Page 15 of The Alpha's Rejected Mate

Gavin

Aislin kicked off her sneakers by the door of my cabin. She was dressed in leggings and a long-sleeved running top, and her long mahogany-hued hair was up in a ponytail. She unzipped her running top and hung it up on the Pack Rules sign, which had coat hooks beneath each rule.

“I knew I smelled steak,” she said, coming over to where I sat on the couch.

I’d just cooked up some steaks on the griddle. I always did extra because, before long, someone’s nose always led them to my door. My betas’ house was only forty feet away, so, more often than not, Aislin, Gretel, or Oslo appeared.

“Leftovers are in the oven,” I said.

She didn’t need to be told twice and was already in the kitchen.

“Grab me another beer, would you?” I called through to her. They were alcohol-free beers at the moment due to the meds the pack healer had me on for my wound. Aislin returned with two cold bottles and a full plate with cutlery. She set the beers down on the coffee table and then took one of the curl-up chairs by the fire and tucked into her steak.

I stared into the dancing flames of the open fire, enjoying the warmth and ambience. The weathered wood beams and exposed brickwork of my cabin always made this place feel so perfect. The reclaimed wood mantlepiece above the fire that my mum had lovingly restored and done-up from a shipwreck in the Gunnison, added to the room’s history and charm.

I hadn’t changed anything since I’d inherited it from my parents. Iwouldn’thave changed Mum’s beautiful mantlepiece for the world. But I’d always found my dad’s Pack Rule’s sign a little corny. Yet, I didn’t have the heart to take it down.

I leaned back on the couch, making a cushion of my hands behind my head. As I stretched my arms, I relished that my shoulder no longer smarted.

Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Aislin. “The shoulder’s feeling better then?”

A few nights ago, when I’d returned, I’d pretty much been out of action for a day. The pack healer, Helen, had treated my injury, and by using the Grandbay power of our rich waters and the potent herbal medicines she concocted herself, I was on the mend. We werewolves healed at a much faster rate than humans, and the dragon’s deep wound had now healed to a scabbed-over flesh wound, running from my right shoulder all the way down to my elbow.

Reluctantly, I nodded. “It’s feeling a lot better, thanks.” I may have been leaning on the wholehealing thinga lot over the last few days.

Aislin swallowed a huge mouthful, then said, “Great, you can phone David then, can’t you?”

I scowled. I just wanted to kick back with a beer and forget about my problems. Why did Aislin have to be so proactive?

“You’re not still sulking about your wolf losing it with the dragons, are you?”

I’d told my Betas and Aislin that I hadn’t meant to attack the dragon. I’d only meant to investigate, but I’d explained how his anger had gotten the better of me, and I’d gone in for the attack.

Aislin was like a dog with a bone. I knew I should alert David Hexen. I’d first scented the dragon shifters on the Dalesbloom land, but I wasn’t ready to speak to David after what had happened at Hexen Manor a few days ago. I needed more time before I reached out to David … and Catrina. So, I’d been putting off getting in touch with him. It was something Aislin couldn’t understand.

She tried the direct approach again. “What happened between you and Catrina?”

Aislin had been hot on my tail ever since the first day back here when I’d sent her dad to fetch my truck from Hexen Manor instead of going myself. I’d leaned on the whole healing thing then, too.

I averted my gaze, cracking my knuckles. “Just leave it, will you?”

Finishing her meal, Aislin changed tactics. “Well, I don’t think it’s wise that you’re the only Alpha in Gunnison to know about the dragons’ presence. You should tell Everett.”

I picked up the fresh beer, kind of wishing that Helen hadn’t told me to lay off the alcohol. I could really do with it, given how Ihadn’t been able to let off steam over the last few days by shifting while I’d been healing. A glimmer of hope flared as I flexed out my right arm again. I should be able to comfortably shift and go for a run later. The thought got me feeling more proactive. I was sure that Aislin would be game for some nighttime investigative work in the woods, too.

I pulled out my phone, and my friend’s whiskey-colored eyes brightened.

I dialed Everett March.

“Hi Gavin,” Everett greeted. “I hope you and the pack are all good?” He asked politely.

“Hey Everett, we’re fine down here, thanks.”

Everett and I had always gotten on well enough, but we didn’t really get in touch with one another unless we needed help with pack business. It was a bit of a shame, really. I’d always thought Everett a good guy. I had invited him out for a beer a few times, but he always declined. Politely, but still, he was a bit of a loner. He liked to keep himself to himself and was more likely to be found hiking his mountains in the north than going to our local pub, the Pioneer.

“I was just calling,” I said, “to let you know that I had a run-in with four dragons on the borders between Dalesbloom and Grandbay land at Pine Creek.” I paused, not wanting to admit that my wolf got injured because he had slipped from my control. So, I just added, “If you could let me know if you or your pack scent them in your lands, that’d be appreciated.”

I felt a prickle of self-consciousness as I considered that Everett would be thinking about Pine Creek and what had happened tomy parents. He’d opened his lands to me in the months after the dragons’ attack then, and I knew he was sympathetic to my loss, but it still made me feel exposed going near the subject.

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