Page 11 of The Alpha's Rejected Arranged Mate

A grey-haired man walked up beside the bus and called, “I am Alpha Seth of Moon Lake. Come out and declare yourselves.”

Derek opened the doors and stepped down. “We’re the ambassadorial team sent from Bluebell Valley. We had some trouble with rogues, which is why we’re in this old thing. I’m Derek. This is Christine,” he added as she descended from the bus. Elin tugged Finn’s hand.

He took a deep breath and followed her outside.

“Elin,” Derek introduced as she stepped out. “And Finn.”

Finn met the Alpha’s gaze. His eyes were blue like Finn’s, and there was something familiar in the shape of his face. Seth’s eyes widened. The woman beside him, no doubt Luna Rosemary, gasped and grabbed his arm.

“You aren’t welcome here!” Seth snarled. “Get out of my territory, all of you!”

Oh, he recognized him.

Emotion flooded Finn, so strong and fast he had no name for it. This was the man who abandoned him at the orphanage and made sure he was never adopted. The man who knew where he came from, who could have made things so much clearer all his life. And yet, he’d never bothered to share a single bit of information with Finn.

Derek was still speaking. “… sent by Alpha Hayden to form an alliance. We have training through a special branch of the military—”

“I said get out,” Seth snapped.

Finn’s jaw felt like it was welded shut. He should point out that they were here to help, should tell Seth they knew who he was, and explain they were here to fight against the demons. Seth knew about them. It was the only explanation as to whyhe’d reacted so strongly to Finn’s presence. There was no demon influence around the Alpha, nothing around the wolves who lingered nearby.

Seth had been here, just a few miles away, for Finn’s entire life. And never once came to check up on him. Never once bothered to let him know he had a living family.

“Luna Rosemary,” Elin said.

“Don’t you talk to her,” Seth interrupted, standing in front of his wife.

“Luna Mica specifically chose me to come here. We know that Moon Lake needs aid. We’re here to give that aid,” Elin said. She stepped forward, and Finn had to bite down the urge to grab her and pull her back. “We know that rogues are attacking you. And we know they’re in league with demons. We met some at the orphanage where these three grew up.” She paused slightly, narrowing her eyes at Rosemary. “But you already know about demons, don’t you?”

“We do,” Rosemary said slowly.

Seth growled, claws sprouting from his fingertips. “All the more reason to see you gone. We don’t need your help.”

“We’ve dealt with demons before and defeated them,” Elin said.

“So you say.” Seth glared at her, then turned that smoldering anger on Finn.

It was so clear why Seth wanted him out of there. He recognized Finn as the baby he sent to the orphanage. And it was equally clear that he wasn’t just some random baby he’d found in the woods. Looking into Seth’s eyes was like looking into a mirror. Seth was his father—a father who betrayed his mate with a demon and then punished the child of that union.

“Alpha Seth, please,” Elin begged, wringing her hands. “I know this must all seem very… um, strange—”

“I’m running out of patience,” Seth said.

Rosemary laid a hand on his arm, but he shook it off. She didn’t look at Finn. Carefully avoided looking at him, in fact. No doubt she knew, too. Though she earned more grace than her mate. After all, she shouldn’t have to advocate for the proof of her mate’s infidelity. What sort of a man was Seth, anyway, to cheat on his mate? What sort of Alpha?

Derek cleared his throat. “We will be able to help you defend against the demons. We have ways to prevent them from—”

“Or maybe you are all demons,” Seth said.

He wasn’t interested in listening to them. Too consumed with keeping his illegitimate baby out of the pack to make sure nobody would find out that he fucked a demon. Finn’s wolf snarled deep in his chest. Fuck him, then! It would be his pack that would suffer for it.

“I should execute you all as demon-possessed rogues,” Seth added. His gaze fell on Elin, their fury undimmed as she drew back in fear.

A wash of red settled over Finn’s vision.

Some of these reactions he could understand. Being afraid of the half-demon spawn was understandable. Worrying that they were, in fact, demons masquerading as aid from another pack was reasonable. Making sure he could protect his own pack from being infiltrated was all well and good. Certainly, refusing to speak with them was less so, but at the same time, Finn could understand it.

If their positions were reversed, Finn wouldn’t trust a half-demon around his pack, around the people he loved. He certainly wouldn’t want the product of an affair to hand around his mate.

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