Page 32 of Rejected By the Alpha

“I’m so sorry, but we don’t have a guest room at the moment,” I explained.

If I thought Leah wanted her parents to stay, I could actually arrange something rather easily, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Something had happened between her and her family, and I knew it had to be deeper than their insistence that she marry an alpha. In fact, she seemed more upset by their visit than about our marriage. Once they left, I needed to get some more information about what was going on with her family.

“We don’t mind. There’s plenty of room on the couch,” Mr. Smith said, gesturing to the sectional.

“You don’t want to sleep on the couch,” Leah said tersely.

There was another glare between the two women.

“My mate is right, we can’t let you sleep on the couch. It’s very uncomfortable,” I said. I didn’t want Mr. and Mrs. Smith to sense that they were unwelcome, no matter how true it was. “I’ll make a reservation at the local inn,” I offered. “It’s very nice and owned by one of our own. They’ll take good care of you.”

They didn’t look appeased, and I braced myself for another argument, but thankfully, my firm tone seemed to mark the end of the conversation.

“That would be nice, thank you,” Mr. Smith answered, putting a hand on his wife’s arm.

After a few more awkward moments, I excused myself to make a phone call to the inn.

“Of course we have a room for them,” the innkeeper said. “Send them on down, and I’ll make sure they have everything they need.”

“I appreciate it, Ben,” I replied, careful to keep my voice quiet. “We weren’t expecting them, and it’s been a little strange even having them in the house. The luna doesn’t seem too fond of them.”

“High-maintenance, I take it?”

“You can say that again,” I sighed.

“No worries, I’ll handle it,” Ben replied.

I thanked him again and went back to let them know they could head over to check in.

“Already? But we just got here,” Mrs. Smith protested.

“We’ll call your room after you get settled in and plan something for this evening,” I said. “Dinner, perhaps?”

Grudgingly, they agreed, bid us goodbye, and left for the inn.

“Thank goodness,” Leah sighed as they pulled out of the driveway.

“What was all that about?” I asked.

“My parents?” she asked. “That’s just… how they are.”

“Overly attentive and attached to their only daughter?”

“Is that what you think just happened here?” she scoffed.

I didn’t know how to get her to open up if I didn’t know what the issue was between them. At this point, I felt like I needed to be more upfront.

“Leah, I want to be supportive of what you need,” I began. “I want to tell you that I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

“I appreciate that,” she said hesitantly.

“I can tell that something is off between you and your parents, but I don’t know what it is. Can you tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

“There’s nothing to tell,” she said flippantly.

Her inability to open up to me was starting to become frustrating, but I was determined to be there for her. My own relationship with my parents was nonexistent.

“Look, Leah,” I said calmly. “I never got the chance to meet my dad, and my mom was a pretty poor parent. But I can say with certainty that if I had the chance to make things right, or even do something to understand them a little bit better, I’d take it in a heartbeat.”

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