I Rejected You, Alpha

AIDEN’S POV

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As we drive up to Alpha Reece’s pack, guards appear from the woods, surrounding the car. They don’t look violent or near as angry, but they are standing defensively, but all I can think is about what if these men knew what their alpha has been up to?

I roll down my window, the guards in the back seat gripping the doors, ready to jump out if they need to.

“Can we help you?” A tall muscular man asks, his hair black, his eyes brown and narrowed on me. “I am King Aiden and I am here on an investigation, a secret one so I advise you not to contact your luna since your alpha is in my cells.” I straighten my arm, my wrist leaning on the steering wheel as I sit back with my head turned to the man.

His eyes widen, “My king…” he mutters, bowing his head. “It’s the King.” he announces in an irritable voice and the rest bow before making way for me. “Thank you…” I c**k my head at him and his hooded gaze flicks to me, “Jackson.” he offers a kind smile and I nod, “Jackson, I appreciate it.” I nod before glancing to the front and I step on the gas pedal, the car roaring forward and I could tell that Alpha Reece lived in the pack house since the rest of the homes are small.

He’s too big of a jerk to stay in such a small home.

I halt in front of the pack house and a guard closes in on me as I get out of the car, “How can I help you, sir?” he asks and I let my aura rip through me, his eyes widening and he immediately kneels in front of me, “My King, hello.” he greets me so graciously that it feels like it’s the eighteen hundreds.

“I am looking for your alpha’s home.” I smile. I like that being crowned king means I get my own powerful Aura.

“He’s not here, but he lives in this pack house.” he stands, looking at the four floor towering building with a lot of windows, “Well it’s glad that I didn’t come here for him then.” I slam the car door shut behind me and walk off.

I can feel the guards following me, their eyes on the back of my head as we come to a steady halt in front of the shut door.

I knock once, just because I want to be polite and the door immediately flies open, a very short beautiful women standing on the inside, her make up is thick, her hair curled and pinned to the back and she’s wearing a beautiful colorful dress. “Hi, oh.” she suddenlhy bows her head, “My king.” she stutters and I don’t think that I’d ever get tired of hearing someone call me that.

I’m use to alpha all these years and ‘My king’ is something fresh, something I’m not tired of yet.

“Can we come in?” I smile, glancing past her head at the inside and she shakes her head, smiling, “Of course, please.” she opens the door, but I don’t miss the uncomfortable look in her eyes.

“Thank you.” I step inside and it’s like the air is left outside. The tension inside of this house is out of this world, like the air is trying to crush my lungs together. “I’d like to see your mate’s office.” I mutter, looking down at the woman in front of me.

“Penelope said nothing of you coming.” her thin lips barely move as she speaks, “No one knows that I’m here, no one has to know.” I shrug and her face stays numb, showing no sort of emotion. “I know…” is all she mumbles as my guards stand in a crowd behind me, “Do you mind if we look around?” I slowly blink and her eyes flick to the men around me, then to Stefan beside me and then back at me. “Reece wouldn’t like that.” her lips twitch up in an apologetic smile, “He’s the one who gave me his permission to come, I would never enter another man’s home without asking first. I’m not a rogue.” I shrug, offering a small smile and I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “Look, I don’t have all day.” I glance away, flexing my jaw to seem more angered, “I apologize, of course you could have a look.” my gaze flicks to her and she’s nibbling on her bottom l*p, “Show me to his office, please.”

She leads me to his office, repeatedly excusing the state of the pack since the maids are still cleaning, but there’s no speckle of dust or dirt inside.

I could smell the chemicals off the clean walls and portraits and I just hum and smile every time she glances at me. I could tell that she was extremely nervous as she glanced at me, fisted her hands, picked at her nails and how many times she touched the ends of her hair. She felt very uncomfortable, but then again if I had something to hide and the King showed up, I too would be scared out of my mind.

It’s nothing when you’re innocent, but the way she’s acting, I just know that I’ll find something…

“In here.” she stops in front of dark double doors, the handles shining brightly as if recently polished and I glance at the shut door, “Thanks.” I mutter as I slowly push the weighted door to the inside. There’s no creak, yet it feels wrong. I’m not a person to invade someone’s privacy, especially someone I don’t know, but this is my job I guess.

“Could I bother you for a glass of water perhaps?” I turn to her before stepping into the unknown office. She smiles, her hand clinging to the side of her clothes as she nods, “Of course, I’ll be right back.” she turns on her heel and I watch her walk down the hall. She glances back at Stefan and I a few times, two to many before disappearing around the corner, “Follow her.” I grit out and he doesn’t hesitate to stalk her.

By entering the office, I glance at the bookshelf and then the leather couch before my eyes trail to the messy desk.

Everything else is in place, neat and I could tell that everything has a place. I round the desk, coming to a steady halt between the wood and the chair as my eyes scan the papers scattered on the top. “Where is it…” I mumble under my breath as I read every paper, my eyes flicking over the words carefully as I look for something about Cleo or Zac since I know nothing of Cleo’s mother or their surname when I finally find a folder underneath everything but as I push it aside, a feeling draws me to it and I open it up, seeing a photo of Cleo, her mom and Zac. My eyes read through the rest of the file, noticing that she has no family, she has no other living relatives and I slam my fist against the desk top as anger fills me.

How could he lie?

How could he lie so effortlessly, to look me in the eyes, promising that Cleo would be safe?

A tug on my mindlink distracts me and I open my mind, “She ran.” Stefan’s breathless voice booms through, “Follow her.” I demand as I round the desk and strut out of the office, but I don’t go the same way we came and I head into the direction of a door at the end of the hall, stopping at every single one and opening it up, glancing inside to find empty bedrooms, closets, bathrooms and storage spaces.

My heart is thundering inside of my ears as I grab ahold of the last door, inhaling a breath before I open it and my eyes narrow at the gloomy steps. I could smell it was clean at least and the soft light cascading down the steps leaves a pit in my stomach.

Surely it’s just a dungeon, like every other pack has for intruders…It won’t be anything to do with kids…

I hurry down the steps, the light becoming sharper and brighter until I come down, my heart stopping when I hear giggles and little voices.

I freeze when a room filled with children stare at me, it’s so quiet that I could hear a pin drop if there was one to fall right at this moment.

They all stare at me with wide eyes, little girls and boys, “Is it time for dinner already?” A little girl asks and my eyes flick over them as I do a headcount.

Twenty children.

I lower to my haunches, offering a warm smile, “Are you hungry, little one?” I ask and she nods, “What are you doing down here?” I ask, my eyes flicking to a older girl that comes to stand next to the little one. “I don’t know.” the light haired little girl mutters, “We are to stay here until we need to do something or when we have to eat.” the older one mutters, “But I’ve never seen you before.” she bluntly mutters, “It’s because I’m not from here.” I shrug.

I stand up and my eyes glance around, it seems pretty clean, but it’s cold down here, there’s little to no light coming in or fresh air.

I see no vents, no windows and no other way out.

“Who wants to get out of here?” I ask and all of them glances around, seeming so unsure, so frightened that it breaks my heart.

“I’ll take you some place safe, some place magical.” I beam, wanting them to want to come with me, the only problem is that I have no way of transporting them.

‘I have her.’ Stefan deadpans, ‘Bring her along to the car, I found kids.’