I Rejected You, Alpha

AIDEN’S POV

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We managed to get off our land on the opposite side that we suspect the hunters were in. Stefan is by my side, guards following us and moving beside us and we’re all in human form.

If these hunters spot us, let’s hope they don’t shoot just because we’re out here.

I don’t know if they know how we look like, who we are and if they are certain of what they are, but my real question is how long have they been out there?

How long have they been watching my mate?

I hope Zac isn’t with them, because if he is…I will kill him, but then again…what wolf chooses to side with hunters?

I pray for the Moon Goddess to hold her hand safely over us, to guide us to our hopefully alive friends…

We move deep into the woods, where the trees are tall, where there’s a lot of bush and we step very lightly, trying to miss the small breakable branches.

The grounds smells like fresh rain, damp moss, the wet tree trunks give a very strong smell.

It smells like new life and will to live, hopefully our guards are alive, because Eleia will beat herself up if they aren’t.

My head snaps towards a stick snapping and I glare at the guards who has his eyes squinted shut, “Open your f*****g eyes, do you want to get killed?” I seethe in a whisper.

“No sir.” he mutters in embarrassment.

“Let’s move.” we steadily stalk through the forest, watching every single movement until I notice a movement near a tree.

I lift my hand and everyone stops, I glance at Stefan, giving him a nod and he and I alone bend as we walk over to the tree.

He tucks his gun into the back of his pants before he lowers to his haunches and slowly moves over to the tree, looking at me for my signal to move.

I look at his back moving back and forth and I give Stefan a stern nod and I watch as he glances around the thick branch and then wraps his one arm around the guy’s neck, pulling him back and they stumble back to the floor.

I move towards them, waving the men behind me to join and I kick the large semi-automatic rifle from the man’s hand and I glance down at his red face, his eyes wide, almost popping out of their sockets before his eyes roll back and he passes out.

“I still got it.” Stefan rolls the man off him, grinning as he jumps up.

“Take his gun.” I nod my head toward the rifle as I feel him for any weapons.

I pull the knife out of his boot and take the handgun from his side.

“Everyone move out slowly…we don’t know how many there are.”

We take out men from left to right and some take a more vile turn when we have to kill.

AIDEN’S POV

—

We managed to get off our land on the opposite side that we suspect the hunters were in. Stefan is by my side, guards following us and moving beside us and we’re all in human form.

A few run off when we find the large group on the side where we were attacked, but we let them go and run off to find our guards.

I stop when we pass a few large tree and we all stare at the limp bodies laying around, coated in b***d, their faces pale, their eyes wide and lifeless.

“What do we tell the Queen?” a guard asks and I stare blankly at them, hoping that they would wake up, to blink and stand up, for someone to ask for help, but the sight of the gunshot wounds and slit throats, I know that there is no hope.

“Nothing, I’ll deal with it. Let’s go home.”

Arriving home, I find Eleia sitting on the steps of the castle, hidden away in the corner with a guard in front of her.

Her gaze lifts to me and she smiles, standing up, but her eyes wander around me and she frowns, her bottom l*p pushing out into a pout and my heart aches at the sight of her eyes glassing over.

She rushes over in a slow jog, her dark locks flopping around her beautiful face, her eyes flicking around as if she is hoping for the guards to appear around me out of the blue.

“Did you find them?” she asks with hope and I hate to be the one to break it.

“Let’s just get inside first.” my hand rests on her shoulder and she steps aside, shrugging my hand off her, “No. Just tell me. They aren’t with you.” her frown deepens, “They got caught.” my gaze flicks to the grass around my feet in honor of them.

They served us and got killed, it’s never easy, but we made a dent in their numbers too, without attacking in wolf form- which is a bonus.

“But are they are alive?”

I look up into her glistening eyes and my head automatically tilts to the side, “No my dearest, they were killed.”

Her lips press into a tight line, tears swelling in her eyes before they roll down her cheeks and she slowly steps back, her body shaking before she trips over her own feet and her a*s lands on the grass. She wasn’t audibly crying before, but now heavy sobs escape her lips repeatedly, haunting sounds coming from her and I bend down in front of her, taking her shaky hands in mine but she pulls them away, repeatedly mouthing no before using her voice, which is broken and shaky as well.

I sigh, handing my gun to Stefan before picking up my hysterical mate off the ground as she weeps.

As I carry her up the stairs, I mind link the nanny to take the kids immediately while Eleia keeps on muttering that all their deaths are on her, that Zac was right and hearing his name fall from her lips makes my insides twist angrily.

He might have been right, but their deaths are not Eleia’s fault.

It was the hunters.

I put Eleia down on the bed, wiping the tears from her face but the salty liquid doesn’t stop streaming down her cheeks.

“It’s a-all m-my fau-lt.” she stutters, sniffing as she wipes her face with the back of her hand.

I cup her cheek, tilting her head to make her look at me, “Zac might have warned us, but we couldn’t just hide and do nothing. Those deaths are not on you, they are on the hunters we slaughtered.” I try and make it clear for her, but she shakes her head, “No, I se-nt th-them out th-there.” she stutters.

I pet her head, dragging my fingers through her hair in hopes that it would bring her comfort, “No, you did the right thing. I would have done it too.” I step closer to her and she drops her head against my chest, weeping like someone she loved just died, but then again, a pack is one’s family and even I feel terrible, the only difference is…I wasn’t the one who sent them out and I don’t carry that guilt with me, if I did and the guilt was weighing heavy on my heart like it does on hers…I would have been a mess too.

Twenty men are a lot and their families don’t even know yet…

“Look…” I step back and look down at her, “I will go tell their families and you can go take a bath, alright?” I smile and she grabs my hand tightly with both of hers, holding onto me.

I step back as she stands up, “No, I sent them out there…I will tell them.” She aggressively wipes her tears away.

“Eleia…”, “I did this, I will tell their families.” she snaps and I nod, “Get a guard to write down all of their names so we can go visit their homes.” she demands and even though I hate being told what to do, I listen to her.

“I’ll be down there in a minute.” she marches over to the bathroom and I nod before leaving her there to wash her face or go get changed.

This isn’t just a casual visit and she has to be presentable, pulled together and not think about her own feelings right now, because even though she is grieving…their families will feel it a hundred times more.

I get the list and wait for her downstairs and she comes down wearing a full black outfit that makes my groin twitch in appreciation of her beauty.

“Let’s go.” she demands and I and a few other guards follow her.

As we walk to the soon-to-be grieving families…I can’t help but wonder if they are going to hate us for it, but my biggest concern is if Eleia will ever forgive herself…