Page 22 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

Chapter 5 - Marcus

‘Please.’

The word had cut through him like a knife. Marcus leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. His eyes locked on Aza like a soldier guarding a ticking bomb. She sat quietly now, with her back straight and her chin dipped just enough to seem… docile.

It didn’t sit right with him.

She let out a slow breath as if releasing something she had held in too long. Her shoulders relaxed just slightly, and her hands, which had been clenched in her lap, uncurled.

Marcus was not willing to trust her. Something still seemed off.

He had seen it all before. No—He had been trained to see through it. He was a hunter; detecting deceit came with the job, and witches were infamous for cloaking their lies in charm.

So her sudden switch in behavior could not move him.

Their location was currently a secluded shelter that belonged to an old, devoted hunter who had passed away. After his death, he had willed the cabin to the Hunters’ Organization so it could serve as a temporary location for hunters during their missions before they moved their targets to the main facilities.

On the outside, the cabin appeared to be a secure warehouse. It had a main bedroom and a spare bedroom, both with private bathrooms and a kitchenette.

But that wasn’t why Marcus had chosen this particular location for his hunt.

Unlike other similar shelters, this one had an underground, cell-like room beneath the structure, which was where he had Athena locked away. Escaping would be nearly impossible.

There was no way she could free herself, not with those specialized cuffs. They were silver alloy infused with binding spells—the standard weapon for witch containment. They would suppress her magic without causing her physical harm.

He stared at his target again, this time, bordering on confusion.

Marcus didn’t expect her to agree to come with him so easily, given how wary she had been and how protective she was over her son—a detail he had catalogued as the core weakness of his target; her greatest vulnerability. And now, it made sense. Her cooperation wasn’t out of surrendering—it was out of concern.

She was worried about the boy.

Good.

That meant he had leverage on her.

But he wasn’t about to let her see him. Not yet. Not so easily. He would wait until he got the information he needed—who she was working with and her connection to the recent spike in demonic possessions.

He wouldn’t even tell her where the boy was.

“Like I said earlier, he’s safe,” he said, responding to her earlier question in a cold voice. “That’s all you’re getting for now.”

He let that hang in the air before adding in a firmer, assertive voice, “I’m not going to release you just so you can run to him. How you behave from this point on will determine that.”

He straightened.

“Okay,” she responded.

Okay?That wasn’t the response he expected.

Earlier, she would’ve stormed the walls to get to the boy.

Now she was relenting.

What the hell had changed?

He took a few steps into the room with his arms crossed.

“You’re being awfully reasonable all of a sudden.”