Lusting After My Rejected Mate

ELSA

I got the full message from my father much later, when my mother and aunt had finally left me to my tears, standing by the door, cursing about how much they had spent on the food that they had prepared that was now all a waste.

Nobody asked if I had eaten. Nobody was looking at me.

Alpha Derek had sent a message to my family, telling them that he was calling off the engagement because I had left my engagement ring on the front porch and ran off without a word.

He didn’t bother to add that the only reason why I was running away was because I had caught him in bed with Alice Jones, a woman that I had long since heard rumors about her being his mate, but had long since ignored.

It had been seven years…

“I’m here, Elsa,” my father said. I looked up with red eyes. I had long since stopped crying, but my eyes were still puffy and red. “It’s just like your mother said. You still have to go back to Alpha Derek and apologize to him.”

“Apologize?” I screamed but it came out as a drawn-out squeak. “Do you have any idea what that man has done to me?”

“I know, Elsa.” My father comforted me. I shot him a deadly look and he sighed. “I suppose I don’t. But you have to go back to his house and apologize. Maybe things will work out fine. What’s that thing young couples do these days? Kiss and makeup?”

But I was not even in the least interested in kissing or making up with Alpha Derek Xavier, and it was amusing to me that my father, who was suggesting that I kiss and makeup with this man who was not my mate, had been long divorced from my mother. He didn’t think about kissing and making up then.

My mother showed up at the door, her impressive bosom heaving.

“Elsa, you can’t stay in this house. I forbid you to stay in this house. You have to go back to Alpha Derek and apologize. He’s a good man. He put a roof over your head, he feeds you.”

“We split every expense fifty-fifty. And he doesn’t care about me.” I murmured under my breath.

But my mother either didn’t hear this part or didn’t care. I didn’t bother explaining myself. I just rose from my bed and walked out of the house, certain that my mother would make sure that I was headed back to Alpha Derek.

SHE’S HEADED BACK TO YOUR PLACE, BRADELY, I saw my mother's text on our family group chat. WE’RE SORRY ABOUT THE ENTIRE INCIDENT. PLEASE, TAKE HER BACK. WE’LL COME OVER WITH GIFTS TOO.

I put my phone back in my pocket and knocked on the door.

The door swung open and Alpha Derek was there in front of me, his expansive shoulders filling up the doorway. His scent forced its way into my nostrils and the smell of my cooking made me wish I could stay here again, call this place my home. But it was never my home. It had never been.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I was stupid and I should not have run away like that.”

At this, Alpha Derek smiled and stretched his arms out for a hug. “Oh, Elsa. You always make me want to do the most terrible things.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, feeling nothing. “I was stupid and I should not have run away like that.”

“Yes, you were very stupid. But it’s okay. You’re back now.”

“I should have waited for you to explain why you were naked and thrusting into Alice. I should have known that there was an explanation for it. You were probably just helping her out.”

At this, Alpha Derek’s face changed and the fire in his eyes became a blazing furnace. But I am already used to this now. His gentlemanly demeanor was what endeared him to my family. But the beast in him was something that I alone knew.

“Come in, Elsa. And don’t do that again. You put me in a tight position when you left. You made Alice uncomfortable too. And yes, she had only come over so I could help her out with something. We might have been lovers once, but you should know that nothing is going on with Alice and me.”

I barely nodded as I took in his lies.

The house seemed to have devolved in the few hours that I was not in this house.

If Alice had left, it had been in a hurry. Everything was scattered everywhere and my keen wolf senses could still perceive her smell in the air. I moved through the mess of clothes on the floor as though I could not see anything.

The cake I had made since afternoon was still in the oven, waiting.

I pulled it out and stuck sad little candles in it. Alpha Derek entered, his mouth open. Then he noticed the cake.

“Oh. It’s your birthday today. Happy thirtieth, baby.”

But his words disgusted me. I gave him a weak smile and moved the cake into the bin next to me. Alpha Derek looked on wordlessly.

“I have to go, Elsa. Alice still needs help and I have to be there with her. Can you make something for us? Preferably without cilantro. Alice doesn’t like those. And I’ll probably be there all day. And if your people come along, you can tell them that I’m out and won’t be back soon. You can warm the food when I’m back or something. I’ll see you later.”

“Of course, my love,” I said in my sweetest voice. It was sickening to hear, even in my ears. But Alpha Derek only grunted and left.

I looked around and smiled lazily.

I went straight up to my room and began picking out my things. There was no food in the kitchen because I had thought that we would go out to celebrate my birthday.

Stupid, wishful thinking. Never again.

Anyone who was going to hear of this story would laugh at me. I didn’t care much about them, but I was broken because Alpha Derek had led me on for so many years already, and in my head, I had believed him. I had loved him…

I piled some more clothes, tears silently trailing down my cheek as I walked back down and out of the house.

If my people came along, they could keep their food. I didn’t care about getting married anymore. I was going to wait until I met my mate, and if I didn’t, then that was alright, too. But I wasn’t going to stay here and wait for Alpha Derek or anyone else.

Not me. Not anymore.