A Rejected Wolf and a Court of Ash (Eden and Azriel) novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Eden

Logan stormed off like a toddler denied candy and my cell is quiet again. Too quiet. I only have the dripping water and the mice running over the cold floors keeping me company. Gods, am I going to go insane here? Cabin fever, anyone?

To keep my mind busy, I think back to what just happened. Did Logan really say he was falling for me?

Nah, wishful thinking of the mind. The Alpha doesn’t like me, or he would actually stand up for me and not let me rot in here.

A few hours pass…or maybe more. Time is hard to keep track of when you’re withering away in the pack dungeons.

Eventually, I hear footsteps.

Heavy. Bored.

A warrior wolf appears, carrying a metal tray. Whatever is on it smells so bad I gag before he reaches the door.

“Breakfast,” he grunts, sliding the tray through the gap.

I look down.

Moldy bread. Some suspicious–looking slop. A cup of what appears to be lemon juice that’s probably half bacteria, or maybe even werewolf pee.

I wrinkle my nose. “Wow. Fine dining. Do I tip you, or just cry directly into the food?”

He snorts but doesn’t leave.

I glance up at him, taking in his broad shoulders. He is definitely strong. The lazy tilt of his mouth tells me that he knows this. Weird how he isn’t meeting my eyes. Does he think that he is better than me or something?

My fox doesn’t like that idea, and I feel her anger rising.

For fun and because I’m slowly going insane from being locked up in here, I flutter my lashes like I’m pretty. I even pout with my lips, pretending to twirl a strand of my messy red hair around one finger.

“Come on, handsome,” I purr in a sultry voice. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything… better back there for me, would you?”

It’s a joke. A sarcastic, stupid one. I’m expecting him to laugh or maybe insult me.

Instead, his entire body goes still.

His nostrils flare and then something strange happens.

“I’ll… I’ll get you something else,” he stammers, and then he spins around so fast he almost drops the entire goddamn tray.

I blink when the pack warrior hustles down the hall like his ass is on fire.

Did I just… compel him? Like a goddamn vampire?

I think back to the way he looked at me. It wasn’t a normal attraction. It was almost… trance–like.

The realization hits me like a brick to the face,

Holy shit!

My fox has powers. Not brute strength or snarling dominance. Clever trickery!

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Chapter 42

I hug my knees to my chest, grinning like an absolute lunatic. I’ve never been powerful or had anything going for myself, but now

I’m not a weakling anymore, but a ticking time bomb!

Ten minutes later, the pack warrior returns. His cheeks flushed, hands carrying a tray with actual food. I mean, it’s still prison food, but at least the bread i isn’t growing new life forms.

The tray is placed on the floor. Then pushed through the gap. Not a word is being spoken by the pack warrior. I think he is afraid of me. He is avoiding my eyes like I might strip him naked with a glance.

Which, honestly, I’m a little tempted to try to see if it would work.

Instead, I murmur, “Thank you, handsome.”

He lets out a strangled noise and flees down the hall.

The guy doesn’t like compliments, huh? I bite my lip to keep from cackling. Having powers is fun and Moon Goddess help the ones who ever thought was powerless because when I get out of this cage? I’m burning down the Valentine pack.

I eat the food slowly, savoring every crumb like it’s some five–star meal.

The guard doesn’t come back.

Smart of him.

I stretch out on the floor, staring at the cracks above me, and that’s when I feel a shiver.

You are not weak, it says without words. You never were.

I shiver.

It’s my fox.

Or maybe it’s me. The real me, who has been locked away, gagged, and shoved into a corner by fear and survival instincts for so long that she is tired of hiding. Up until now, I’ve acted small so people wouldn’t stomp on me.

But now?

I’m too angry to hide.

The next time I hear footsteps, they are different ones and I’m more than ready to let my fox come out and play.

My new guard is taller, bulkier and definitely dumber.

Perfect.

I plaster a look of innocence on my face. I even straighten my back to look like a princess, hands folded neatly in my lap.

The moment my new victim is within earshot, I let my lower lip wobble. “Excuse me… Sir, could you maybe… help me? I’m so scared. And cold, I think… I think I might faint.”

He slows, eyeing me.

I dial up the trembling act.

He steps closer to the bars.

Bingo.

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Chapter 42

I blink up at him, letting the fox magic slip out of my pores like vaporized honey.

“Please,” I whisper, knowing my voice is laced with my powers, “Could you… Maybe open the door? Just for a minute? I won’t run, I promise.”

The guard blinks.

I can see the battle behind his eyes. The logical part screaming no and the entranced part melting like butter.

For a long second, I think he’s going

But then…

to resist.

Clink.

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