The Alpha's Rejected Mate
Chapter 4

I awoke the next morning to someone placing featherlight kisses all over my face.

“Mmm.” I stretch my body out, arching my back.

Kaiden groans beside me. “You enjoy torturing me, don’t you?” He asks glaring at me.

“Maybe.” I murmur as I sit up placing a kiss on his jaw.

“Come on, we’re late.” He smacks my bum before hopping out of bed and pulling some sweats over his boxers.

I groan and crawl under the covers. Trying--but failing--to hide from what’s to come. “I’m not here.”

“Scar, you and I both know that you are alive and present.” Kaiden pulls the covers off me.

I roll into my pillow and let out a muffled, “I no wanna go,” my lips forming a pout.

“Scar, you have to. Now get your pretty ass out of bed and into the woods.” Kaiden says from beside the bed.

I pout as I sit up. “Fine,” I say. When I think he’s not listening to me, I mumble under my breath, “Mr. Bossy.”

“Heard that.” He calls back to me as he walks out of the room.

“Whatever,” I grumble as I go to my suitcase and get out some sweats and a black sports bra, exposing my belly-button piercing. The piercing was a silver wolf. I thought it was pretty cool.

I slipped my arms into my black baseball jacket that had a red ‘K’ on the left side. It also had Kaiden’s and my favorite number on the back. 4. Kaiden had the same jacket except where I had the letter ‘K’ he had the letter ‘S’.

I walk out of the house and Kaiden was waiting for me at the door.

“Everyone else is already there.” He tells me as he takes my hand and leads me into the woods.

“Okay.” I pause. “Race you.” Before I even finish the two words I’m dashing away from Kaiden as fast as I can.

“We’ll see about that.” He calls from behind me as I hear his footfalls on the ground catching up to me.

It was then that I realised I didn't know where I was going, so I slow down and keep pace with Kaiden as we run together through the woods.

“Kaiden, have you found your mate, yet?” I couldn't believe that I’d never asked him about his mate. It just never came up. It was actually pretty weird that after all these years that he hadn't found his mate.

Kaiden suddenly stops in his tracks and stares at me. “Where did this question come from?”

“I don't know. I just... never thought about it before. But now, seeing my mate again, I started to wonder if you’d met yours or you just hadn't found her yet.”

He shrugs. “Does it matter?”

I was about to say ‘no’ when I thought about his question a little more. “Yes,” I say quietly. “It does. We’re together, Kaiden. A couple. I don’t want to be with you one day and then the next day be last years trash because you found your mate. Yeah, I’d be happy for you, but I’ve already been rejected once. I don’t really want to go through it again.” I pause. “I don't want to fall in love with you, only for you to replace your mate and forget about me,” I say as tears begin to blur my vision.

“Hey, hey.” Kaiden murmurs coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. “That won’t happen. I would never forget about you. You’re too amazing and kind. As far as mates go, I have found mine, but I... I lost her, to someone else. I know what it feels like to be rejected and it hurts. I would never want that to happen to you.” He kisses the back of my head. “It won't happen to you.”

“What happened?” I ask him.

“She was a human. She had a boyfriend as well. A nice one at that. I told her what I was and that we were mates, but she couldn't accept it. I figured she would be better off without me. Sometimes you need to know when to let go.”

“How could you do that? I don’t think I would have been able to do that. Watch my mate with another person. Watch them fall in love.”

“I didn't stick around long enough to see that. Do you ever wish we were mates?” He asks suddenly.

“Yes and no. I Even though I hate Cade, he’s always going to be my mate. Fate chose us for each other, even if we’re not together now. But, at the same time, yes. I feel like I have a connection to you. You make me feel free. I always know who I am with you.” I smile up at him as I turn around.

He smiles back down at me. “I feel the same way.” He replies placing a short, soft kiss on my lips before leading me back into the woods.

When we reach everyone else they all turn around and glare at us, except for the people from our pack and Cade and Jimmy. I look around at all the fighters and notice that there is not one single female.

Sexist much?

“Um... where are all the women?” I ask Cade.

“We don't have any women fighters.” He replies with a confused expression.

“I want you to get all your women who are from the age of fifteen to twenty-five here. No pregnant women or mothers.” I tell Cade with authority ringing in my voice. Guess I was my daddy’s little girl. That reminded me, I should go visit them and tell them I’m okay. I can't believe I hadn't seen them in more than a year.

“You cant tell me what to do,” Cade tells me.

“Oh, but I can. You want our help, we’re giving it. If Liz and I fight, then you’re women can too.” I raise my eyebrows, silently daring him to argue.

He pauses and I can tell by his change of expression that’s he contacting the women of the pack.

“That’s a good boy,” I say in a voice that a mother would use when praising her little boy.

He scowls.

I smirk.

“Now, while we’re waiting for the females, I want you guys to get in pairs and dual. No one seriously injures anyone. I want to see no blood.” Kaiden calls to Cade’s pack.

They all turn to Cade with a look of question in their eyes. He nods and they do what Kaiden told them to.

I look at the way people fight. As soon as they split into pairs, they all went wolf. I could see no one fighting as a human. Did they not think that that side was powerful? I could tell them right here and now that it sure as hell was.

I look to Kaiden and the rest of the group and could tell they were all thinking the same thing as me.

“Jamie?” I ask raising my brows in question.

“Let’s do this.” He takes my hand and leads me into the middle of the fury chaos.

Jamie and I bring our fingers to our lips and let out a loud whistle.

Everyone snaps their heads in our direction. No one speaks until Jamie speaks up. “You need to learn to fight in your human form as well. You cant always rely on your wolf form.”

“Why not? That’s what we have it for, isn’t it?” Some smart ass comments from the side. I look to see a girl I remembered as Cassie, one of the main girls who bullied me.

“Oh?” I speak up, my voice loud. “What happens if you’re captured?”

“I’ll fight them off.” She shrugs.

“Oh, will you now?” I smile.

“Yeah, it’s pretty easy.”

I chuckle. “And if you’ve got wolfs-bane inside of you?” I urge.

She doesn't say anything.

“That's what I thought,” I mutter. “Wolfs-bane affects our wolves and will stop us from changing. Yes, it hurt our human form as well, but not as much. You can’t always rely on your wolf, it’s not going to always be there to help you.”

Jamie takes over from where I stopped. “Your human form fights as well as your wolf form.”

“Prove it!” One of Cassie’s groupies calls.

I turn to Jamie. He nods. He shifts into his golden wolf and stares at me. Waiting.

I walk backwards a few steps before stopping.

“I don’t like this, Scarlette.” Cade says from the side. He looks at me with careful and worried eyes.

“Don’t worry Cade. This is going to be a piece of cake.” I grin, nodding my head at him before turning my attention back to Jamie as he runs at me.

As he leaps forward I slide under his form quickly bouncing up and turning around getting a kick between his hind legs.

I hear his grunt of pain as he whips around to face me. His eyes silently glaring at me.

“So... it seems you have a dick.” I smirk.

He shakes his massive wolf head at me as he lunges again. I fall to the ground as he stands over me his teeth bared, snapping at my face. I’m about to do what I always do; punch him in the jaw and get out of his reach when suddenly a large brown wolf appears from no where and tackles Jamie off of me.