Page 12 of The Alpha's Rejected Arranged Mate

But threatening Elin? That was going too far. If it was just him and Derek, then yes. Threaten them, force them away. Elin was the last person ever to hurt another being, though. And Christine was human. Seth had to know that. And yet he’d threatened them all the same.

Finn moved forward. His strides were long, his wolf howling in his chest. He knew exactly what he was doing. If he was honest, he had made his choice the moment he stepped off the bus.

“You won’t listen. Then take this as an official challenge,” Finn said. His voice was cold and hard. “I challenge you for the leadership of the Moon Lake pack.”

Silence fell. Derek and Christine both stared at him with open mouths. For the first time, Seth fully focused on him. Anger and hatred burned in his eyes, but there was fear, too. The Alpha viewed him the same way he would a rabid dog. Finn kept his expression smooth and blank.

“You challenge me?” Seth asked. Unlike the fury from before, his tone had gone flat. “You have a mate?”

“I do.” Finn put an arm around Elin’s shoulders before he could stop himself. “Elin is my mate.”

She tensed beneath his touch. Seth opened his mouth, but Rosemary touched his arm. She whispered something to her mate, and he growled low in his throat. The packmates who surrounded them glanced uneasily at one another. Finn waited.

Seth let out a snort. “Fine. Fine, I accept your challenge. But you will be under house arrest until the appointed time. And when I defeat you, your friends will leave without a fuss.”

“Fine,” Finn answered coolly.

Within half an hour, they were locked up in a house near the outskirts of town. The windows were screwed shut, and the deadbolt on the doors flipped to be on the outside. Rosemary sent some canned foods for them, but they were left alone. The house had two bedrooms on the upper floor and a single bathroom with a shower, a living room, and a kitchen on the main floor. The foundation was a crawlspace that held a few musty blankets.

“Christine and Elin can have the bedrooms,” Finn said. “Derek and I will share the living room as our sleeping space for the time being. Christine, please start washing the bedding. Derek, start heating some food.”

They both nodded.

Finn turned to Elin. They needed to speak after his declaration, but he found himself uncertain what to say. She avoided his gaze as she jerked her head up the stairs. They went to the room she was claiming. It had a narrow single bed in it and had been otherwise stripped of furniture.

“We’re here on a mission.” Elin stood at the window, gazing out. “This improv you just did without consulting the pack isn’t going to give us answers. You need to rescind your challenge. Especially since we’re not mates, as you so clearly shared.”

Finn was silent. She wouldn’t understand, but that was to be expected. She wasn’t the one who had just come face-to-face with the father who abandoned him.

“I know you’re hurting.” Elin turned back to him, her shoulders sagging. “I know that your mind must be going a million miles an hour. Given the information we just found out, you're all over the place. But challenging another Alpha is not a solution. Jumping to violence isn’t going to help you get your answers, nor will it actually help us get a proper alliance.”

Finn shook his head slowly. “That’s where you’re wrong. If I’m the Alpha of the Moon Lake pack, we’ll have an even stronger alliance with Bluebell Valley.”

Disappointment settled in Elin’s chocolate eyes. It was a strange expression to see on her. “You’re forgetting one more thing, Finn. I’m not your mate. You rejected me. You can’t expect me to just fall in line after that.”

Guilt hit his stomach, and his wolf swished its tail back and forth. He shoved the uncomfortable sensation aside. He had a mission here. Sentiment wouldn’t get him any closer. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Take the pack, become the Alpha. He’d be able to better fight demons when his orders were obeyed rather than trying to get through Seth’s head.

“You don’t have a choice,” he told Elin, his voice cold.

The disappointment deepened in Elin’s gaze. “I never expected that from you. I do have a choice, Finn. You’re not the type of wolf to force someone else to do something like this. I can’t let you hurt me again.”

“So what? You’re just going to deny my chance to get this pack on our side?” Finn snapped.

“That’s not why you’re doing this.” Elin folded her arms and hunched her shoulders. “I’m going to think about it. I’ll let you know if I’m going to play at being your mate or not.”

“Elin—” Finn stepped forward and stopped himself. She was right. She deserved to make the choice herself. He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m only doing this for the pack. Seth wasn’t going to listen to us. It’s not…I don’t want to hurt you. But we aren’t mates. We both know that. It’s just pretend.”

She didn’t answer as she turned her back on him again. His wolf growled, telling him it wasn’t true. He shoved it down. They weren’t mates. No matter what his wolf wanted. So he stood there, waiting for her to make her decision.

Not really knowing what he wanted her to say.

Chapter 6 - Elin

Finn’s scent curled into her nostrils. It made it difficult to think clearly. She was certain he was doing this because of the emotional chaos in his head. He wasn’t acting like the Finn she knew. It was no wonder. If she’d learned that Seth had stuffed him into an orphanage, and then he freaked out as soon as he saw her…

It was understandable for Finn to be upset. If he had been able to address the situation in his normal rational, calm approach, it would have been more worrisome. Elin let out a slow breath. What would Mica or Tess do in this situation?

Well, she sort of had an answer for Mica. Hayden had pulled the same thing, issuing an Alpha challenge to then turn around and claim her as his mate. It had been a different situation, though.

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