Page 5 of Rejected By the Alpha

My parents had packed my belongings but clearly weren’t interested in helping me any further. If I wanted to take my stuff to my new home, it would be up to me to get it downstairs. It only took two trips up and down the stairs to grab the boxes and bags containing my life and load them into my dad’s shiny gray Lexus. It was both a blessing and a curse that I didn’t have much to my name. I walked back up to my old room and looked around at how empty it was. The only trace left of me was my dollhouse.

“What are you waiting for? Get in the car,” my mother snapped as she passed my bedroom doorway.

“I was just…” my voice trailed off as I waved my hand at the near-empty room.

But my mother didn’t hear me. She had already gone down the stairs and out the front door.

As I shut my bedroom door and followed her, I felt a burning in my eyes as hot tears gathered. I did my best not to let them spill out, but by the time we made it to the end of the block, they flowed freely. I looked out of the window at my neighborhood through blurred eyes. There was no use in trying to compose myself. I knew I wasn’t losing a happy home, but it was the only home I had ever known. In front of me was uncertainty. For all my parents’ faults, I had at least been able to count on their consistency.

We pulled into the pack house and were greeted by Alpha Lex. “Are you okay?” he asked me as I stepped from the vehicle.He sounded more surprised than concerned to see my stricken demeanor, but at least he cared enough to ask.

“She’s fine,” my mother replied for me. “It’s just an emotional day. Isn’t it sweetheart?”

I cringed internally but nodded in agreement. She only ever used terms of endearment when we were in public.

“Very well. Come inside, Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the alpha said to my parents. “I just have a few things I wanted to discuss with you before your daughter’s future mate arrives.”

I trailed behind them and sat awkwardly on a chair in the alpha’s office while he discussed pack matters with my parents. I hardly heard a word they said as I focused on controlling my breathing. My mate would be here soon, and I was regretting my crying spell in the car. I wasn’t sure an alpha would want to marry someone who cried at the thought of being luna.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. I turned my head at the sound and saw the door open to admit a lean and muscular man with wavy blond hair that threatened to fall into his eyes.

His all-too-familiar hazel-green eyes.

I hadn’t seen him in years, but I would recognize him anywhere.

“Killian?” I blurted.

Chapter 3 - Killian

I hadn’t seen the she-wolf sitting in the corner when I had first entered the room, but I turned to her immediately when she spoke my name.

“Leah,” I said.

My heart skipped as I took in her presence. Her round face bore a look of surprise as her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. She clearly hadn’t been expecting to see me, and part of me felt bad for surprising her. Although I knew I would see today, I was stunned by how much her presence affected me.

Time had intensified her allure, and she had grown even more beautiful than I remembered. Her petite figure had become more curvaceous in the passing years, and I had to remind myself that there were others in the room to stop myself from taking her into my arms. Quelling my passionate urges, I turned my focus to Alpha Lex and the two people sitting across from him at his desk.

“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” I said, striding toward them.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Alpha,” the woman said as she stood to greet me.

She had Leah’s petite stature and curvy frame, but that was where the similarities ended. Where Leah’s features were soft and kind, her mother’s were harsh. She couldn’t be more than fifty years old, but her hair was nearly fully gray. The folds of her neck sagged like the skin of a withered apple, lined with wrinkles.

“And you,” I replied, fixing a smile on my face.

“Alpha Lex was just going over the particulars of this arrangement with us,” Leah’s father said. “We can’t tell you how pleased we are that our beloved daughter will be so well looked after by you.”

“Ha,” Leah scoffed from the corner. “As if I would marryhim.”

I turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. I had expected that she would be less than pleased to see me here, but I was shocked by her outright hostility.

“I’m afraid that isn’t up to you, dear,” her mother said. I noticed that while her words sounded firm but kind, there was a threatening undertone to them.

“Leah, your parents have already arranged the ceremony,” Alpha Lex reminded her. “The guests are arriving downstairs as we speak.”

I saw the color drain from Leah’s face and wondered if she had even been told that the mating ceremony would be taking place today. If my mouth would allow me to put my thoughts into words, I could ask her, but it seemed that speech was lost to me every time I looked into her chocolate-brown eyes.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably and turned back to Lex.

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