Page 3 of Rejected Bullied Mate

Despite being from shifter parents, Kiera appeared to have been human without magic. So when I smelled her heat on her and discovered that she was an Omega, it was a shock. Omegas were rare, and they often went undiscovered until their first heat manifested.

Like most of the other pack members, I'd written her off as worthless and boring, but everything had changed that day. She wasn't worthless anymore; she was an Omega, and she belonged to me.

I was a new Alpha at the time, and her surprise and appreciation at my attention had broken me down. I'd been soft with Kiera, taken her to bed, and mated her like she wasn't the lowest member in the pack hierarchy. I'd shown her affection, and she'd returned it tenfold. It made me feel powerful and possessive, like I couldn't get enough of the little Omega.

I’d knotted her, multiple times, throughout that night.

But once her heat had passed, my rational side returned, and I realized that mating Kiera had been a huge mistake.

Omegas were supposed to be weak, and humans were supposed to be weaker than Omegas. Kiera had been an unfortunate combination of both—or so I thought. I needed a powerful, dominant mate, not a submissive little human.

I'd spent the next two days avoiding her and trying to put her out of my mind. My wolf hadn't wanted her to leave, but it had been easy to push his voice to the back of my mind and ignore his howls. Kiera tried to be close to me for a little while afterward, but I was dismissive, and when she didn't get the picture, I was cruel. Eventually, she caught on and left me alone, and I tried to put the Omega out of my mind.

That would have been the end of our association, had she not given birth to a son nine months later. She'd hidden herself away for all that time, unwilling to let others see her condition, and by the time she had the baby, I'd almost been able to forget her.

Almost.

I'd been furious. Whether I interacted with Kiera or not, she was a member of my pack, and therefore, she belonged to me. That also meant her son, our son, was mine. Knowing that she'd hidden her pregnancy from me made me see red. I meant to confront her, to force her and the child to live in my home where I could see my boy raised the way I wanted him to be, but when I went to retrieve her, she was gone.

Kiera gave birth and was so desperate to get away from me and the Saltfang pack that she fled the city the very next day. Had I been a better man, I might have felt guilty that she had been driven to such a decision, but I wasn't. I'm still not a better man; I'm an Alpha, and the sting of knowing she thought she could escape me has never faded.

I'd searched for her for seven long years, and now I'd found her. She stood before me, staring me down with fire in her eyes and a set to her jaw that told me she wasn't going to go quietly. I was prepared for a lot of changes with Kiera Langley, but I never expected bravery to be one of them. Not from the timid woman I had known before.

And she had a right to be afraid. I wasn't the same man she'd left, the one who'd been too wrapped up in his own self-interest to keep her close like I should have. My wolf was snarling inside me, urging me to pull her close and claim her, but I'd learned a lot over the past few years, and I knew that wouldn't be welcome.

She wasn't going to have a choice about coming back with me, but it'd be better if she came willingly. Or semi-willingly, at least.

"I'm going to ask you again—where is my son?

She flinched slightly, as if my voice was a blade, and her face paled, making her dark eyes even darker. They were wide, too, and fixed on me as if she was afraid to look away.

Good. At least the Omega understood who was in charge here.

"I'm alone," she was afraid, but she was stubborn, too. She stared me down, her face flushed and her shoulders tense. "Why don't you get the hell out of my house?"

"Is that any way to talk to your Alpha?" I demanded. She wasn't my mate, but she was still mine, and if I wanted her respect, I'd take it. "Where is the child, Kiera?"

"I said he's not here," she snapped, taking a step towards me. Her small fists were clenched, and the flush had spread across her chest, creeping up her neck. I wanted to put my lips on her collarbone and taste that heat.

Kiera swallowed and softened her stance, lowering her voice, "He's having a sleepover with a friend. A human friend. So don't think you're going to roll up and pull all this Alpha nonsense on them."

She was lying, and that infuriated me. But I could also see how hard she was working to play it cool, hoping to put me off the scent of my own son. It would have fooled a less experienced Alpha, but I'd had years to mull over the too-few memories I had of Kiera, and I could see the subtle ways she was moving herself between me and the hallway, clenching her fists and rising onto her toes. She was ready to fight for the kid, I realized, and a sick sense of pride flooded my chest.

The pride didn't stick around long, though, burned away by how pissed off she was making me. So what if I had denied her after the night we spent together? That was my decision, and it was completely unacceptable that she fled after that, taking my son from me. Kiera and her child were part of my birthright as an Alpha, and the disrespect of her fleeing had been humiliating.

I nearly lost hope after looking for her year after year, but when I finally found her again, I thought it would be a cause for celebration. I should have known that Kiera would have changed after all that time, but this much of a change was unbelievable.

Where was the sweet, soft woman who was nearly in tears from happiness to receive even a small measure of my attention? Where was the Kiera who had clearly expected me to take her as my mate?

The woman in front of me, ready for battle, lying through her teeth, seemed like a stranger.

I could give her a fight if she wanted one, but the idea of my son's first impression of me being pissed off at his mother wasn't something I wanted.

"Okay, you win," I said, taking a step back. "I won't go near your friend's house."

Kiera looked suspicious, but she nodded once and crossed her arms, her full lips pressed into a thin line. She didn't believe me, and that was fair. I didn't trust myself right now, either.

"So you just came here to say hello?" she asked, and I could tell she was trying to make her voice sound light and casual. It was the tone of someone trying desperately to hide their fear.

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