Chapter 8

Rafe

            As I sat there scowling, looking straight ahead to the wall in front of me I inwardly squirmed as I could smell my mate before she opened the door and sat down beside me.  She still smelled as delicious as she had smelled last evening.  I could not help but be drawn to her – the Moon Goddess would see to it that mates would have a difficult time rejecting their mates.

            Which made it so shocking to my Uncle Boyd that I had refused an Alpha female.  I had had no intention of telling him, but one of the guy’s was still going on about the look on her face when we crawled into the room early this morning.  The other guys started laughing at the reaction and then passed out on the bed.

            My uncle was already up of course.  He was a bit of a strait-laced guy although he was only a few years older than me – he took his role seriously as my advisor.  I was forced to explain everything that had happened the night before, including my brief indiscretion.    That got him more riled up as he explained to me the impact that would have on a mate regardless if I had rejected them or not.  He was so adamant that I recall whether Kate accepted my rejection. The fact was I had not stuck around long enough to hear whether she accepted it or not.  The last thing I remember was the shocked look on her face as I turned to walk away.

            Which brought me here to this place in this moment.  Boyd was adamant that we needed to get answers immediately.  He felt if she had not accepted the rejection, that I should take it back and accept her fully, begging forgiveness.  I ranted at him that I could not do that – she was not what I wanted but he would not hear of it.  He was so convinced I would ruin my future with a rejection, but I knew better.  I know what I want in a mate and Kate will not be able to be that person. 

After we entered Alpha Jackson’s office, I was shocked to learn she had not told her father about the rejection yet.  I figured she would be so crushed she would run to her Daddy to try and get him to fix it all for her.  Instead, I was stuck with my Uncle Boyd trying to fix it for me.

Boyd

            As I turned to see the young woman who my nephew had so carelessly rejected, I could not believe what I saw.  She was stunning.  She stood tall and confident as she moved into the room.  If you looked hard enough, you could see the slight red rimming around her eyes from tears shed the previous evening.  But her demeanor would not give away the fact she had been rejected just 12 hours previously.

            I briefly looked at my nephew who was still pouting and looking straight ahead.  I had to give myself a mental shake and get a grip on myself. This was my nephew’s mate, and I could only hope he had not damaged the relationship to a point of no return.

            I had spoken with my brother, Alpha of our pack, and he also wanted this situation corrected.  He had been working on an alliance pact with Golden Moon Pack for the past 8 months and they had been close to finalizing the details.  This had the potential to damage those efforts. 

Rafe had not taken any interest in the Pack business and knew very little about what was really happening.  He did not understand the need for alliances and certainly did not understand that there were always threats.  He knew how to fight and had participated in fights that involved protecting the Pack but simply was not as engaged in the business aspect.  I have criticized my brother repeatedly over the past couple years for coddling him.  He knew he would take over as Alpha, but he did not realize, yet, just what that meant.  I think this situation has shone a new light to the situation.  My brother is quickly realizing that the gloves need to come off for Rafe to be ready to take over in the coming years when he is ready to step down.

            Looking away from Kate I saw her father’s face light up as she came into the room.  He was also looking for tell-tale signs of what she had endured but could come up with nothing.  Or if he did, he certainly did not give anything away in looking at his daughter.

            As she introduced herself, I was overcome when I touched her with how soft her skin was.  She was more breath-taking up close.  I do not know what was coming over me but clearly she was mesmerizing and yet this young fool had not seen it or ignored it.  As we introduced one another, Kate did not spare me a second glance as she sat down and took a sip of her coffee waiting for someone to tell her why we were here.  She knew why but she was not going to make things easy.