I Rejected You, Alpha

AIDEN’S POV

—

When I came back into the room with the kids, I laid Arlen down in his cot and Felix immediately rushed off to play with his car toys.

I marched over to the bathroom, opening the door slowly to find Eleia still in the bathtub, staring at the wall in front of her with her wine glass in hand.

“Eleia, are you alright?” the tension in the room was a lot, it was sucking all the air out of the room.

Her head slowly turns to the side, her soaked hair stuck to her neck and back.

“Yep.” only her lips move and I inch closer, lowering to my haunches beside the tub. She stares at me, her forest orbs dark and dull, “You seem upset.” I mutter and she sighs, turning her head to face the front and she stares at the bubbles around her, “Well, for that I have to care and I am done caring Aiden.” she sighs, making me frown, “What?” I snort, she sounds ridiculous. If she were to stop caring, then that would mean she is in denial.

I was there once, after my parents died and it was horrible, because everything after choosing not to care, came crashing onto me when I did care again.

And then I met her and it was like coming up for fresh air after being under water too long…which is ironic since I saved her from drowning, literally…the first time I ever met her.

She was so shy and I found it cute, but what was even cuter was how she climbed out of her shell and became more comfortable with me and the pack.

“I am done caring.” she repeats, gritting out each word like she’s mad at me.

“I don’t understand…” my eyes narrow at her. “To be a ruler, I have to stop feeling bad about the deaths that follow. It’s no use feeling sad about it, it happens.” she shrugs and I stand, but her head tilts up as she stares at me and then she takes a sip of wine.

“You can’t be serious Eleia.” I shake my head.

She shrugs, “I am.”, “Are you going to say that when I die?” I bellow and she rolls her eyes, “No, because you won’t die.”

Her seductive look makes me want to climb in there, but then again…it won’t fix anything.

“You don’t know that.”, “You aren’t a guard, you won’t fight.” she sneers before standing upright, the bubbles sticking to her sliding down her body along with the water.

I can’t stop my eyes from trailing down her perfectly firm breasts, down her stomach to her cunt…

I step back as she climbs out of the bathtub, the water soaking the rug beneath out feat.

“Come on Aiden, of course I wouldn’t say that if you died…but we have to be realistic.” she leans to the side, placing her glass on the counter next to the sink.

AIDEN’S POV

—

When I came back into the room with the kids, I laid Arlen down in his cot and Felix immediately rushed off to play with his car toys.

“Caring is realistic.” I try to argue with her without getting too excited by being around her.

“Don’t be like this, you know what it’s like.” she rolls her eyes as she picks up her towel, “I do, but I know it’s necessary to care if you want the pack to follow you.” I grit out, I need to get this stupid idea out of her head before it completely takes over.

Mere hours ago she was weeping over the loss of those twenty guards and now it’s like it didn’t even happen or affect her.

“Of course I care, I just don’t take it to heart anymore. We can’t all stop just because a few people died.” she mutters, “We can take a moment for them Eleia, that is how family works and all of us, every single person in this big a*s pack, we are family.” I grit out, wondering why she can’t understand this.

“We will take a moment, at their funerals, when their families are around. I’m not heartless, but my mind is prioritizing what is best for this pack.” she grits out.

“The pack needs us to care.” , “And we do.” she snaps, drying herself off lightly, “Stop being so harsh on me, I do care, but my family and feelings come first otherwise I will break.” her voice cracks, making my heart ache.

I hate to see her like this…she deserves more than just not feeling the deaths, than not caring because once she realizes that her plan won’t work, that guilt adds to everything and makes it a hundred times worse.

I want more for her, I want more for my family and I want more for me.

I don’t want her to break…but how can she rule without a heart?

—

Weeks go by and she seems…collected and not falling apart about the deaths she carried heavily on her heart, but now it seems like it never happened, except when their families are around and she talks about how heroic they were, how sorry she is…how she wishes she could change things and the families of the lost ones eat it up like a dessert.

We’re having meetings with alpha’s today and everything is tense because they ask me every question, but she has all the answers.

I just sit next to her while she snarls and scolds at them with a glare, “Please calm down.” I rest my hand on hers, squeezing her fingers together and her head slowly turns to me, her eyes filled with anger and resentment.

She stands and the room falls in a complete silence. “We are here to have a meeting about laws and what has been going on in the area…if you don’t know, there are hunters.” her eyes flick around the room, she meets everyone’s gaze, staring at them with a challenge in her eyes.

“Just because I am not a male, doesn’t mean I don’t rule this kingdom, so speak up. Have you seen hunters?”

The alpha’s all glance around at one another and I sit with a smug look on my face, knowing that if they aren’t going to answer her, she’ll find it disrespectful and snap on them, maybe challenge them for their pack, their jobs and even their lives.

” A few dozen a couple of weeks back…they passed us and killed five of my own.” an alpha speaks up and I mentally high five him for answering her.

“We killed most of them.” she sits back down, glancing at me with a loving glance, the edge of her lips tugging up slightly. “Your king and our beta killed them, with the help of a group of our best warriors.”

The alpha’s all glance around before one stands, “And the rest?” , “The rest is gone, ran on foot but we have people scavenging for them. They’re good, trained better than our best assassin, but with a large number of people…they won’t last long.”, “And when did you send your people?”she glances at me for confirmation, “A week ago, but they couldn’t have gone far and if they come back, there will be wolves all over and I suggest you have patrols.” I grin and when they all look at me, I feel small because they all look at me as if I were the Luna, as if my words don’t matter, like I don’t matter.

But it’s the truth…I don’t care because she is the boss of me…

I never thought the hopeless, suicidal girl that I saved from drowning herself would be running the show, the entire wolf kingdom and several packs.

I love her and her bossiness, it’s a hit to the ego, but a boost to who I am mated to.

I thought she was an omega, but all along she just doubted herself, hiding the fact that she was powerful but she didn’t know it either…

She was her own hero, her own savior, strong and kind-hearted, but being scared was never an option because she had the best genes…the pure royal alpha genes.

“Sit down.” she demands the standing alpha and a snarl escapes his throat, his nose scrunching up with his lips and I find myself standing up, “She said sit down.” I growl, defending her honor and her hand grabs mine while she sits like the most beautiful woman ever, staring at me with admiration.

I smile down at her and then I look at the man sitting down with a scowl on his face, “I’d knock that look off your face if I were you…before it stays like it permanently.” I shrug, making the alpha roll his eyes.