Page 12 of Rejected By the Alpha

“No.”

“Just talk to me.”

“I’m busy.”

There was nothing I could do short of breaking the door down. Considering that wouldn’t be the best course of action to make her feel safe, I decided to wait for her to reemerge.

Hours later, I finally heard the bedroom doorknob turn. She emerged from the hallway, and as she came into view, my heart skipped a beat. Her brown hair had been curled into waves that cascaded down her shoulders, which were bare. She had traded her t-shirt and jeans for a pink strapless midi-dress that hugged her curves.

It took everything in me not to lunge across the room and drag her back to our bed.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Leah said.

Chapter 6 - Leah

After how Killian had abandoned me in the community center last night, I wasn’t keen to go out to another party so soon, but I understood my role as luna meant I didn’t have a choice as to whether I attended or not. The packs of Pinedale had been kind despite my nervousness, and had done me no harm. I owed it to them to give the party a chance.

Killian drove us past the edge of town and toward the tree line.

“Where are we going?” I asked. My palms were sweaty, and I wiped them on my dress nervously.

“Just up here, there’s a clearing we use for pack events,” he explained. “Just somewhere out of town, away from the humans, where we can be ourselves.”

By the time we arrived at the clearing, I had managed to get my fear under control. I stepped out of the car and saw that all three packs had shown up en masse. A few hundred people were mingling under a canopy of pine trees and fairy lights while low dance music played in the background.

Killian took my hand tentatively and led me into the fray, where I was greeted warmly by everyone we met.

“Leah, you’re here!” An excited April grabbed my arms as though she had been waiting for me all night. I smiled back at her, unable to help myself from responding to her happiness.

“Thank you for hosting,” I told her.

“Are you kidding?” Jasper said, joining our group. “She’s over the moon about you. I don’t think I’ve heard a single sentence without your name in it for the past twenty-four hours.”

“A girl can’t be happy to have a new friend?” April teased her mate, pinching his side as she spoke.

“Ouch!” he said in mock pain. “You wounded me, darling.”

She winked at me, and I laughed at their playfulness. I wasn’t used to seeing happy couples together. I felt my chest tighten as I realized that I would never have what they did. There was too much baggage in my marriage to ever allow Killian and I to be happy together. The best I could hope for was that the position of leadership my parents had bartered for me would make it so I had a home to call my own.

As my thoughts spiraled, I felt Killian wrap his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. The burning sensation that had been building in my chest began to dissipate at his closeness, and I took a deep breath to regulate my nervous system. His hand squeezed my side gently, reassuring me that he was still with me.

April didn’t seem to notice that my thoughts had been elsewhere, so I was sure that my face wasn’t betraying me. I wondered if our mate bond had alerted Killian to my emotional dysregulation.

“You two should go make your rounds,” Jasper said. “I know everyone is looking forward to getting to know you, Leah.”

We bid them goodbye, and Killian accompanied me as we moved from group to group, meeting everyone and hearing their congratulations on our marriage. Once again, I found myself surprised by how kind everyone was being to me. They seemed genuinely curious about my thoughts and feelings, and ready to welcome me into the fold of friendship.

Before I knew it, I found myself feeling comfortable and able to let my guard down a little bit. The only hyperawarenessleft was keeping track of Killian. Unlike at the first meeting with the packs, Killian seemed determined to stay by my side.

“Would you like to come with me to get a drink?” he asked after we left yet another group, leaning over to whisper the question into my ear.

My stomach tightened at his closeness, and I felt myself pulled toward him as he spoke. Although we had been together all night, it was one of the first times he had spoken to me directly.

“Yes, please,” I responded quietly.

He placed his hand on the small of my back and gently guided me toward a table on the edge of the clearing.

“Lemonade or water?” he asked, reaching out to grab a cup from the table.

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