Page 15 of The Alpha’s Forced Rejected Mate (Silverlight Valley Alphas #1)
Luna shifted uncomfortably against the headboard, metal cuffs biting into her wrists.
Where was this man?
Dominic had been gone for a long time; without a watch or a wall clock in the cabin, she couldn’t tell exactly how long, but it felt like an hour had passed.
She tugged at the restraints, feeling the weight of the silver against her skin.
Something was different.
The burning sensation that usually accompanied the magical suppression cuffs in her short time wearing them was notably absent now. Instead of the searing pain she’d experienced when Dominic first captured her, there was only a dull pressure.
The ritual changed a lot.
Closing her eyes, Luna focused on the warm current of magic flowing through her. Her power seemed to pulse steadily, not dampened by the cuffs at all.
She watched as tiny sparks of golden light danced between her fingers when she concentrated.
I could leave right now.
The thought was tempting. She could unlock the cuffs, walk out the door, and disappear into the night. She’d become quite good at vanishing without a trace.
She had the experience.
But escape now would be shortsighted.
If she ran, what would happen to the next witch they captured? And the one after that?
It was not her business, but she couldn’t help herself. She chuckled, remembering that it was not minding her business that got her in this situation in the first place.
The memory of Xavier’s true form sent a shiver down her spine. Demons had infiltrated the Hunter Organization at the highest level.
Luna glanced around the spartan cabin. Dominic’s living quarters were militaristic in their simplicity—a bed with plain gray bedding, a small desk with a chair, a wooden chest at the foot of the bed, the kitchenette on the other side and a narrow door that led to what she assumed was a bathroom.
Was he always this cold, or was it the demonic influence?
She remembered the boy she’d known—serious, yes, but with a warmth in his gray eyes that had made her heart flutter whenever he looked her way. That warmth had vanished the night he rejected her, replaced by a cruel indifference that had haunted her for years.
She couldn’t afford to feel sorry for him. Not now.
With a deep breath, Luna closed her eyes again, concentrating on the cuffs. She whispered a simple unlocking spell, one of the first she’d mastered after discovering her powers. The metal warmed slightly beneath her touch, then clicked open with a soft snick.
Luna rubbed her wrist, eyeing the door warily. If Dominic returned and found her free, she’d have explaining to do. But she couldn’t sit idle, not when answers might be within reach.
It was his fault for leaving her for so long.
Sliding off the bed, she padded silently across the wooden floor in her bare feet and moved to the desk, carefully shifting through the papers scattered across its surface. She couldn’t find anything that would help her understand the depth of the demonic presence.
The wooden chest at the foot of the bed called to her next. Inside, she found neatly folded clothing—dark tactical gear similar to what Dominic had been wearing, a few plain T-shirts, and several pairs of sturdy pants.
As she closed it, she saw a crack under the floorboards. She used her unlocking spell again with a new variation, and it opened the floor; beneath it lay a small leather-bound book.
Luna’s heart quickened as she lifted it out. The journal was well-worn, its pages yellowed with age. When she opened it, she was surprised to find it wasn’t Dominic’s.
The name “Jonathan Xerxes” was inscribed on the first page, dated nearly twenty years earlier.
She flipped through carefully, scanning entries that detailed hunts and missions similar to those Dominic must undertake now. But as the journal progressed, the writing changed—became more erratic, the handwriting darker, pressed harder into the page.
“Something is changing within me,” one entry read. “My wolf grows more distant each day. The hunger for the hunt consumes my thoughts. Is this what it means to be a true hunter, or is something else at work?”
Luna’s fingers trembled slightly as she continued reading. The entries grew darker, more disturbing as they went on.
“The Council has ordered another binding ceremony. This will be my third witch. I no longer question why we never see them afterward. The less I know, the better I sleep.
“My wolf tried to rise against me today during training. I suppressed it, as Xavier taught me. The beast must be controlled if I am to serve effectively.”
The final entry chilled her to the bone: “I can feel something inside me now, something separate from my wolf. It whispers when I’m alone.
It promises power beyond imagining if I continue to serve faithfully.
Xavier says this is normal—the evolution of a hunter into something greater.
But when I look in the mirror, sometimes I swear my eyes flash red instead of gold. ”
Luna closed the journal, her mind racing. Had he undergone the same transformation that seemed to be affecting Dominic?
The sound of footsteps outside the cabin jerked her from her thoughts. Quickly, she stuffed the journal back beneath the clothes and quietly closed the chest. There wasn’t enough time to return to the bed and refasten the cuff before the door opened.
Instead, she slipped through the bathroom door, leaving it slightly ajar so she could hear if someone entered. The bathroom was as simple as the rest of the cabin—a shower stall, toilet, and small sink with a mirrored cabinet above it.
The footsteps passed by the cabin and continued down the path. Luna released the breath she’d been holding, her heart pounding in her chest.
She opened the medicine cabinet out of curiosity, finding only basic supplies—toothbrush, razor, first aid kit—but once again, she noticed the boards behind the cabinet was mismatched.
She found another journal, smaller than the first, wedged behind the other items as if intentionally hidden. This one was newer, the leather cover still supple.
“I continue to excel as commander, but I worry about the changes in me. The ruthless efficiency Xavier praises seems to come at the cost of my humanity. Now I understand only cold calculation.”
Luna’s heart skipped a beat.
“Three more witches bound this month. I searched the records for information on their placement after the ceremony, but found nothing. When I asked Xavier directly, he said only that they were ‘serving the greater good.’ Something doesn’t add up.
“I’ve started keeping track of the witches brought in for binding ceremonies.
Twenty-seven in the past year alone. None can be accounted for afterward.
The official explanation is that they’re relocated to integration centers, but no such centers appear in any of our records.
Where are they going? And why is no one questioning this? ”
Luna closed the journal with trembling hands.
The sound of the cabin door opening sent her heart into her throat. She quickly replaced the journal, closed the cabinet, and took a deep breath to calm herself. Through the crack in the door, she could see Dominic entering the cabin alone.
His gaze immediately went to the empty bed, his body tensing as he noticed the open cuff dangling from the headboard. “Luna?” he called, voice low and dangerous.
She pushed the bathroom door open, stepping out to face him. “I’m here.”
Dominic’s relief changed to curiosity as he took in her unrestrained state. “I thought I made it clear you were to stay put,” he said, his voice deceptively calm.
Luna lifted her chin. “And I thought those cuffs were supposed to be unbreakable.”
“Apparently, I underestimated you.” He closed the distance between them in two long strides. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“Bathroom,” she replied, the half-truth coming easily. “Unless you expected me to lie there uncomfortably all night?”
Dominic’s steel-gray eyes searched her face. “And the cuff? Did it just fall off on its own?”
“Not exactly.” Luna held up her wrist, letting a hint of golden magic dance across her fingertips. “They don’t work on me anymore. Not since the ritual.”
His stared at the shimmer of magic. “That’s impossible. Those cuffs are designed to suppress any witch’s power.”
Not this witch.
“Well, they’re failing spectacularly at their job.” She allowed the magic to fade, dropping her hand to her side. “Where have you been?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“It absolutely is my concern, if you’re out there telling your demon masters about what happened during our ritual.”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “I told you I needed to think.”
Luna watched him, noting the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Despite everything, a flicker of sympathy stirred within her.
“I found something while you were gone,” she said finally, deciding to take a risk.
Dominic stopped pacing and turned to face her. “What?”
Instead of answering directly, Luna moved to the wooden chest and pulled out Jonathan Xerxes’s journal. “This,” she said, holding it up. “And there’s another one hidden in your bathroom cabinet.”
His expression darkened. “You went through my cabin.”
“Yes.” She made no apology for it. “It wasn’t always your cabin, was it? And what I found supports everything I’ve been telling you. These journals describe exactly what’s happening—hunters changing after joining the organization, their wolves growing distant, their humanity fading.”
Dominic’s eyes fixed on the journal in her hand. “Xerxes died years ago. Rogue demon attack.”
“Are you sure that’s not another lie they fed you?” Luna challenged. “Because his final entries suggest something very different was happening to him.”
She held out the journal, offering it to him. After a moment’s hesitation, he took it, flipping it open to scan the pages. His face remained impassive as he read, but she could see the change in his eyes as he absorbed the words.