Alpha’s Rejected Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection #22)

Chapter One

Seven Years Later

“You think this is wise?” Harper asked her friend Franny.

“No, none of this is wise, but come on, you’ve got to admit it’s fun.” Franny dragged her up to the bar.

The music was loud but with her expert wolf hearing, she could hear Franny just fine. The rest of the group was also around the bar, some dancing, others ordering drinks.

She hated when the rest of her pack friends wanted to go to the local human town. It always made her feel nervous. They all had to be careful, according to her new alpha’s demands. They didn’t want humans hunting for giant wolves. From what she knew, the pack had dealt with that in the past, and it had cost them a few members.

There hadn’t been a hunt in years.

Harper didn’t want to get banished from this pack as well. She’d already been banished once, and thankfully, no one had asked her the gory details of why she had to leave the Fox pack.

Just thinking about Mateo was enough to make her wolf angry. When she’d first been banished from the Fox pack, her wolf had felt sorry for herself. Harper hadn’t felt much better about it. At the age of eighteen, taken from everything she’d ever known, because the alpha didn’t want to be her mate.

Over time, those feelings had changed, and whenever she did think of Mateo, her wolf was nonplussed about it. The years had passed and they’d both grown used to the feelings of loneliness. There had been a couple of men who showed an interest, but being already mated to another man didn’t feel right. She knew her wolf wished it was different, that they’d been able to just change on a whim and not care.

Mateo was out there. It wasn’t like he was dead. He’d rejected them, simple as that.

The barman came to Franny’s beckoning. She had seen many a man crumble when Franny turned on the charm. Apart from the woman’s father, that man did see past her charms, and he wasn’t too impressed. It probably didn’t help that she seemed to be naturally rebellious, and just … Franny.

Harper adored her. Where the whole pack had been nervous about getting to know the banished member of their new pack, Franny had been different. She’d been the only one to talk to her, by introducing herself. “Hey, I’m Franny. I know a lot of people around here are losers, but do you want to tell me why you got banished from another pack, when you look like a goody-two-shoes that doesn’t break any of the rules?”

From that moment on, they’d been good friends. It would seem people avoided Franny, just as they did her. They were a mismatched pair. Both had to make a few sacrifices along the way. Sometimes, Franny had to fall in line and conform, and Harper had to let go and live on the edge.

It had been a fun friendship that had bloomed in the last seven years, and one she cherished. Franny kept her from being so lonely, and she certainly made life interesting. She didn’t regret their friendship, even if they’d gone to a human bar.

Within minutes they both had a beer in hand, and Harper glanced around the bar, feeling her nerves hike up. Several of the group Franny hung out with was at the bar, so it wasn’t like she was alone. Even though there was a group of them, Harper was only close to Franny.

They couldn’t get drunk. Their metabolism was different from that of a human. They had a stronger constitution for alcohol. Even still, Harper knew she wasn’t going to go past one drink. She didn’t want to piss the alpha off completely.

She at least got some leeway being Franny’s friend, since Franny’s father was in fact the alpha. There had been a couple of times she believed their antics would have gotten them expelled from the pack.

“This is fun,” Franny said. “What do you think if I pick up a guy tonight?”

Harper nearly spat her drink out. “What?”

“Come on, this could be fun. You and I pick up a couple of human guys, and we show them a thing or two.”

This was another of those times when Harper hadn’t quite been honest with Franny. It wasn’t that she lied, but she’d also never told her that she’d never been with a man. Franny knew about her mate, and she guessed her friend assumed she and Mateo might have actually done something, but they hadn’t, not even close.

It was the worst night of her life, realizing she’d been mated to a man who didn’t want her—and then to get banished. Her father hadn’t been able to do anything about it either. He followed instructions but had reached out to Franny’s pack, and the rest was history.

“Ugh, no, I don’t think that is wise. Your father will accept you going to a bar, but even you will have to deal with some kind of punishment if you decide to bring an outsider.” She whispered the last part. They were surrounded by humans.

Franny looked like she wanted to test her father’s patience, and this never went well. Harper was about to argue when her friend’s attention turned away.

“Well, well, well, now they are not human,” Franny said.

Harper turned her head, but she already knew who it was. Her wolf had sensed him the moment he stepped into the bar, and now, as she looked across the room, she tried to keep control of her wolf.

Anyone who’d been away from their mate for seven years would be ecstatic at the thought of seeing them again. Not her. Her wolf wanted to hurt him. The betrayal she felt was bone-deep, but she stayed perfectly still and turned away. She couldn’t look at him.

“Harper, girl, are you okay?” Franny asked.

Before she responded, she finished her beer and turned to look at her friend. “Can we go?”

“Okay, you’re starting to worry me. You’ve gone all pale.”

“That big guy that just walked in. Black hair, looks mean?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He’s the guy that banished me from the pack seven years ago.”

“Wait? What?” Franny asked.

“Yeah, that man is my mate, and now he is here, and I’m trying not to lose it, but I feel close to losing it. Can we please go?” she asked.

She sensed him still in the bar and she gripped onto the edge of the counter tightly.

“You know what? No,” Franny said.

Harper looked at her, feeling the upset rush through her body. She didn’t know if she would be able to control herself. Franny grabbed her wrist. “You’re not going anywhere, and no one is going to force you to leave. We came here to have fun, and that is exactly what we’re going to do.”

Before she could protest, Franny had dragged her onto the dance floor, and then gave a little whistle, and before she knew what was happening, several of the gang had surrounded her. At first, she didn’t dance. She couldn’t do anything.

“He’s not going to hurt you,” Franny said. “We’re here. We’re all here for you.”

Franny took hold of her hand and spun her in a circle so she could see the small gang was there, and they offered her a smile.

She appreciated all of them. Harper had always struggled to make friends, but these were her friends, and they had her back.

****

As part of his agreement with the pack who’d accepted his mate, Mateo had to do annual visits where he met with the alpha, they talked, and he found out exactly how Harper was doing. No one knew about the visits, not even Harper’s parents.

When he’d banished her, he knew it had been the right thing to do. Slowly, he had felt his wolf start to go crazy, and not only that, he had felt different about abandoning her. He’d talked with the alpha, and it was time for his annual visit when he got an update, and got to even inhale some of Harper’s clothing, to help the beast within him from breaking loose.

He’d gotten her scent on the way over.

The two men at his side, his closest allies, knew what he had to do and why he had to do it. Peter and Damon came to keep him from doing anything stupid. Harper was too damn young to be an alpha’s mate. He couldn’t put her at that kind of risk. Not now, not ever.

She wasn’t old enough or strong enough to deal with pack politics, and some of the females would hurt her. He had no choice but to protect her because she couldn’t look weak. He knew it had been a long time since a pack female was replaced by another stronger female, but he couldn’t allow anyone to go through with that.

Staring across the bar, he saw her, well, he saw the back of her head. She was standing with another woman, blonde, who within seconds led her onto the dance floor, and all too soon she was surrounded by other men and women.

There were a couple of men who’d gotten close to her. He felt the wolf within him start to rise, and it was Peter who grabbed his arm.

“We’re in human territory. You don’t want to run the risk of starting up some horrible rumors, Alpha,” Peter said.

“And we’re already gaining too much attention. We must leave.”

He couldn’t leave the bar, not without talking to Harper. Damn it, even though the scent of alcohol, sweat, sex, and plenty of other human aromas filled his senses, he could still smell Harper.

She was there, and it smelled warm, like cinnamon and apple, but stronger, with a touch of vanilla thrown into the mix. The only problem was, he smelled other men, and his wolf couldn’t handle it.

Breaking out of Peter’s hold, he moved through the crowd. The humans, clearly seeing a man on a mission, stepped out of his way. He broke through the crowd and finally got to look at Harper. The last seven years had aged her well. She no longer looked like a schoolgirl, and he wasn’t happy.

“Hey!” the woman with her gawked at him as he reached for Harper. No one made a move to stop him as he all but dragged her out of the bar.

At first, Harper didn’t react, but it was like she woke up from whatever trance was holding her, and as soon as they were out of sight of the humans, she began to attack. She dug her heels in and jerked her arm.

“Let go of me!” Harper’s strength surprised him, and he had no choice but to let her go or risk hurting her, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

He looked at her and watched as she pushed some hair off her face. Seconds later, the woman she was with, along with the rest of the pack, stood several feet away, but he knew they’d come to protect her.

“Leave,” Harper said.

“You’re not supposed to be here. None of you are,” Mateo said.

Peter and Damon were at his back, and he knew they’d react if he needed them to.

Harper chuckled. “You’re not their alpha. They don’t have to follow your orders.”

He took a step toward her. “I’m your alpha.”

Silence.

Harper glared at him, and then she took one step, followed by another until she stood almost toe-to-toe with him. “Guess again. You banished me, Mateo. You’re not my alpha. I don’t answer to you.”

He grabbed her arms, pulling her in close. He felt such urgency to press his face against her neck, to breathe her in, but he held himself back. His wolf just wanted to throw her to the ground and claim her right there and then, but he kept control. Like always, control was something he knew.

“You’re my mate.”

“No, I’m not. I’m your rejected mate. I’m not yours and I’m never going to be yours.”

She brought her arms up, slamming them down on his, and there was that strength again that took him by surprise.

“Don’t ever manhandle me again.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Mateo watched her go, a little in awe and shock. He hadn’t anticipated her rejection. He hadn’t intended to see her. Even though she was no longer a child, they were not together.

He couldn’t help but watch her, seeing the sway of her ass as she walked away from him. Harper had always been a larger woman, curves in all the right places. To some, she stood out among the crowd of wolf females as they tended to be on the slender side. Not Harper. She looked stunning.

“Alpha?” Peter asked.

“She’s different,” Mateo said. He’d sensed the anger inside her. Her wolf rejected him, just as Harper rejected him.

He should have known there were going to be consequences for what he did. “Your presence is known, we must continue. We’ve already caused too much commotion,” Damon said.

Mateo knew of the delicate balance they must play with the humans. It wasn’t so long ago there was a hunting party, and all the wolves had to be on high alert. When a human went missing, or there was a suspected animal mauling, danger always lurked for the wolves.

He had no choice but to go Silver and tell him what he did. Running a hand down his face, he turned and made his way down the street, giving them a good distance from the bar before entering the forest. He never traveled by car, not for his annual visit to the Silver pack.

He sensed the tension in Damon and Peter, but all he could think about was Harper. She definitely had changed. Silver had told him that in the beginning it was awkward for her at the pack. No one wanted anything to do with the banished female. Franny, Silver’s daughter, had been the one to bridge that gap. She befriended Harper, and he’d also learned that Harper’s skills had come in handy with many pack females.

Mateo hadn’t been aware of Harper’s love of cosmetics. After he’d banished her, and his wolf had struggled, her parents allowed him access to her bedroom, where he had seen another side of Harper.

Young Harper loved the color pink. She also loved dresses and skirts, and only wore pants in the cold season. She didn’t have music or movie posters in her bedroom, but more images of looks and styles she liked to replicate.

Harper had become the Silver pack’s beautician, opening a small salon where she styled hair and makeup. According to Silver, she’d done many a female’s mating style. To Mateo, it had felt like utter nonsense and rubbish.

Now, he was interested to know exactly what his mate was up to.

The moment he entered Silver’s territory, he sensed the power of the alpha. At first, his own wolf wanted to respond, to challenge the authority. It was built in him as alpha, but his father had taught him the value of diplomacy and patience, and learning how to build trust.

It would be so easy giving everything up to his wolf, but he knew it would lead to nonstop war, and he wasn’t interested in that.

Wolf packs at war were a thing of the past, and he intended to keep it that way. He knew of other packs struggling who lived on each others’ borders, and it was a delicate balance, but not for him.

Within minutes, he was at Silver’s home, and the man himself was already at the front door.

“You’re late,” Silver said.

“And your daughter decided to frequent a human bar and take my mate with her, along with several of your own pack.”

“Mateo, let me worry about how I run my pack and my people, and you focus on your own pack and your own troubles.”

He wanted to argue the point but he also knew Silver was doing him a favor. He thought about Harper, and he stared at the other alpha.

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

“See, you want to ask me for something. Isn’t it a good thing that you stop with potentially insulting me?”

Again, he wanted to dispute but knew the other alpha spoke the truth. He needed to get his shit together, and fast. Gripping the back of his neck, he took a deep breath. “I want to stay here until I get Harper back.”

Silver folded his arms across his chest. “Come again?”

“You heard me. It’s time. She’s my mate.”

“But I recall a conversation where you specifically said you would never want her. That she meant absolutely nothing to you.”

Mateo had said that. He’d told Silver to keep her, and he’d also told him to take care of her and look out for her. “I know what I’ve said.”

“And now you want to change that?”

“Yes.”

Silver sighed.

“She’s my mate,” Mateo said.

“A mate you have rejected and pushed aside, Mateo.”

“You cannot come between two mates.”

“I know Harper has become a valued member of our pack. She had a rough start, but since then, she has blended in well, and I know besides my daughter, there will be a lot of people who miss her.”

“And?” Mateo didn’t give a fuck what the other pack’s feelings were. He wanted his mate.

Silver glared at him. “This is going to be Harper’s choice.”

“Pardon me?”

“Harper will be the one who gets to decide if she leaves this pack. Not you or I.”

“You’re the alpha.”

“And as alpha, I intend to make the right decisions when it comes to my pack. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’ll handle all of this tomorrow. Have you found a location to reside in while you’re here?”

“No,” he said.

“Then you can stay here.”

And just like that, Silver left, and it was up to Mateo to follow.

He was pissed but years of training with his father told him to be respectful. He was the one who approached Silver’s pack, and he didn’t want to make an enemy out of this man.