The Perfect Rejection

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Roxanne!"

I jerked awake to someone shaking me. I looked around wildly until Ryland's face came into focus. My breathing was erratic and my body was covered in sweat. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, moving my hair away from my face.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, just a nightmare," I mumbled.

"Okay well if you want to get out of here, we need to be at the border in a few minutes," he told me and I scrambled out of the bed.

"Okay, do we have any weapons by chance? They took all of the ones that I kept in my closet."

"Yeah I've got two daggers since we probably won't be able to sneak past the guards," he said, pulling them out from the waistband of his pants. He handed one to me and I took it, twirling it around in my hand.

"I have a feeling that if we make it to the Night Pack, Thayne is going to declare war," I muttered.

"I wouldn't doubt it, how strong is the Night Pack?"

"Really strong, they have a lot fewer wolves but they're all well trained and absolutely lethal."

"Then we don't really have anything to worry about," he said with a small smile.

I nodded slowly, sucking in a shaky breath. "We better get going," I murmured.

Ryland leaned down so that his face was level with mine. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah I think so." My voice cracked a little and I winced.

He sighed heavily and pulled me against him in a tight hug. I buried my face in his chest and tried to calm my nerves.

"We're gonna be okay, everything's going to be okay," he whispered, stroking my hair.

I nodded, trusting his words. "Okay," I breathed and blinked back the tears that sprung to my eyes.

***

My hand was shaking. So badly I almost dropped the knife.

Roxanne pull yourself together! You've killed dozens of times before this! My wolf snarled at me.

This is different!

No it's not! Every wolf in this pack works for Thayne and they're just as bad as he is!

I made a face. What the hell? Why do hate Thayne all of the sudden? You were the one who made me go back to him in the first place! I growled.

Aetrix sighed in annoyance. Give me a break, I liked his power. Being a powerful alpha's mate is my dream but Thayne is an asshole that obviously doesn't want to share the power so he can go fuck himself and find a pathetic little pup to be his mate, he grumbled.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, completely dumbfounded on what to say. You've got to be kidding me, I finally managed. You put me through all this shit because you wanted to be an alpha again?

Cut me some slack! I am an extremely powerful wolf with alpha blood that was stuck as a Beta for fuck's sake! he growled.

Fuck you, you're a selfish dick, I spat, ending the connection with him.

My anger and frustration displaced all of my anxiety and I let out a growl as I glanced at the guards again.

I made eye contact with Ryland, hiding behind a tree like I was just a few meters away. He gave me a nod and I took a deep breath.

I crept out from behind the tree, carefully stepping around twigs and leaves until I was just behind the guards. I watched one sniff the air and I leapt forward, slapping a hand around his mouth and sliding the knife quickly across his throat.