Rejecting the Alpha Prince

6

ERIK

It wasn't too hard to sneak away from the party: of course, the fact that the Red Bloods weren't the least bit interested in talking to me or getting to know me helped, because all I had to do was tell my parents that I was going out for some air to leave undisturbed.

It was almost Christmas, and it was snowing, so there was no one but me out there. Another good thing.

I set off into the forest, finally savoring the silence. Between the incessant chatter, music, and people doing things, it was so unbearably loud in that house that silence was an almost paradoxical experience. I suddenly became much more aware of my heartbeat, of the sound of leaves and twigs crunching under my shoes ... and of my thoughts.

Yeah ... those.

Mostly, they were about Amelia: never would I've imagined the immense impact of that second encounter. She looked so beautiful I almost couldn't believe she was real: between the ruby dress that made her golden skin glow, her loose hair, and the elegance she carried herself with, I'd truly been left speechless. Containing the wonder, the surprise, and my wolf had been virtually impossible, so much so that I had no idea how my parents and Amelia's (or the guy standing next to her and that had made my wolf go feral) hadn't noticed.

It was a good thing, after all. For them, for Amelia, and for me. From what I'd heard in her mind, she, just like me, was anything but happy about that bond - or at least, about the fact that she was bound to me. She hated me, that much was clear - something that had made me even more convinced that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Red Bloods. Had I become Alpha she, as my mate, would have become my Luna. And ruling over a pack that hated me with a mate who hated me ... thanks but no, thanks.

Inside, my wolf growled in disagreement. Unlike me, he wanted that title, he wanted that girl, he wanted that pack. He wanted what his blood sang and roared.

No.

I would not become what my mother had feared for four long years of her life.

I would not become what I hated most in the world.

I stopped in a clearing, knowing that Amelia would find me - that's how the bond worked, after all. Even then, I could feel it inside me, like a string holding me to her, allowing me to feel her presence. The closer she got, the more I felt my wolf quiver with anticipation and excitement.

It took fifteen minutes for her to emerge from the shadows between the trees. She'd changed, abandoning the gorgeous red dress she'd worn to the party and opting for a pair of jeans and a parka, but she was equally beautiful. I'd found her gorgeous in the woods, bleeding and sweaty and pale, but now, finally healthy and with the light of the moon and the stars shining on her ...

Fuck.

I was a prince; I'd been with models, actresses, and incredibly beautiful women ... but none were like her. None of them exuded that same light, that glow of beauty and grace that surrounded Amelia.

She was pure Beauty, pure magnificence.

And had it been another situation, had she and I belonged to other packs ...

Oh, knock it off, I said, surprised by the turn my thoughts had taken. When did you ever want to plant roots? Or have a serious relationship?

It was, I realized, the bond talking. Trying to convince me to accept it.

"There you are," Amelia huffed, an irritated look on her face. "Did you really have to go that far, huh?"

Off to a great start, I see.

"Considering your delight at finding out about our bond, I thought you didn't wish to be seen alone with me," I retorted while maintaining a sardonic smirk.

"Or perhaps it was you who didn't want to be seen with me," she objected, a fierce light in her eyes. "With a Red Blood. After all, you did it before, didn't you?"

It wasn't hard to get what she was hinting at - the shame still burned inside me. It had been horrible and cowardly of me to leave her unconscious in the woods and not bring her into the house, but ... at that moment, with her passed out in my arms and a bond that had just snapped, there had been no room for reasoning in my mind. In truth, I'd been nothing but a mass of panic and anxiety - I'd had to take a couple of drops after the shower to calm down and make sure I could at least face that party while maintaining a facade.

"I'm really sorry about that," I said, removing my mask for a second. She deserved at least an explanation, after all. "I didn't leave you in the woods because of your pack. To tell the truth, I don't really know why I did it. I was ... not thinking."

It wasn't a lie: I really didn't know what had gone through my mind. My memories of that moment, of that run through the woods, were so tangled that they were tremendously confused. I only remembered the feeling of her body in my arms, the fear that she wouldn't make it, the frantic beating of my heart as I ran ...

I remembered seeing the pack house in the distance. I remembered the feeling of panic that had tightened around my neck. And I remembered leaving Amelia behind that tree and running off.

Amelia snickered. "Whatever," she huffed.

Something froze in me when I heard that snicker. Something that ... that hurt.

"I'm not lying," I insisted. "I was panicking. I didn't know what to do. I'm very sorry for ..."

"You got scared by a house?" she asked, a cutting irony in her voice. "By some bricks? Give me a break. I know the truth and so do you, so please stop this pantomime of a poor little sorry puppy, and let's do what we have to do."

Those words hit like a hammer. They were so cruel, so steeped in malice that ... that they left me speechless. I could have lied to her, laughed in her face and of our bond, rejected her, and left her there, but I'd chosen to tell her the truth, to open up, to let her know I was sorry ...

All for this? Insults and accusations of being a liar?

The worst thing was that she wasn't insulting me for what I'd done - for which I would deserve insults. No, she was calling me a liar, which was worse.

Very well, I thought, as a sudden coldness came over me. Very well indeed.

"Then I'd say we can proceed," I coolly said.

Billions of people in the world, and this bitchy, opinionated little girl was supposed to be my mate? My perfect half?

Please.

This was blatantly a mistake. But I'm going to fix it.

I didn't wait for her to say something, to do something.

"I, Erik von Blankenburg, Prince of the Wolves, reject you, Amelia Hawthorne of Red Blood pack, as my mate."

A few simple words were enough for something to c***k in me - the bond, which, despite everything, continued to struggle and squirm to survive. Something appeared briefly on Amelia's face - whether sorrow or anger or pain, I couldn't tell.

I decided I didn't care.

Take it back, my wolf growled. Take it back!

I didn't.

"I, Amelia Hawthorne of Red Blood pack, accept your rejection. With enormous pleasure," she added, with a venomous hiss.

"What the f**k is wrong with you?" I blurted out at that point, angry and annoyed. That behavior made no sense - she didn't even know me! Either she was crazy, or she was simply a b***h - which seemed very likely. "You don't even know me, and yet you act like I killed your cat! Sure, leaving you in the woods was not particularly honorable of me, but if I'm not mistaken, I was the one who pulled you out of that trap, and prevented you from losing your leg. A little gratitude and kindness wouldn't hurt, you know."

Amelia - who in the meantime had turned her back on me to leave, turned suddenly, fury and wrath burning in her eyes. "Gratitude and kindness?" she hissed. "Ah! Why would I show gratitude and kindness to someone like you?"

"Someone like me? Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Loud and clear," she growled. "Someone like you. A conceited, insufferable, coward, spoiled little brat."

Anger began to burn in my veins, combined with a desire to attack. A desire that, I could see, also shone in her yellow-lit eyes. "I see you've made quite an opinion of me. You've never even met me and you've already decided who I am."

A wry smirk popped on her lips. "As if it'd take much to figure out who you are. Now, I don't have time to stay here and argue - I have a boyfriend waiting for me. So do me a favor and get out of my life."

"Oh, trust me, I will," I retorted, my own voice filled with venom. "But not to please a b***h like you."

Without sparing her another thought, I walked past her and set off into the woods, heading not for the house, but for the hotel.

I had no intention of staying on that land and among those pieces of s**t a moment longer.