Rejected Alpha

Chapter Fourteen

There really wasn’t any room for Alexander to land. I could see his massive form circling the sky above us, his shadow swallowing a rather large amount of space. Blaze seemed to know that Alexander couldn’t land. His muzzled turned up in a wolfy smirk making me growl my irritation at him. I didn’t have time to wait for Alexander to find a way to get to me. I wasn’t some damsel in distress anyway. I could take care of myself. Ruby growled in my mind as my form straightened and I snarled at the enemy before me. What would happen if I killed Blaze? Would Elijah hate me? Would he kick me out of the pack? Or worse, kill me too?

I didn’t have time to ponder the answer as Blaze leapt for me. I didn’t dodge this time, lunging myself forward meeting him in the middle. We clashed in a mess of fangs and claws. We seemed equal in strength, neither one of us really getting the upper hand. While Blaze was distracted trying to go for my throat, I took the opportunity to rake my claw down his face. I shredded him from ear to jaw. Blood poured from the wound soaking into his eye. If he even had an eye left that is. I had gouged him pretty badly.

Blaze’s howl of agony echoed around the trees, but I couldn’t give him time to recover. In the seconds it took for him to gain composure I was diving into him knocking him flat onto his back. Ruby growled, our chest vibrating with the harshness of it as we clamped our jaws around his soft part of his throat. Everything inside me was screaming at me to kill him. To end his pathetic life right here and now. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. He was Elijah’s son, and I loved Elijah. He has been nothing but kind and patient with me since I arrived. I couldn’t put him and his wife through losing their only son. So not knowing what else to do, I clamped my jaw harder around him and pressed into his chest with my front paw, holding him pinned in place.

“Elijah, please get here.” I begged. “I don’t want to kill him. I don’t want to do that to you.”

“I’m almost there Seraphina.” His voice frantic called back. “Just hold on.”

“Hurry up. I have his throat in my mouth. Ruby wants me to snap it, I can’t keep her down much longer.”

Elijah growled; I could hear it as it ripped through my mind. I felt bad for Elijah. I bet Blaze was a somewhat decent heir before I came. Yeah, he frightened people, but great leaders lead by fear and respect. Though respect should be the main example to lead by. Fear can easily be turned into anger or revenge.

I heard rustling in the forest before a large rust colored wolf burst from the trees. The wolf lowered itself to the ground growling. Damn it. I can't hold Blaze and fight another freaking wolf. Ruby surged in my moment of distraction, a deep and menacing growl vibrating her chest. A warning to the rusty wolf. The wolf whimpered, lowing itself onto its belly and covering his snout with his paws. Dumb ass wolves.

“STAND DOWN!” Elijah’s roar echoed through the pack link. It wasn’t until that moment I realized we were surrounded by wolves. The pack came to protect its heir. My hackles rose at the sudden influx of scents. The musky scent of wolf completely drowning out any other scent. How did I not realize we were being surrounded?

“Because you didn’t let me kill this SOB.” Ruby snarled at me, obviously angry.

“He is Elijah’s son Ruby. His only son. We can’t do that to him.” I tried and probably failed to make her understand. But we didn’t have a pup. She couldn’t possibly understand the bond between a parent and their child.

“Seraphina, you can let him go now.” Elijah’s calm voice whispered through the pack link. Ruby just growled at him in warning.

“If he attacks us one more time.” Ruby’s voice answered him instead of mine. Her tone low and dangerous. “I will kill him. He is alive only because Seraphina loves and respects you. Next time, I won’t be lenient.”

“Understood.” Elijah inclined his head to us.

Ruby growled again, before she climbed off Blaze. His golden wolf jumped off the ground, his posture instantly changing to an offensive one. He was ready to pounce on me again, and Ruby was not having it. She bared her teeth, snapping at him aggressively. She would kill him this time if he attacked, and there was nothing I could do to stop her.

Elijah shifted in front of me making me yelp at his sudden nudity. Ruby’s growl froze in her throat and her eyes widened. I wasn’t in control right now and Ruby was not hiding her sudden shock. She stared the man up and down, unashamed at what she was doing.

“Ruby! Stop!” Demanded. “He is our father’s age. Turn around.”

“But he is beautiful.” Ruby purred.

“Ruby, gross.” I hissed, grabbing control back and spinning so quickly I got dizzy. The whole encounter took seconds, but it felt like Ruby was staring at him for ages. I’m pretty sure Elijah didn’t even notice, his eyes hard and unwavering on his son. Elijah’s cold gaze could freeze a freaking volcano if given the chance. It was honestly terrifying.

“Shift.” Elijah commanded his son. But Blaze wasn’t the only one who shifted. As one the entire pack had shifted around us, leaving only me in my wolf form. Max and Patrick at some point had flanked me, and they now stood naked as the day the were born beside me. Another yelp spilled from my throat and I squeezed my eyes closed. Nope, no way. I will not stare at naked men. I will not stare at naked men. I will not stare at naked men. I will not stare at naked men. I chanted. But it was impossible not to. I couldn’t just stand here with my eyes closed.

“We are wolves Nia.” Max told me, amusement in his voice. “Nudity is a norm for us.”

“I was not raised like you.” I squeaked. “Before today I’d never even seen a naked man. No way do I want to see one now. Especially if it is a man other than my mate.” Ruby didn’t agree. She was purring in the back of my mind, begging me to open my eyes and stare at the men before us. I don’t know what has gotten into my crazy wolf but she needed to cool her damn libido down before I lost my damn mind.

“Wait. Never?” Max asked, surprise in his voice. It made me brave enough to open my eyes and look up at him with my head c****d. Why was that so shocking? So what? I was a virgin. Why did that seem like taboo to him?

“It’s just odd, that’s all.” Max answered my unasked question. “Wolves have a very high s*x drive. Finding a wolf that has not given into that is as weird as it is amazing. You are very strong to have resisted for so long Nia.”

I growled at his words. Did dragons have the same libido as wolves? Was I going to have problems when I went back with Alexander? Did he have a girlfriend? One-night stands? I was positive he could have any woman he wanted, mate or not. I would not put up with a mate that was a man w***e. I would end up ripping his throat out. If I caught him with another woman, I would rip her to shreds before turning on him. Dragon or not. Even if I couldn’t kill a dragon he sure as hell would know I was there.

“What do you think you are doing?” Elijah demanded bringing me back to the present situation. Hesitantly I turned back to the alpha and alpha heir. Blaze had his eyes on his feet, his hands balled into fists. His face was a beet red as his anger coursed through him.

“She needs to die.” Blaze growled. “She is dangerous to the pack. She will bring nothing but hardship onto us.”

“She was meant to be your goddess given mate. The two of you would have made our pack the strongest in North America. Your pups would have been stronger than either of you. But you rejected her because of your petty pride. Seraphina would have been a luna most packs would kill to have. An alpha without his goddess given mate will rapidly lose strength. You will not rise above the rest. Once word gets out you rejected your mate you will be challenged at every turn for your position as alpha. You will be lucky if your wolf even lets you shift again after this.”

Blaze’s eyes widened, his eyes snapping to me before he looked back his father. “What are you talking about?”

“Your wolf will probably shun you for rejecting his mate.” Elijah barked at him. “Should this happen, you will not be able to take over the pack as you were born to do. You wouldn’t be able to lead without a wolf.”

“No.” Blaze’s eyes went back to me, a deep sadness in them. “Seraphina….” His words trailed off, his hand running through his hair harshly. “I didn’t…. I wasn’t…. This can’t be happening.” The sadness in his eyes deepened, a regret so potent coming from him you could feel it in the air around us. “Sera, I…I’m sorry. Ever since you got here, I’ve been angry and jealous. Not just because of your early shift but because you have taken my fathers attention from me. I know how childish that sounds. I was the only son; I had no competition.”

He's kidding right? He has to be kidding. He was eighteen now, and he was jealous I took some of his father’s attention from him? It’s not like I asked Elijah to take an interest in me. He did that on his own. And he is blaming me? All I did was move here. I had no say in coming here or not. I had no input. I didn’t even know we were moving until I got home from school and we just left. I still wondered why my parents think I was in danger.

“Does anyone have clothes? A shirt? Something?” I asked through the link.

Beside me Patrick reached down and untied a shirt from around his ankle. Ha! That was smart. He handed the shirt to me with a smirk. I nipped him gently in retaliation before grabbing the shirt and trotting behind a tree to change. I hated having to speak through the link. Patrick’s shirt reached my knees and smelt of musk and honey. I ignored the tingles the scent gave me before walking out from behind the tree line to face alpha heir and the pack. I will not accept his apology and I will not give him a second chance because he wants power. No way.

“You’re not sorry.” I said, my voice strong as I walked to him. “You only regret that you rejected me because of the power you will lose. Because you might lose your wolf and your title. You have been nothing but hateful to me since I arrived. You actually think I came here to take your position and title? I don’t want it, Blaze. I never did and I never will. I didn’t even have a choice in coming here. I came home from school with my bags packed. I still don’t even know why. All I wanted to do was get settled, make friends and learn what I could about being a wolf.” My voice slowly lost the authority that I had infused it with as sadness washed over me.

“I saved your life, your sisters life. You stood by my bedside when I almost died from doing so. That was when I was finally thinking that maybe you weren’t so bad. But when I tried to be kind and let you rest, you verbally attack me as if I was some kind of monster for thinking of you kindly. Then you actually try to kill me with your damn battalion of warriors.”

“He did what?” Alexander’s roar shook the trees before he came and stood by my side, his arm slipping around my shoulders as he pulled me to him.

“It’s alright Alexander.” I assured him.

“Is he the wolf that came after you when you saved me and my men?” Fire blazing in his green eyes.

“The one in the same.” I sighed leaning into him, exhaustion washing over me. I was so over all of this.

“Wait.” Elijah’s eyes snapped to me. “This is one of the dragons that came after you and Hope? The one the vampire hired to kill you?”

I groaned. “Yes Elijah. The vampires hired them to come for me because of the damage I had done to their clan during their attack.”

“So, at some point both of your mates had tried to kill you?” My mother asked coming to stand at my side.

I looked up to Alexander to Blaze, back to my mom. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” I sighed. I honestly hadn’t even thought about it like that. She was right though. Both of them at some point had come after me in one way or the other.

“Then what makes Alexander any better than Blaze?” My father asked as he joined my mom.

I stepped away from Alexander and dropped my face into my hands. “Nothing.” I whispered, my heart aching. “Except Alexander didn’t reject me when he found out I was his mate.” Tears stung the back of my eyes as I looked between the two men who had been chosen for me. “I can’t…...I can’t do this right now.” I stripped Patrick’s shirt off and tossed it to him. I shifted in the blink of an eye and took off into the woods towards the pack house. I heard as I was chased so I picked up my pace running faster than I thought was possible.

When I reached the house, I ran through the open door up to my room. I shifted back, slamming the door shut and locking it. I paced my room angry and confused. Why would my mate and my second chance mate both try to kill me? What had I done to deserve any of it? This wasn’t my life; it’s not how things were supposed to be. I was meant to finish high school, go to college for engineering, get a job. None of this was in any of my future plans. And now I was stuck here. Caught between two alpha males who both want to have me as their mate, their life companion. But could I accept either of them since they both wanted me dead at some point?

I heard the pounding of footsteps as they raced up the stairs and down the hall towards my room. I groaned, could they not just leave me alone to think? To try and make sense of this awful and confusing situation I had been put in? It wasn’t fair. None of it. Pounding on my door made me growl.

“Go away!” I shouted; my tone icy.

“Nia, it’s me.” Max called worriedly.

Several scents came from the other side of the door. Max’s scent of musk and crisp apples. Patrick’s scent of musk and honey. Alexanders of smoke and autumn leaves. Blaze’s scent of musk and spice. Elijah’s scent of spring water and earth. So many waited outside my door, and it made me feel as if Max were betraying me by bringing them here. By trying and trick me into opening the door while they all wait outside with him.

“Lies.” I spat. “You brought the others with you. Blaze, Alexander, Patrick, Elijah. All of them. Leave me alone. All of you.”

“Sera, please. Open the door.” Elijah implored.

“Why? Why should I open the door, Elijah? What? So, someone can try and kill me again? So, someone can reject me again? Lie to me? Betray me? No.” I shook my head though I knew they couldn’t see. “I need time to think.”

“I told you she’d know.” Patrick hissed at Max. “Now she thinks we betray her by bringing them with us.”

“We couldn’t exactly say no now could we Pat?” Max sneered back.

“Stop being children.” Alexander snapped at them. “My mate is hurting and your bickering isn’t helping.”

“She is my mate.” Blaze growled.

“You rejected her.” Alexander roared.

“Enough, both of you.” Elijah snapped; his tone harsh. “Sera is new to all of this. In the little time she has been in our world she fought and nearly died to protect the pack. Her life has been threatened twice now. She has gotten our best omega to open herself to her life and the life she can have. Protected the omega with her life. She has been more of an alpha than even I. She noticed things no one else saw. Felix for example. He attacked and tried to kill me. Seraphina saw it before it happened, breaking her arm to save my life. She noticed the difference of what his face held and what his eyes told. I didn’t listen to her and killed Felix for treason.”

His words eased the pain in my chest a little, but I still had nightmares of Elijah beheading Felix. The man was innocent and I knew it. I just had no way to prove it, and I couldn’t exactly ask him now. He was dead. What Elijah did that day was wrong. He should have asked first. I knew he was mad that his life was threatened, but he should have kept a level head.

“Sera is special.” Hope’s timid voice joined the men. “She is intuitive and observant. She doesn’t miss hardly anything. She protects and defends. She is strong, kind and loyal to a fault. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Me? What did I do?” Elijah asked stunned.

“You didn’t protect her when she needed it.” Hope told him, her voice quivering from standing up to the alpha. “Like you said she is new to our world. She needed someone with her. To teach her, guide her. Yet no one was there for her. She has had to learn to navigate the world on her own. I have never been outside the pack lands until she came. There was nothing I could teach her; I am not eighteen and so do not have a wolf yet. But all of you could have taught her, guided her. Yet you didn’t. You all assumed because she was a pure blood it would come naturally, but you were wrong. We will be lucky if she stays with us.”

“What do you mean by that?” My father’s voice was steel.

“You aren’t any better.” Hope hissed. “You tried to guilt her into rejected Alexander. Tried to dangle your pure blood line in her face, accusing her that the line would end with her. That was wrong.”

I wondered if they knew I could hear everything they said. I was a werewolf and my hearing was just as good as theirs. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t letting any of them in. Hope I would let in, but I refuse to open the door when she is with all of them. I don’t want any of them anywhere near me right now.

“Let me talk to her.” My mothers soft voice spoke.

“NO!” I shouted. “I will speak to no one. LEAVE. ME. ALONE.” I roared, rattling the windows of my room.

“How did she hear us?” Blaze’s voice was but a whisper now.

“I don’t know.” Elijah responded; his voice shocked.

“If you don’t want me to hear you, I suggest you go away.” I ground out through my teeth.

“Let me out. I’ll get rid of them.” Ruby snarled in my mind, obviously siding with me on the matter.

“I want them to go away, not dead.” I groaned.

“Seraphina.” Alexander’s voice was soft, almost vulnerable. “You should know I’d never hurt you. You saved mine and my brother’s lives. I owe you more than I could ever repay.” Brothers? He never told me they were brothers.

“You say that because I am supposed to be your mate. If things were different, would you still come for me like you were hired to do? Would you still be out to kill me?”

No answer. My heart broke. “That’s what I thought. All of you, just go. Please. Just leave me alone.” I did not have the strength to argue or yell or be angry anymore. I just wanted them all gone. To just leave me be. Slowly I heard them all turn away and walk back the direction they came. Even Hope left, leaving me to my thoughts. But I honestly didn’t know what to think, didn’t know how to feel. How could the two meant for me, betray me? Try and kill me? I chuckled to myself. Was there any such thing as a third chance mate? Even I had to admit how ridiculous that sounded. Maybe I could have a chosen mate. Leave them and everyone and everyone else behind, forge my own path.