Page 15 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“I know. You still want me for it?”
“Yeah. Speak to you soon, okay?”
We ended the call, and I went to check on Angelica. I’d made some purchases to make the space more ours and a little more kid friendly, but there was nothing for us to do until we went to the compound later in the week to have dinner with the omegas and see the school Blake wanted me to work at. Now that I’d spoken to Silas, maybe I could get him to ship some of my Angel’s toys and things so she could make the room more her own.
I was in the middle of sending him a text as a knock came at the door. I sent it quickly and forgot to check who was there before pulling the door open. If Trey had been with me, I’d have been in a world of trouble.
My heart stalled when I realized Dakota was on the other side of the door. “Um —“
“Don’t close the door on me. We need to talk.”
Maybe half an hour later, we were settled in a couple of chairs in the backyard. Dakota had brought a trampoline with him and made quick work of putting it together with some minor help from me. Angelica was bouncing high and shouting for her new favorite to watch her as she performed tricks. He didn’t take his warm dark chocolate eyes from her little form, smiling and flashing a blinding white smile when she flipped and landed on her feet. “Look at you go!” He praised her, making something warm in my stomach. I wanted the praise to be directed at me.Ugh. I needed to stop that line of thought. I had Silas and was perfectly happy with him.
Dakota was a complication to an already overloaded life. I needed to focus on my kids and getting my life in order. Making a proper home, getting a job, repairing the damage with Kade and Blake, all had to come before I dealt with the mess of an unwanted mate.
Not unwanted, my fox reminded me. No, he wasn’t unwanted. Just unknown and I couldn’t cope with all the things coming at me. In days I’d lost the threat over my head, returned to my son’s side to thoroughly mess all that up, lost my job, and been separated from my boyfriend for who knew how long. I had nothing here. No friends. No support. I missed Grady and Trey keeping me steady. Karina and her warm hugs and gentle advice. I felt adrift and didn’t just want to cling to a stranger of a mate. That could launch me from a bad situation into something worse.
“Now that she’s occupied,” Dakota said in a low voice, the rumble sending tingles up my spine, “what are we going to do about this bond?” I wanted to lean into him. To draw his presence into me, to remember every detail of how he sounded and looked when he was away again.
“Do? What is there to do about it?” It was torture to speak so cooly to him, but necessary. This was all for him. He’d be better off without me. I was a mess. “I have someone, Dakota, and I’m not about to give him up for a stranger. There’s too much going on for me to deal with. Plus, the father of my kids was killed just a few days ago. I may not have loved him anymore, but I still grieve what he was.” That was a bald faced lie. I’d done my therapy and mourned Rincoln years ago. It was an excuse to keep him at a distance.
His posture stiffened with my words, and I felt an immediate urge to soothe him. My fox was desperately urging me to ignore Silas in favor of Dakota, but that wasn’t fair to either of them. I’d just told Silas that I wanted what we had. That wasn’t a lie. I was torn. Silas represented safety and comfort. Dakota was a dark unknown. Too dangerous to follow. “I see. Does this mean that you are going to make a formal rejection?”
“A formal rejection?” I echoed. The words landed heavily, creating flashes in my head. Almost visions of chaos and pain. My senses told me that this wasn’t the path we needed to follow, even without a full picture.
“You’ll have to make it on the full moon with witnesses.” He explained with some difficulty, like the words were sticking in his throat. My heart ached in sympathy. This was an awful situation.
“I don’t understand.” I’d never heard of a formal rejection, just knew that we couldn’t do it. Something terrible would happen if we did. I needed to know what it was so I couldn’t accidentally do it and cause a tragedy.
His tone turned brusque. “If you don’t want to ever explore our mate bond, you can formally reject me in front of your alpha and pack, or just witnesses on the full moon before we all shift.”
Taking a moment to digest the news, I took a breath. “Dakota… I–.”
He closed his eyes, a brief flash of heartbreaking sadness flitted over his stunning face. “I need to know because there needs to be a plan.”
“A plan?”
Dakota blew out a breath. “If you reject me, my bear could… take over. Go on a rampage. We would need to alert Blake, since he’s my alpha. My bear would cede control to him.”
“Really?” My voice was disbelieving. That must have been what the flashes were trying to show me. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Really.” He finally turned to look at me. I almost gasped at the pain and resolution there. Dakota fully expected me to reject him. I hated that I put that look on his stunning face. My mate was beautiful.Too good for me, I repeated to myself.
“Blake’s a powerful alpha, despite his young age. He could keep control of my bear with no issues, at least long enough to get me away.”
“I didn’t know we could do that.” Then I thought about the last part. “Away?”
“Away. I’d have to leave Sweetwater for a while.”
“How long?” Goddess, I hated the idea of him having to leave.
“No idea. Likely a few months, maybe a year.”
“Moon, no! What about your family? Work? Friends?” I’d be hurting so many people with my selfishness.
“My family is aware of the situation. There’s not much you can get past Papa.” His lips twisted up fractionally. He twisted, returning to watching Angelica bounce. “As for work, I don’t have a job currently.”
I felt my brow furrow in confusion, only marginally consoled by the fact he had his family to lean on. “But you’re Kade’s boss.”
