Rejected By The Beta, Claimed By His Alpha Uncle novel Chapter 27

Inside was a room filled with strange symbols etched in blood across the floor. In the center, a large, metal cage. Inside it an elderly woman. Or what had once been one. She was chained and trembling, her eyes wide and glowing red, skin covered in black runes that writhed like they were alive.

And standing before her, back to Jenna, was Ryker.

Jenna’s breath caught.

His hands were raised, energy swirling at his fingertips. Dark, ancient magic Jenna had never seen before.

The woman in the cage growled in pain as the magic tightened around her. Her voice broke, pleading.

“Ryker, please just kill me. Don’t keep me like this. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen-”

“You broke the vow,” Ryker said, his voice cold and controlled. “You know the penalty.”

“Ryker-” Jenna whispered.

She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until the woman in the cage turned her head.

“Someone’s watching,” she rasped.

Ryker’s head snapped around.

Jenna stumbled back, heart thundering. She turned to run-but he was already there, behind her.

“How long have you been watching?” he asked, voice low, dangerous.

Jenna froze. Her back hit the wall.

“I-I just heard a noise,” she said, trembling. “I didn’t mean to-what are you doing up here?”

Ryker’s expression was unreadable. But something in his eyes-something dark and cruel-shut the hallway in like a cage.

“That’s none of your concern,” he said coldly.

“You have someone locked up like an animal!” Jenna whispered, her voice breaking. “You’re torturing her.”

“She’s a traitor,” Ryker said flatly. “She chose an enemy over her family.”

“She called you by your name,” she whispered. “Who is she? Why is she here?”

She is nobody you should know about. “And she broke my trust,” Ryker growled. “Just like others have. Just like people always do.”

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A cold shiver crept down her spine.

“You keep someone locked up in there for betraying you?”

Ryker didn’t answer.

She tried to push harder.

“Stop,” he barked. “You don’t want to get involved in this.”

“Then tell me the truth,” she whispered. “What are you hiding from me?”

He stepped forward until they were face to face. “My past is darker than anything you’ve faced, little. And if you know more than you’ve seen already … it’ll pull you in, too.”

She stared at him, still in shock.

And in that moment, she understood something terrifying:

Ryker wasn’t just ruthless, he had much darker secrets. She didn’t see. She knew nothing about him before getting into a contract.

Jenna stepped back again, but he followed.

“You weren’t supposed to come up here,” he said, voice low and deadly now. “This floor isn’t for you.”

“I wanted to know who you really were,” she snapped. “And now I do.”

Ryker looked at her, something raw flickering across his features for the briefest moment.

Then it was gone.

“You don’t get to leave, little princess,” he said quietly, stepping closer. “You’ve seen too much now.”

Her hand found the railing.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Jenna said, taking steps backward as her back hit another different door.

His eyes darkened. “You should be, because you get punished for intrusion.”

And then he moved, faster than she could react, pushing the door shut behind her and locking it with a soft click.

Jenna’s jaw dropped at what she was seeing in this other room.

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His to break, his to protect

The door clicked behind her with a quiet finality.

Jenna turned, expecting darkness-but instead, the room was bathed in deep, seductive crimson. The walls were padded in rich red leather, the lighting low and glowing like embers. Chains hung from steel hooks in the corners, cuffs and velvet ropes arranged neatly on a black cabinet. An array of tools-some she couldn’t name, others she wished she couldn’t recognize-lined one wall like weapons.

The air was warmer here. Heavy with scent. Musk. Power. Him.

She backed away slowly, her body pressed to the door.

Ryker stood just a few feet away, no longer pretending to be a mate. There was no disguise now-only the look of a predator.

She spun around, panic rising. “Let me out.”

Ryker didn’t respond. He stepped forward slowly, the way a predator does when the prey is already cornered.

“Why would I do that,” he said slowly, “when you’ve already walked into my territory?”

“I didn’t-” She backed into a wall, her breath shallow. “I didn’t know this was here.”

“But now you do,” he murmured. “And still… you stayed. Curious little thing.”

“I’m not yours to play with.”

“You’re already mine, Little one. You’ve just been fighting it.”

Her jaw clenched. “You think locking me in here is going to change that?”

“No,” he said. “But you will.”

In a flash, he was in front of her. One hand gripped her jaw-not cruelly, but firm, commanding. His thumb brushed her bottom lip.

“You disobeyed me,” he said calmly. “You went where you were warned not to. You stuck your nose in things you don’t understand.”

“I saw you torturing someone.”

“She betrayed me.”

“Is that what happens to everyone who crosses you?” she hissed,

He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. “No. Only the ones I still care about.”

Her breath hitched.

“I should be terrified of you,” she whispered.

“You are.”

“No,” she said, lying.

He chuckled. “Then prove it. Walk away.”

She didn’t move.

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“Why are you showing me this?” Jenna asked, voice shaking. “What is this room?”

His gaze swept her body like flame, possessive, unashamed. “This is where I stop pretending.”

Her breath caught. “You locked me in here.”

“I warned you,” he said calmly, stepping forward. “But you don’t listen. You need to be… reminded of your place.”

She swallowed. “You think you can scare me into submission?”

Ryker’s smile was slow and dark. “No, little princess. I think you want to submit. You just don’t know how to ask for it yet.”

Her skin burned. Her wolf stirred uneasily beneath her ribs, clawing between fear and something darker.

“I should hate you,” she snapped.

“And yet,” he murmured, closing the distance, “your scent betrays you. You’re wet. Confused. Curious.”

He stopped just inches from her, his voice a growl against her skin. “I saw it in your eyes there-terror, yes. But something else. You crave control, but only because no one’s ever shown you what it feels like to give it away.”

His hand lifted to her throat-not squeezing, just holding. Possessive.

“You don’t get to treat me like this,” she hissed.

“I get to do anything I want,” he whispered, pressing her back against the door. “And you-you get to decide if you’ll fight it… or enjoy it.”

Jenna’s heart hammered. Her breath came quickly. She hated how right he was-how every nerve in her body came alive under his touch.

He kissed her hard. Not gentle. Not patient. Just claiming. His other hand slid down her spine, gripping her ass roughly as he pinned her to the wall.

Jenna moaned, arching into him despite herself.

His lips broke away, voice ragged. “Say you don’t want this, and I’ll stop.”

She couldn’t speak.

Her silence was his answer.

And her body betrayed her-wet, throbbing, desperate.

She hated him for it.

She hated herself more.

He leaned in, brushing his lips over her jaw. “Tell me to stop.”

She didn’t.

Ryker’s hand slid under her nightdress, rough fingers brushing the sensitive skin of her thigh. “Tell me to stop, Little one.”

Still, she said nothing.

His voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s what I thought.”

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