Page 49 of Rejected Bullied Mate

The crowd closest to Mason and me had already started to go silent while they watched us, but when Samson spoke, his rumble seemed to echo in the large hall.

He walked between the tables and made his way over to us, his eyes glinting in the low light. His gaze was fixed on Mason, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. When he finally stopped, he crossed his arms and looked from me to him. "Is there a problem here?"

Mason opened his mouth, but Samson stopped him, "Don't bother lying, Mason. I heard it all."

My face flamed red, and I wanted to crawl under the nearest table. The last thing I needed was the entire pack to know about my problems.

Mason's face was flushed, too, but there was a stubborn set to his jaw. He wasn't going to apologize in front of everyone.

Samson had the entire party crowd in the palm of his hand as he approached Mason, getting close enough that Mason had no choice but to cower under the dominance of his Alpha.

"I warned you, Mason," Samson said, his voice low. "And you disobeyed me. Again."

I could practically feel the tension rolling off of Mason in waves. He was angry, and I knew he was desperate for a fight, but he wasn't going to get one here. He was being humiliated in front of the entire pack, and he knew it. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he clamped his mouth shut instead.

"Mason, as Alpha of this pack, I hereby exile you from these lands. You are banished, and if you set foot in this town again, you will be killed."

My blood ran cold. "Samson," I whispered.

He ignored me. "Go," he growled at Mason, baring his teeth. "Before I change my mind."

I looked at Mason. For a second, I thought I saw something in his eyes—fear maybe, or even regret, but it was gone as soon as it had come. "I'm glad to be leaving," he snapped. "I'd rather be an outcast than be stuck in this shithole with you assholes."

Samson snarled. "Go. Now."

Mason glared at me one more time before storming out. The crowd parted for him, watching in silence until he slammed the doors behind him and left. When he was gone, Samson spoke again, this time speaking to everyone.

"Let Mason's fate be a lesson to you. From here on out, I will be working to purge the poison from the Saltfang pack. We are done with the old ways, where the weakest of us are treated the worst. I don't want to see any of you following in Mason's footsteps. You have the potential to rise in the ranks if you work for it—I believe that. But when we treat our own pack members like they're lesser, the pack becomes weaker as a whole. Understand?"

No one said anything for a long moment, but then a single voice called out, "Yes, Alpha."

The words echoed around the hall, and Samson looked up, his eyes shining. "Good." Samson exhaled sharply, his shoulders tense as he turned toward Nayeli, his gaze regretful. "I’m sorry, Nayeli. I didn’t mean for your birthday party to turn into a scene like that."

Nayeli blinked at him, her expression unreadable at first, then her lips curled into a sly grin. "Did you mean what you said? About not tolerating hatred toward weaker pack members?"

Samson didn’t hesitate, his voice firm and sure. "Yes. I meant every word of it."

I watched Nayeli’s eyes light up, her smile widening to a grin that nearly split her face. There was a certain spark in her that I admired—a fire that had always burned within her, but now it looked like Samson had just fed it a bit more fuel.

"Well, in that case," she said, tears of happiness gathering in the corners of her eyes, "Kicking that asshole Mason out of the pack? That’s the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten."

A laugh bubbled up from her, and soon enough, the tension in the room seemed to ease. The pack was still processing what had happened, but if Nayeli was happy about it, then the rest of the party knew that they could be happy about it, too.

I didn't blame them. Even I was surprised at Samson's actions. He was ruthless, yes, but I'd never expected him to stand up for me in front of the whole pack. His words from earlier rang in my head: "As Alpha of this pack, I hereby exile you from these lands."

He'd removed one of his own wolves from the pack just to protect me. The idea of it made my heart race and my stomach feel funny, and I wasn't sure I wanted to examine exactly why that was.

Chapter 20 - Samson

I could feel the weight of the day on my shoulders as I left Waylon's house. The meeting had gone on longer than expected as I talked about strategy, extra protection for the more vulnerable pack members, and organizing the guard shifts. There were still zero clues about who had attacked Kiera and me, and each day that passed without an answer made me more and more stressed. It wasn't good for the pack's morale either.

Scott was still at the top of my suspect list, but it seemed that I was more suspicious of him than anyone else. Maybe he was innocent, but I wasn't going to let my guard down with the other Alpha until I knew for sure.

It was late when I finally got home, and the house was dark and quiet. I sighed with relief, kicking my shoes off and shrugging my jacket onto the floor. I didn't care where it landed. I was just grateful to be home. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until I'd been able to relax.

The lights were dim, and I was fully expecting everyone else to be sleeping, but as I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to find that Kiera was still awake. She was sitting on the couch, her hair wet from the shower, a cup of steaming cocoa in her hands. It was her favorite, I'd learned, and the more anxious she was, the more she drank.

"You're still up?"

---