Rejecting the Alpha
Chapter 7

Kylie

Climbing into bed, I was awash in tension by the time the shower stopped running. A few moments later the door clicked and Alpha Gavriel came out, no longer stinking of the female he had just cheated with.

Dropping the towel in the laundry basket, he flicked the light off.

My body was stiff by the time he reached the bed, him still entirely naked, although I did not allow myself to look. I tried to stay calm and pretend to sleep, but my heart pounded and fear reared up. Was he going to force me now? Please no, I wasn't ready.

The bed shifted with his weight. He said nothing, and I waited in fearful expectation for long minutes until his breathing slowed. Finally, I knew he was asleep.

I slept surprisingly deeply that night, probably due to the exhausted trauma of the previous day. When he got up I stirred, but he did not even acknowledge my presence. The door closed behind him with the click of a lock.

With what I hoped was a few hours without having to deal with him before me, I got up and tried to figure out what I was going to do. Ignoring the insistent mate bond, my instinct was to flee and hide, or trapped as I was, curl up into a ball and cry.

I did exactly that, for a few long moments, before I forced myself to be strong. There were still some left, and I renewed my scattered intention to see them released.

To that end, I needed to get closer to him, while closing off my emotions. I wouldn't be able to do anything locked up as I was, so I needed my vile mate to learn to trust me. He needed to believe that I would not try to leave, that I would willingly give him that heir he had mentioned.

I was not ready to do that with him, I might not ever be, but I might be forced to nonetheless. But maybe I could convince him to court me, and maybe I could act like I cared about him enough to break into that shell and gain an advantage. Or maybe I would just have to stop fighting him until I managed to get what I wanted from him. The idea was filled with fear and excitement.

If it had been anyone else I might have felt guilty about trying to manipulate him, but he deserved nothing better than that after what he had done.

A knock on the door interrupted my plans. "Hello?"

The door opened and Marie came in carrying a tray. She smiled at me, kind but a bit wan. "How are you doing today, Luna?"

"I'm okay." It was almost the furthest thing from the truth.

She smiled at me again. I tried to smile back.

"I've got your breakfast, and I'll bring you some clothing straight away after," she said.

"Thank you." I was not hungry, but I needed my strength. I dug into my food as she left.

A short time later Marie came back with a basket of clothing in her arms. "Do you need anything else, Luna?" she asked as she began to hang my new clothing up in Alpha Gavriel's closet.

Other than the impossible, I needed information. I wasn't sure how much she would be allowed to tell me, but if I asked carefully I probably would not cause any trouble for either of us.

"Well, I was wondering a few things."

"Oh?"

"Where am I?"

A brief look of sympathy crossed Marie's face at my words. "You're in Stonemason."

Stonemason? My pack was about a three hours drive away from there, longer if running in wolf form.

I paused and tentatively asked another question. "Do you know why they attacked my pack?"

More pity, but maybe she would be helpful if she felt sorry for me. "No, I'm sorry I do not."

I nodded, disappointed but not surprised.

She moved over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. I could almost feel the bonds beginning to form between us, the bonds of pack, something perhaps more fundamental than even the mate bond. Maybe, even if I had been mated to a monster, I could replace a few people here to be a part of. If I were truly forced to stay.

"He can't help the way he is, Luna," she told me, her voice low.

I just blinked at her. "Why not?"

She looked at me intently. "I'm going to tell you something, because understanding might make your time with him here better, but you must not say anything to him about it. It might set him off.”

I nodded.

"Promise."

"Of course. I promise."

She paused. "There was an accident when he was young, only about six or seven. We were attacked by a band of vampires and rogues, and he was taken. His father got him back, but during the struggle Alpha Gavriel was thrown into a gorge. When they retrieved him, he was unconscious and we feared he would die, but to everyone's relief he woke up the next day."

His past did not change what he had done to my people.

She continued, her eyes distant. "But, he was never the same. He had very few memories of anyone or anything from before the attack, it was as if we were all strangers, and the gentle boy we had once known was gone. He was always so cold and emotionless after that, except when his wolf comes out." She sounded genuinely sad, as if mourning someone who was lost. Perhaps she was.

"Why is he like that?"

"Our previous alpha and luna took him to as many specialists as they could replace. No one could give them a proper answer. There were a lot of theories, but the one that I thought fit best was that Alpha Gavriel's human half was irrevocably injured that day, something even his young wolf could not heal. He's not feral, you can see that, he still reasons like a man, but his human side no longer has the empathy and emotion he had before the accident. Something broke that day.”

I thought through what she had said until she continued. "I don't know if it's because of his wolf, but he still cares about his pack. Most of his decisions are driven by that. He does what he believes is good for the pack or takes care of his physical needs."

I was well aware that he took care of his physical needs. What Marie was telling me did make sense though, and maybe I could use it to my advantage. Hopefully Alpha Gavriel considered having a happy luna to the advantage of his pack. "Thank you for telling me that," I said to her, honestly. I would never tell him what she had said and it might be invaluable.

She squeezed my shoulder again and her worry reminded me of my mother. I fought back tears. "Oh, Luna," she said and she hugged me.

I couldn't help myself. The tears that I had tried so hard to hold back poured out in a deluge. I would never see most of them again. I sobbed for long minutes while Marie patted my back.

The few that were left still needed me. I was probably their only hope.

I would replace a way to get them out or die trying.