Page 5 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

Why was he here?

Two of the girls dropped their gazes to avoid his gaze, but the red-headed girl who had poked her earlier stammered.

“Mar—Marcus. She—she started—”

“In fact,” he continued coolly and stepped closer to stand beside Athena, “I think she’s prettier than all three of you put together.”

The girls flinched, and Athena looked up at him, her heart pounding in her chest.

He did not mean that.

“Leave,” he ordered, and they scattered like startled mice.

Athena looked up at him once again, warmth still tugging at her chest.

Marcus Vale.

Marcus was the son of the Alpha of the Moon Ridge Pack. But the title wasn’t what made him the most formidable wolf among his mates in the pack. The respect he commanded wasn’t inherited; it was earned. He was fierce, focused, and frighteningly efficient. No one came close to his skill in a fight, and his natural ability to mask both his presence and scent made him a ghost among other wolves, untouchable and unmatched.

He was everything a future Alpha should be: strategic, powerful, and poised. And as if that wasn’t enough, he wasbeautiful. Auburn hair like firelight and eyes the color of warm amber had left many female wolves breathless and bewitched.

But to Athena, he was more than that.

He was kind—to her.

And he was the only one in the pack who had ever made her feel like she belonged.

She was different. Her parents were witches, but her powers had not yet surfaced. That had earned her the nickname “dormant witch”.

Witches were revered by the elders of the Moon Ridge Pack because, in the early years, when demons once attacked the pack’s territory, the witches had helped them win the battle and reclaim their territory. Some of them had lost their lives in the process, like her parents. And as a way of repaying their favor, the pack had granted hospitality to the few old and young who remained alive.

However, she never missed the snarls and the looks of disapproval people spared her whenever she passed by because she was different from them.

Or how mothers warned their children, “Don’t go near her, she’s evil. She’s a witch.”

Or how she had no friends, and they took every opportunity to remind her of how she would never feel accepted. She would never belong.

Except for him.

He was the only person who defended her whenever other packmates bullied her. He had just proved it—again.

And when he looked at her like that, like she was worth the beauty and value of a thousand flowers in springtime, she forgot everything that made her heart ache.

“Athena, I was looking for you,” he called, his voice drawing her out of her thoughts. “Come, I want to take you somewhere.”

He reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers as he began to lead her into the forest.

She would follow him anywhere, but he didn’t know that.

The moonlight filtered through the sky, casting its dappled silver light across his features as they filtered through trees—features she had memorized from stealing a thousand glances at him.

She knew it. She was in love with Marcus Vale.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, staring at their intertwined fingers, breathless more from his proximity than from their brisk pace.

Marcus turned, his eyes gleaming, “It’s a surprise. Don’t you trust me?”

She did. She trusted him completely. Her heart raced again from anticipation.