Page 2 of The Alpha’s Forced Rejected Mate (Silverlight Valley Alphas #1)

“No.” The word was clear-cut and concise.

He gave her another kiss, this time out of necessity, as though he had to convince her that his desire was not motivated by sympathy. When she didn’t stop him, his hands trembled a little as they probed her spine. His fingers crept under the hem of her shirt as if he were testing the waters.

Luna was shocked that she was allowing this to happen. However, there was something about his touch that made her lean in rather than pull away—it wasn’t demanding or greedy, simply desperate.

Luna cocked her head and let out a low groan as his lips touched her neck.

She whimpered, “Dominic,” as his lips and teeth pounded her neck. “Please—”

“Is this too much? Do I need to stop? His lips never left her neck as he asked.

Luna knew she should stop this.

The future alpha and the pack outcast coming together this way was insane.

However, she had no defense against his touch or his gaze. “No,” was her final response. “Please don’t.”

She saw something primal in Dominic’s eyes—his wolf—that was visible through the man’s mask. Then he moved without saying a word. He was sitting one minute, and then he was holding Luna, and the world tipped over as he picked her up as if she were completely weightless.

With a gasp, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her away from the pool and toward the moss-soft area next to the waterfall, the heat of his skin seeping through her clothing.

Her breath caught as he placed her down there, under the open sky, with a sort of reverence. His huge, solid, and hardly restrained body hovered over hers.

Luna’s fingers brushed his jaw. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice strained.

She looked him in the eye. So gray. So haunting.

“Yes—” she barely got the word out of her mouth when he gave her another kiss.

She tensed when he lowered over her, and she felt his hard, thick cock pressing against her.

“This could be painful,” he whispered quietly as he looked into her eyes.

She gave a nod. “I understand.”

Slowly, little by little, he pushed in. She tightened her hold on his hand.

She managed to breathe through the quick, stinging pang.

His brows were furrowed with concern as he abruptly paused. His forehead touched hers. “Are you alright?” he asked.

She gave a nod. “Yes. Just keep going. Don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he answered in a harsh voice. “I’ve got you.” And he did.

As he moved, she held on to him, gently yet firmly. Something warmer took the place of the pain, which was odd at first, then pleasant.

She clenched her legs around him and gasped.

He moaned her name, and suddenly, everything began to fall apart. She sensed a change as his body jerked over hers. His eyes widened. They were struck by an odd brightness which made them bright, silver, and wrong.

“What the hell?” Dominic yelled as he pulled out.

Luna let out a wince when he did. But he wasn’t the only one feeling strange.

There was something within her as well. A weird, throbbing thread that felt like a tether pulling deep inside her chest.

In her mind, she saw flashes of images that weren’t hers. A wolf howling. A flash of fire. A stone altar with the moon raining silver.

She reached for him and murmured, “Dominic. Something is happening. I have no idea what it is—”

Whatever magic had previously been silent was suddenly awakening and tearing through them with an unstoppable force.

Luna let out a gasp as she felt an odd energy that connected her to Dominic in a way that went beyond the physical. She saw images of wolves rushing side by side beneath a full moon, a silver chain tying them together, and other old symbols that seemed to burn themselves into her mind.

Dominic abruptly withdrew from her as if she had scorched him. Then the warmth was gone. The magic wavered. Suddenly cold, Luna sat up and wrapped her arms around her chest.

“Dominic?” Her voice faltered.

He was already standing, his hands frantically tugging at his shirt. When he glanced at her, the love that had been there just moments before had vanished from his face, anger in its place.

“What did you do?” His voice shattered the atmosphere like a whip. “What on earth was that?”

“I also wish I knew!” Luna yelled, wincing as she drew up her knees and wrapped her hands more tightly around her naked self.

Her clothing was wet and strewn all over the rocks. She felt a rush of scorching shame.

“Magic,” spat out Dominic. “You’re a witch.”

The accusation came like a slap. “No, Dominic. I can’t be—”

He interrupted her, saying, “I felt the magic. The draw. The binding. That wasn’t typical. You tried to trap me.”

At his words, Luna broke down in tears. “I swear by my mother and the moon that I would never—”

“You should not exist, because you are an abomination.” She was suddenly afraid of the roughness in his voice. “A wolf who is unable to shift due to your witch blood taint.”

Desperate, she reached for him mindlessly. “Stop doing this. I had no idea—”

“You must go,” he stated icily. “You know what the pack law says about witches. The Elders will kill you if they discover what you are.”

She parted her lips at the absurdity of it. “Are you really kicking me out?”

He stepped back as if her touch may burn him and whispered, “You must go.” His tone was as frigid as ice. “Now. Before someone else finds out.”

Luna looked at him as if she had forgotten who he was. Perhaps she never did know him.

“Go tonight. Forget about the pack.” He paused. “And forgot about me, too.”

“After everything that just happened—" Luna sobbed softly.

“It was a mistake,” he stated bluntly. “Go now, Luna, before I start having second thoughts and take you to the Elders personally.”

The finality in his voice crushed her. It was the second dreadful event that had happened to her this week. Luna collapsed to her knees, worn out. Everything that had just happened to her—her first sexual experience, the rush of power, the hateful way Dominic had stared at her—was too much.

For a long time, she stood there with her bare feet on the stone, her heart shattering once more.

Then she turned slowly away, pulling on her garments with shaking hands.

But she knew that he was correct when he said she had to leave the pack or face death. Tonight she would go. She would change her name, go missing, and bury the truth.

Something moved in her chest as she reached the top of the hill and saw the border of the pack extending out below her. A flicker. A fire. This magic wasn’t something she chose.

But she was chosen. And she would live. Eventually, Dominic Blackwood would come to regret abandoning her.