The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate
Chapter 13

SNOW

I had a really bad feeling after Tyler left the ranch. There was some part of me that knew bad omens were coming. It wasn’t just that we heard someone in the bushes, watching us, but it was this feeling that everything was going to go horribly wrong. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but I couldn’t shake it.

I went to sleep, and my dreams were like before. I was aware that what was going on around me wasn’t real, but there was still a part of me that felt disconnected. The first thing that came to me was a feeling.

There was a deep shame that I’d done something wrong or that I was wrong. I saw a familiar woman standing in front of me, and her name and who she was came to me quickly moment. Ariana, my stepmother who hated me. She wasn’t alone in her derision. A man stood next to her with the same look. He didn’t want to have anything to do with me either.

“I don’t want her. I don’t care who her father is, she will never run the pack. She will never be my queen. I cannot and will not agree with this.” This was said by Bane, my mate who rejected me.

I was to be queen of my pack, the B***d something, I could quite make out the full name, but they rejected me too. It all had something to do with Ariana. She made my life miserable because she wanted Bane for herself and would do anything to get him.

The memory jumped to me being chained up, beaten, starved. I was only eighteen. After two years of torture, I ran away and was almost killed. I was saved by one of my mate’s soldier’s, a man whose name was just out of my reach.

After that, my dream stopped moving linearly. One minute I was in a dungeon chained to a brick wall, and the next I was a girl, being told by my father that one day the prince would love me and make me his queen. Bane was not at all what he was meant to be. By the time I was to marry, Dad was dead and his wife, Ariana, had showed her true colors.

When I woke up, I felt bitter resentment at everything that had happened to me. All those old feelings came back and lingered inside me. I decided to go for a run, but it wasn’t to blow off steam. I was running to someone, the only person who could make me feel better.

The dreams were real, they were memories, and I wanted to share them with one person. It was Dutch who had been there for me and helped me this whole time, ever since we met. He would know what to do next, even if I didn’t know if I was ready to admit everything to him, or anyone else.

When I got to his place, his lights were on, and he opened the door before I could knock. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he had known I was coming. It was again this strange feeling of being right where I was supposed to be when we were around each other. He invited me in before I even said anything. Dutch hugged me to him and then we walked into the house together.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t.”

“Is Carlton up or something?”

“No.”

I didn’t know what to think, except he was up and ready because he knew I would need him. There was a connection that was undeniable when it came to the two of us.

“Did you have another dream?”

“I did.”

“Do you want some coffee?” he asked, and pointed to the pot he had already made. He had to have known I was coming over. He wouldn’t be up this late for no reason.

I shook my head and asked him, “Can we go lie down in your bedroom?”

His eyes went wide.

“It has nothing to do with s*x,” I quickly assured him. I didn’t know if I was trying to assure him or me, but at that moment, I really did just want to lay there and talk. I wanted to feel him next to me again. He still felt like the safest place in the world.

After a moment, he finally nodded and we went and laid down on his bed. I closed my eyes, still trying to figure out how to say what I’d seen.

Dutch turned to me and took my hand, playing with it in his own.

“I am sorry if you were sleeping. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“I was already up.”

“Did you know I was coming?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don’t really know.” That was believable, especially since I didn’t understand how or why myself.

All I knew for sure was that I wanted to tell Dutch everything because he was my friend. He was something more to me, even though I had feelings for Tyler at the same time. It was confusing, but I could never turn my back on the feeling of home I got when I looked at Dutch.

I put my head on his chest and told him a little bit about what I remembered. I left out my clan’s name and the fact that my stepmother had been the one to betray me. When I mentioned that I was rejected by my true mate, Dutch held me tight against me.

“I am sorry that it happened to you,” he started. But I didn’t give him time to keep talking as I pressed my lips to his. He kissed me like I was glass, so soft and sweet. I knew he would make sweet love to me, and I thought for a moment we might, but I pulled away. Something was holding me back, I just didn’t know what.

“Are you okay?” Dutch looked anxious.

“I’m fine,” I told him.

He put so much distance between us that I wasn’t able to get that moment back. I wanted his soft lips on mine again. I knew I’d just been with Tyler a few hours ago, but I craved Dutch. Being with Tyler made me feel good, and I could only imagine how good Dutch would feel. I felt a connection with Tyler because of our fuzzy memories, but I had been connected to Dutch for years. He’d taken care of me when he got nothing back. He was loyal, sexy, and kissed better than anyone I’d ever kissed before. There was a spark between us. Couldn’t I have both?

I tried to k**s him again, but he stopped me.

“We need to talk about it. About what it would mean between us. This is serious.”

I didn’t care if it was serious or not. I wanted him to k**s me again. I’d never felt so good in all of my life, and I never wanted the feelings he gave me to change.

“Let’s talk later, Dutch,” I started, but he wasn’t paying attention, too lost in thought to realize what I was trying to offer. How was I supposed to take that? I was practically shaking with need, and Dutch was more worried about how it should all be handled, not what we should be doing right now. There was nothing else to do but give up. We didn’t appear to want the same things.

I was frustrated to no end. I wanted him so badly. Why couldn’t he see that it could be good thing between us? I knew by the k**s that he wanted me too, so what was the problem?

Later the next day, I saw an eagle circling overhead, so I looked for Dutch or his son for a while. Carson saw me leaving their house this morning. It was awkward, but he seemed happy. Now, I wondered if the eagle was following me, or if Dutch was. I didn’t usually see eagles acting that way without one of the father-son duo being around. They were attached specifically to eagles, and where one was, the other wasn’t too far.

Finally, I gave up on looking for them. I had a lot of work to do and the extra hand I usually had in Dutch was gone. He told me early in the morning when he left that he would be gone most of the day. I didn’t ask where he was going, and he didn’t offer.

“Hey, Snow.”

I jumped when I heard my name, then relaxed when I saw it was Onyx. We hadn’t worked together much, but when he asked me if I needed anything, I took him up on his offer. He was quick to get in the barn with me, dividing up the horses and trying to figure out which ones could be used for riding lessons and which couldn’t. He seemed to have a good eye for which horse was calmer than the rest. I liked the man, he was cute and funny, but I was also put off by him as well. It was just a feeling, no real reason behind it.

Onyx was chatty, asking me a lot of personal questions, but he just shrugged when I asked him why he was so interested. “You are the hottest chick on this ranch. I’m pretty sure every guy here is interested. But I have been told that you are spoken for.”

I wanted to ask him who would say that, but I didn’t take the bait. Instead, I told him, “You must have heard wrong, because I am not spoken for.”

He just raised his brows at that. “Where are you from? What brought you here?”

I just ignored him, not wanting to get into all that with a virtual stranger. He was getting way too personal for me. I figured I was on edge because of my memory coming back in dreams, but I wasn’t going to let it get a rise out of me.

Onyx helped me get the horses settled in their new accommodations, then took off to do something else.

“Do you need help?” I called out after him. I didn’t understand Onyx, but he had helped me when I was in a jam, so I was willing to overlook some of his idiosyncrasies.

He grinned. “You’ve already helped enough.”

Whatever that meant.