Page 57 of The Alpha's Rejected Arranged Mate

“I know it’s hard,” Mommy said. “But it won’t always be like this.”

Elin buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. “I’m just so lonely.”

“You won’t always be. One day, you’ll have a strong mate. He’ll save you from the pain and loneliness. You just have to hold out for him.”

Then Elin was standing next to a grave. The dirt was piled over the space where her mother lay in the ground. She hadn’t looked into the coffin, hadn’t had the courage. She hadn’t been the one to find the body, but Echo, who had gone to check on Elin’s mother, told her that she had seemed peaceful. Elin wasn’t sure she believed that. Since when had her mother ever been peaceful?

Here she was, barely out of her teens and alone in the world. Had her mother been waiting for her to be considered an adult before she gave up? Or was the slow descent to death finally over? Elin stood there, her thoughts tumbling over each other. Over the years, her mother told her more than once that she was glad Elin’s father was gone, and it gave her the chance to find her true mate.

But she never left the house, only sat around waiting for him to stumble onto her.

At least Elin knew where she’d be. She came home every day to find her in the same spot. Now what? She didn’t even own the house she grew up in. Alpha Monroe was taking it back. “You don’t need that much space to yourself,” he said.

Where was she supposed to go now?

Her mind flashed to Mica. They’d been friends for years… until one of the boys in school told Elin nobody would wanther for a mate if she kept hanging out with the human outcast. Stupidly, Elin took it as that boy saying he’d be her mate if she didn’t have such embarrassing friends. So Elin had changed herself. She broke away from her only friend and joined the bullies in a desperate attempt to get male attention.

She didn’t even like him. Just wanted a boy to pick her.

It was the worst mistake she’d made. Mica was worth more than any male in the pack. But now it was too late. How could Elin go sobbing to her after the way she’d treated her? It was too late to ask for forgiveness.

Elin turned and walked away from her mother’s grave, stumbling over her own feet. She wasn’t a true outcast, not like Mica was. The pack didn’t care enough about her to bully her or treat her like shit. But she wasn’t worth embracing, either. They didn’t care enough to take care of her. She didn’t belong here.

But she had nowhere else to go.

Please, Elin thought as she lifted her face to the sky. Even though it wasn’t quite night, the moon hung round above her.Please, Moon Goddess. Bring me a mate so I don’t have to be alone.

Over the years, she’d stopped praying. She stopped hoping a man would step in and save her from her lonely existence. When she felt as though the physical need would drive her insane, she went to the human town. She found comfort and solace in the arms of strangers, with no hope that it would be more than a patch letting her continue on.

She got used to being lonely. She grew comfortable with her own company and no longer thought someone else could solve all her problems.

Then Hayden and the special ops returned to Bluebell Valley.

Elin walked along the dark street, lost in her thoughts as she played over the scene at town hall. Mica’s expression, furious and startled, kept playing in her mind. What had Hayden been thinking, arrogantly assuming Mica would just take him back? But jealousy churned in her gut, too. Maybe it was a terrible thing to do to Mica, but Elin couldn’t help but feel that if she were in that situation, she would have found it terribly romantic…

The sound of footsteps interrupted her thought. She looked up, and her breath caught in her throat. The red-haired wolf that stood with Hayden at Town Hall strode along the sidewalk. Elin froze, hidden in the shadows. He stopped suddenly, his head swinging toward her. He said something—she didn’t understand over the blood rushing in her ears.

She stepped into the light, and they stared at each other.

And suddenly, she saw her future as plain as she saw him now. She worked in the flowers surrounding her house while he played with their children in the front yard. Laughter filled the air. A little boy ran over, carefully holding a butterfly in his hands. He smiled at her, his warm brown eyes shining beneath a mop of red curls.

The way he looked at her made her wonder if he felt it, too, this draw. He was so tall and seemed so strong. For a moment, she couldn’t understand how a wolf with such a powerful aura could submit to anyone. Why wasn’t he an alpha in his own right? It seemed impossible that he wasn’t.

Something in his eyes seemed to spark. Her wolf howled in celebration, though Elin didn’t yet understand why. She’d never felt this way before, never felt this powerful draw. Shewanted to run across the pool of light and throw herself into his arms. But she remained rooted to the spot, every reason why she couldn’t ran through her head.

He had the aura of an Alpha, and she was the sort of woman who turned against her best friend in an attempt to fit in.

A wolf like him didn’t want a wolf like her. So she did the only thing she could do to stop herself from making a fool of herself—she turned and ran.

The moon shone overhead, filtering softly through the branches of the cedars that leaned toward one another. Elin smiled, warm and thoroughly sated in Finn’s arms. The forest was a source of fear these days with the demons running about, but the moment Finn touched her, she cared about nothing else. Her lips still tingled from their kisses. The rest of her? Tingles was hardly strong enough to describe the sensations sweeping through her.

Finn’s hand tangled in her hair as he let out a lazy groan. “That was fun. It’s been too long since I’ve last had sex.”

“Me, too,” Elin agreed. Normally she didn’t like to admit that she had experience. The males in the Bluebell Valley pack would call her a slut just for kissing someone who wasn’t her mate. Finn was different, though. She could be honest with him.

Nothing felt more right than this moment; their bodies were sweaty and still pressed together. The feeling of completion was more than Elin had thought could ever be possible. She’d never been this close to anyone, not even her past sexual partners.

She lifted herself onto an elbow and smiled down at Finn, gazing into his eyes. Her wolf practically purred—she knew what this meant. She had finally found her mate. A thrill went throughher, followed by inexplicable terror. How could she be so happy and afraid at the same time?

---