Alpha’s Thrice Rejectedd Mate By Ida Rowe

Chapter 10 

The last few steps to the altar, I felt like I was walking through a swamp, with silt sucking at my shoes. I finally stopped next to Hale, close enough to touch, but far enough away to reject. 

Hale held out his hands, and I placed my shaking ones in his. He raised a cool eyebrow, then closed his hands over mine, rubbing the backs of my hands with his thumbs. 

He hadn’t shown such care since… since… 

Hale’s eyes flicked to mine, and we stared at each other, locked in each other’s gaze. A memory blew through me like a 

hurricane. 

I was lost. Hopelessly, endlessly lost. The sun was setting fast, and I was in the woods, alone. As far as I knew. Mason and I had been playing a game of Hide and Seek, but I’d been sure Mason cheated and didn’t count as far as we’d agreed, finding me easily as I’d been trying to wriggle my way up a tree. 

He’d teased me about being able to see up my dress. 

та 

I’d gone red with embarrassment, which he also commented on, and nearly doubled over with laughter. 

Incensed, I’d stomped away, then started to run when Mason seemed determined to chase me. He might have been stronger, but I was faster, and I finally lost him somewhere along the way. 

‘There’s no way Mason knows where I am now I’d thought smugly to myself. 

Unfortunately, I had no clue where I was either. 

Tired, I stumbled over branches and rocks, and low–hanging twigs smacked me in the face. It was becoming nearly impossible to see. 

Hadn’t I crossed a creek, thinking myself so clever as Mason would be unable to follow my scent? 

Well, I didn’t feel clever now. Tears of fear and frustration rolled down my cheeks as the shadows became longer and longer. I didn’t feel clever at all. 

I tripped on a tree root and fell face first in the mud. 

The misstep just hammered the point home that no one was ever going to find me. I was going to starve out in the woods, die, and be eaten by wild animals. 

I burst into tears, trying to get out of the mud. But my dress was caught on a tree root 

A loud ripping sound filled my ears, and then I was free, but with my pretty pink dress split to my waist. I stood and started walking again, hiccupping sobs, not knowing what direction I was headed in, but not knowing what else to do. The mud made me wet, and the cool night air soon made me cold. 

I wouldn’t be able to shift until I was at least thirteen and “became a woman, so I couldn’t even bring myself the comfort of my own fur. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. 

A twig snapped behind me, and I jumped, whirling around. 

I wished I hadn’t. 

A large, black wolf swiveled its head in my direction. It was clear to me that this was a shifter, someone who was clearly not mentally stable. Saliva dripped from his fangs, and his eyes were wild and unfocused. My sudden movement had drawn its 

attention. 

He growled. 

“Oh, Goddess. This is how I die, I thought, staring my fate in the face as my heart hammered anxiously in my chest. 

Then there was a blur of chestnut fur, and the black wolf was knocked onto its side. Another animal, fierce and proud, had its teeth clamped down on the back of the wolf’s n*eck. 

I stumbled backward, afraid of both large predators. 

Until I remembered Mason shifting in front of me the day he’d first been able to. And then shifting over and over again, nearly every day, just to show off. 

For an eleven–year–old girl, it was a bit embarrassing to watch your crush parade around n*ked after a shift. But now, I didn’t care. 

My Mason was attacking an angry, crazed wolf shifter. For me. 

And he was in danger. And it was all my fault. 

My hands flew to my mouth as the black wolf got the upper hand, pinning Mason to the ground and snapping its teeth near his throat. 

I didn’t know what else to do. I scrounged around the darkened ground and found a rock small enough for me to lift. Then I lobbed it at the attacking wolf, 

It struck the black wolf in the head, and it looked up and snarled at me. 

As it turned out, that one rock was enough to give Mason an opening. He lunged up and grabbed the larger wolf by the throat, tearing right through its fur and ripping a chunk free. 

Blood splashed over Mason and onto the ground. The crazed wolf groaned and flopped over. 

Dead. 

What would make another shifter act that way? This sort of behavior was puzzling, but I didn’t have time to think about it at 

the moment. 

I covered my face with my hands and wept tears of relief and shame. Mason was almost killed. I’d almost gotten him killed. Because I was stupid. 

Then, two ropey, strong arms wrapped around me and I was pulled to a wet, copper–smelling, n*ked chest. 

“It’s okay, Kora,” Mason said softly. “You’re safe now. The crazy wolf is gone.” 

I wrapped my arms around the back of Mason’s n*eck, sobbing, tears mixing with the blood on his chest. “I’m sorry.” I wailed. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Mason!” 

Mason rubbed my back, then tilted my chin up to look at him. “I’M sorry. I shouldn’t have made fun of your underwear.” 

“True!” I sniffled, “But that’s not nearly as bad as you getting nearly killed by another wolf.” 

“True” Mason gave me a reassuring smile. “But I found you, and I kept you from being EATEN by a mad wolf, so I figure it works out just fine.” 

Then, for the first time ever, he k*ssed me on the cheek. “I will always take care of you, Kora.” 

Three days later, my father was gone, his father was gone, and I was taken to the Traitors‘ Cave. 

Back then, I’d thought Hale was mocking me when he’d asked me where I was going when they were marching me off to the Traitors‘ Cave. Now, a part of me realized he’d been trying to keep me there to keep me beside him. 

And now it was too late. Any apologies, any love, any redemption, it was all lost between us. The closest we would ever bel again was now. The short distance between us with my hands in his. 

I’m not sure either of us realized how much time had passed. The crowd went from jeering, to silence, to murmuring with impatience for something to happen. For the big event. 

All I knew, for the longest time, was that I was looking into Hale’s eyes, and he was looking into mine. Somehow, we were reaching across an abyss for just this one moment. For just this one moment, I was his, and he was mine, and nothing in the past mattered. I was his mate. 

Hale kept staring at me. Then he parted his l*ps. 

This was it. This was the moment it would all fall apart again. I wondered if it would hurt as much as when I’d been ripped from him before. I wondered if it would hurt more now. 

“L.” Hale began, sounding strangely faint for an Alpha. 

He cleared his throat and started again. 

The crowd leaped forward, eager whispers babbling across them like rapids. 

Kora Monroe.” 

Our eyes met. 

“Kora Monroe. I accept you as my mate,” he intoned. 

The crowd was silent. 

Then it erupted.