Rejected, Abused, I Fall for the Forbidden Alpha (by Riley Scott) novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Raven POV

“I want you to come check out the perimeter with me. There have been sightings of rogues, and I need to make sure they aren’t trespassing on my territory. The consequences could be dire.”

Marissa’s dumbstruck. Hades isn’t addressing Jackson, but her. She is uneasy, shifting awkwardly on her seat. Isn’t that a job for your men and um,” she coughed, “your Beta?”

Her voice is faint.

Hades gives a twisted smile. “As my future Luna, you need to become familiar with the territory and the land. I rogues attack, you’re expected to help defend the pack. This isn’t something unexpected. Jackson will accompany/ us for peace of mind, but you have a white wolf. You’re fully capable of protecting yourself.”

He’s oblivious to her growing distress and fear.

“But. But,” Marissa stammers, her voice high-pitched, her eyes widening, “there’s plenty of time for that once we’re married,” she protested.

“Is there a problem?” Hade’s voice is filled with meaning.

If Marissa refused, Hades would realize how truly useless she was at fighting. She’d always relied on her wolf to get by, ignoring training and skipping lessons. It was coming back to bite her on the ass. Even her wolf wasn’t that impressive. Sure, it was white, but it was also strangely small and not as agile as white wolves were rumoured to be. It was said that wolves tended to take on their human counterpart’s personality, and part of me wondered if Marissa’s wolf had grown smaller due to her inability to lead or lack of interest in running or fighting.

“I can’t just leave Raven behind,” Marissa was grasping at straws.

“You can’t leave your maidservant behind?” Hade’s voice is filled with suspicion.

Good one, Marissa. Let’s see how you turn this around. Nobody relies on an omega to fight, let alone worries about leaving them alone in the packhouse.

“Never mind. We’ll take Raven with us,” Jackson proposed, a slight smile on his face.

He was enjoying Marissa’s discomfort.

“Wouldn’t that be offensive to you? I don’t have a wolf,” my voice was doubtful.

Of course. He was waiting for me. Slowly and carefully, I swing one leg over Jackson’s back, biting the inside of my lip as my sore muscles protested. I positioned myself at the front, body leaning forward as I kept my arms gently wrapped around his neck. I imagine that riding on him is no different to riding a horse, although if I were honest, I had no experience with either. He stands, my body quickly adjusting to keep myself from falling. He glances over his shoulder at me, his eyes scanning me up and down before appearing satisfied I wasn’t about to fall.

Hades turns and begins to run towards the forest, his paws hitting the ground with heavy thuds.

He’s unbelievably fast. I can see the power behind his muscles as he continues to move. Marissa’s wolf runs behind him, followed by Jackson and me. I expect Jackson to have a hard time keeping pace, but Hades slows down to accommodate the difference.

Unsurprisingly, Marissa slows, already tired as we head deeper and deeper into Hade’s territory. She begins to fall further and further behind, taking last place and Jackson and Hades are forced to slow down even further, Marissa making no effort to speed back up. Eventually, we reach a cliff face, and Jackson lies back down, allowing me to slowly climb back off.

The men shift back to human form. Marissa glumly does the same, looking exhausted.

The men shoot each other glances, silently communicating.

“Explain to me how a white wolf is unable to keep pace with me or at least Jackson?”

There was no denying the absolute fury reverberating in Hade’s voice.