Rejected by the Alpha (Alpha Shifter Collection)

“You don’t want to be my mate?” he asked.

She wanted to tell him no, but that would be a lie. She hated lying. Nothing was ever accomplished through lying, and keeping silent was her best option.

“Misha, I fucked up.”

She put her hand across his mouth. “Save it, Decker. I’m tired. I just want to go and have a bath and get ready for bed.”

“You haven’t eaten,” he said.

“I can take care of myself.” She’d been taking care of herself for a long time.

“This isn’t over,” he said.

She shrugged. Misha figured he’d get bored and go back to hating her.

****

Two weeks later

“Hello again, son. The trees pissing you off again?” his father asked.

Decker stopped from hitting the trees.

The full moon was in three days. For the last two weeks, Misha had been … infuriating.

“She won’t accept my apology. She won’t accept any of the gifts I offer her. Nor will she accept my invitations to dinner, to dance, to anything.” He walked her home every single night, and she made sure he was only in her company for a short time.

Each time he tried to talk to her, she found an excuse to be elsewhere. Misha had gone back to doing all of her volunteer work, everything that kept her far away from him.

He … missed her so damn much.

“Son, did you expect her to fall into your arms easily?”

“I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t want to be ignored.” He stopped punching the tree. “You’re right, I shouldn’t take it out on the tree.”

“Have you tried to talk to her?”

“Yes, she doesn’t want to talk. She doesn’t want to spend any time with me. The full moon is approaching.”

“And you’re worried?”

“Dad, you know what my wolf is like.”

“And you fear that with your new determination to mate with her, you won’t give her the space she wants?” Decker Senior asked.

“I fucked up big time.”

“It doesn’t answer my question, but I’m going to believe you agreed with me. Son, she is your mate. At the full moon, you will want her, but the thing about mates, you will be connected to her. To finally accept her as your own, you will break down a barrier and you will feel her. You will know more about her than you have ever known.”

This didn’t make him feel any better.

“I don’t want to hurt her,” he said. He’d already done enough damage as it was, and he couldn’t handle the thought of hurting her again.

Misha was so beautiful, so pure.

“I cannot give you the answers you want, son. What I can do is tell you that if you love her, if you want to make this work, really make this work for real, then do not give up. Give her time. Be patient with her. You will be rewarded if you do.”

His father put a hand on his shoulder and Decker nodded.

Leaving the forest, he headed home. His dad left him at the edge of town.

It was quiet. All of the pack had gone home for the night.

“Hello, Alpha,” Blueberry said.

He smiled and looked toward the healer. “Hello, Blueberry.”

“I have the ointment.”

He walked to one of the benches, and Blueberry sat beside him. Holding out his hand, he watched as she cleaned his wounds and dressed them after applying her special ointment, which helped him to heal.

She was a magician when it came to knowing what he wanted.

“How is Misha?” he asked.

“You know she is my friend,” Blueberry said. “I love her and only want the best for her.”

“I know. I know. I only want the best for her as well.” He sighed. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

Blueberry laughed. “She has gotten under your skin, hasn’t she?”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Blueberry put a hand on his arm. “You have to believe in your mate. Misha is … she is hurting. What you did to her is hard for her to let go.”

“I don’t want to hurt her, Blueberry. I want to make up for what I did, but she returns everything. My gifts. She rejects my dinner invitations. How do I get close to her?”

He shouldn’t be asking Blueberry this. They were friends, and her loyalty was to Misha. He was her alpha, but he understood it. This wasn’t an alpha demand he could make.

“You don’t give up. You understand and appreciate that Misha has been through a lot. She doesn’t talk about it, but she fears abandonment. She doesn’t know who her parents are, Decker. She has no knowledge of who she really is, why they left her. Then, on the night of her turning, she found you. Her mate. The person who is supposed to love her, and what does he do?”

“Don’t.” He closed his eyes, knowing what he’d done.

“You see, you don’t need me to spell it out to you. Each time, she has been rejected. It hurts her.”