Rejected by My Alpha Now He Replaced Me with a Copycat Luna novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Raven’s POV

Raised voices sounded, and I frowned, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from. “Who is that?”

Dexter was already sliding off his stool, and I moved to follow him toward the back doors. The voices got louder the closer we got. Nox emerged from The Lair, clearly having been disrupted, as well. We spilled out onto the back patio to find Asher and Kael yelling back and forth as a massive bonfire raged in the background.

Only someone was moving around the fire-someone tossing various items into the blaze. Ezra.

I hadn’t seen his face since he’d taken me down from the hook. Now, my stomach cramped. He looked awful. His eyes were sunken, the hollows dark. His hair was up in a knotted tangle, and his scruff had tipped into unkempt beard territory.

But it was what he held in his hands that had a sick feeling sweeping through me. “Are those what I think they are?”

Asher’s gaze snapped to me. “If you think they’re heads, then yes.”

I gaped at the man I could see had a feral edge to him now. He threw a head into the fire, but as it spun, I recognized it as one of the guys from the Infernos. He’d broken two of my fingers before slicing my thighs with a blade-and had threatened worse.

I couldn’t find any regret that the man had been wiped from the Earth. I knew he hadn’t only caused me pain. He’d hurt so many others. And Ezra was doing them all a service.

He tossed head after head into the blaze as Kael and Asher argued off to the side. I could hear snippets of the conversation, each wanting to take a different approach to reining Ezra in.

Nox leaned into me, his arm pressing against mine in a show of comfort. “When Ezra gets like this, the only thing that helps is making sure the threat has been neutralized. He needs to make sure the person he cares about is safe.”

My heart broke for him. The only outlet Ezra seemed to have was pain.

It was how he made his way through the world. All he understood.

“It’s his way of telling you he’s sorry,” Dexter said softly.

“Nothing like heads in a bonfire,” I muttered.

Dexter’s lips twitched. “Just be glad he didn’t dump them on your bed or something.”

Hell.

But as I watched Ezra lay waste to at least a dozen, I felt a deep sadness settle over me. When he threw the last one in, I moved, crossing the space to get to him. But just before I reached him, two figures stepped into my path, towering over me,

“Don’t,” Asher clipped. “Not when he’s in this state.”

A muscle fluttered in Kael’s cheek. “He’s right, Ezra needs time to calm down.”

I scowled at them both. “What he needs is connection.” And even though Ezra had hurt me with his silence and doubts, I couldn’t leave him alone. Because I knew what alone felt like,

“It’s too dangerous,” Kael ground out.

11:00

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

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“I know what I can handle. Now, move.” I barked the words, my anger at so many things bubbling to the surface.

Hurt flickered across Kael’s face, but I refused to let it in.

A low growl sounded behind them. Ezra bared his teeth, and I knew that if these two didn’t move, we’d all be in serious trouble. I didn’t wait. I shoved through the small opening between their bodies as Asher cursed. But I didn’t stop, I grabbed Ezra by his T-shirt and tugged him after me.

He needed distance from the death and destruction. Distance from the pack tension. Space to let his wolf breathe.

I guided him to the stream as his anger, rage, and guilt raked against my emotional shields like its own kind of torture. Kicking off my shoes, I stepped into the water. “Bend down,” I ordered.

Ezra’s head tilted to the side in that animalistic way of his as he studied me.

“Please,” I said, softening my tone.

He did as I asked but kept a wary eye on me.

I pulled Ezra down a little farther, dunking his hands into the stream. I rubbed his palms, clearing away all signs of blood, any reminder of what he’d done. The more distance he got from that violence, the better. I just hoped the guys were doing away with the bonfire business.

Ezra’s eyes closed, and he let out a pained noise.

I stilled but didn’t let go. “Too much?”

He shook his head, his eyes opening again. That swirling blue-green held so much agony. “Feels too good. I don’t deserve it.”

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