The Alpha's Broken Mate

Chapter 9: Rejection with a Kiss

Chapter 9 -

-Elijah-

I have come back to my senses and before I have a chance to process what is happening, she is gone. She slips from my grasp and leaves with who I’m assuming is a close friend of hers. The loss of her touch and her present becomes clear. I have known of her presence not even 24 hours, and already I want her back.

I feel as though I’m lacking something when she is gone. I know nothing about this girl, and I want her to be around me every second of every day. The thought of someone else spending time with her and keeping her from me, instantly makes me angry in the pit of my stomach. Her smiling with someone brings me sorrow and loneliness of a kind that I didn’t even know.

She has unlocked feelings in me that I have kept dorement and pushed down for years upon years. In a split second, this girl has unraveled the very essence of my being, and yet I hate her for that. I hate that she can get to me and make me vulnerable against my will . Mates are the one thing that I will not stand for. I can not have a sense of weakness for my enemies to find when going head to head.

I have many enemies. Many that want my head on a pike and on display for the rest of their pack to see. Something of great honor for the pack that shows that they got to who was supposed to be the most fearless leader for miles and miles. I can’t bring my mate. My destined one. To share the same fate that could be the one in my near distant future. I will not allow myself to fall for her.

I need to get Tristian in here. Right away. Before I even have the chance to say his name Tristan is already walking into the kitchen where I am. “Elijah, do we have a plan? Are we going to be staying here much longer?” I didn’t know how to respond. Because if I listened to what I really wanted, I wanted to stay. Discover her, learn her, and understand her.

I wanted another encounter like the one that we just had here in the kitchen. I have to admit that I did feel bad about how I made her feel. I could tell that I embarrassed her, but I also know the other deeper, sensitive feelings that she was having. She was angry. Angry that I could get to her like that so easily. I don’t even have to try. She crumbles under me with just one look. And as much as I hated that I had that control over her, it was also the most powerful feeling that I have ever felt.

“We are leaving here tonight. We will stay for dinner so as not to be rude to Alpha Quincey, but after that we go home. I can’t afford to stay here any longer than that.” I say in a kind of cold tone that is common when I speak, but yet it seemed to foreign to me at this moment. “I understand Elijah. Though… Can I ask the obvious?” Tristan, just like always, wants to talk about the elephant in the room. He knows my feelings regarding mates. He wants to know what I’m going to do.

“I don’t think that this is the place to have that conversation. Also not that it is any of your business you know my feelings, so what do you think my next move is?” Tristan takes a big deep breath. He already knew what my next move was. He knew what the logical plan was. It was the only way to keep my pack safe, the only way that I could keep her safe. He swallows hard and he keeps his head to the floor.

“With that response Tristan I know that you know what I am thinking. It is the only way. There is too much at stake.” I feel a slight sting in the back of my head. I knew what this feeling was. It was guilt. But why was I guilty? I hadn’t even done anything yet.

The thought alone was enough to make any male lay on the floor and accept the fate that was coming their way. Though no male in their right mind would even take this kind of path. Leaving without their mate, it's something barely ever heard of. Especially when it comes to an Alpha. A luna was what all alphas looked forward to. When training to take the position, it was what got many through and pushed us to complete every task thrown at us.

Yet, here I was truly thinking about something I could never take back. Once done, she is no longer tied to me. She can always find someone else but she will never feel for someone the way that she did for me. That is something that comes with mates. If there is a time that one is rejected, they can find someone else, but they will never have the strong feelings and attachment to someone like they would have their mate.

A sad reality but this was not up for discussion. Tonight before we leave, there is one thing that I need to do. I have to get her alone. And I have to reject her. Blaze is stirring and causing me a real massive headache. He hates this idea. He wants me to take her with me, and make her mine. Learn all that I can about her and take her in with open arms and learn to love her.

My eyes gloss over so that I can talk with Blaze. “What are you whining about? You know just as much as I do that kind of risk that we would be putting her under, and for the pack. Frankly, she doesn’t seem very strong, and she could not protect her own.” Instantly he is angry. He growls at me, and I swear if he could, he would have torn me to pieces where I stood.

“You haven’t even met her. You don’t know her name, and you certainly don’t know her wolf. They are something so different. Something that is so special and you won’t even give them the chance. You are not only taking away your mate but mine as well. How is that fair? Don’t I have a say?” He is bursting at the seams with rage.

“I am in control of this body. I am thinking like an Alpha. I don’t have to get to know her to know that she is not what I need. She will not bring any assets to my pack and certainly not to me. There is nothing that she can give me that I couldn’t get from someone else.” Even I wish I could have taken that last part back. It wasn’t right to say, and I knew that if I did follow through with this that it was going to hurt more than anything else in this world.

Blaze goes silent and he goes to the back of my mind. I shake his anger and my own dislikes about this path and go back to the logical thinking of an alpha. He will get over it at some point. I’m not doing this for no reason. If I keep telling myself over and over again that she can bring me nothing and that this is best for the pack, I will get over it. Eventually.

“Tristan, let’s take Alpha Quincey’s offer and see the pack land. Inspect the area and the warriors here.” I stand tall and look at Tristan who at some point ended up on the living room couch and watching TV. “Yes, Elijah.” He gets up from the sofa and makes his way to me. We walk out the front doors in the dining room area and make our way to the grounds.

There we see Alpha Quincey running some drills with the warriors. He is very focused. I can see that he takes great pride in his pack. He looks at them all like a proud father who can’t wait to see where their journey’s take them. The opposite look that I got from my own father.

“Excuse me Alpha Quincey, would you mind if I took you up on that tour?” I extend my right hand out and give him a firm handshake. He returns the gesture and his eyes have a look of excitement in them. But it isn’t so much that you would notice right away. “Yes, of course. I would be more than happy too. If you would, please follow me.” He extends his arm to show the direction that we would first be heading.

*Skipping forward a few hours*

After many miles of walking and showing off the most beautiful places that I have seen in a pack, we finally end up back at the pack house. We enter the house with smiles plastered on our faces and laughing about a joke that Quincey had said just moments before. He hasn’t asked the obvious, which makes me curious. Though maybe that’s a good thing.

Instantly when we walk into the pack house I see her. I smell her. Her sweet scent and her beautiful face. She hasn’t noticed me yet. Though, I know that she can smell me. She knows I’m here. She is cutting up some vegetables that I can only assume are for tonight’s dinner. She smiles a soft smile and I notice that she has one dimple on the left of her cheek.

Before my brain could catch up with what my eyes were seeing, she laughed. A soft laugh as not to disturb the talk that is happening but just enough so that those around her could hear. It was the prettiest laugh I had ever heard come from someone’s lips. My lips parted against my want, and I was in awe of her. Her laugh sent shivers down my spine, but at the same time gave me such a sense of happiness.

Though I shake it fast. A pit it formed in my stomach, as I remember the events that are going to have to take place tonight. I have to reject her. I have to get her alone, and I have to reject her. Separate ourselves from each other. This is the best way. Mates are a weakness. They bring nothing but trouble.

My dad ringing in the back of my head, I begin taking steps towards her so that after dinner, I can just leave. Not have to linger and keep watching her. As I make my way to her, her brother Lane steps in front of me. He breaks my stride. “Hey Alpha Elijah right? My name is Lane Carter. Alpha Quincey’s son. Are you staying for dinner?” He has a certain tone when he talks that is welcoming but also on the edgy side.

“Of course. It would have been rude for me to leave this late in the evening and not stay for dinner. Your father showed me the beautiful grounds and before we knew it, it was late.” I gave him a short and simple answer as my thoughts were elsewhere. I need to see her. Be near her. And my brain is beginning to take his presence and if he is keeping her from me. That doesn’t sit well with me.

“I’m glad to hear it. I have been to many packs before, and none have the sites that we do. They really are one of a kind. Thank you for giving us a visit, you are always welcome to come back.” When he said that last part, there was a bit of venom in his voice. He is welcoming me back, but not because he wants to. He is trying to keep the peace and not make a scene.

“Thank you Lane. Your father said the same. I’m sure that in time I will be back to visit. I told your father that I wanted to come sit in on some training sessions. I hope to see you there.” I give him a slight side eye, just so he knows the feelings are mutual. I won’t be back. Not after tonight.

“Can’t wait -“ before he can say anything else, he was cut off by the sound of one of the cooks announcing that dinner was ready to be served. “Looks like dinner is ready. Please sit wherever you would like.” I see her sit down near her father next to her mother, and before I have the chance to head that direction, Lane takes the seat next to her, then her friend follows and sits next to Lane.

Are you kidding me? Something tells me that wasn't a coincidence. I settle and sit on the other end of the table. She is still in my sight but not enough that I can engage with her. She avoided eye contact with me all night. Never once looking in my direction. She laughs and smiles at everyone who makes conversation with her.

It bothers me. That she hasn’t looked at me. Acknowledging everyone but me. The only one that she should come running to every time she feels my presence. What am I thinking? This wasn’t going to go as smoothly as I was thinking. I don’t know what is going to happen tonight when I talk to her, but please let it end quickly.

Dinner ends, and she is cleaning up the plates and packing away the rest of the dinner that wasn’t touched. The leftovers. I sit by the island and sip a bottle of water and wait until she is finished. This needs to end. I can’t keep this going anymore. I see her put away the last piece of food and I realize that now is the time.

I go to open my mouth but instead something else happens. “Don’t say a word. I have noticed that you have been watching me all night. I know that it is bothering you that I haven’t spoken a single word to you since this morning. I can tell that you want to talk, so talking we shall do. You can come up to my floor and we can talk in the hallway.”

I’m left without words. All I do is nod my head and follow behind her. She is walking up the stairs and I’m walking close behind her. She stops and enters a hallway and stops in the middle of the walk way. She turns to me and again before I can say anything she speaks.

“Before you begin to say anything, there is something that I need to get off my chest. Something I need to do, and if I don’t do it now, then I probably never will.” I nod again and give her these few minutes. I kind of owe it to her since what I’m about to do, is going to crush her very being. She walks closer to me, closing the gap that is between us.

I back up, unknowing of what she is about to do. She continues walking closer to me and my back hits the back of the wall. The gap between us is closing and there is nowhere for me to go. I can’t back up any farther. She gets on her tippy toes and before I can protest she grabs the back of my neck and brings her face close to me.

She kisses me….

—-END OF CHAPTER—-