I Rejected You, Alpha

AIDEN’S POV

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I called and invited Alpha Reece to the castle early this morning and even though he said he was busy the entire day, he said he would come around to fetch what belonged to him. I didn’t like the sound of his tone or how he spoke to me. He surely knows that we are now the new heirs of the throne and even if I am only here because of Eleia, it still does not change anything.

I can just keep Cleo and I don’t need to explain s**t to him, but he’s known for his fairness and I want to explain that we want to adopt her.

Eleia and I stayed up the entire night, wondering how he found out where she was, especially when he didn’t come to us for help when he knew Zac and his family were missing.

Eleia said that word gets around and it does make sense, but the way he insists on having her back is getting on my nerves.

It’s around noon when it’s announced that Alpha Reece have arrived and I take a calming breath, holding Eleia’s hand as we meet him outside. We have not discussed this with Cleo yet, we want to see her reaction when she sees him, I insisted on it because something felt fishy about this entire thing.

He drives up in his black range rover, the dust raising up into the air as he speeds across the gravel road, driving onto the grass patch before coming to a screeching halt in front of us. He gets out, slamming his door before fixing his shirt and walking over to us.

He bows his head lightly to us, “Alpha Aiden, Luna Eleia.” he greets us, but the disrespect in his tone is beyond annoying.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“It’s King and Queen.” Eleia deadpans, her eyes narrowed on him. She clearly doesn’t like him and I could tell he was uncomfortable.

“My apologies, my queen.” the sarcasm tainting his voice while he addresses her as queen makes my hands itch. “Where is the girl?” he immediately asks, getting straight to the topic. “Inside, where she belongs.” I deadpan and his eyes narrow in clear annoyance, “She does not belong here.” he scoffs, “I would be happy to take her home.” he offers a smile, “Where she has no family?” Eleia asks with raised brows, “We have people that will take her in.” he shrugs, “We are taking her in.” Eleia informs him before I could.

Alpha Reece laughs, it’s deep, right from his stomach. It makes his shoulders shake and his head tilts back, he sighs as his laughter comes to a slow halt, his eyes widening as he catches us staring at him with a straight face, “Oh, you’re serious.” , “What on earth made you think that we weren’t? Do you know how precious our time is? Do you think that we took this lightly?” I snarl in annoyance, “If we didn’t want her, we would have her out here and in your car. By the way, you drive like an a*s and I would let no child in your possession, ever.” Eleia adds and I can’t help but be proud of her, but then again, she’s so strong headed and stubborn since she had kids, so I also didn’t expect anything less.

“Look.” he sways his arms in front of us, smiling, “That girl is not apart of your pack, I promise that we will take good care of her, but you can not keep her. She was Zac’s daughter, he was a very dear friend of mine and Cleo is very important to me, she loves me.” he shrugs, looking genuine and I feel kind of bad, “Shall we ask her?” Eleia deadpans and the fear flashing through his eyes as he looks at her suddenly goes away, “There’s no need, but if you want.” he shrugs and I bet that he’s thinking that we won’t.

“Fine.” Eleia grits out, folding her arms before she whips around and walks to the house, “Where is she going?” Alpha Reece asks with narrowed eyes that follow her. “To ask Cleo.” I shrug and he absentmindedly steps forward, frowning, “Oh.” he uncomfortably tucks his hands into his denim pockets, his tongue swirling in his cheek.

“Is that a problem?” I ask with a raised brow, “Not at all.” his face stays neutral, as if anticipating only good and that makes my heart squeeze painfully, because what if she wants to go home with him? What if he will look after her better than we can?

“Excuse me.” I murmur, feeling like I need to ask Eleia if we should reconsider because we already have two sons, what if a third child is too much?

That thought fades when I find my mate standing right next to the entrance way of the door, sitting on her haunches, holding Cleo while she tries to calm her down.

I glance out to Alpha Reece glancing around like our property was a shop and step aside, “What’s wrong?” I whisper and Eleia gives me a knowing look and my heart feels relief for only a second before I start to worry. Why is she scared of him?

I lower to my knees, pulling Cleo from my mate’s arms and I make her look at me.

Her eyes are red, her chest rising and falling so fast that it hurts to see her like this, snot is running down her nose, mixing with her hot tears, “I will get rid of him, just say yes and I will do it.” I drag my hand over her head, fixing her hair. “Yes.” she murmurs, her chin wobbling as she steps back as I let her go and she seeks comfort and shelter in Eleia’s arms.

I smile tightly as I leave the house and my hands itch as Alpha Reece stands with a fake smile plastered on his face, as if waiting for Cleo to follow me out with a happy smile.

“Well, where is she?” she asks, glancing past my shoulder. I hold my hands behind my back, forcing myself not to hit his lights out, “Unfortunately, she wants nothing to do with you. She seems frightened, inlighten me why such a young girl is scared of her alpha?” I c**k my head at him and he snorts, dismissing my serious tone. “She’s probably just frightened and now has a trauma bond to your family, you are the ones who saved her, aren’t you?” he shakes his head, his fingers dragging across his lips.

Alpha Reece is older than me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight him. “I think you mistreat children and you should leave before I lock you up.”, “Are you ridiculous?” his face contorts, “Did she tell you that? She’s delusional and clearly in shock if she did. I would never harm a child.” the sincere look in his eyes makes me want to believe him, but after my gut told me that Zac was up to something and he was, I am listening to my gut rather than my heart or head.

“Look, I heard a lot of great things of you, but if Cleo does not want to go with you, she isn’t and quite frankly, I don’t have to hand her over. We are the King and Queen and can do as we please.” I step forward, gritting every word out carefully, making sure that he understands and can hear me clearly.

“That is kidnapping Aiden.”, “That is King to you.” I seethe, I don’t find it disrespectful that he calls me by my name since I am younger than him, but right now, I am not playing with this child’s life. “My king.” the sarcasm in his voice and the glint in his eyes makes me snap and I growl at him, my hands flying forward and I grab him by the throat, “I will end you right now or you can leave,” I growl in his face. His eyes blink so fast that it looks like he’s having a seizure as he backs away and I let him go. He dusts off his shirt as if he rolled in the dirt, his jaw tightening, “I will take this up with the royal council and elders.” he threatens, but it doesn’t scare me, “And I will have you investigated.” I deadpan and his eyes narrow before he turns and gets into his car.

I just know that won’t be the last time we’ll be hearing from him and it makes my skin crawl with goosebumps and uneasiness.

I just know there’s something up with him, no Alpha would want to take in a orphaned child and would accept every single help they could to get them into a loving family, so why the hell is this man so adamant on taking Cleo back to his pack?

What is he hiding?

Whatever it is, I will find out.