Rejected Mates

Chapter 27

The next few days passed without incident, everyone seeming to move on as if nothing had happened. Melinda and Nancy never did find out what happened to Morris, but they counted it a blessing every day that he wasn't there.

"It just feels weird," Melinda was telling Nancy and Ricky at lunch one afternoon. "Like we need closure or something?"

"You won't get it," Nancy replied knowingly. "Sometimes people screw up their opportunity, and then they go away. Alpha doesn't talk about it, and we don't ask."

"Do you think they killed him?" Ricky asked in a whisper, to make sure nobody else would hear him.

"I hope so," Nancy chirped. "And good riddance, we don't need anyone like that ruining what we've got here."

"It is pretty nice here," Melinda replied. "I was pretty skeptical at first, but this place has almost been like a haven, a safe refuge from the rest of the world."

"That's pretty poetic," Ricky replied. "I miss a lot about back home, but you're right. This place has been like a new home and hope for each of us. Away from the bad and the chaos that led to us being here."

"Hmmm...." Nancy mused. "A new home, hope, a haven. That's what we should call it. We're not a pack of rejects here on the inside, for us it's a New Haven."

"I like that," Melinda agreed with Nancy's sentiment.

"Are you excited about getting out today?" Nancy asked, referring to a scheduled excursion they were going to go on later that afternoon. Kira was going to be taking Nancy, Melinda, and two of the other female pack members into the city. They planned to visit a few stores for shopping and have dinner before returning to the pack territory.

*      *      *      *      *

"Not going to lunch, sir?" Colt asked the alpha as he had just returned from the cafeteria and the alpha was still in his office, with no indication that he would be leaving any time soon.

"I'm not hungry," he said, tossing a piece of paper across the desk toward Colt.

"What's this?" Colt asked, looking at the page.

"It's from Alpha Adam of the West Hills Pack, the guy Mel was sleeping with."

"What does he want?" Colt asked, skimming through the letter.

"He wants Mel back, or Linda as they called her back there," Jared said.

"What does the Luna have to say?" Colt asked. "She's the one who sent Mel here."

"Apparently, it has come out that Adam and Michelle aren't fated mates. They faked it when they were younger, and everyone bought it. They've been together for almost twenty years. Then Michelle found her mate. Reading between the lines, it seems they tried to maintain appearances, but Adam didn't like playing second-fiddle to Michelle's mate, and ended up looking elsewhere for companionship."

"Enter Mel," Colt anticipated the course of the conversation.

"So it would seem," Jared said, forcing himself to maintain his composure, as the entire conversation infuriated him. "Michelle wasn't ready to give up on being Luna and sent Mel here. But, apparently, some other she-wolf had something with the alpha as well, took off and spilled the beans to..." Jared shuffled through another set of pages on his desk before continuing, "... Alpha Tanner, down in Midland. So, looks like Michelle has taken off with her mate, and Adam is alone. And he wants Mel back."

"What are you going to do?" Colt asked.

"What should I do?" Jared replied. "This is completely outside of anything we've come up against yet. Honestly, she probably never should have been brought here in the first place. But, she is here, and I'm not sure that she belongs here."

Jared couldn't help but feel the depth of meaning in everything he just said. Part of him wished she had never come, and he could have continued his painful existence, telling himself she was happy somewhere. But, she was here and it was a daily torment for him. He also wondered if it would only be worse for him if she left, after having been so close to her.

"Maybe we should just leave it up to her?" Colt suggested.

"Yeah, maybe that would make the most sense," Jared agreed. It was tearing him apart inside, trying to decide what to do. It seemed so simple, to just let her decide. And had she been any other she-wolf, he would have readily agreed to that solution. But as it was his mate, his wolf was screaming inside at the thought of losing her again. It made him feel physically ill, to think of knowingly sending her into the arms of another man.

On the other side though, he just wanted the pain to end. He wanted to be rid of the daily reminder that she had rejected him and that she was no longer his. As much as the thought of that day tore him apart, he knew he still loved her and wanted her to be happy. He struggled with the idea that her happiness might mean allowing her to be with someone else. He felt as though he were facing an impossible decision, and no matter what, it would be devastating for him.

Adam's world had crashed in around him. Things had been going well, and then Michelle found her mate. They had been high school sweethearts, sure that the Moon Goddess had chosen them for each other, and they made a pact. If neither one found their fated mate immediately once they came of age, they wouldn't go looking. They would pretend to others that they belonged to each other. Adam was going to inherit the position of Alpha, and he wanted Michelle as the Luna by his side.

The plan had worked seamlessly. For years, they maintained their lie and put up a strong front that never allowed anyone to question their bond. Then Michelle met her fated mate and was unable to maintain a relationship with Adam. She was now repulsed by his touch but didn't want to give up the position of Luna. But once word got out that they weren't fated mates, her claim to power dissolved. She was forced to choose being Luna, at Adam's side, or being with her fated mate. She chose her mate and left.

"Place is locked up tight, sir," the messenger said to Adam. "It's definitely got the feel of a prison, and nobody is getting in or out undetected."

"But you devliered my messge?" Adam asked.

"Yes, sir, I requested it be given directly to the alpha."

"Keep someone posted nearby," Adam instructed. "I want to know who comes and goes if there are any patterns and especially if there are any signs of Linda."

"Yes, sir."

Adam had become obsessed. Ever since Michelle found her mate, he had been spiraling out of control. Michelle demanded faithfulness from Adam, even though she was no longer willing to be his mate. She rejected him and bound herself to her fated mate. Adam lashed out, sleeping with several women in the span of just a few days. But when Michelle sent Linda away, that triggered such loathsome anger in Adam, that he lashed out at everyone, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. He couldn't have Michelle, and because she had felt it necessary to get rid of Linda, he decided that it was Linda he must have. He began to make his plans to get her back, one way or another. Even if that meant challenging the alpha of the reject pack. If that is what things came to, he was going to see it through to the very end.