THE ALPHA KING'S REJECTED MATE (TO BE OR NOT TO BE)

POV Mara

Someone had been in my room.

I could tell the minute I opened the door.

Nothing was missing from my closet.CHAPTER 3 -- THE ROOM THAT HAD BEEN SEARCHED

My bag still hung from the doorknob.

But everything was a little off.

The drawer was open.

My books were misplaced.

And the small box with wooden furniture where I kept all my mom's stuff was tilted to the side.

I walked towards it slowly.

My wolf was already on edge, sensing something was wrong.

I grabbed the box and opened it.

Inside was a photograph of my mother, standing next to a man I didn't recognize.

His face was familiar, though, the kind of familiar that made my heart race.

He was in the royal portraits.

Alaric Blackthorn, Damian's father.

I stared at the picture, noting how my mother was smiling, while Alaric's expression was tense, as if the picture was taken in the middle of an important discussion.

I turned the photograph to see if there was any writing on the back.

There was something there, scribbled on the edge.

The date.

It was the year my mother disappeared.

My heart pounded louder in my ears.

Why was my mother with Alaric Blackthorn?

Why did she never tell me about him?

Why did someone break into my room searching for this photograph?

'What is that?'

I turned around and saw Damian in the doorway.

His eyes landed on the photograph while his entire face paled.

You.

I clenched the photograph tighter.

"You knew him too."

Damian came into the room and took the photograph from my hands.

His expression twisted into something that was between horror and anger.

'Where did you get that?'

'It was my mother's.'

Damian studied the photograph.

For a moment, he seemed to forget that he was the almighty alpha king, and all that was left of him was the face of a betrayed son.

'Where was this taken?'

'I don't know.'

'Did your mother ever tell you about my father?'

'No.'

'Did she ever mention the royal family? The Blackthorns?'

'No.'

He looked up at me.

'She succeeded.'

'Succeeded at what?'

'Keeping you hidden from us.'

I stepped closer to him.

'You always say that.'

'Because it's true.'

'From who?'

Damian averted his gaze.

'I don't know everyone involved.'

'But you know someone.'

His silence was enough of an answer.

This was the same silence I saw when he first rejected me.

'You rejected me because of this, didn't you?'

'Yes.'

'Because of my mother?'

'Because of what happened to her.'

I stared into his eyes.

'What happened to her?'

Damian clenched his jaw.

'I was too young to understand.'

'You know she disappeared.'

'Yes.'

'And you know why.'

He looked me in the eyes.

'She discovered something she wasn't meant to find out.'

'What kind of something?'

Damian hesitated.

The way he was staring at me told me he was afraid of the answer.

He opened his mouth, but the lights suddenly went out.

Darkness surrounded the room.

I stood paralyzed, hearing something in the dark.

A hand was coming towards me.

Damian grabbed me and pulled me behind him.

My wolf growled, then something cold and rough brushed against my neck.

My pendant.

'Damian, someone took my pendant!'

His curse echoed in the room, and the lights suddenly turned on.

Everything was quiet.

The room was empty.

I looked down and saw the broken chain that used to hold my pendant.

Not there.

My mother's pendant, the one thing I had with me most of my life, was gone.

'I need to find that pendant,'

Damian whispered.

'They didn't come to look for the photograph. They came to look for the pendant."

'Why?"

He glanced at the door.

'The pendant is a key to the royal vault.'