Snowed In With The Alpha Who Rejected Me

"I reject you too, asshole."

The words leave my mouth and the entire Summit hall goes dead silent.

You could hear a pin drop. Then - whispers. Everywhere.

A human just rejected an Alpha. A human just called Alpha Kade an asshole to his face. In his own territory.

Alpha James looks like he's about to have a stroke. Jace looks like he's deciding whether to be proud or to drag me out of here and hide me forever.

And Kade...

Kade just stares at me. His jaw is clenched so tight it could crack. Those icy grey eyes are stormy now, not cold. Angry. Confused. Like he didn't expect me to talk back.

"You don't get to reject me," he says quietly. Dangerously quiet. "You don't even know what rejection means."

"Oh, I know exactly what it means," I snap. "It means you just did me a favor. Because I didn't come here looking for a mate. I came here because the Council asked me to. So thanks for the clarity, Alpha. We're on the same page."

I turn to leave. Or try to.

The doors at the far end of the hall bang open and a freezing gust of wind howls inside. Snow blows in.

Kade's Beta, a huge guy with a shaved head, rushes in. "Alpha! Storm hit early. The pass is closed. No one is getting in or out tonight. Council just issued a lockdown order."

What?

Jace pulls out his phone. No signal. Of course.

James stands. "How long?"

"Till morning at least. Maybe two days. It's a whiteout."

Two days. Trapped here. In Dark Moon. With him.

Kade doesn't even look at his Beta. He's still looking at me.

"Fantastic," he mutters.

James tries to salvage this. "Kade, we'll need rooms. For me, Jace, and Kira."

Kade finally looks away from me. "Your warriors can stay in the barracks. You and your future Alpha can have the guest wing. As for her..."

He looks at me again. That dismissive scan.

"Put the human in the east wing. Away from the pack. She'll distract the unmated males."

Distract? I'm going to kill him.

Jace steps forward. "She's not staying alone in a separate wing. She stays with us."

"She's human, Jeremiah," Kade says, using Jace's full name. "She has no wolf to protect her if one of my males loses control around a... new scent. Do you want that responsibility on you?"

The way he says 'new scent' makes my skin prickle.

Jace hesitates. Because Kade is right, and we both know it. I'm the only human in a house full of wolves who just got hit with a snowstorm and cabin fever.

"I'll be fine," I lie. "I'm not scared of wolves."

Kade smirks. It's not a nice smirk. "You should be."

The east wing is beautiful and freezing cold. Literally and figuratively.

Stone walls, huge fireplace, one massive bed that looks like it was made for an Alpha, not a guest. There are no other rooms connected to it. Isolated. Just like he wanted.

I try the light switch. Nothing. Great. Storm knocked out part of the power.

I manage to get the fireplace lit after almost setting my sleeve on fire. I curl up on the huge rug in front of it, because the bed feels too big and too... his. This whole territory smells like him.

I'm trying to breathe through the humiliation replaying in my head - I, Alpha Kade, reject you - when the door opens without a knock.

I jump up, grabbing the fire poker.

Kade stands in the doorway holding two blankets and a tray of food. He's changed his shirt. His hair is damp from snow.

He looks at the poker in my hand. Then at me.

"Are you going to hit me with that, human?"

"Depends. Are you going to be an asshole again?"

He actually - almost - smiles. It disappears instantly.

"Power's out in this wing. Generator won't cover it till morning. Fireplace is your only heat." He drops the blankets on the bed. Drops the tray on the table. Hard.

"I didn't need you to bring me anything. Your staff could have."

"My staff is busy keeping my pack from freezing. And you're my... responsibility while you're under my roof."

He says the word responsibility like it's poison.

I walk over to the tray. Stew, bread, water. My stomach growls. I hate that.

"Thanks," I say quietly.

He's already walking to the door. Hand on the handle.

Then he stops. He doesn't turn around.

"That thing you felt in the hall... that pull. Ignore it."

My heart thuds.

"What pull?" I lie.

He turns his head slightly, just enough that I see his profile. His eyes are gold again in the firelight.

"You're human, Kira. You don't have a wolf. That bond will never complete properly for you. It will drive you crazy and leave you empty. I did you a favor by rejecting you. Remember that."

His voice is rough now. Not cruel. Almost... pained?

"Then why do you keep looking at me like you want to kill me or..."

"Or what?" he cuts in, finally turning fully.

He takes two steps toward me. Just two. But suddenly the room is too small. Too hot.

My back hits the stone wall next to the fireplace. He doesn't touch me. He plants one hand on the wall beside my head, caging me in. He is so close I can see the snowflakes still melting on his shoulders. I can see that scar on his eyebrow up close.

He inhales, and his eyes flutter shut for half a second. Like he's in pain.

"You smell like mine," he whispers, and it sounds like a confession he hates making. "And I don't want a mate. I will never want a mate. So you will stay in this wing, you will not wander my pack house, and tomorrow when the storm breaks, you will leave and never come back. Do you understand?"

I should be terrified. This is Alpha Kade. The feared Alpha. Everyone says he has no mercy.

But I'm not. Because for the first time tonight, he doesn't look like a ruthless Alpha.

He looks like a man who is losing a fight with himself.

I lift my chin, even though my knees are shaking.

"And if I don't want to be yours either?"

His eyes snap open, gold and blazing.

"Then we're both going to have a problem, little warrior."

He pushes off the wall and leaves, slamming the door so hard the fire flickers.

I slide down the wall onto the floor, my heart racing out of my chest.

Outside, the storm howls louder. Inside, I can still smell rain and pine and smoke.

I'm snowed in with the Alpha who rejected me.

And he just called me his.