Page 5 of Rejected By the Alpha

“I had no choice but to reject Kaylee. My father placed an alpha command on me to reject and hit her!” I yell back, watching Simon pause for a moment.

“He wanted you to hit her?” my friend asks, his tone turning hard and his blood humming with a rage that I feel is directed at my father.

“Yes. It was the only part of the command that I could resist. The bond wouldn’t let me hurt her like that,” I admit, looking down in defeat. From the corner of my eye, I spot the pieces of paper in Simon’s hand and stare at them. They smell like Kaylee, and my heart clenches.

“What are those?” I ask through clenched teeth, glaring at the wolf before me. I know he only punched me because I hurt her,but I am still pissed off. I am his future alpha, and he has no right to attack me.

“None of your goddamned business Lucas,” he scoffs, turning his body to hide the papers out of my view.

“Just know that Kaylee wrote everything, from how she found out that you two are mates and the trial that she thinks was staged. You are a moron for listening to your father all these years,” Simon continues with a low growl. I growl back, not liking the disrespect from my friend.

“Like I said, my father went against my will and commanded me to do it. What would you expect me to do in that situation?” I ask back, watching Simon stare at me with disappointment.

“I would have expected you to be a fucking alpha, and fight for her. Kaylee would have trained and protected our pack from Alpha Nathaniel Cross.” His voice is quiet, but his words are filled with honesty.

“You don’t know that,” I scoff back, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I do know that. Kaylee was the alpha this pack needed, considering you just do what your father commands you to do without a fight. This time, I hope you don’t regret being a mindless puppet to him.” With his final words said, Simon turns on his heels and marches out of my room, slamming the door when he leaves.

Left alone in my room with Kaylee’s scent invading me, I crumble onto my bed and pull the pillow she slept on into my arms.

I won’t regret what I did to her. It had to be done to protect Oak Fur.

So why does my heart feel so broken?

6

Kaylee

Watching Adam and Henry play-fight on the bed, I think about the days when Simon and I would wrestle like this. We were both an only child, our respective parents having decided one pup was enough. We grew up as neighbors, just five minutes from one another, and the two of us became each other’s siblings, even if Simon is two years older than me.

I need to call him, now that it’s been a week since we left Oak Fur. I did promise in my letter that I would call him as soon as my number was changed.

“Penny for your thoughts?” I jump at Miss Amelia’s voice, realizing she and David have returned from getting breakfast and I did not notice them coming back in. Some beta I make.

“I was thinking about Simon,” I explain, taking the bag of McDonald’s from her and thanking her for the food.

“About what?” she questions, as she hands Lace her meal.

“I was thinking of calling him and giving him my new number. I know he won’t share it without my permission.” Continuing my train of thought, I take a hash brown out of the bag and shove it into my mouth, getting a giggle from Lace when she catches me and an eye roll from Miss Amelia.

“Well, you should do it when we drive to our next destination. David found a pack that he has friends in, and we might be able to join them.” I perk up at the mention of a new pack, the idea of belonging in one again after seven days of being a rogue and being chased away sounds like an unanswered prayer.

“How far away is it?” I ask, ready to be done with motels and driving all day.

“About three days away. Think you can last that long?” David is the one to answer, as he finishes corralling Adam and Henry, the two pups now devouring their breakfast while Lace sits quietly watching a movie on the ancient-looking television in the motel room we rented last night.

“What is the pack’s name?” Adam asks through a mouthful of a sausage and egg McMuffin.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full!” Miss Amelia chides him, as I hide my laughter. I think I am becoming a bad influence on these pups.

“It’s called Silver Paw,” David answers his son. The name sounds familiar, and I wrack my brain trying to find why I know the name of it.

“Isn’t that the weakest in the country?” I ask once I manage to remember where I heard the name from. It was during one of Alpha Ramos’ rants about wanting to expand Oak Fur. About him wanting to attack Silver Paw and claim the land, but my father reasoned with him. Silver Paw is a ten-day drive from Oak Fur, so even if Ramos attacked it, the land would not be able to merge with Oak Fur’s land unless Alpha Ramos made a trade with another pack. The defeated Silver Paw land, for land closer to Oak Fur.

“It is, but the alpha there agreed that we can join if we help strengthen the pack. You know how to train pups, and David and I can train the adults.” This time Miss Amelia answers the question. I feel the power of my blood radiate at the thought of training pups once again and smile. Joining Silver Paw will be a good thing for us.

“Well then, we better finish breakfast and hit the road. We have three days of driving before we reach our new home!” I state excitedly, Lace throwing her hands in the air cheering ‘New Home’ over and over again, making all of us laugh. Our meal is finished within minutes, and we pack the small number of items we brought inside last night for our stay. Lace was sad to hear she couldn’t join me on the next stretch of our drive, but I explained to her that I have some things I need to do alone. After promising her that she can switch back to riding in my truck at the first rest stop, she happily bounds over to her father’s truck.

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