Page 63 of Rejected By the Alpha

“What makes you sure he will go to war with us? He seems quite happy with Lucas and you gone!” I can see that Marco is trying to wrap his head around this notion, and his denial agitates me. Taking a deep breath, I look back to the screen with the emailed photo Ramos sent to Jordan. It was the one taken just after my high school graduation, back in May. Just three days before I turned eighteen. I was excited to be done with school, ready to take on my heritage as a beta, and train under Amelia and Kurt for a few years before Kurt retired. Then my birthday came, and the rejection on June first.

“Because right now, the Assembly just ended a week ago, and the fact that Amelia and I are in charge of Ivory Fangs is still kept secret. We have a year until the next Assembly, to train, to grow, and to prepare for the worst-case scenario once Ramos knows the she-wolf he tried to kill and his sister are our leaders,” I yell back, eyes widening as I realize what I just said. Marco takes a few steps forward, his eyes locked on mine as I see the anger replacing the panic.

“What do you mean, he tried to kill you?” he demands.

“It’s exactly like she said.” Before I can answer, someone else does. Lucas steps into my office, two plates of food precariously balanced on his left arm while he closes the door. Ignoring the tension in the room, he makes his way to the front of my desk, setting the plates down.

“I thought you would be hungry, so I brought you something to eat. Even got you your favorite, cream soda.” He smiles at me as he takes out a can of cream soda from his pocket, placing it beside the plate closest to me. Marco scoffs at this, rolling his eyes as I tentatively take the plate of food and sniff it. After my stint with Jordan, I am still cautious of my food being drugged. Lucas notices this and his smile turns sad, before reaching over and snatching a piece of fruit from the plate and popping it into his mouth, chewing it slowly before swallowing it.

“It’s safe, Kay. I promise that.” The small bond hums as he tells the truth, his concern for me adding another point of healing. Deciding I can trust the food, I take a bite of a sausage while Marco looks at me like I am a traitor.

“Back to the conversation I seem to have walked into, Ramos tried to have Kaylee killed last year. It’s the event that killed her parents.” Before I can stop him, Lucas explains everything Kurt told us earlier. Marco listens intently, shock, horror, and sadness flashing across his face while I quietly eat my food. Lucas was right, I was hungry—hungrier than usual actually.

“So, because your father—”

“That man is no longer my father,” Lucas cuts Marco off with a snarl, making me growl at him. He is still a rogue, and will notdisrespect my friend and head warrior. He turns to me, shocked, before realizing his mistake and apologizes for snarling.

“Got it. You disowned him,” Marco mutters after silence settles over the room.

“Because Ramos wants power, he agreed to the betrothal. And then killed your mother because she was ready to turn him in to the council, so that Kaylee and you could be together like she saw in her vision?” Marco continues his train of thought. I nod, and Lucas hums a noise of agreement.

“But no one else really knew about the betrothal except for a select few, and so to stop Kaylee’s parents from stopping the future wedding of you and Marilyn Cross, he had rogues attack and kill her parents.”

“And tried to kill me as well,” I add in.

“Has anyone ever told you that your life sucks?” Marco asks Lucas, getting a laugh out of him.

“Kaylee used to all the time, when Ramos and I would get into a fight. Then Simon took over that role when she…when…” Lucas answers, his voice trailing off as he turns to look at me. The guilt is still there, but it is slowly leaving him as we grow closer. I can even see the wounds on his face slowly healing, and wonder why they were still so prominent on his face even now.

“Either way, Ramos is to blame for everything,” I decide to say, breaking the awkwardness.

“With Kurt, Simon, and Lucas here, we can prepare for the war and for training. Give me another few days of bed rest, and Iwill be joining everyone in the training facilities.” Marco sighs before agreeing that war is inevitable, now that he has the full details. With that, I link Royce, asking him to find and bring Simon to my office. Amelia will be busy planning our decoy town that will bring in revenue for the pack this year, as well as running the day-to-day operations, while playing diplomat with the packs around us. This means training and war preparations will be up to me. Royce appears soon, Simon trailing behind him, grumbling he wanted to go home with his mate while he takes a seat on one of the available chairs.

With Marco and Lucas taking the lead explaining our impromptu meeting, Simon agrees that the threat of war is imminent, and that he is ready to help prepare Ivory Fangs. With everyone in agreement, we get to planning. The first step for me will be to have a clean bill of health. But until then, I can help organize training schedules and set up emergency evacuation drills.

68

Kurt

Climbing onto the bus with David, I look around to find Edison and Ash sitting on the first few seats. Maya, the eldest of the remaining Harvest Willow wolves, had thankfully picked up when I called using Amelia’s office phone. She was shocked to hear from me, news of Marilyn and Ramos having reached them already, and had worried that I had been killed by the tyrant and his whore. Her surprise turned into disbelief when I told her I was in Ivory Fangs, and that Amelia was the alpha. She didn’t believe me at first, and I tried convincing the twenty-six-year-old that Amelia no longer lived in Oak Fur, and mentioned how she left due to Ramos’ treatment of Kaylee. When that was mentioned, Maya finally relented and listened to me.

When Amelia finally joined me in her office thirty minutes later, she asked to speak with Maya, telling her that she and all the other Harvest Willow wolves would be welcomed into the pack, if they wanted to join. I knew it wasn’t guaranteed, that theirpast of dealing with Oak Fur and Ramos had left scars on them mentally and physically. Maya asked for some time to think and talk to the others, before the line went dead. I felt hopeless last night, thinking that the remainder of my home pack would turn their backs and stay rogue. Then the phone rang, and Maya asked me to come get her and the others. That they were ready for a forever home.

From there, Amelia called Edison and Ash into her office, where I explained my past with Lidia and Kaylee’s parents once more. They were furious on my behalf, but also sympathized with Kaylee and Lucas. Ash even seemed remorseful for how he treated Lucas when they first met. We planned to depart the next morning, the two wolves reluctantly heading to their homes to pack and prepare.

“How long will we be on the road?” Ash asks, playing with a dagger in his hands.

“About seven days, depending on traffic,” I answer with a smile, getting behind the wheel. Ash groans, having barely been home between carting runaways from Oak Fur to Ivory Fangs and then heading to take down Shadow Moon a few days later.

“Stop your complaining, Ash. Who knows, your mate might be part of this group,” David chuckles, patting the wolf on the shoulder. Ash just sighs, agreeing that this is an opportunity to find his mate, but he wishes to just be able to stay home and rest. I send him an apologetic smile before turning the bus on, and after checking everything, set off. I haven’t seen Maya in three years, too afraid that Ramos would find them all. Now, I have hope. Hope that we can all find a new home. Hope that the pups orphaned by that asshole can grow up in a loving pack again.

“What is Maya like?” Edison asks as we leave Ivory Fangs’ territory, interest in the warrior’s eyes.

“She is headstrong and righteous,” I answer, my smile turning soft.

“When she was a pup, she would find ways to train with the warriors of Harvest Willow. We didn’t have a pup-specified training facility like Ivory Fangs, but she was definitely a spitfire.” Talking about Maya brings up memories of visiting Harvest Willow after Lidia married Ramos. Of the fear she had when she saw Ramos for the first time, worried that the tyrant would take her too, considering Lidia was only eighteen when Ramos—who was thirty at the time—came to claim her.

“So, she is a troublemaker with a heart of gold,” David states, getting a chuckle out of me.

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