Page 24 of The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate

“I sure the hell didn’t know I could pull an eagle out of the sky. But what does it mean?” I was more confused than ever, and when I asked him, Snow was walking up. I have no idea what I was getting myself into, and I wasn’t sure this was something I wanted Snow to know about me just yet.

“What are you doing here Tyler? And how do you have an eagle on your arm?”

I looked to Dutch for an answer, hoping he would know what was going on, because I literally had no clue. I hadn’t known much about myself my whole life, so anything he could tell me, would help me.

To add to my shock, Dutch put his hand out and the eagle hopped over to him. Now I really wanted to know what it all meant.

“You are one of us, Tyler—a Dark Rider. We have the ability to command many animals, but none more than an eagle. My son has one that follows him around and keeps him safe. Since you are now seeing this one all the time, it must be protecting you. Once you came on to the land, it recognized you as one of us. That must be what it is. We’re going to have to look into it, but I bet we can find out who your parents are. You may even have family. There’s no telling,” Dutch said, a big smile on his face. I felt like he was genuinely happy for me.

I wanted what he said to be true because I’d yearned to know where I came from most of my life. I felt Snow touch my arm and I startled a little bit. I had almost forgot that she was there. I was so excited about hearing that someone might actually know where I came from, that I had nearly forgot about her presence. Considering that I hadn’t been able to do that purposely for many days should say something.

“That’s awesome, Tyler! You would finally have some family.” She was genuinely happy for me, no jealousy, no bitterness, just happiness. It was just one of the many reasons I couldn’t get her off my mind.

I saw the way Dutch looked at her, and Sterling had been very clear that he was in love with her. I probably had the same look, because I knew that I had fallen for her. It hadn’t been that long, but it felt like everything had changed since I met her.

If that wasn’t enough of shock and surprise, Dutch started to tell Snow about some information he had found out. Apparently, her dreams were really her memories and she was starting to remember more and more. Now I got to be happy for her, but the happiness was cut short when I heard more of the story. Someone had almost killed her once upon a time and was back now to get the job done. To find out that it was her stepmother was somehow worse. Some of the details were very intimate, and I felt bad to be here listening to everything. She could have told me to leave, and I could have offered, but I didn’t want her to think that I couldn’t handle it. Snow had baggage far heavier than what I carried, but I would be there for her no matter what.

“You are part of the Blood Moons. That’s the name of your pack. And I do meanyourpack.”

“Yeah, that sounds right.” She smiled in a lovely way and launched herself into Dutch’s arms. I would have to be blind to have not seen the connection those two shared. It was then, in that moment, that I knew I was going to have to share Snow. It wasn’t something I had ever thought about before, but, stranger than that, I was okay with it.

I was not okay with the fact that her own pack wanted to kill her. “Why do they want to kill you now, after all this time?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they needed me out of the way because I’m technically the queen. I never got into politics too much since I was pretty young when all of this happened. I just wasn’t paying attention yet.”

“You need to get out of here, Snow. Go somewhere safe where nothing can happen to you,” Dutch said, and I was in agreement. We needed to do everything we could to keep her safe.

But Snow wouldn’t hear it. “I am not going to hide! The one thing I have always remembered from my past, the first thing I remembered when I woke up, was the man who was sent to kill me telling me that I was going to have to fight. I think I finally know what he meant. I’m going to have to fight Ariana. I don’t want to, I’ve never wanted any of this, but I’m not going to be able to stay out of it.”

Dutch said exactly what I felt. “There has to be another way.”

Snow was a gentle person, and while I wasn’t saying she didn’t have it in her, I wondered if she had the spirit to do it without the consequences overwhelming her.

17

SNOW

Dutch thought that Sterling needed to be told about my imminent attack so that he could get involved. Tyler agreed, saying that we were going to need all the help we could get. While I didn’t want to bring such trouble to Sterling’s doorstep, I couldn’t see another way. We needed his strength and know-how. Sterling would know what to do.

The guys decided they were going to stick by me, and considering how important this all was, it meant a lot. Having the two men I thought the world of by my side made a scary situation a little bit better. If we could get Sterling on board, I knew we would be unstoppable.

Before leaving to find Sterling, Tyler pulled me in for a kiss. I didn’t have to see Dutch’s face to know he was not going to like it. This was a very weird situation. Dutch had feelings for me, but he’d had years to make a move and he didn’t. I knew he cared about me, maybe even loved me, but something held him back.

I made the kiss short since there wasn’t time for this and it was already awkward. It got even more awkward when we were trying to figure out who was going to go with who and in whose car. I decided that we should all just split up and keep our phones close for when we found Sterling. It was going to be tense to be around him again after that kiss and him telling me that we were meant to be together and that I was his true mate.

I didn’t have long to clear my head, before I got a call. Of course, Dutch was the one to find Sterling. He knew him the best. We planned to meet up at Pullers main house. Sterling had his own information to share and wanted to do it when all of us were together. I raced over to the main house, and it was a bit jarring to see the three men I was entangled with all together. I’d had sex with Tyler, and wanted to have sex with the other two. The three of them together was quite a sight, and for only a minute, naughty thoughts ensued, even if what I thought about wasn’t possible. Who could blame me for thinking it, though?

When I walked up to the trio, Dutch looked uncomfortable, Tyler looked downright murderous, which was something I didn’t even think he was capable of, and Sterling had that hungry look in his eyes that always seemed to fill them nowadays. It was hard to look at him when he was acting that way.

“I knew that there was something about you, Snow,” Sterling said with a grin on his face.

I didn’t want to talk about what that something was. “Did you tell Serling about what was going on?” I asked the other two.

Now that I was standing in front of Sterling, I was starting to doubt how good of a case we had. What were the chances that my dreams were wrong and that it was just an overheard conversation that Dutch had taken the wrong way? That seemed more plausible than me being the queen of my own pack. Being rejected by my supposed mate, skewed my feeling of value.

“They told me about your dreams. I wish you would have told me about them yourself, Snow. I would have tried to help you any way that I could,” Sterling insisted with sincerity.

I nodded. “I didn’t know what to think.”

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