The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate
Chapter 2

STERLING

Seeing Snow get all upset about her horse leaving reminded me of a time many years ago when my father had to teach me a similar lesson. My horse’s name had been Thunder and it was sacrificed for a greater good. It had killed me, never seeing her again, so I couldn’t help but feel for Snow. I wanted to lessen the blow, let her know that Diamond would be well taken care of. It was far more than I’d ever gotten.

It didn’t last long, that wistful look in her eyes, and then she had straightened up. She had to be good at it by now. Snow worked and lived around mainly men. She couldn’t show her soft side, even if it came out at times like this. It was her vulnerability that called to me inner beast, but I ignored it as best I could. She’d been at the Pullers Ranch for almost three years. I’d seen her beauty, but the more I was around her lately, the more I wanted her.

“Why don’t we go get a drink after work? You and Dutch are about done, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I have something to do afterwards.”

“Like what?” I asked, a bit surprised she wasn’t jumping at the chance to go out with me. I’d seen the way she looked at me without my shirt on. She was interested, so what was the problem?

She just shook her head and then walked off. It stung a little to be turned down like that.

I stopped Dutch on my way out and asked him where his kid was. He was at once defensive, and I told him Carlton hadn’t done anything today. I wanted to give him something to do so that he wouldn’t tear things up. Dutch was relieved and told me he was with Maggie doing his homework.

“You mind if I give the young man a job?”

He said he didn’t mind at all, so that was my go-ahead. Dutch didn’t know how lucky he was, and I was feeling it at the moment. He had a good kid who was going to grow into something great and worked with Snow all of the time. I was jealous. I couldn’t help it. Why did Dutch get all the luck? It really didn’t make sense when I remembered I was the boss.

Back at the office, I was going through the Pullers Ranch’s paperwork, and it wasn’t what I wanted to see. There was money coming out of every pore of the business and I had no idea what I was supposed to do to stop the hemorrhaging. It was hard to tell what was going to help, but I had an idea that I thought would bring in the revenue that most of the ranches in town needed.

“I don’t like when you look that way.” Dutch was looking at me from the doorway. I asked him what way was he talking about and he said that I was being too serious. “When you get serious, Sterling, it means something has gone down and it probably isn’t very good.”

I nodded, because he was right. I was thinking about something I didn’t want to. I was nervous because my father kept these ranches running his whole life, his father before him, and so on, and I didn’t want to be the one to ruin the family legacy. I had to keep it going, make it bigger, make my mark, and it wasn’t going to happen with the revenue we had going into this place. It felt like I was just grinding my wheels and not getting anywhere. What was I going to do if things kept going the way they were and we lost it all? I didn’t want to think about it, but that was the inevitability I was working with. Figure it out or fail.

“You seen the books for this place?” I asked casually. When our eyes met, he knew exactly what I was talking about, and then it was a lot easier to talk about it.

“Yeah, I’ve seen them, but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn it around. I’ve seen you do it before.”

I smiled. I had been able to turn around a few ranches I thought I was going to lose when dad first died. I was going to do it again.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“How’d you know I had one?”

Dutch shrugged. “You always have a plan, so you’re going to have to tell me what this one is. I want this ranch to stay open.”

I scoffed. “That’s because you want to spend time with Snow.” I saw the way he looked at her, how every man on the ranch looked at her, but that wasn’t going to change anything. The more time I spent with her, the more I knew there was a reason I couldn’t get her off of my mind. I wasn’t the only one. It looked like Dutch had it bad for her as well. Who could blame him?

“It has nothing to do with her.”

“No? I replace it funny that you are here so much, especially knowing that I need you on other ranches. This isn’t the only one having a hard time. You know that, though, don’t you?”

Dutch didn’t get red-faced like I thought he would. He just hid it better, that’s all it was. I was sure Dutch was noticing the blonde-haired, green-eyed woman I couldn’t stop looking at. It wasn’t just that she had a perfect body, nice a*s, big tits that were real, and lips that made any man who saw them think of her servicing them. It was her smile, her wit, the innocent way she responded to a little flirting. What I liked about Snow was she had no baggage. She didn’t remember much before coming to the ranch to work. Which meant she wasn’t bogged down with the past like most people. It was refreshing and it made me a little jealous. There were many things I would like to forget.

“I am helping get the animals ready to sell. You saw for yourself how badly this ranch needs that money.”

I agreed, but we both knew there was more to it than that. It was funny how defensive he got, worried that I was going to take him away from Snow. I had already decided that I was going to spend my week here at this ranch. Pullin’s wasn’t any better off than any of the other ranches under my purview, but none of the other ranches had Snow. That was the difference, and it was a big one. It was enough to make the decision for me.

“Well, I will be here to help you,” I said.

For a moment, Dutch let his face drop and I knew he was just as upset as I thought he would be. There was no point in trying to talk to him about it. He didn’t want me here. Did he know that I had already laid claim to Snow in my mind? She would be mine, if only until I tired of her. All women lost their appeal pretty quickly. I couldn’t see Snow being any different, even though it felt like she was different. I just didn’t know how or why.

“Good, we haven’t worked together in a while.”

I agreed, but there was something he was holding back. I felt it but didn’t ask him about it. We talked for a while longer, and only when I got did Dutch leave to tend to some things.

“Hello, this is Sterling.”

“Sterling, the alpha of the Dark Riders?”

It took me a minute to really hear the words and I was at once on defense. I didn’t know who was on the other end of the phone, but they knew something very pertinent about me. It wasn’t that big of a deal, many people knew I was a shifter, but to hear it said from a stranger threw me off.

“Yeah, who wants to know?” I asked curtly. I didn’t know who this guy was, but he had me on guard. This was not the beginning of a good conversation in my book.

“My name is Onyx. I am looking for a job and was told you might have an opening.”

I didn’t like having this conversation on the phone. I didn’t like phones at all. I liked to look a man in the eyes when I talked to them. This wasn’t going to work for me, especially if he wanted to get in and start working at one of the ranches. I needed to know if I could trust him, so I told him to come in and we would talk. I didn’t usually hire people. That was left to Dutch, who had a lot more patience than I did. I knew I should send this guy on his way, but I wanted to see Onyx for myself. There was something telling me to go meet him, though I wasn’t sure why.

“I could be there in an hour or so. I have experience and know a lot about running a ranch. I took the train in yesterday morning…”

“Fine,” I cut him off before he could start in on a story about his whole life, and hung up. He needed to get here, let me look him in his eyes, and then we could go from there. I had a lot on my mind, but we did need people. It was always hard to replace a good worker. I was never too busy if there was an opportunity to get a new hire that could give me years of positive service. Onyx could very well do that and much more.

I was still in the office, looking at all of the paperwork, when I heard my name being said from the doorway about a half an hour later.

I looked up, seeing quickly that the man matched his name. He had jet-black hair and eyes, and his skin was tanned a dark bronze. He had a dark look as well, though I’d heard myself described that way many times. I didn’t know why, but I felt myself relax with Onyx. I had a good feeling about him, and so I gave him an interview, though it didn’t last very long. He was going to be a good addition and I hired him on as one of the hands.

Dutch wasn’t too happy to see the new recruit he had nothing to do with the hiring of, but I didn’t care. Dutch was always saying that we needed more hands around. When I told him to show Onyx where to go, he wasn’t too happy about it. I didn’t know if it was because I asked him to do something or because he had to stop helping Snow. “Don’t worry, Dutch, I will make sure Snow gets all the help she needs.”

That got me a dirty look, and it made me smile inside. He was so mad at me at this point, he could have had steam coming out of his ears. I thought he might actually take a swing at me. I would beat him down, obviously, but it might give me an ounce more respect for him. Violence I understood far more than his desire to talk everything through.

He left with Onyx, and I rode out to help Snow with one of the fences. A horse had gotten tangled up in some loose barbed wire. She had freed the horse by the time I got there, but she was still trying to calm the animal down. She had her head against the horse’s head, and I stopped and watched. She had a bond with animals that I had never seen before, even with my own people who could summon animals on command. Whatever powers she had, it was more than a normal shifter. Snow didn’t remember her past, which gave her that air of mystery, but also left her real power and skills in the dark. I wondered now, just like I had before, what was Snow capable of? I felt like it was so much more than we all gave her credit for.

“I don’t mean to disturb you.”

The horse nickered and I rubbed its head where Snow had been connected to it just moments before. I told her that Dutch had to take off and I was going to help her for a bit. She seemed surprised, probably because of my position at the ranch, but I assured her I could help her with anything she was doing. I had done this all by myself many times before. Just because I owned these ranches, didn’t mean they had been given to me the way they were. I had been fighting to grow them. The reason we had such a successful breeding program with the horses was because of me.

“I don’t need much help, just running some more wire.”

Snow was nervous at first, but she warmed up to me quickly and I to her. Every second I spent with her seemed wasted if I wasn’t buried inside her. My inner wolf wanted to claim her, a feeling I’d never had before. Too bad she wasn’t the one for me.