Rejected by My Alpha Now He Replaced Me with a Copycat Luna novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Asher’s POV

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

The kitchen still smelled of burnt butter and that damn woman’s scent-something wild and green that didn’t belong in a dive bar. My knuckles ached from the brief scuffle, the phantom pressure of her wrist still tingling against my palm.

Dexter’s voice cut through my thoughts. “You realize you just assaulted an employee, right?”

I turned slowly, meeting his glare. “And you’re cozying up to a stranger armed with a blade. Tell me, when did we stop being cautious?”

My packmate rolled his eyes, bending to retrieve the fallen skillet. “Oh please, like you’ve never appreciated a beautiful woman with dangerous edges.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” I growled. The most effective assassins I’d encountered all shared two traits: striking looks that disarmed their targets, and the skill to slide a knife between ribs before their victim realized the danger. That woman checked both boxes.

Dexter inspected the ruined sandwich with ridiculous solemnity before tossing it. “For the record, she’s been here weeks without incident. Joe

vouches for her.”

“Joe’s a human who thinks paprika is spicy,” I countered. “His judgment means nothing.”

Watching Dexter grate more of that obscenely expensive cheese he favored, I catalogued the inconsistencies. The way she’d moved-too precise for bar brawls, too controlled for underground rings. That palm strike had been military-grade.

“Tell me about her,” I demanded.

Dexter’s knife stilled. “Ask nicely.”

I bit back a snarl. “Pretty please, enlighten me about the knife-carrying stranger who just held her own against a trained killer twice her size?”

The silence stretched as Dexter layered ingredients with infuriating care. I saw the moment my words registered-the subtle tightening around

his eyes.

“You’re paranoid,” he said finally.

“Paranoid?” My laugh came out harsh. “We just dismantled a dark mage coven, Dex. The Shadowpine wolves still have a bounty on Kael’s head.

And let’s not forget-”

“I haven’t.” Dexter’s voice dropped, all humor gone. The sudden shift reminded me why he was second-in-command-beneath the charm lived a predator just as lethal as the rest of us. Dexter met my gaze, all humor gone. “You think I’d risk the pack?”

The quiet hurt in his voice gave me pause. For all his playboy antics, Dexter’s loyalty was absolute. If he trusted this woman, there had to be a

reason.

But as the scent of melting butter filled the kitchen, one thought consumed me:

That fight hadn’t been nearly as one-sided as it should’ve been.

“Is there any

e?” he asked, his voice dropping.

sent a ripple of dark energy through my veins. Normally, I could control the physical reactions-keep the claws but some wounds ran too deep.

Rejected by My Alpha, Now He Replaced Me with a Copycat Luna?

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“Nox’s running point now that we’re back,” I said, forcing calm into my voice that I didn’t feel. The lie tasted bitter-no amount of surveillance would erase what that pack had taken from me.

Dexter’s gaze sharpened, catching the tension in my shoulders. “You know I’ve got your six,” he said quietly, flipping the sandwich with unnecessary force.

“I know.” The words came out clipped. “Right now, I need intel on that woman.”

There was something wrong with her scent. Human, but… filtered. Muted. Like looking at the sun through smoked glass. When I’d pinned her, the urge to press my nose to that pale throat had been nearly overwhelming. Even now, traces of wild sage and something inexplicable-like wind through mountain pines-clung to the air around me.

Dexter brandished his spatula toward the stool. “Sit. Your brooding aura’s ruining my cooking mojo.”

I considered refusing, but the scent was strongest where she’d been seated. Moving would betray how it affected me. So I sat, deliberately

casual as I pushed her empty plate aside.

“Raven,” Dexter began, as if testing the name. “Showed up about two months ago looking for work. Took the bartending gig and the apartment

upstairs.”

My eyes traveled upward instinctively. What secrets did those rooms hold? Not frilly decor-that didn’t fit her sharp edges. Not some goth lair either-too obvious. Something in-between, probably. Practical but with hidden depths.

A grudging respect settled in my chest. She hadn’t flinched. Hadn’t backed down. Just met my aggression with equal fury and skill that spoke of professional training.

Dexter slid a perfect golden sandwich toward me. “The only threat she ever post in the past hour is telling me if I put funny things in her drink,

she’s gonna feed me my own nuts. I mean, come on, how can I not love her?”

“She’s got spine, I’ll give her that.” I grunted, tearing into the food to avoid admitting how much that spine intrigued me. The cheese burned my tongue, but I welcomed the pain-anything to distract from the scent still wrapping around me like invisible chains.

Because the most dangerous realization wasn’t that she could fight.

It was that part of me wanted to see her do it again.

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