Page 44 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“I’ll go rescue dinner, make extra for your guests,” he said, and left us to catch up. Fuck, I was really messing this up.
Trey finally put Angel down now that Dakota was out of the way, and she tried to pull him upstairs to see her room. “I’ll come find you in a minute, Red. I need to speak to your papa.” He waited until she was in her room before turning an assessing gaze on me. Trey leaned over and scanned the hallway. “Him? Really? All of a sudden you’re pregnant and living with the guy? What the hell, Jas?”
“Shh!” I glared at Trey. “He’s my fated. You know things move faster for fated matches.” I said in an undertone, anger rising at the feeling that I was being judged. “Everything with Silas was over before anything happened with Dakota.” I pointed a finger at Trey as a reminder. “Silas ended it.”
“Only because he knew you didn’t love him. He’s in bits. He was right, though. You couldn’t have had any feelings for him if just days later you’re under this guy.” His voice rose with every sentence he spat and I cringed at the thought of Dakota and Angelica being able to hear it.
“Trey,” Grady put a hand on his mate’s shoulder. “Calm down. You know that a fated bond comes before anything else. We’ve talked about this.”
“A baby, though? Seriously?” Trey looked at me scornfully. “You were always so careful with Silas. Like having a kid with him would have been the worst thing in the world.”
I deflated at his words. Being careful had been a point of pride with Silas. I really hadn’t wanted to be trapped in another mating by a baby. Silas had too many aspirations. He wanted to wait, and I’d been happy to go along with that. Having a baby with Dakota was different, though. We were fated mates. No other match would be as perfect for me as him. Our baby was wanted. A miracle.
“I kind of showed up without warning. We didn’t exactly plan for it to happen, but I’m glad it did!.” I hissed. Rubbing my stomach lightly, I felt my eyes brighten with tears. “I want this with him.”
“Isn’t it all a little fast? Pregnant and now moving in?” Trey raised an eyebrow. He was pissed.
I was furious that he would come here and shit on all my choices. “Wanting to be a family with my fated mate isn’t a crime. I really don’t appreciate the third degree. Have you forgotten I’m an adult?”
“No mate bites, though.”
“We —“ I deflated. “I did bite him in my heat, but it healed. It wasn’t the right time. It’s all so new.”
“And you moving in with a baby on the way isn’t the right time?” Grady asked. I’d thought that his silence meant that he disagreed with his mate’s words and was just letting me deal with it. Yet he was condemning me, too.
“Look, I care deeply about my mate and want to be a family with him. You can either be my friends and support me or you can leave. What is it? Are you staying here or not?”
Grady pulled me into another hug. “I’m sorry, Jas. We love you and just want to see you happy, but you really hurt us and Silas. You shut us out and didn’t even try to persuade him to come with you to meet your son, you know?” He rested his head on top of mine and I slumped into his arms.
“What was I supposed to do?” They shared a look. “I thought Si might want to come, but he pulled away from me. There was no chance I was waiting. I hadn’t seen Kade for over five years!” Grady pulled me closer, the tight hug of my friend making me feel better. My fox loved the closeness of our former mini pack mates. We hadn’t officially made a pack, but we had operated like one.
“Then I come here and meet Dakota —“ Trey ruffled my hair, as I felt the echo of the pain from those first few weeks when I was so confused and lost. I wished that they could have come with me. Everything would have been easier. “Would that have been any easier with Silas here by my side? He would have had to face my fated, guys. I thought I was doing the right thing. I rejected Dakota, even though I felt that pull. This whole mess is my fault. They both deserve better than me.”
“Hey,” Trey joined in on the hug. “Less of that, Jazzie. You’re a catch.” He leaned his head against his mate’s. “I should have started with this: congrats, Jas! Can’t believe you’re having a baby!”
I laughed. “Me neither.” My hands went to my stomach again as I stepped away from them. “I’m over the moon. I really am. Dakota makes me so happy. This is a fresh start for me and Angel.”
Grady slung an arm around Trey and pulled him close again. I loved their bond. “Then that will have to be good enough for us. Now, where can we put our stuff?”
They got their bags out of the car, carrying more than they needed for a couple of days. My uneasiness grew as I took them up to the spare room, the bed already made up for them. “I’ll just get you some towels,” I told them as they unpacked their bags, pulling out gifts for Angelica. I quickly forgot my anxiety when she called for them to see her fairy room. Leaving them to it, I went to check on Dakota.
My mate was in the kitchen chopping vegetables with more care and attention than they warranted.Shit. He was upset, and rightly so. “I’m sorry. I should’ve given you more warning that they were visiting. It was only this morning I knew they were coming. Then I spent time cleaning.” I shrugged. “It slipped my mind that I hadn’t told you.”
Dakota sighed and set down the knife. “It’s fine.” He sent a look skywards that I couldn’t interpret. “Are they always like that?”
“They… look, they were my guards for years. I met them before Silas.” I went to him, circling my arms around his waist and resting my head on his broad back. “They’re protective.” He scoffed, but I let it go. “Grady and Trey have seen me at my worst, okay? And they’re still here, looking out for me. They’re like my family.” I maneuvered around him so he could see my face. See the honesty in my eyes. “It took them ages to accept Silas, so it isn’t a you thing. They just want what’s best for me. Plus, I hadn’t told them about the baby. So they were shocked.” He had a questioning look in his dark eyes. “I didn’t want to do it over the phone.”
Dakota stayed silent, and I gave him a minute to digest my words. He finally spoke. “I didn’t tell them. Kade assumed they knew. I think it caught them off guard. Hardly the best first impression.”
“No, that’s true. I think it was always going to be an uphill battle with them. Like I said, protective. Add in Silas…”
“Right. So… how long are they staying?”
I grimaced. “Longer than I thought.” With a pleading look, I asked, “it’s okay, isn’t it?”
He pulled me close, encircling me in his arms and kissing the top of my head. “Of course it is. This is your home, too. Not like I could take Trey from Angel.” He gave an attempt at a chuckle. My heart squeezed at the sound. He was trying so damn hard for me.
“Hey, why don’t we give it a couple of days and then hand Angel off to them and go do something all day, just us?”
