Rejected Alpha

Chapter Nineteen: Hector's POV

The sound of a woman screams had Michael and I bursting through the front door and into the home of Alpha Zak. The woman sounded like she was in pain. When we reached the dining room where the screams were coming from, I stalled for half a second. There she was. The she wolf from the video call. She was clutching her hands to her ears, her black hair spilling around her. She swayed slightly as if she were dizzy. The sight of her being this way made rage bubble in my veins.

“What the hell happened to her?’ I bellowed. My voice bouncing off the walls and echoing back to us.

“It was the doorbell. She has the most sensitive senses I have ever seen. The sounds and smells of the city had almost an identical effect on her.” Zak said hurriedly.

“She is the one who told me I was pregnant.” Luna Carol murmured softly as she stroked the back of the woman’s head soothingly.

“Why didn’t you warn us of her heightened senses?’ My beta Michael yelled.

Carol jerked back from the woman with a startled squeal. The woman, Seraphina I believe if I remembered correctly, stiffened. The she wolf jumped up and took Michael down so quickly I wasn’t even able to see the whole motion. One second, she was stiffened in her chair, the next she was bearing down on my beta’s chest growling at him to apologize to the Luna for scaring her. It was admirable that she would care for another pregnant she wolf. Especially considering Luna carol was not apart of her pack. The two of them still all but strangers, only meeting a little over twelve hours ago. Yet, here she was defending a woman who she doesn’t know. Who was this woman?

As soon as Michael apologized to Carol, she went to help him up. He hesitated making me laugh to myself. Only when she assured him, she wouldn’t hurt him did he place his hand in hers so she could help him. I had to swallow the growl that wanted to escape me at seeing him touch her. She wasn’t my mate though; I had no right to feel jealous of her touching another man. She had said she had two mates before, but both had tried to kill her. How could anyone want to kill someone like her?

As Seraphina went to pull him to his feet she used too much of her heightened strength and sent him soaring through the air. Both of them would have hit the ground, Michael landing on top of her, had she not been able to right herself then steady him. Even the thought of Michael being on top of her made my anger flare.

“Sorry.” She gasped. “I guess I used a little too much strength.” She looked down at her hands in confusion before looking back to Michael.

“No worries.” Michael replied out of breath.

“Good evening Alpha Hector.” She said smoothly as she turned and faced me. “ I wasn’t expecting you to come and pick me up personally. Should be honored or wary?” She arched her brow at me.

I couldn’t help the amusement I felt. She was beautiful, even for a werewolf. Her skin was light bronze and her hair was as black as night. Her green eyes shone like emeralds as she studied me in return. She wasn’t tall, but she also wasn’t the smallest she wolf I have seen. She was powerfully built, her muscle thicker and more pronounced than any other female I’ve met. She had thick hips and powerful looking legs. Her waist though not big wasn’t thin either. Any male would be lucky to have a woman like her as a mate. The two idiots who were her mates didn’t deserve her.

“Like what you see?” I asked when I noticed she was staring at me. Her face reddened and she swiped her tongue across her lips. My eyes trailed the movement hungrily.

“If I am being perfectly honest, then yes. Very much so.” She said in a strong voice.

I laughed as Samson howled in the back of my mind at her compliment. Even I was finding it hard not to flock around like a peacock with his feathers showing. What I found even more amusing was the looks of utter shock across everyone’s face. All except hers. Her face and eyes were filled with awe. You could see it in her eyes as she watched me. But her green eyes were haunted. A shadow lurked beneath the depths. A shadow I wanted to eradicate from her and free her. What had this woman been through to look like she has lived two times her years?

“Honesty is a good quality to have Ria.” I told her.

“Ria?” She asked confused.

“Yes, Ria.” I smirked at her. “Much easier than Seraphina. Though Seraphina is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman, Ria will be what I will call you.”

She whispered the name as if she were testing the name on her lips. I noticed as a small smile crept into the corner of her lips and her cheeks flushed pink. What was she thinking about now? What I wouldn’t give to be inside that mind of hers. To know what she thought of me. Probably the same as everyone else. Ruthless, vile, evil. Just a few amongst other things I’ve been called. But for some reason I wanted her to see me differently.

“Alright then.” She spoke. “As long as you are the only one who calls me Ria. Others may call me Seraphina or Sera.”

I growled, the sound slipping through along with my anger against my will. Samson was angry. He didn’t want anyone else to call her Ria. He didn’t want anyone else to get close enough to even think about it. The pack would hear me call her Ria and think it was okay. It was far from okay. Even with the thoughts running through my mind I could see as everyone shuffled away from me. Everyone but Ria. She looked around at them in confusion before turning her green eyes back to me. She looked at me as though she were looking through me. As if she could read every thought I had and could see everything I felt. Neither Samson or I knew if we liked it or not.

“Are you alright?” She asked softly as she made her way to me slowly. She only stopped when we were mere inches apart. Samson wanted to close the few inches and pull her into us. He wanted to feel her warmth against us.

“Seraphina don….” Alpha Zak stopped short. Ria held her hand up, her eyes looking over to him as she shook her head.

“Hector.” She whispered. The others gasped but she didn’t seem to notice. “Are you okay?” Her sole focus was on me. Concern flared in her eyes. Was she worried about me? Why? She didn’t even know me. And yet here she was, looking at me as if she were afraid, I would break down. Or go on a rampage. It was hard to tell really. But she didn’t seem to see the worst in me like everyone else. Even if she had heard the stories, heard rumors about me. She either didn’t care or didn’t listen.

“I’m fine.” I sighed, running my hand down my face. But She continued to stare at me. Continued to look at me with her green eyes filled with worry. A knowing but almost frightened look flared briefly in her eyes before she grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed. Her hand compared to mine was like comparing bear claw to a cats paw. And yet her touch felt right, felt comfortable. But why was she doing this?

“Her wolf, Ruby said that Ria is trying to help. She can see you trembling and your muscles twitching and your heart racing in your pulse.” Samson told me. “She is trying to calm you. She knows you wouldn’t want to appear weak in front of everyone so she is trying to help you.”

She wanted to help me save face? Why? No one else would have noticed what she did. No one ever has. Not until her. Not until today. She was observant. Too observant. But somehow, I didn’t mind, and she didn’t see me as weak because of my reactions. She still saw me as a strong alpha, and was even willing to help. So, when she moved to remove her hand from mine, I grabbed hers and squeezed in return in thanks, before letting go.

“It’s time we left.” I said in a stone like voice as I placed the mask everyone has grown to accustom to back into place. Confusion and hurt flashed in her eyes. I hated that. How could she know that this wasn’t actually me? The answer was easy. She couldn’t. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know what is truly me and what isn’t. I wasn’t even sure I knew anymore. I lost myself when I lost my mate. Now I aimed all my anger, all my frustrations on training alpha’s. And now I would be training Ria. I just wasn’t sure if I could train her like I trained the others. And not because she was a female, but because I couldn’t stand the idea of her being hurt.

Ria rushed to say goodbye to Carol and Zak before running to catch up to us. She grabbed two bags from in front of the door before walking along behind us. Michael offered to take her bags from her but she politely declined. She still seemed down and maybe a little thoughtful. I knew she was trying to figure out what happened with me back there. I wondered if she would figure it out.

“Michael. You drive.” I tossed him the keys and slid into the passenger seat while Ria slid into the back behind Michael. Better that way. Now I could watch her through the rearview mirror. But she didn’t so much as look forward. Her eyes trained on the forest beyond the window. Even so I watched her. We had a several hour drive in front of us, how else to use it but to try and figure this woman out. She was only seventeen and just figured out about herself a short time ago. Her slip ups, like the strength earlier made more sense knowing this. She didn’t know how to control her strength. That or she had more strength than the average alpha. It would be a theory to put to the test when she started training.

Within the first few hours her phone buzzed almost continuously. Every time she would look, purse her lips and slide it back into her pocket, ignoring whomever was trying to contact her. Right when I was about to say something about the incessant buzzing she growled and crushed the phone in her hand. It fell to the floor board in unrecognizable fragments, drops of red dripping beside it. She cursed under her breath, reaching into the cut and pulling out the broken glass without so much as a flinch. When she was satisfied with her work, she went to grab something to wrap around it. But the cut was already healed. Like nothing had ever happened.

She started down at her hand where the cut had been, her brow furrowed. Confusion was clear to see as she turned her hand back and forth just studying her hand. How much of this world was explained to her? She was an alpha; she would heal faster than most. But she is acting like she didn’t know. Didn’t she say she was almost killed protecting Elijah’s pack and family? Wouldn’t she know from that?

“I was unconscious.” She murmured, her eyes never leaving her hand.

“What?” I asked completely dumbfounded.

“I saw the way you looked at me, and the confusion. When I was hurt helping the back, I almost died. I was unconscious the whole time. I lost too much blood.” Her eyes met mine and the pain in them could match the pain I felt.

“What is it?” I asked, wanting to turn around and face her but deciding against it.

“I tried. I killed countless rouges and vampires that day. The very day, not five minutes after my first shift. When they attacked, I was the first to sense them, the first to jump in even though I didn’t know what I was doing. I needed to protect them, to save the people I loved and cared about. Yet, the heir tried to kill me. My parents lied to me for seventeen years. And Elijah, though kind didn’t try and help me figure things out. It was like he wanted to keep me wrapped in a ball of ignorance on purpose.”

She sighed as she settled back into the seat and closed her eyes. “One day I’ll find where I belong.” She whispered to herself. “One day.”