Page 16 of Alpha's Rejected Mate

“I’m sorry, I … uh, I don’t see the relevance.”

“Well, it’s quite simple. Trust me, it is very rare for it to happen, but on the first night of her transition, when her body goes through that undeniable pain, where her bones break, and let’s face it, all but our souls pretty much shatter. It’s an experience and a half, and not one many want to replicate.”

He couldn’t deny that. It wasn’t fun for anyone. Still, he didn’t say that.

“On top of all that pain, she experienced this one moment of joyous spark, where for a short time, she believed she had found her mate. Now, if you put yourself in your mate’s position, I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.”

Mateo didn’t want to think about it.

“Within twenty-four hours, she was banished from her own pack, from all she had known, and sent to a pack she didn’t know. All the strange senses and the smells—everything—is always a little crazy after that first transition, and to add to that pain, the one person who is meant to love her, be there for her without question, banishes her. He doesn’t want anything to do with her.”

Mateo stared at the other woman in a state of shock.

“Now, after seven years—not a week, or a month, but seven long years, where she finally has made a life for herself—he turns up and expects her to be happy about that. Expects her to want to mate with him, go back to their old life, where all the people witnessed your rejection and her humiliation,” Lemon said. “Does that help you at all to figure out what you’re dealing with?”

Mateo didn’t like it. He felt he needed to sit down. Even though he’d been the one to instigate everything, it still didn’t make it any easier to listen to. In fact, it was hard. He did that to Harper, without a second thought. Not a moment has gone by that he’s not thought about her, but still, it didn’t drive him to go and get her.

“How do I fix this?” Mateo asked.

“I don’t have the answers to that, my friend. All I know is you hurt Harper deeply. Deep enough for Franny to have taken her under her wing, and to make sure she has some semblance of a life here. If you want Harper to start listening to you or even consider your plight, you might want to talk with my daughter first.”

He knew that wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

Sitting on the bench in the garden, Lemon went about her business, but he wasn’t paying her any attention. He was too busy reeling from his own reality check.

There was nothing and no one who could help him fix this. He was well and truly fucked.

Chapter Five

Monday morning had been a big hit. Harper had been a little afraid that with the appearance of Mateo, some of the pack women might not want to come to her shop. The whole banished curse thing coming back to ruin her life. No one held back.

In fact, by two o’clock, most of her new stock was sold out. She had already put in a brand-new order for more supplies, and they should arrive by the end of the week. Also, the pack females had banded together. Every single one of them had offered her help and guidance. She’d even been touched that a few of them were concerned that she would leave the pack for good.

She didn’t want to leave Silver’s pack. She had no idea if there was a way around it or not. She’d already pledged her loyalty to Silver, and that wasn’t going to change.

“Fuck me, my feet hurt,” Franny said, collapsing into one of the free chairs.

Harper went to her diary and saw she had a four o’clock, so for the next couple of hours, she could clean.

“How do you do it?” Franny asked.

She laughed and glanced toward her friend. “Do what?”

“All of this work.”

“Well, I can’t be useless at this pack, can I?”

“Hey, I am not useless! I just don’t know what I want to be so I go where I am needed.”

Franny, technically, didn’t have a job. She went where the need was. Harper had lost count of the number of jobs her friend did. From helping her out, to being at the school, to the nursery, to the coffee shop, and even at the DIY store. Franny had taken every job. The funniest one was the week she’d offered to replace one of the other women, and be a cleaner. Franny said she still had nightmares from the stuff she’d seen.

Harper would take her word for it.

As it happened, she loved cleanliness. It was something she enjoyed doing, even when she was a kid. Some people found it a punishment when their parents demanded they clean their room. To Harper, it had been a dream, one she had enjoyed and relished.

She quickly cut the memory off. Thinking about her parents reminded her of everything else she had lost. She rarely got to see her folks. There had been a couple of Christmases they had invited her back to the pack, but she had refused.

There was no way she was going back to Fox’s pack, and certainly not while her banishment had been in place. A few times they had come to her home, but she knew they didn’t feel comfortable at Silver’s pack.

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