Page 31 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
We hugged it out. “Thanks for telling me. I swear, I won’t say a word to anyone. It’s your truth to tell.”
“It makes me feel lighter to have told someone. To have someone understand. So, thank you.” His smile stretched across his face. “Seriously, go home, take the stress off another way. You’ll thank me tomorrow when Blake beats your ass and you aren’t as broken.”
“That bad, huh?”
“You must have missed him fighting when they went to get Kade back. The guy has this other sense.”
“Yeah?”
“No cheat tips! Go home!”
Chase’s revelations followed me as I walked home. I now lived so close to work that it was just easier to cut across the compound and out the back gate. Blake had given me special permission, after a chat with Georgia, to walk through the omega section. While I was in the area, I scouted out weak parts of fencing or homes that needed extra attention.
One of the omega houses stood apart from the others, at quite a distance from everything. This was likely the heat house for those omegas that needed somewhere safe to go to ride out their heat. Where Jasper would be placed in two days’ time for his safety. Being on a residential street could endanger him.
I circled the house, checking gutters and the windows. The door was loose in the frame and I made a note on my phone to get that fixed. It wouldn’t hold up under pressure and would need to be replaced. The door pushed open under my hand and I stepped just inside the doorway to check the interior. The house was basically two rooms, a bedroom with a tiny kitchen for the much needed snacks, and a separate bathroom. I moved deeper inside and ran a finger over the scratches on the wood of the bathroom door. “Fuck!” I grumbled as a splinter impaled me. Blood welled and dripped down my hand onto the floor. I yanked the offending piece of wood out of my finger and sucked the wound as my shifter healing kicked in. Another note made for another replacement door. The bleeding soon stopped, and I backed out of the house and headed home.
The silence wrapped around me as I entered my too large home. Often I wondered what possessed me to buy such a big place to live when it was only me. Now that I had a mate, it made much more sense. It was entirely stupid, but I’d already begun making a special room for Angelica. I’d seen more of her than her papa with her being on pack lands for play dates. The children often manufactured reasons to come visit their alpha Blake at his office, usually with some drawings or a song they’d made just for him. Once she’d discovered I worked for Blake, Angelica had asked to come have lunch “with her bear”. No one was going to argue with her and I wouldn’t say no to getting to know my daughter. Our time together was precious, and slowly I’d learned what she liked and didn’t. All useful information as I made her a room that she could love. She had confessed to not asking her papa for things because she worried they wouldn’t be staying in Kade’s house for long. If I had my way, they wouldn’t.
After dinner in front of the TV, I called my parents to stop them from worrying. I said nothing about Silas ending his relationship with Jasper to not get their hopes up. I showered and went to bed early, feeling utterly exhausted. My mind spun, preventing me from slipping into sleep. Thoughts of Jasper, images of him, replayed in my mind. The one thought I returned to was he was single. I could pursue something with him now. There were no other excuses.
Doubt festered. In my heart, I worried that he just didn’t want me and didn’t know how to let me down easily.
Today had given me hope. Jasper’s pupils had dilated at the mere suggestion that I take him through his heat. I’d seen his reaction to me, part of the reason I’d upped my game and smartened up my wardrobe for work. Gone were the henley’s and jeans. In their place were smart button downs and slacks that I had to have specially tailored to fit my thighs and six-five height. Attraction I could work with.
My mind conjured images of Jasper walking through the mansion. He’d started taking more care of his appearance too, I was sure of it. Almost always wearing something that clung to his ass and showed off his lean frame. The bronze color of his sweater vest had made his pale skin creamy. He glowed in the afternoon sun, his hair glinted with gold highlights. Quite simply, he was stunning.
There was no way I was sleeping until I put thoughts of Jasper out of my mind. Just recalling the conversation had me hard again. I’d spent an hour with Jasper’s caramel and cinnamon scent in my nose, hard the entire time, unable to do a thing about it.
I stroked myself while imagining encounters with Jasper. In my head he was on his knees, his heat about to hit his peak, begging to suck my cock and then for me to fuck him hard. We wouldn’t even get through the doorway. He’d drop on the stoop and fumble with my trousers, aware that anyone could pass at any time. They wouldn’t. I’d never let anyone see him so vulnerable.
When I got close, I would pull him off me, yank him to his feet and turn him to face the wall just inside the entryway. I’d divest him of his clothes, pull my pants down, and enter him in one stroke, bottoming out with ease. He would be hot, slick, and tight around me. Absolute heaven. The imagined encounter did the trick. Just the thought of being inside him had me reaching my release over my hand.
If real life was anything like my imagination, then I was done for, because if Jasper got on his knees for me, I’d never turn him away.
Heat Alone
Jasper
Sweatsoakedandtrembling,I woke early on the day of my heat. There was plenty to do before I could even go to the heat house my pack was providing for me on the compound. I had bags to pack for myself and Angelica. She was having a sleepover with her brother after another play date with the pack children. Angelica spent most of her day with them and I wanted to encourage those pack bonds before school started again, knowing that her having friends would make it easier for her to settle.
Too weak for a shower, I ran a cool bath and tried to center myself. I knew from experience that taking the edge off now would make it worse in the long term. I’d be exhausted and crabby before my heat truly started, guaranteeing a miserable experience. The water soothed tense muscles and brought my core temperature down to something more like normal. My fox worked with me to calm our mind.
My skin was all wrinkled from the water by the time that I emerged hours later. Angel was already up, having fixed herself some cereal to eat in front of the TV. Normally I’d ask her to eat in the kitchen, but I didn’t have the strength to argue with her and she knew it. I’d been open about heats, to a child appropriate level anyway, so she knew I needed to go away for my safety for the night, and possibly some of the next day.
Our move to Sweetwater had been good for her in that she got to be around more shifters and had a lot more friends. While she still occasionally asked for Grady and Trey, she never asked about Silas, and I wondered if she’d picked up on something that I hadn’t. Angel asked about Dakota almost daily, and each one was a hit to the heart because she didn’t have the same chance as Kade to spend time with him. I’d denied her the dad she never had. Guilt was a constant companion. More so now that I was free and single.
I felt it for the way that I’d treated everyone in my life, my mate, Silas, Blake. It was an ever present itch under my skin. One day I hoped it would go, and I’d feel at peace in my own body.
It was afternoon by the time we made it to the compound. We had lunch in the community center with the other omegas and our alpha. They gave Kade the seat at the head of the table. He appeared to be lit from within, his happiness just shone from him. Blake was attentive, and I smiled as I watched him ensure Kade had enough on his plate, unerringly picking out all Kade’s favorites. I was glad we had formed a sort of friendship. Seeing Kade so happy was worth swallowing my pride and admitting I was wrong about his mate.
“Bear!” Angelica shouted at the end of the meal as she dashed for her favorite bear. My cheeks heated at the memory of our last conversation and how badly it had gone.
“Sorry to interrupt, alpha, but there’s a call for Kade from the council and neither of you were answering on the pack link or your phones.” Dakota gave them a chastising look. “Hey there, little kit!” He hoisted Angel into his arms, letting her press her face into his neck and smiling a sweet smile as she chattered into his ear.
“My fault, Dakota,” Kade said as he rose from his chair. “I asked Blake to silence our phones, and we shut out the link to enjoy our lunch in peace. I should have told someone, though.” He and Blake exchanged a look which suggested they needed the peace more than they needed whatever drama the council was bringing to their door.
“It’s fine, it’s just lucky I have permission to be here so I could come get you.” He did? I’d forgotten that only mated alphas, aside from Blake before Kade, were allowed in the omega section.
