim your soul and never set you free. You’d end up hating me.”

  He steps away, and I feel like I can finally breathe again. I watch the man who thinks it’s that easy to scare me away walk through a cavern of flames before shifting into a red wolf. A massive form fills the cavern and turns back to me, its black eyes almost glowing in the near darkness.

  I should be scared of the demon wolf made of lust and sin, but I’m not.

  Caspian is more than a partner to me and he always will be.

  Chapter 21

  Lilith Thornblood

  The burning Tree of Ignis is no longer on fire.

  When we emerge from the portal in the tree’s hollow, the leaves that usually flutter to an ash grave cease to fall. Shifters and demons scurry around the Inner City, and the sky, normally a vivid red, is now pitch-black. It’s like all the color has been sucked out of Hell.

  I hurry in Caspian’s wake. “What do you think is going on?”

  The only light visible comes from the buildings, but everything else is draped in darkness, and there’s a coldness in the air that turns my breath into smoke.

  “The city is getting shut down,” Caspian answers, a crease forming between his brows.

  He pivots on his heel, and grabbing my hand, leads the way through the portal again. I don’t bother asking who’s the one behind all of this. A cold, icy dread shivers through me, carving the name Rizer into my flesh. Has he found me? My stomach twists at the prospect.

  When we step out of the portal, the doors to the DHT are closed. They’ve always been open from the first day I arrived here. Swallowing my unease, I follow Caspian to the entrance. He knocks, his features pulled into a contemplative grimace. He must think this is all because of Rizer, too.

  A slat in the door opens and Aamon, the prince’s advisor, peers through. He takes one look at us before stepping back and unlocking the entrance.

  “The Prince has summoned a meeting,” he says, turning around, his robes whipping behind him. “Make haste.”

  We follow Aamon into the courtyard. I can’t help but cast nervous glances around me, as if at any moment, Rizer’s going to jump out from the shadows. Thank the goddess Caspian’s still holding my hand. That gesture alone makes me feel a tiny bit safer.

  Eziel stands in front of his throne, his arms folded over his powerful torso. He’s never looked so beautiful than he does right now at this moment, bathed in the glimmers of light that reflect off his clothes and necklace. The rest of him is shadowed in darkness.

  His eyes scan everyone in the courtyard. “As many of you know by now, my father is searching for something that was taken from him.” His eyes linger briefly on my face, then cut to my hand linked with Caspian’s. A dark glint shines in the prince’s eyes. “Something valuable. Until he’s found it, the Inner City will only be accessible through my own portal here in this courtyard.”

  With a wave of his hand, an emerald portal materialises above the stone in which I and all the other hunters bled on.

  “Access will be given to those hunting in the trials. Any personal business will no longer be permitted.”

  Shocked, angry whispers break out between everyone.

  “For how long?” someone asks after several moments of bickering.

  “Indefinitely if the alpha does not find what he’s looking for,” Eziel replies, casting me another veiled glance.

  A deep shame rises to the surface of my being. Everyone is being punished , potentially because of me. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Caspian squeezes my hand and smiles at me. I return it, thankful more than ever for his support. I don’t think I’d be able to get through this without him… as infuriating as he’s been in the past.

  “So we’re all stuck here unless we’re working?” Alaric pushes off one of the pilasters and approaches the front of the crowd. He turns around and smiles but it seems calculating. “Then we better all get fucking hunting.”

  He saunters off after that, whistling as if he’s strolling through the park.

  I’d laugh if I wasn’t so freaked out.

  The only saving grace is that we can leave hell if we’re on a mission. The thought of being stuck down here forever, with Rizer’s pack, is incomprehensible to me. At least not until I’ve won the trials and made Rizer suffer for what he’s done.

  “Let’s go,” Caspian whispers, leading me through the courtyard.

  We pass Dove and her partner on the way. She waves and tries to get me to walk over, but Caspian’s on a mission. He practically drags me to our apartment. As soon as the door closes, he turns to me.

  “Rizer,” we say at the same time.

  Caspian’s mouth twitches. “It’s got to be him. The realms have never been shut down like this.”

  “What do we do?” I scan the room for Knight or Dragon, but they’re nowhere to be seen. Not even on the burned sofa. They must be in one of our bedrooms. “We can’t hide here forever.”

  He nods and paces the room, the marks on his face glowing. “Hiding is what he’d expect you to do. We need to keep training and hunting as usual. That way we can hopefully throw him off our scent if we’re constantly leaving through different portals.”

  “Okay…”

  Caspian stops pacing and walks over to me. “Don’t be scared, Songbird,” he whispers, so softly my heart skips in my chest. “I’ve got your back. I’ll reach out to some of my contacts to see what I can find out.”

  I nod and take a deep breath. “Alright. I’m going to check on the fur babies.”

  “They don’t even have fur,” I hear Caspian mumble as I walk away.

  Smiling for the first time since I got back, I enter my room. Knight and Dragon are entwined on the foot of my bed. Knight’s grown quite fond of sleeping with Dragon. He claims it’s because of the hot water bottles and piles of blankets, but I think it’s because he sees him like a brother.

  Dragon lifts his head when I close the door softly behind me. Knight, however, remains snoring like a walrus. Such a cutie.

  “Hey, Dragon.” I kneel by the side of my bed and extend an arm. “Did you sleep okay?”

  Dragon immediately crawls up to me, his little tail wagging the same way as a dog’s would do. In the weeks I’ve adopted him, he’s already grown three times the size he was. He pokes his little tongue out and licks my cheek. A giggle escapes me and I stroke the side of his neck. Soon he won’t be able to sit on my shoulder and nuzzle into me like this.

  “Can you tell I’ve had a bad day?” I whisper, scratching him.

  He leans in and presses his face against mine, his scales warm. I pick him up off my shoulder and cradle him in my arms as though he were a baby. It’s then that Knight wakes up with a loud groan and stretches.

  “What’s shaking, Redhead?”

  I smile, glancing up at Knight yawning away, his tiny legs crossed underneath him.

  “It’s been a long day.”

  “You know the big bad wolf I told you about?”

  Knight stands to attention right away. “What’s wrong? Which foe must I unleash my mighty wrath on to protect my family?”

  I fall silent for a moment and scratch Dragon’s belly. “I fear this is a foe neither of us can defeat,” I say, my stomach clenching. “At least not right now.”

  Knight hops beside me. He doesn’t crawl onto my body like Dragon, but he sits close, which is his way of showing affection.

  “Why not right now?” he asks and cocks his little head at me.

  I stop petting Dragon, my thoughts straying to the past. Images of Rizer at my family’s kitchen table, my parents' dead bodies sitting beside him, with blood on the floor and my hands, flit through my mind. But they each merge into one single object—a golden trophy, a figurative symbol of my winning the Demon Hunting Trials.

  “Because I haven’t won the Trials yet,” I reply, petting Dragon again. He’
s curled up on his back with his tail wagging between his legs. So cute. “The only way to protect our family is to win.”

  “And to defeat the Stormfire alpha.”

  I snap my gaze to him. “How do you know Rizer is hunting me?”

  He shrugs. “You talk in your sleep. I listen.”

  I bite my lower lip, then smile at him. “You’re a good listener, Knight.”

  The demon gnome puffs his chest proudly. “It’s a knight’s job to listen and to protect his family.”

  My heart swells. “You’re the only family I’ve got left that I know is alive.”

  Wordlessly, Knight reaches out a tiny hand and touches my leg. It’s the most affection he’s shown me, and it brings tears to my eyes.

  I set Dragon back into his fort of blankets and make my way back to the living room. Just as I enter, a crouched, shadowy creature climbs up the wall and disappears through the window. Demonic magic lingers in its absence.

  “Who was that?”

  Caspian stands from the sofa and sheathis his blade. Fresh blood permeates the air, and I catch sight of a fresh wound on Caspian’s palm.

  “A messenger of my father,” he says.

  He notices me looking at his injury, but doesn’t elaborate. So I decide to pry a proper explanation out of him with subtle probing.

  “Did you just make a freaking deal with a demon?”

  He laughs at that and heads into the kitchen. “Demons can’t make deals with other demons.”

  I follow him and lean against the countertop while he makes something to eat.

  “But you drew your own blood,” I point out, nodding to his palm; the wound has already healed. “You dealt with something if not for your own blood.”

  He’s silent while he prepares sandwiches. Passing me a plate with two of them on it, he then moves back into the living room and drops on the sofa. I hang back and study him from the kitchen while slowly eating my sandwich.