Once Rejected, Twice Desired (Book 1 of Blue Moon Series)
Once Rejected, Twice Desired Chapter 19

Alaia POV

After Xander left, I returned to my bathroom to take a real shower this time.

Once I was sure I was clean, I headed into my closet in search of clothes. I needed to replace Jordan ASAP for some serious girl talk.

I pulled on a sky blue maxi dress and flip flops, pulled my hair back into a long ponytail, and headed downstairs.

If I knew Jordyn, she'd likely be in the dining hall having breakfast before heading out to training.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted her sitting alone close to the wall and quickly ran over.

I plopped down beside her and gave a sly smile.

As my best friend, she immediately knew what was up.

"OMG Alaia, spill!!"

I noticed her searching my neck for my mark, so I figured I'd let her down easy.

"You're not going to replace anything, J; Xander hasn't marked me yet."

A look of confusion crossed her face when she said, "But you smell different. You smell like Xander."

"Do I really? I just took a seriously hot and long shower!"

"You know damn well you can't wash off your mates' scent. Why would you even want to?"

"It's just that everything is still a little crazy around here. I still haven't seen Alexi yet, and I don't want things to be weirder than they have to be the next time we talk."

"I guess that's understandable. So...if Xander hasn't marked you, what has he done to leave his scent so strongly on your body?"

She lifted her eyebrows suggestively, making me laugh out loud.

"Well..." I began before I dished about all the dirty things my mate and I had done the last twenty-four hours.

I wished I had thought to record Jordyn's reaction; it was priceless.

"Holy f*****g s**t, Alaia. So, he's made you cream multiple times, but you're still somehow a virgin? How, I mean, who- what is happening?"

I again laughed. Watching Jordyn at this moment was like watching a computer glitch. I'd overloaded her with too much information for her to process.

"It's been amazing, J; he's been amazing. I haven't had the time to dwell on all that's happened, when I'm with him I'm just so happy that I'm his."

"Aww, my little Alaia is all grown up!" she teased.

"Oh, s**t! I've got to go, babe. Training starts in ten, and I'm helping Jason warm up the pack today."

"I'll come with you. Dr. Collins says I have to take it easy for the next couple of days, but I could use the fresh air. "

We stood and headed towards the back doors when Mrs. Wilson intercepted me.

"Hold on a minute, sweet girl. I was told you were in the pack hospital, is that true? Are you alright, sweetie?" she asked me.

I smiled and gave her a tight hug.

"I'm better than alright, Mrs. Wilson, I'm amazing. I promise."

She held me at arm's length and looked me over for a moment before she nodded her head.

"Okay, but you take it easy out there, got it? And take this with you. I know you haven't had a decent meal since yesterday morning."

She handed me a huge blueberry muffin that was still hot from the oven and a sausage egg and cheese croissant. I knew she made the croissant from scratch; she always did.

When the smells hit me, my stomach loudly rumbled.

"Thank you so much! Trust me; these will be gone in ten minutes, tops!"

"You're welcome sweet girl, have a good day."

As she turned to walk away, I spun around and beamed at Jordyn.

She rolled her eyes at me and mumbled, "so f*****g spoiled" before walking out the back door with me close behind.

***

As soon as we reached the training grounds, Jordyn walked over to Jason and began to help him with the warm-up. They had the warriors start with one-hundred pushups and sit-ups each, before running five miles around the perimeter.

I took a seat under a large tree and tore into my breakfast. When the warm muffin touched my tongue, I shamelessly moaned out loud while saying, "Oh goddess, this is incredible!"

I'm immediately scared out my mind when I heard a deep voice respond, "Damn, I wish I could make you moan like that."

It felt like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees as I looked around, but all I saw were the warriors training, there was no one else there.

"Don't worry, Kitten; I won't hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you without that mate of yours around."

He spat the word "mate" like it was laced with venom, and it was then that I recognized the voice; it was deeper, but I still knew it.

"Alexi? What is going on? Where are you?"

"I'm just checking in on you, Kitten, that's all. And you'll know what's going on soon enough."

It felt like a hand was grazed across my cheek, which sent icy chills down my spine.

This wasn't right; this isn't Alexi at all.

"Alexi, whatever this is, just come out so we can fix it, okay?"

My heart was starting to pound loudly in my chest, and I just wished that Xander was there with me.

"Anxious, are we? You'll feel my touch, my real touch, very soon, all over that gorgeous body of yours. Then I'll make you mine; you will bear my mark, you will bear my pups. Everything will be right again, I promise. Soon..." With that, the cold chill vanished and I was left alone.

"What the f**k just happened?"

***

Xander POV

We were all still sitting in Alpha Jonathan's office when there was a sudden knock on the door.

Before anyone could respond, it flew open to reveal a terrified looking Alaia.

I rushed to her immediately and wrapped my arms protectively around her small and trembling body.

I could see that the rest of the men in the office were on their feet as well. Alaia had our full attention.

My blood began to boil with rage, whoever did this to her, scared her to this extent, would pay with their lives. "Alaia, baby? What's wrong? Tell me what happened."

"It-it was Alexi...but it wasn't. I j-just, it was so cold and then he, no, it was gone. And-"

"Calm down, Little One; we can't understand you. Take a deep breath and start over, okay?"

I watched her take a deep breath and steady herself. She was so strong, even if no one else recognized it, I did.

"Alexi. I don't know what's going on, but he somehow showed up at the training grounds and spoke to be. But it wasn't him. I couldn't see him physically, but I heard his voice. And I felt when he touched my face. It gave me chills." Alastair was battling with me for control. I was so pissed off that I almost shifted right then and there. But I didn't want to do anything that would harm Alaia.

I calmed Alastair as much as I could before I cupped Alaia's face and tilted her head up to meet my eyes.

"Tell me exactly what he said. Please."

I knew my anger was radiating off me in waves, and I didn't want Alaia to feel that any of it was directed at her. I had to tread lightly here.

"He said he wanted to talk to me without my mate being around. That soon, I would feel his touch, wear his mark, and bear his pups. He sounded angry, almost evil. I'd never heard him sound that way, it scared me." Tears began to build up and spill over when she finally asked, "Xander, please. What is going on?"

I took a seat and pulled her into my lap. Then we proceed to tell her everything that was happening.

I watched as she listened and absorbed the information seamlessly.

When everything was on the table, this beautiful soul looked over at Aaron and said, "Congratulations on the Alpha ceremony. I'm so proud of you, and I know you and Jordyn will do great things for the pack."

We were in awe of her. It seemed that her ex-mate was determined to have his way with her and had the use of dark magic at his disposal, but still, she thought of others before herself. She was a true Luna. "Thanks, lil sis. That means a lot to me. But just know that if you can't make it to the ceremony, we'll all understand. I'm so sorry all this is happening."

"It's a lot to take in, that's for sure," she said with a shrug.

She then turned to face me and said, "Alright, mate, when do we leave?"

***

Aaron POV

Knowing that Alaia would be leaving for her new pack that night was a hard pill to swallow.

I knew that once she became mated with an Alpha, she would have to leave to become his Luna, but this felt wrong.

It felt as if she was being driven out, and that wasn't fair.

Opal Moon was her home, and she deserved to feel safe and comfortable here.

Alexi had taken that feeling of safety away from her, and I could never forgive him. What we had was over. He was no longer my friend, no longer my brother.

I had decided that my first act as Alpha would be to banish Alexi, thus classifying him as a rogue.

It was a hard decision to make, but it was the right one. He had broken our laws by continuing to pursue Alaia, and no one was above our laws.

I stood in the doorway of Alaia's bedroom and watched as she, Jordyn, and our mom cried and hugged while attempting to pack her things.

The attempt at packing had gone on for almost an hour; if the situation were different, it would have almost been funny.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall and leaned back to see Xander and Kade waking in my direction.

"We're all set, how are the ladies?" Xander asked

I replied with a small chuckle.

"The same. My mom and the girls haven't stopped crying since they started. I don't know how they do it."

Kade poked his head around the corner before he stepped back and put his hands up.

"I am NOT going on there. I can't even handle one woman crying, let alone three. You two have got this. Just pass me her bags, and I'll get them to the car."

Xander and I laughed at Kade's nervous expression before we both walked into the room.

Alaia turned to me with red-rimmed eyes and ran into my arms.

"You're acting as if we'll never see each other again, Alaia. Your new pack is only a few hours away; we'll see each other all the time. I promise."

I leaned down and kissed the top of her small head.

"B-but I won't be here to see your first shift, or to watch to become Alpha. You know we always planned to be together when that happened. We were supposed to shift together; we did everything together!" "I'll ask someone to record the ceremony. And from what I've been told, shifting is painful-and gross. You won't be missing anything."

She finally laughed and wiped her eyes before blowing out a deep breath.

"It better be a professional quality recording, none of that shaky s**t, or you'll have to do it all over. Understand?"

"Got it."

Xander then walked over and took Alaia by the hand.

"Everything is all set, are you ready Little One?"

Alaia nodded her head, and we all walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door.

When we got to the front steps, we saw Xander's large black SUV being guarded by six huge wolves.

"I asked six of my best warriors to come and help escort their Luna home. They did so without question," Xander said.

One by one, the wolves walked toward Alaia and bowed their heads in reverence and respect for their new Luna.

When the last wolf was back at its place beside the SUV, Kade stepped forward and opened the back passenger door. "Luna, we're ready when you are."

Alaia took one last look around at us before squaring her shoulders and climbing into the truck.

Xander stepped forward to address my dad and me as we were standing side by side.

"Alpha's, we'll guard her with our lives. Don't worry; she'll be safe."

We all gave a single nod before he too climbed into the back of the SUV and shut the door.

Kade got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and slowly began to pull off with their six warrior wolves flanking the vehicle at all sides.

***

Xander POV

Once I shut the door to the SUV, I pulled Alaia over and into my lap. I just wanted to be near her and smell her.

I was happy that she would finally be meeting the pack but hurt for the way it had to happen.

As Kade got into the driver's seat and started the car, I felt Alaia tilt her head up to look at me.

"Xander?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Let's go home."

I smiled then looked at Kade through the rearview mirror. "You heard your Luna, let's go home."