Rejected and claimed by the alpha beast Novel by Paige T

Elise couldn’t help but blink back in surprise at Rygan’s words, taken aback by the absurdity of his game.

“I’m going to be hunting you,” Elise repeated, speechless as she watched the alpha take off his shirt, nodding in affirmation.

“Yes, I’ll be training you to hunt today; it’s to hone and sharpen your senses, especially to know how to track your enemies. Thirty seconds ahead, and if you cannot find me before then, I win, and my wish will be very much intent on what I want,” he answered, his eyes darkened with those words.

Elise couldn’t help but feel a shiver spread down her spine from his husky tone. A promise of his win.

His pants came off next, leaving him naked. He strapped the oddly large bag to his chest as he shifted into his wolf form; now the bag hung snugly and more comfortably by his side.

“Do not idly waste time, Elsie; remember, I am not your companion or friend right now but an enemy you need to face and fight because after two more howls, I will begin to hunt you,” he explained.

His mighty wolf stood at a great height; she couldn’t help but admire his enormous claws and take in a deep breath as she imagined facing that without her wolf.

His wolf bent until his snout was at her head’s length, making sure she couldn’t track him before he started. But his dark cedarwood scent did things to her; she didn’t know why her wolf was reacting this way, and she wondered if she was sick.

No, there was no time to wonder, she thought as Rygan shouted, gently patting her arms. “Something wrong?” he asked Elise. but she shook her head.

With her reassurance, he let out a great howl, marking the beginning of the hunt. He sped into the deep woods in a second, and Elise could barely take a second to get a good look at where he was.

His scent, heavy in the air, immediately faded into the dense forest. He could hide his scent from his enemies, making it ten times harder for a normal wolf to get a scent.

Elise began her sprint, following clues from his trail and warm leaves imprinted with his scent. “Come on, Wolfie, I need those powers to be able to track him and hear him, just like I got that hearing power before,” she said to her wolf, only to get a whine in return.

Her wolf was not budging, still angry from Elise’s refusal of Rygan yesterday. “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” she muttered, heading to the denser area of the woods. Though it was light out, the dense forest made it hard for light to cascade through.

For some reason, she felt warmer than usual. For a moment, she wondered if she was getting sick or if it was just her imagination. She leaned against a tree, closing her eyes to breathe for a second. “You have to win this,” she muttered, shoving the dizziness aside.

Her boots crushed the dry leaves as she pushed hard to stay sturdy and low. She reached a boulder, which would have been so much easier to climb in her wolf form, but her wolf still resisted.

Just when she thought the trail was getting closer, she heard another howl meters away, the second signal and a warning for the hunt to be more intense.

She set off in a sprint, heading through beaches and dark parts of the mountain terrain to chase him; she couldn’t let the third howl pass. That meant he’d win the game.

One howl in the morning, another signal in the afternoon, and now it was night–a howl for each time of the day. The moon was high up in the sky; she looked up to it, drawing its power from the rays as she concentrated hard.

A warm determination filled her inside as she closed her eyes, seeking and searching for that brewing power beneath her skin to come out to the surface.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered, closing her eyes. She recalled what Rygan said. She found that second heartbeat, her wolf’s, “We need to do this together. I accept all of you, just as you accept me. All your desires are all mine; we are one.” She gasped out a heated breath as she felt a sharp pain.

She heard Rygan’s voice again, imagining what he’d say to her. believe in you, El; you can do it; fight through it,” his voice commanded. That was her trigger.

A primal cry ripped from Elise’s throat. She felt the ground and air change, dissolving into blurry shadows and swirls as at searing pain tore through her body. Her bones felt like they were being ripped apart, then slammed back together in full Snow White fur, her fingers contoured and shaped into black claws.

A feral whimper escaped her as a result of the transformation. The pain was a white–hot inferno, but beneath it, a raw, exhilarating power surged as her breath finally calmed. Elise was how fully in wolf form.

Now that she was in the zone, her senses heightened as she walked closer, becoming one with the darkness. It felt like a gift the way she glided through the shadows, like she was born to do this.

She gained closer, lurking behind Rygan just as he was about to get his third howl out. A loud growl shook the atmosphere as he turned to see fangs and claws emerge from Elise as she prowled from the darkness.

A violent tug ensued as both wolves thrashed and snarled at each other, almost in sync with their attack on Rygan, who had let Elise pin him down in their wolf form. “I got you,” she sent down the link.

When Rygan accepted his defeat, she got off him, and he looked at her in admiration. “Good job! You turned into your wolf,” he praised.

“Y–you watched?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t my turn to interfere; you did it yourself, and you are a wolf, a magnificent creature.”

Her wolf felt so elated by this; her tail wagged, and her wolf jumped and circled Rygan in happiness. She was in control, but it felt weird to be in this wolf form; her legs and claws felt so unnatural as it was her first real turn.

“Run with me,” he told her as they began to race. Elise felt the wind breaking in her fur as she glided through the trees with Rygan by her side, her wolf legs faster than her human ones, as she followed Rygan out of the woods and into an open space.

It was the cliff by the mountain that overlooked the lights shining in the whole pack; it was breathtaking, Rygan’s home, and a place she wanted to protect from Kyren at all costs. She was going to.

She sat down on her hind legs to take in the view for a minute. She felt Rygan move from his position, and she was intrigued. to see what he was doing.

He morphed back into his human form, and Elise quickly turned away. “Remind me before you do that, would you?” she growled with a grumble, but she was stunned to hear a chuckle from Rygan, amused by her reaction as he put on his pants.

His upper torso was still bare; she couldn’t help but admire his toned body and that branded tattoo on his arm–his pride as the pack’s alpha. He walked closer to her, reaching out his hand for the permission that Elise gave.

She watched his hand glide through her fur, scratching her nape. It caused an exhilarating rush of delight, and she yelped in response, and for the first time, she saw a full–fledged smile with pride stretched on his lips.

His hands caressed her face before he brought both their foreheads together, her large wolf frame almost towering over him. “You’re beautiful, El; I’m so proud of you.”

Moons, how could a man be so perfect? How could one word from him make her feel so at peace as she felt her tail wag again?

“Now,” he said, breaking her thoughts. “Your second and most important task is to change back. I don’t want you trapped in your form with no way out,” he said softly.

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