Page 79 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

She was wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and a sky blue top that fell loosely along her curves. She moved swiftly, training with her dagger as she twirled her body to slice through the air. Her movements were poor, but,

Fuck, she was sexy.

Marcus didn’t know when he began to stride toward her, but he stopped mid-stride when he noticed she wasn’t alone.

A masculine figure appeared beside her. Tall and broad-shouldered with a buzz cut.

Marcus recognized the figure—Caleb. He was a new hunter.

Caleb had planted himself at her side. He walked with the cocky swagger of someone who thought he owned every room he stepped into. Marcus had seen his type before—men with pseudo-charms. They were always five seconds from saying something stupid.

What the fuck?

Marcus exclaimed as he saw Athena laugh over something he said.

Something dark and possessive snarled in Marcus’s chest.

He told himself it didn’t mean anything. That she was free to talk to whoever she wanted. That she was finding her footing here.

But Caleb leaned in closer and set a hand on Athena’s shoulder, raising her arm slightly more than it was before. His other arm encircled her waist, shifting her around.

Marcus’s vision blurred with red as something in him snapped.

What the hell?

Too close.They were too close.

His hand clenched into a fist.

And he couldn’t stop the storm brewing inside.

He turned away with his fists still clenched.

He could live with the silence. He could handle the distance. He could bear the guilt of their past, the ache of what they could never be.

But not this.

Not another man making her smile.

Not someone else being so close to her.

Because the truth rang out like a drumbeat in his bones, undeniable now.

He wasn’t over her.

He had never been.

And he had no plans of letting someone else have her.

Marcus stormed toward them in long strides.