Once Rejected, Twice Denied.

Chapter Seventeen

BRETT POV:

I sit in my father's office, which isn't very far from my own, and I look at him writing something down about the latest intake of pack members and who can help with warding off rogues from not only our pack, but others too. I look at my watch and see I only have ten minutes until the whole "welcome lunch" thing. The last thing on earth I feel like doing is going to it, but after what my brother and sister said to me the other day, I feel a little guilty for not showing more interest in events away from the pack house. Still, it feels as though there are larger fish to fry that I could be doing instead of having drinks and making small talk to teenagers. The rogue situation has, quiet frankly, become out of hand and I want to get my claws into that filthy mutt of an Alpha so I can watch the life leave his eyes after he killed Julia. It's been my BIGGEST wish since she died. Not only that, but that piece of filth has been selling she-wolves around sold to the "merchant" and its all good and well that I have been buying them off of them, but sooner or later my little plan will be discovered and more people will get hurt. Goddess knows what would have happened to Tessa if I hadn't happened to buy her. I shake my head at this silly thought. Even when I don't want to, she enters my thoughts and after finding out about how she was treated, I feel as though I need to rip the heads off of every person who laid a finger on her in Full Moon. It isn't that easy though. She comes from a powerful pack with excellent connections. They have also shared an alliance with my family for over one hundred years. Still, something needs to be done about them, else I will not sit still. Mate or not, nobody deserves that sort of treatment.

"Son, we cannot just announce our resignation from them as a pack of allegiance. You know we have to go through the right steps and do it through the council, else we lose every other alliance along the way."

My father sips at his coffee now and I give him a stiff nod. He is still the Alpha. A moment of guilt courses through me as I look at him now, knowing I have stripped away his freedom from my mother.

"I have to do something though, father. They abused Tessa for years, kept her locked up in dark spaces for hours and then that mutt of a future Alpha rejected and banished her out of embarrassment!"

He smirks now and I look away.

"So you like her then?"

I take a breath in.

"You know I can only ever love one woman, father. I just need to do what is right."

The small moment of silence makes me look at him again. He is watching me with a calculated look, but somewhere in there is a little sadness, understanding and sympathy.

"You know, it was the most difficult thing to watch you lose your mate. What happened was..."

"Please, I do not feel like reliving the whole thing. It seems to be all everyone can speak about these days!"

It comes out a little harsh, but my father nods and falls back against the backrest of the chair. He has his hands together now as if thinking. In this light, I see how peppery his hair has become and it makes me feel even worse.

"Your mother and I care for you deeply, Brett. It has been a privilege to watch you grow and become the man you are today. I know when you finally decide, you will make an excellent Alpha, but Brett..."

I see him looking at me more intently.

"Good things are never going to come your way while you are living in the past. It feels as though my sadness for your life has never ended, since Julia's funeral, because you have never moved on from that and you have never made peace with how life has worked out."

I try to say something but he holds his hand up. Damn.

"Grief is a difficult thing, son, and I have been and will continue to be here for you with whatever you need, but Brett, you need to start living your life again. Not leaving the house, not even the pack, only having thousands of one-night stands, drinking so much, not becoming alpha and now, denying the mate bond..."

I suck in a breath. He looks disappointed in me and that is something I HATE to see in my father.

"That isn't the son we raised and it isn't the Alpha we need. You have EVERYTHING it takes to be one of the most incredible Alpha's I have ever been alive to witness. The work you do to help save those girls, your grueling efforts with the rogues, your bravery and commitment is rare, but you don't live your life or have fun. Every Alpha knows that balance is important and only YOU can make the choice to move forward and reach your full potential. Nobody else can."

"It's hard, father. I didn't ask for another mate. Everywhere I go, it reminds me of her."

"Julia?"

I nod now at my father, who smiles sadly.

"Son, nobody said it was ever going to be easy. Life can be seriously s**t sometimes, but that is how we choose to live every day after that makes it worth it or not. I know Julia was your everything and what happened to her was tragic. f**k, kill the rogue Alpha, spit on his corpse, do what you need to do, but stop punishing everyone around you for Julia's death. Stop denying Tessa. Stop punishing yourself. Do you know why? Because the more you do that, the more everyone around you, including yourself, is going to resent Julia and the short life she had. Now I am sure you and I agree that Julia does not deserve that. You need to clean up her things, you need to let go of her so you can start a new life. She is so alive in every part of you, son, and her memory will always remain, but you need to let go now. It isn't fair on anyone around you and, quite frankly, your mother and I are desperate to see you happy again."

His words shock me. I never thought of it that way. All my actions have been affecting the people around me and it all comes down to Julia. How would this make everybody think of her? They probably wished I was never mated to her in the first place, because it means I have become a s**t head. f**k!

"You are right."

My father smiles genuinely now and looks impressed. I laugh at his smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get a big head now, old man!"

He pretends to be offended and I start to stand. I see I am already late for the lunch event. I quickly make my way to the door and when I turn around, I see him laughing. This makes me smile, but then I see his age lines creasing across his eyes. It makes me stop.

"Another thing, dad..."

He looks up.

"I am sorry, you know? That I didn't become Alpha three years ago and that you and mom couldn't finally retire."

He waves his hand as if it's nothing.

"I am serious though. You and she had so many plans to travel and enjoy your next years. I am sorry and I promise that I will work on myself. I just need to figure some things out first."

"Well, thank you son. I would do anything for you and this pack. You are my family."

I smile gently at this and he returns the warm moment with his own smile. When he looks back down to write something, I take this as my moment to leave and I quickly make my way to my Jeep. In two clicks, the car starts and I am driving through the town centre and towards the other side of the pack. As I get closer and closer, I start to sense the teenage angst hovering in the air and I want to roll my eyes. I haven't been to one of these since I was eighteen and trying to pick up girls. Julia turned sixteen at the last one I went to. I shake my head at this thought. Wasn't I just telling my father that I would TRY to move on? The truth is I will try, but my head is still trying to convince my heart that it wants to. I tap my fingers against the steering wheel as I feel my heart and mind fighting. It doesn't help that the closer I get to this damned event, the more on edge I feel. My wolf is unsettled and it's making me feel on edge. I swing my car into a spot between the others and quickly stop the engine before jumping out. I see a few teens eyeing me as I climb out with shocked expressions. They whisper amongst themselves. I guess my presence here was not expected and this doesn't suprise me considering I never leave the pack house. I carry on walking towards where the bonfire is and the noise. A group of three girls plastered in make-up giggle as I walk by and one bats her eyelashes at me. Seriously? I roll my eyes and carry on walking. I am almost ten years older than those girls!

"Ah, look who joined the party!"

I see my brother standing there with a cola in his hand and talking to Nick. They are standing in amongst the trees and chatting amongst themselves. I swear I can hear Nick saying something about Tessa and this makes my ears perk up. What could they possibly be saying about her? She should be back at the Pack house and chilling, doing girly s**t or whatever.

"Look at all of us. Feels like we were fresh from school again, doesn't it?"

Both of them laugh now and I chuckle too.

"Yo, we used to make these things a lot more rowdy than they are right now. f**k, remember how we used to cause s**t?"

Damon and I laugh at what Nick is saying and I nod.

"Those were the days. Now we just organise and run these things."

Damon hands me a cola and I clink cans with the two of them. Yeah, it's been awhile and it doesn't feel good to be out with them again. Makes me remember a time when things were a little less serious and life was so much fun. That was something I lost three years ago.

"So, has anything fun planned for the newbies here?"

I ask Damon and he chuckles again.

"Ugh, just your typical initiation into the pack. Creepy night run through the forest and that's it."

I look around us now and don't see Lili and Ray. They were supposed to be here too. The three of us start walking towards the clearing of the forest where the bonfire is and I start feeling all heads turning. My skin pricks. Huh?

"Hey, where is Lili and..."

My words stop as I hear a shimmer of delicate laughter. It sends a little spark of tingles up my back and my eyes immedietly shoot to a group of people. Long, pin-straight, perfectly glowing hair sways in an icy breeze and pink lips widen in laughter at something some teen is saying nearby. Her hips are showing perfectly in a simple, tight dress and when she turns to look at me, it is as if the whole world stills. Her blue eyes are mesmerizing against the freezing backdrop of a perfect winter's day. She looks at me as if seeing her favourite thing in the world and that scares me shitless. I remember that all-consuming feeling. I have lived in it before. My eyes shift down to the enormous coat she is wearing and, at first, I almost skip over it, but then my senses peak and the breeze sends me a little message. My wolf hooks onto the extreme feelings of anger before even I can and his emotions ripple through me faster than I can handle. I can smell him on her. His scent. His cologne. I can see the f*****g, little, medium-brown hair on the coat that she is currently wearing. Right now, he is keeping her warm. HIM. My eyes look at Damon now and he frowns.

"Brett?"

Nick's voice is muffled as I ball my fists. Damon looks at Tessa now and I watch the penny drop. Tessa is in HIS coat.

"Fuck."

When he looks back at me, it's like my wolf gives zero shits and I let out a growl as I feel myself shifting into my wolf.

"Brett!"

"BRETT!"

Another warning growl and everybody lowered their heads. Thats right, fuckers! I am your future Alpha! I snap my teeth at Damon.

"I didn't mean anything. She was cold."

Damon says under strain. I look back at Tessa now, who is watching me intensely. She has never seen my wolf before. Large, black paws walk up to her. She is the only one who hasn't submitted to my Alpha aura. It just shows how powerful she actually is. I internally frown at this. Blue pools wash over all of me and I ignore the feeling that gives me. How dare she leave the pack house and wear another guy's s**t? Let alone MY OWN BROTHER'S? I look back at him now. Does he like her? Yesterday he mentioned... I growl again and Tessa's skin lifts into goosebumps. I walk closer and closer to her and I can feel the warmth oozing from her. I shift back into my human self now. Who gives a f**k if I am naked right now? Her blue eyes widen.

"Take it off."

It's all I say. She looks so confused and I am having none of it.

"Take it off now."

I say again and I see her mind click when she sees me looking angrily at the coat. She does as she is told and the coat drops to the floor. Immediately, I see she shivers from the cold and I have to stop myself from staring at how her n*****s have risen from underneath the thin material. Stupid, stupid girl! I quickly look away, knowing all too well that I am being watched now and also too angry to let it get to my head.

"Brett, I..."

Tessa steps forward and tries to put her hand on my arm. I take a step back and watch as her flushed cheeks pale and her eyes begin to water. People gasp at her little action. I give zero f***s. How dare she do this? How dare she come out here poorly dressed for the cold AND THEN wear my brother's stuff IN FRONT of other people?

"Don't touch me."

It's all I say, but I see this has stabbed her way harder than I intended to. I feel a little jolt of guilt run through me, but I know it's too late. When I look around, I see everyone is looking on.

"Nick. Clothes."

He nods and comes forward with a bag of s**t from behind a tree. We always keep bags on stand by. I start throwing on the jeans and all eyes are on me.

"ARE YOU NOT BUSY WITH A PARTY OR SOMETHING?"

Everyone still looks at me. I sigh.

"CONTINUE!"

I just about growl out and just like that, the atmosphere goes back to how it was. What it was, but now one big difference.

Tessa is no longer laughing.