One Mate and a Rejection
Chapter 28

As Jace drove me to get my car that night, imagesof the Blade I imagined flickered in my vision.

His snarling lips, those claw bared teeth, and that evil look in his eyes.

It reminded me of a dream I had a couple of nights ago.

“You okay?” Jace would ask.

“Yup,” I’d always say.

The next day was saturday and I awoke to loud noises and and shouting.

“Ugh!” I screamed into my pillow.

I got up, wobbly on my feet and headed towards my washroom, scrubbing my face as an attempt to get rid of the throbbing bags.

“Emerald!” mom screamed from downstairs,” Wake up!”

“I’m awake!” I croaked.

“Then get dressed! There’s an emergency pack meeting!”

“Perfect,” I mumbled, brushing my teeth.

I got dressed in anything clean and stumbled downstairs. The ride to the pack house was long and slow and finally, I escaped the constant air of that miserable car and unleashed into freshness.

“You seem a bit weird today Em,” said mom.

“Cause I got throbbing bags and red eyes?” I snapped.

We made our way inside of the already full pack house and I noticed it had more people then usual, at least double.

“What’s going on?” I asked dad.

He shrugged,” I don’t know, I think it’s both packs.”

We headed to the meeting room where people stood by the stage because there were no more chairs left. We went to look for a spot when the meeting began.

On the stage stood both Alphas, Jared’s dad and Blade.

I took a long intake of breath and focused on listening to their talking rather then staring at his face.

I found myself dozing off and just staring at him. Suddenly, I heard sounds of gasps and saw jaws dropping.

“It’s unfortunate but very necessary,” Jared’s father was saying,” this partnership I’ve developed with this pack consists of nothing but safety importance and more information.”

So he finally decided to tell them he’s been betraying them behind their backs, I thought.

“Rouges are coming in either small groups or alone. They never come in packs,” said Blade, taking over,“Their wolves are usually a dirty brown color, and their eyes always turn red when they shift. They’ve been coming in more recently now. We’ve already had two attacks reported since last week. Both victims were injured, nothing too bad but the rouges managed to escape. They are coming in weakest first. Their savingtheir best fighters for last so the longer it takes to replace their leader, the more dangerous it gets.”

“For now we suggest you don’t leave the area,” said Jared’s father,” Don’t take runs too deep into the woods, especially when you’re alone. Don’t hang out around property lines, that’s were their coming from.”

Somebody from the crowed raised their hand.

“Yes?” asked Blade.

“How do we know who is a rouge if their in their human form?” asked a tall, thin guy with wobbly glasses.

“That’s the hard part. There is no way to tell their a rouge in human form. Look for any claw marks around the arms, not all the rouges have them but some do. Also, if their not from Silver Reflections pack, or mines they must be reported to either alpha immediately. For now, we are not accepting any new members to either pack because rouges have been known to join packs as spies.”

I followed Blade’s intense gaze and traced it right back to where Jace was standing.

I rolled my eyes, of course he thinks Jace is a rouge.

I raised my arm and took small pleasure when I saw Blades eyes widen in surprise.

“Yes?” he said, swallowing,” in the back.”

I felt a jolt to my chest at his words. He talks like he doesn’t even know me. Like we never made out on my bed or ran for hours in the night.

“How do we protect ourself when we’re alone and a rouge attacks?”

Blade swallowed again and I shook away the image of the old Blade, smiling at me and telling me I won’t be alone, because he’ll be there, to protect me.

Instead, he said,” Never go for the obvious. They’ve been trained for that. The only tip I can give you is to never be alone.”

I don’t have a choice now do I, my eyes told him as they dug into his.

He stared at me for a bit longer before moving on to the next question.

About an hour later, the meeting was over and I wobbled to where mom and dad were standing, talking to Jared’s father.

Suddenly, I heard whispering from besides me. I turned to replace Blade by the washroom, ushering me in.

“What?” I mouthed.

“Come,” he mouthed back.

I sighed but obeyed.

He shut the washroom door behind me and locked it.

“What do you want Blade?” I snapped, trying not to share at the bags under his eyes too much. It melted me, just knowing his energy is draining out of his this fast.

“Take this,” he shoved something cold into my hands.

I examined the bottle that read pepper spray and laughed,” Really?”

“It’s better then a dagger and a bit less suspicious,” he said.

I handed it back to him,” no thank you.”

He grabbed my arm,” Emerald, take it.”

“It’s not your job to worry about me anymore,” i said with a forced smirk.

I left the washroom with my eyes closed as an attempt to push back my tears.

“Hey,” jace said as soon as I left.

“Hey,” I replied.

Blade’s pov

“It’s not your job to worry about me anymore,” she said with a smirk that send jolts of electrifying pain through my body.

The way she said, so carelessly like she truly did grow to hate me, it burned me deep.

I was left silenced by that comment and managed to barely slip the pepper bottle into her bag as she walked out.

I watched as Jace met with her and attempted to drain my anger. I was way to tired for that, and all my energy was drained.

Emerald looked just as bad, with her eyes as red as tomatoes and those purple bags under her eyes looked like elephants.

It hurt me in strange ways to see her suffer because of me and a cruel fate.

Sure, I’ve done some bad things in my life but nothing worthy of a punishment this agonizing. Her pain hurt me even more. To watch my mate suffer was equivalentto ripping out my organs and tearing them to shreds.

I felt hopeless, like I was stuck in a room that had no doors or windows. There is no solution to end it all.

I knew now that the rouges are coming, I’d have to really get her to hate me so she wouldn’t try and protect me.

But how can I be capable of such a thing when I wanted nothing more but to keep her close and be her protector?

She has the pepper spray, I tried to calm myself down, and, as much as I hated to admit it, Jace seemed like he would protect her.

But every timeI think of him, I can’t help but get this small little urge to beathim dead.

It’s suspicious to me that he joined the pack when the rouge attacks were beginning with no relatives or friends whatsoever.

He didn’t join my pack so I really had no say in it, but I’d still have to keep an eye out for Em. He might be dangerous.

Emerald’s pov

After the meeting, Jared’s father invited my dad to his house.

“I need to discuss some matters with you,” he had said.

“Yeah, no problem man,” dad responded.

“This will be a private meeting meaning nothing that goes in goes out.”

My father nodded, looking gradually serious.

“Blade Russell will be there too, we need as much information as we can get.”

That caught my attention and I whipped my head to stare at Jared’s father.

He caught my eye and looked away, proceeding his intense conversation with my dad.

We drove to his house afterwards and I noticed it was already six o’clock.

I tried to distract myself from the obvious fact that Blade was driving right behind us.

My eye slipped past my intentions and flickered towards the mirror where I caught Blade’s eyes.

I looked away fast enough to give myself a whiplash, blushing madly like a red pepper.

I caught the strange looks my mom was giving me and sighed.

“Puberty,” I muttered as if to explain everything.

“Honey, that was seven years ago,”she said.

I didn’t respond partlybecause she was right but mainly because I simply didn’t have the energy.

When we reached Jared’s house, we all stepped out of the car and I noticed Jared and Jasmine had beat us there and now were straightening their strangely crumbled clothing.

I rolled my eyes when I saw Jasmines smudged lip stick.

It stillannoys me.

Blade stepped out of his car afterwards followed by his second in commend.

I immediately noticed the atmosphere growing tenser as he strode closer.

I looked away from his slow sensual strides and focusedon keeping the blush off my face.

Jared’s father showed everyone inside into his meeting room.

“Kids,” he said to Jamine, Jared and I,” Can you leave us to discuss?”

“Oh come on-” I began to protest when Jared interruptedme.

“Of course,” he grabbed my hand and began to lead me out of the room.

“Wait, Blade is eighteen, so am I!” I snapped.

“Emerald!” mom snapped,” Lower your voice, he’s an alpha.”

Oh yeah, I thought, she didn’t know how close he and I are.

“Sorry,” I muttered to makeup for my outburst.

“It’s fine,” Blade said, his lips twitching in amusement.

“A**-hole,” I muttered.

Jared led me and Jasmine to the kitchen where he took a seat at one of the chairs along with his mate.

After about ten minutes of sitting around doing nothing, I groaned out loud in agony.

“This is so boring!”

“We have to stay here and let them discuss, “said Jared.

“Wow, she really changed you huh? The old Jared would be there by the door eavesdropping.”

“We have to respect their privacy,” said Jasmine.

I rolled my eyes,” I’m going to go pee.”

“Have fun!” said Jared.

“I will,” I reported.

I passed by the washroom and went into the office. I grabbed a glass cup sitting on the table and spilled the content into some plant.

I held the cup onto the wall and placed my ear on top.

“As you probably know, my second in commend has been injured from a rouge attack,” Jared’s dad was saying.

“Yeah I heard, two days ago, right,” said Dad.

“Yes and Harold, I want you to be my new second in commend.”

“What about Richard?”

“He’s retiring, he can’t.”

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

My pulled back, shocked that my dad is the new second in commend.

I couldn’t decide if this made things worse or better for me and Blade.

Worse, I finally decided, worse because dad will be more committed and the last thing he needs is his only daughter betraying his pack.

I placed my ear back on the cup and listened.

“Blade, as you already know, we need to share information with each other, that’s the only way our packs can survive.”

“I’m aware,” replied Blade. Just his voice send shivers into my body,” But ive shared a lot with you, with no returns. I need something back.”

“That is fair, what would you like?”

“Files of all the rouges that attacked in the past ten years, names, history, everything.”

“How about past five years? Ten is a bit too much,” said Jared’s dad.

“We need all the information. That’s the only way we can track it down to the leader.”

“We can’t give you ten, we have five,” said my dad,” how about five years of information and updates for the next year.”

There was a pause and finally Blade said,” we’ll take it.”

“Now, for that information?” said my dad.

Suddenly, I heard the door open.

I stumbled up, almost dropping the cup and saw Jared.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I thought this was the washroom,” I said, placing the cup on the table.

“You’ve been here a billion times,” he said.

“Sorry, forgot.”

I walked past him back into the kitchen only to have him follow.

“So what did they say,” he asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where’s that little mate of yours.”

“She’s in the washroom and obviously you were eavesdropping. I know you Em, you always do things like this.”

I let out a sigh,” my dad is the new second and Blade is exchanging info with them, thats it.”

“You’re dad is the new second!”

“Yeah.”

“Won’t that make it worse for when you tell him about you’re mate?”

“I know, don’t complicate it.”

“Em what’s going on? Does he not want you? Because you look like hell and that only happens when your mate doesn’t want you.”

“Why would you think that?” I snapped,” that he doesn’t want me? It’s just complicated. It’s not easy having an enemy mate who you’d be a traitor to be with.”

“I know, Em, but you’ve gotta tell your parents and you’ve gotta be with him. Otherwise you’ll lose your wolf.”

“Too late, ” I muttered.

I knocked the door to the meeting room an hour later.

“Come in,” said a voice.

I opened the door, guiding my eyes a head of time do I wouldn’t look at Blade.

“Mom dad, can I go home? Because you guys are probably gonna stay late.”

“you can stay with Jared today if you want,” said Jared’s dad.

I noticed Blade stiffing.

“Nah, I wanna go home I have homework.”

“Ask Jared to drive you, don’t go alone.”

“Okay,” I said and left.

I went outside looking for Jared when I caught him making out with Jasmine by the garage doors.

No way I’m going near that, I thought and decided to walk. It wasn’t that late, only about eight but it was already really dark.

I was already engrossed in my thoughts as i began the thrifty minute walk home.

I honestly didn’t know what fate had against me. It seemed like when I wanted Blade around, he was nowhere to be seen. But when I ducked and bruised to avoid him, he was everywhere.

Why is he do confusing? The pain from his outburst still ran like fresh blood through my veins and as much as I pretend it never happened, it still stung.

It was like a scar that needed stitching and the longer I let it be, the more it bleeds and stretches wider.

It was easy to acknowledge the pain from the whole Jared thing because it wasn’t as intense. The relationship I had with Jared consisted of nothing but friendshipand we mistook it for something else.

We loved each other, more then family, but we weren’t in love with each other.

So when I found out he wasn’t my mate, it was like losing my besets friend or a family member.

But with Blade, it was more.

It wasn’t friendship because it didn’t consist of that.

I wanted Blade. Physically, mentally, emotionally and in every single way possible.

Knowing that I can’t be his, it opened up a whole new kind of pain. The one that numbs you, but sometimes when you’re alone, the numbness fades a bit and you can feel the sting.

The throbbing in your heart and the dry stream of tears that wanted to burst.

But into what? I had no tears to cry, so what could it possibly burst into?

The nightmares were proof of the pain, and I wasn’t ignoring it. I was dreading it.

I wanted to cry, just to prove to myself that I still could but I couldn’t.

I let out a sigh when I noticed I was stressing again. The last thing i need is more grey hair.

Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from behind me. I quickly turned, noticing I was in an alley now.

I looked around, feeling frightened now that I was focused on my surroundings.

My eyes darted from side to side, looking for anything suspenseful but all I saw was darkness.

I decided to keep walking, speeding up my pace and paying a bit more attention to my surroundings now.

A new sound interruptedthe subtle silence, causing my heart to speed up in fear.

It was a loud sound, I couldn’t identify it, but it was loud and in a hurry.

I was practically jogging now, eager to escape this endless alley.

I felt something touching my feet and screamed loudly, shuffling to the side and flinging my purse side to side.

“Ahhh!” I screamed bloody murder.

I managed to grasp my flash light key chain and flash it near my feet.

I let out a frustrated sigh when

I saw a rat nibbling on some garbage.

“Are you serious,” I snapped,” stupid rat.”

I was about to place the key chain back into my purse when I heard it.

A loud, threatening growl erupted through the night, paralyzing my body, and freezing every blood cell inside.

I didn’t have time to register the moment before something dirty brown flashed past my vision.

A second later, I was struck with something heavy that sent me flying into the ground.

Red eyes blocked my vision, followed by hungry jagged teeth, on dirty brown gums.

I screamed into the night, well aware of the deserted area and that nobody will hear me.

I felt claws digging into my legs while I struggled in agony trying my hardest to block the strikes.

The wolf bit into my leg, and I grabbed on to his fur as an attempt to hurt it.

It didn’t work and I felt my bones collapse as he struck his paw down on my foot.

I managed to get one hand free and reached for my purse that was about two feet away.

I tried to grab it but only managed to slightly touch it.

I screamed louder as the rouge bit into my thighs. I closed my eyes when I saw my flesh in his teeth and tried harder to grab my purse.

I managed to wrap my finger around a loose string and pulled it close, searching with one hand for something to use.

I got out my keychain and threw it at him but it was like throwing a leaf.

I dug deeper and grabbed something metal.

I pulled it out and noticed that it was the pepper spray I rejected from Blade.

How did this get here?

I didn’t think as i clasped my fingers down and sprayed into the wolves eyes.

It hurled itself off of me and growled in pain, giving me a spare second or two to drag myself away. But that wasn’t good enough.

He recovered a minute later and now he was angry.

He pointed his red eyes right at my chest as he leaped into the air and just when I thought he’d land on me, it didn’t happen.

I opened my eyes only to replace two wolves now.

The second one blended in with the blackness in the sky.

I didn’t take a second to think before beginning to crawl away, slipping in the trail of my blood.

After a few feet, I couldn’t move anymore.

I felt my body surrender and give in to the tiredness.

I knew I was going to pass out but if I let myself bleed more, I’d probably die.

I ripped off a piece of my shirt, cursing myself for choosing such thick material and wrapped it tightly around my leg.

My bones all fell asleep and even breathing hurt now.

I let my eyes droop, my last sight being of the black wolf tearing the head off of the rouge.

************

My eyes opened slowly and immediately shut as they adjusted to new light. I opened them up a minute later, squinting in the brightness.

Flashbacks of the rouge flickered into my mind, giving me a headache.

I remembered the black wolf, my savior.

It had to be Blade. I’ve never seen a wolf that dark, other then him.

I looked around my surroundings and noticed I was in his room.

I looked down at my body and noticed that I was wearing a short sleeved shirt that went up to my thighs.

My eyes widened and my hands went to feel my breasts and abdomen.

I sighed in relief when i realizedI was wearing both a bra and underwear.

I tried to lift up my leg which was almost impossible and saw the wide piecesof cloth wrapped around.

There was a bucket of blood and cloth on a table besides my face.

“Lovely,” i muttered.

The room door opened and Blade stepped in, carrying more material and a new bucket.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“Yeah,” I muttered,” so you’re my savior, of course.”

“Were you expecting someone else?” he placed the new bucket on the table.

“No, not really. But thanks, if you hadn’t shown up, I would have probably died.”

“Not probably, certainly,” he said.

“Oh please, I had it all under control,” I joked to lighten the mood.

He didn’t respond.

He dipped the new cloth in the bucket and unwrapped my wounds. Afterwards, he began to clean them, making me squirm in pain.

“Am I hurting you,” he said after five minutes.

“No, I love it,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Even when you’ve just been attacked by a rouge who almost killed you, you still have your humor.”

“Gotta lighten the mood somehow,” i said,” what time is it?”

“About one forty-five am.”

“great, my parents are gonna kill me.”

He continued to clean out my wounds, rewrapping them. I found myself staring at his face as he worked on my injuries. I noticed that his forehead squints when he focuses strongly and he bites his lips a lot.

“Stop staring at me, you’re distracting me,” he said after a while.

“Sorry, but there isn’t exactly anything entertaining to to while you clean my wounds.”

“Count to a hundred or something.”

“I’m not five.”

As the minutes went by, I became more and more aware of our position.

I was wearing his baggy shirts with nothing but a bra and underwear beneath while he worked on my fully exposed leg.

I blushed and muttered,” did you change me?”

“I could tell that question has been bothering you for a while,” he smirked,” but yeah, I did.”

“Was it a rouge that attacked me? He had red eyes and I think his fur was brown.”

“Yeah, itwas a rouge.”

“Did you kill him?”

“yup.”

“Thanks for the pepper spray, thank god you snuck it into my purse.”

“I reloaded by the way. I gave you five more.”

“Thanks, so how bad is it?”

“Not that bad. When our wolves connected it began to heal. You lost a lot of blood and thank god you wrapped your leg otherwise...”

He let it trail but we both know what he meant.

He stood up and cleaned his hands slowly, andI finally grew the confidence to ask him the main question.

“How did you know?”

He paused his work and looked at me.

“I dont know. Right when you’re parents told you to ask Jared to drive you home, I knew you wouldn’t because I saw them kissing through the window. And they kept kissing, after ten minutes so I knew you left alone. I had a bad feeling that something would happen so I excused myself and left my second to take charge.

I looked for you and then I felt your fear. I kept running around, i tried to shift but my wolf was too far gone. And then I heard you scream.

I ran and ran and follwed the noise and I saw you being attacked.

Suddenly, I could feel my wolf and he was stronger then fifty other wolves put together. I attacked the rouge and after I killed him, I carried you home. You know the rest.”

“I thought you said you didnt care about me.”

He turned so that his golden eyes dug into mines.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t.”

“Then why,” I choked out,” why make me think you hated me, and it was all a lie, all for revenge-”

“Revenge? What are you talking about?” he asked.

“I thought you led me on, and then left me as revenge because I didn’t help you shift.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then why? Why break everything I’ve made of myself into tiny little pieces and then step on them? Is that your sick definition of a joke or something?”

“I did it to keep you safe-”

“How!” I snapped, standing up,” how!”

“Sit down-”

“Not until you answer me.”

“It’s complicated Emerald.”

I sighed and took a seat.

“You never tell me anything, everything is always complicated. I’m so sick of it! You’re like a big box of secrets with the biggest lock, and there’s no key!”

“Then don’t deal with it-”

“Does it look like I have a choice!” I burst out loud,“If I could have it my way-”

“I know! You’d want your mate to be someone like Jared or that damn Jace!”

“What brought him into this?”

“You did. He was never apart of our lives and suddenly you go and become his best friend?”

“I showed him around town! That’s it! You went and dated the biggest tramp in school!”

We were now face to face as he snapped his words,“’Do you know how much it’s killing me? I don’t want to do this again where I have to watch you with some damn guy-”

“Now you know how I feel. With Tracey, and Diana, and Stacey and all those other tramps!”

“I’m sorry,” he burst out, grabbing my face, placing my forehead to his,” I’m sorry I can’t replace a solution to all of this! Either way we’re gonna come out either traitors or dead, so what’s the point anyway!”

I shut my eyes unable to bear with reality any longer and felt Blades moist lips touch mines as gently as leaves.

It took one little peck for my wolf to stir alive and now i wanted more.

His lips.

I felt them nearing like little drops of rain that trickled too slowly for you to determine whetheryou’ll need a cover or not.

Will I need a cover? Will I need strength to resist?

Do I even want to resist?

His eyes were shut like HE was trying to resist.

The need eventually overcame both of us though.

With hunger and compulsion both speeding through or veins like thousands of blood cells, we shattered every wall separating us from connecting in any way and touched.

Simply touched, his lips touching mine.

A small action capable of such explosions.

It felt like years rather then a couple of weeks without this sort of pleasure.

Now that I’m experiencing it, I felt like I’d be insane if I wasn’t always like this. In the same position, during the same time, at the same place.

He was moving slowly, too slowly for my dictating hunger but i was reacting just as slow.

I realized we feared hurting each other or hurting this moment. We’ve been left too long without these feelings like a human left days without water.

We were to frightened to go any faster because the moment might shatter.

It seemed to good to be true.

My grasp on him was too firm, not gentle at all.

I was sure i’d leave bruises but somehow I didn’t care.

He didn’t seem to mind either.

We travelled through the seconds and as slowly as possible , our lips collided harder and our dictating hunger only grew.

I felt him everywhere, I let the numbing pain of my leg drizzle away as I melted deeper into his large hands, seeking pleasurable protection from the comfort of my mate.

I grew hungrier astute longer we kissed. I wanted his touch everywhere.′

I let his arms cascade down my back as I grabbed into his face and forced him closer.

We grew braver by the second, going faster and faster until we were breathing loudly.

We fell back into the bed and he bit my lips, teasing me agonizingly. I felt explosions of his pleasure on the tip of my tongue, letting the feeling of him trickle through every part of my soul.

My legs straddled him as he gnawed at my cheeks, running his lips across my jawline.

I shivered in delight and placed pecks on his neck, smiling when I saw little goosebumps forming on his skin.

Slowly, we dissolved into kisses, going no further then that and fell asleep, tangled in each others presence.

Blade’s pov

I woke up about an hour later, and watched Emerald as she slept. I smiled when I noticed a bit of drool.

What wouldn’t i do for this beauty that’s stolen my heart and my brain?

I remembered the pain i felt and madness, when I realized she was in danger. It was as if my thoughts weren’t mine anymore but instead they belonged to a blood thirsty monster. I wanted nothing more then totorturethat rouge and still I think killing him was letting him off too easily.

It was strange really, how my wolf just appeared when I saw Emerald. I grew new power, energy and the strength of fifty wolves.

I stared at Emeralds beautiful face as she slept peacefully and finally decided to stay close to her now, because she needs my protecting more then ever.

And if I die while saving her life, at least I’ll die happy because I know she’ll be safe.

I’d never let myself die if I still knew she was in danger.

I chuckled. I didn’t give a damn about myself did I? All that matters is that she’s safe.

I traced her eyes,brown to her jawline and then her lips.

I gave her one more peck and fell asleep, tangling my arms around her.

Em’s pov

I woke up feeling like I’d died and gone to heaven. Blade’s face was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes and I was immediately happy.

I realized that this was the first night in weeks that i haven’t had a nightmare.

I looked at the time that read ten pm.

I quickly jumped out of bed and ran into the washroom.

“What?” asked Blade.

“I gotta go home.”

“But it’s only ten-”

“Where are my cloths?”

I found them already washed under the sink and put them on.

“Come on! Let’s go!”

He drove me home in nothing but his pajamas.

He stopover near my house and took my fingers out of my mouth.

“Stop nibbling on your nails, your gonna lose a whole finger i swear.”

“I’m scared.”

“Dont be, just say you were attacked.”

“Alright, see ya!” I was about to close the door when he pulled me in and kissed me.

“Buh bye,” he winked and drove away.

I rolled my eyes and walked towards my house. I noticed a strange car in the garage.

I opened the door, ready to replace mom and dad both standing there with chainsaws but what I saw was worse.

Mom was sitting on the ground, mouth wide open, her eyes terrified as she stared into the face of Diana.

Blade’s ex girlfriend.

***************