Rejecting the alpha

Chapter 20

Amelia's POV

"Wake up, it's Christmas!" Olivia yelled through the door. Moaning, I rolled over to go back to sleep.

"You know I can hear you, right? You have thirty seconds to get up, or I am coming in." Ignoring her threat, I closed my eyes to drift off.

The next thing I know Olivia is jumping on the bed, or rather on me.

"Ow, Liv, get off me, five more minutes, please," I begged, knowing it was useless. All my begging was just making it worse; she gave me a wicked grin before pinning me down and tickling my stomach. Stupid shifter strength, trying in vain to squirm out of her grasp, I eventually give in.

"Fine, I'm awake. Get off of me, you crazy person," she cheered triumphantly, before releasing me.

"It's Christmas, so hurry up and get in your comfiest pyjamas and come downstairs."

I watched her run out of the door and head straight to another, yelling through it the same as she did mine. I vaguely heard Sam as he yelled back, seems he's not a morning person either. Laughing to myself I got off of the bed and headed into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later I was clean and dressed, deciding on my bright red pyjama set and white slippers, before heading downstairs. I could hear them all yelling before I made it to the kitchen.

"Am I supposed to put this in the head hole or the butt hole?" Sam asked, giggling slightly as he said butt hole.

Olivia sighed before responding "I don't think that's its head."

"Of course, it is, look at it."

"I am looking at it, it's upside-down you idiot."

What the hell are they doing?

Walking into the kitchen, I burst out laughing. Sam's holding up a dead turkey, as they all stand there staring at it. Mason looks on the verge of puking at the dead animal, Skye is trying to help Sam figure out which hole is which and Olivia looks as if she is ready to kill all of them. The kitchen itself looks like a war zone, the counters are covered in oil, flour and I think raw egg. Somehow, I don't think any of them are chefs.

All eyes turned to me as I struggled to catch my breath, when I caught them all glaring, another fit of laughter overcame me.

"It's not funny, look at the thing. It's disgusting, and slimy. Why is it so slimy?" Mason started babbling.

After I managed to stop my laughing fit, I walked over and took the turkey from Sam. Putting it in a tray and seasoning it before putting the stuffing in the correct hole.

"How do you know how to do that?" Olivia asked, watching me as if I were a genius.

I answered, as I placed the turkey in the oven, "I used to cook with my dad. Where did all of this food even come from?"

"We got it last night, we wanted to give you a proper Christmas. Like the one you told us about, but it occurred to us this morning that none of us can actually cook," Mason admitted.

I looked over at them and smiled, I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have all of them. I pulled them all in for a hug, whispering my thanks to each of them.

"Okay, let's get cooking." I gave them all jobs and we went to work.

By the time we had finished all of the prep work, we were all exhausted. We made our way to the front room to wait for the turkey to cook.

"That was a lot more effort than I was expecting," Olivia groaned, as she collapsed on the loveseat.

"It will all be worth it in the end."

I couldn't help but think about the one question that had been eating at me all morning, where is Oscar? I haven't seen him since last night, I know I'm probably the last person he wants to see but I wanted to know he was okay.

Giving in, I finally asked, "Where's Oscar? I haven't seen him all morning."

Olivia shifted uncomfortably, before answering my question, "He went for a run; a rejection is hard for a shifter. Especially when they don't accept it." Her voice was so low I barely heard her.

A rejection?

"What rejection? Is that another otherworldly thing I don't understand?"

Sam was the one to answer me, "When your mate rejects you, it can be hard for anyone, but for shifters it can be a lot worse. Rejection is very rare but when it happens, we are taught to accept it. If we don't, it... it can be fatal." His voice turned to a whisper as he spoke.

She rejected him, why the hell would she do that. Who would give him up, what kind of person would risk his life? I could feel my anger building, how dare she risk his life. How dare she hurt him.

"Why? Why would she do that to him?" They all stared at me with confusion on their faces.

Olivia was the one to break the silence, "What do you mean, she?"

Raising my eyebrow, I answered, "His mate, why would she reject him. That makes no sense."

"Sweetie, who do you think is Oscar's mate?" Skye asked, putting her hand on my arm.

"A girl back at the school, I met her on my first day. She told me she was Oscar's mate, and that she thought he was cheating on her." Olivia Gasped, "Is that why you've been avoiding him?" I nodded to her. "You said that it could kill her, so I stayed away. It was the only way to avoid hurting that poor girl."

"Why the hell would you tell her that?" Sam growled at Olivia, she flinched back before yelling at him, "I didn't know she was talking about Oscar! Otherwise, I never wouldn't have said it."

"What the hell am I missing? Can someone please tell me?" I begged.

They all shared a look, before Olivia came over and sat beside me, "She isn't Oscar's mate. You are."

I can't be, can I?

Seeing my confusion, Olivia continued, "We all thought you knew, Oscar thought you knew. Didn't you feel it? The mate bond, the longer you know your mate the stronger it gets. You feel sparks across your skin when they touch you, you'll always know where they are. That's the mate bond, it pulls two mates together."

The fireworks.

"I thought I was going crazy, all of that was real. The whole time it was me?" My voice was so low I'm surprised they heard me.

"Yes, sweetie."

God I've been a horrible mate, the things I said to him. How could I do that to him?

I didn't realise I spoke out loud until Sam answered my question. "No, you haven't, you didn't know. It's not your fault."

Oscar is mine.

I needed to find him; I need to apologise. I need to tell him I want him. Smiling, I stood up and ran to the front door, slipping on my boots and a jacket.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked, running after me.

"To find my mate," I yelled, as I left the house.