The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate
Chapter 19

DUTCH

I smelled Snow before I saw her the next morning. She was covered in pheromones and s*x. I didn’t have to see her getting out of Sterling’s truck to know she had been with him. I kept hoping that Snow would come back last night, that she was just going for a walk or run or something. I didn’t want to believe she had gone off with Sterling, but I should’ve known.

Sterling said they had something between them, and I was getting proof of that now. F**k. I had once again lost my chance, and now I worried I would never get another one. By the smell of her, I figured she and Sterling had mated. Snow was probably going to be carrying Sterling’s children before long if she wasn’t already. I really didn’t know what to think of any of that. I wasn’t going to say that I wasn’t highly disappointed, but I did know this was going to happen.

Snow saw me, and for a minute I thought she was going to walk the other way, but she smiled at me, and all I could do was smile back. I was upset, hurt, but she didn’t owe me anything, and it wasn’t like she had done anything against spite me. I was more upset that I had waited so long to figure out how I felt about her and if I should act on it.

“Is he taking off for a while and dropping you off with me?” I asked her.

“Yeah, you don’t mind, do you?”

“No. But why don’t we go for a swim?” Snow loved the water first thing in the morning, and I would have done anything to get the smell of Sterling off of her.

I had a feeling that tonight would be the night they attacked. It was a b***d moon, which would be so cliché, but Sterling and I put everyone on lookout anyway at the emergency meeting he had called.

Sterling also made the announcement that he mated Snow. I wanted to be upset about it, I wanted to argue and tell them both that they were making a mistake. I had waited so long for her. She was mine, but I had also promised that I would keep her safe. That meant I had to let it go for just a while.

Snow was nervous. She worried that she would fail, and Ariana would win. I wanted to assure her again that nothing was going to happen, but doing so would have made me a liar. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just had high hopes for what I wanted to happen.

I was glad that Sterling left Snow with me. He knew I would not let anything happen to her, even though I was upset with whatever the hell was going on between the two of them. But that didn’t matter right now. I had to keep reminding myself of that. I needed to focus. There was a whole pack of shifters on the way, and they were all gunning for Snow. There’s no way I would let them accomplish their mission.

“When that man from my memory said I had to fight, I think he meant I physically have to fight Ariana. I don’t like conflict and violence, but I’m starting to understand Sterling when he says that sometimes violence is necessary. It feels like it’s necessary with her. I can’t leave my people under her thumb. Whatever happens, you need to let me do this. It’s what I have to do, and you can’t be there for me Dutch.”

“Do you really think I am so weak?” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. Why did she think so little of me?

“I don’t think you’re weak, I think you want to be strong for me, but I need to do this myself. I don’t know how I know this, but I know it has to be me. Please don’t be offended. Just know that it’s something I have to do.”

“Do you really expect me to stand by and watch you fight by yourself?”

“You won’t want to, but you have to. I want to take out Ariana before all of the B***d Moons are killed. You have to take care of your people and I mean to get my revenge. She took years away from my life. I can’t let that go, and I can’t let my people be ruled by her. I don’t know if I want to do what Sterling suggests and become their leader, but I want to help.”

“You’ll do what you think is best for yourself and everyone involved,” I told her, and I meant it too.

She started to answer me, but then I saw a strange look on her face. Pain bloomed on the side of my head like I’d been hit with something. Before I could react, blackness started eating away at my vision. As I was falling, Snow shifted into a large wolf, her fur pure white as the driven snow. She almost never shifted in front of people, even me, and the last thought I had before blacking out was that it was such a treat to see her that way.

I opened my eyes and saw fire all around me. Shifters, humans, and animals from the forest seemed to be fighting in a world of flames. I pushed myself halfway up, looking for Snow, but the dizziness was so bad that I fell unconscious yet again.

When I came to again, the fire around me was out but still smoldering and smoking in some spots. It was completely dark out, no hint of the b***d moon that was supposed to be so special tonight.

Then I remembered why the b***d moon was so special—because Snow could be killed without repercussions. I had to get to her! I had promised her that I would keep her safe, but it looked like I’d spent the whole damn on fight on my back. If something happened to her, I was never going to forgive myself.

I called out to her, but got no answer in return. I heard a commotion a little further away and moved towards it. As I got closer, I heard Sterling’s voice. He was commanding people to stand down. I needed to get to Sterling so I could replace out what happened to Snow. If I could never forgive myself if something happened to her, I knew damn well Sterling wouldn’t. Not when Snow was his mate.

He wasn’t mad when he saw me, instead he was relieved, and that made me feel a little better. If he was so happy to see me, then I had to assume Snow was okay and we had come out victorious.

Sterling came up to me and gave me a hug. “Nobody could replace you. What happened?”

Before I could give him the rundown of my embarrassment, Snow came rushing up and jumped into my arms. I saw Sterling’s face over her shoulder. He might be happy I was alive, but maybe not as much in that moment.

Snow had b***d all over her and I wanted to ask what happened, but I could take a pretty good guess. There were bodies on the ground, and I guaranteed one of them was Ariana.

“I’m sorry for failing you so horribly,” I said. “I promised to take care of you, and I wasn’t able to make good on that promise.”

Snow just shook her head. “Please don’t worry about anything like that. I have to go sort things out with my pack, but I will be back in a couple of weeks. Sterling is going to go with me, but as soon as I get back, you and I have some catching up to do. I’ll miss you while I’m gone, Dutch.” She kissed me on the cheek.

“You’re going to merge the clans, aren’t you?”

“We are. You know Sterling, always doing the right thing.” Then she said something that gave me hope and confused me a little bit. “I don’t think mating rules apply to me.”

I had no idea what that meant, but it didn’t sound all bad. All I could do was wait and see what would happen next. She said she would only be gone a couple of weeks, but I knew it this was going to feel like an eternity.

I heard a knock at my door a little bit after dark two weeks to the day I last saw Snow. I had been waiting like an idiot, day in and day out, for her to come back, but I somehow wasn’t prepared.

When I opened the door, I immediately noticed that Snow was different. I wanted to ask her a million questions. I’d been worried about her, thinking about her nonstop. But all that mattered in that moment was seeing her and being near her again. “You’re back!”

Snow nodded and smile wide as she walked past me into the house. She didn’t wait for me to let her in, she just came in. There really was something different about her.

“What happened to you?”

“Things changed. And you are the first person I wanted to see. I do want to tell you about it, but there’s something else we need to do first.”

“What was are you talking about?”

“We need to go to your bedroom, and you need to finally make love to me, Dutch. I have been dying for us to be together, waiting for you to make the move. It has been three years, so I’ve decided I’m going to make the move for you.”

Alarm bells were going off in my head as she walked towards me, determination on her face. “What about Sterling? I hear you two got married and mated.”

She shrugged. “Like I said, the rules don’t apply to me.”

As much as it killed me to say it, I told her, “I can’t do this to Sterling.” I really didn’t think I could, and the disappointment of it was so crushing.

“He knows I’m here and knows what I plan to do.”

I shook my head. “There’s no way that Sterling would be okay with this.”

Snow smiled. “He is, Dutch. He knows how I feel about you. I’m not going to give you up. I’m not going to give up Tyler either. I want all three of you. My mate has agreed, are you really not going to?”

“Well, when you say it like that…” My mouth went dry and my words trailed off when Snow started taking off her clothes.

Her body was revealed to me, and it was the first time that I didn’t have to turn away at seeing her like that. I caressed every inch of her with my gaze. Snow was shaking slightly, and I moved closer, wrapping her in my arms.

“I’m not cold, Dutch,” she said, almost annoyed.

I bent down to k**s her and it was better than the last k**s we shared. This time around, I knew we would have more. Now, I was going to have all of her, I could take my time. There was no rush, even if I was trembling with anticipation. I just wanted to touch her and hear the sound of her pleasure coming from her lips.

I kissed down her neck, loving the way she responded to me. She was opening up to me, her body pressed hard against mine. She toyed with my shirt, dragging it upwards and off. Then her hands were on my chest, and I liked the feel of her fingers running through my chest hair.

“You’re so strong,” Snow said. And those words made me feel that exact way. “I’ve been dying to get back here, Dutch. I have been waiting this longer than you can imagine.”

She freed herself from my grip and climbed up on the bed. She was on her hands and knees, and turned around to look at me. She was messing with me, and when I jerked her down and flipped her to her back, pulling her close to the edge of the bed, I could see her attitude change. It wasn’t all fun and games now. Snow could see how much I needed her. I took off my pants and boxers, standing large and tall in front of her.

“Yes, I have been waiting for you.”

I had been waiting for her too, but I wasn’t ready to give in to what we both wanted. She deserved to have to wait, leaving me like she did, mating with another. I wanted her to remember our time together well.

I made sure I got a nice, long taste from her. When she begged me to finish her, I didn’t. I just strung out her pleasure.

“Please, Dutch, don’t make me beg!”

I could have pointed out that she already had, but I didn’t. Instead, I kissed her tense body and watched her jerk with desire. She reached for me and pulled me down on top of her.

“I shouldn’t have waited so long.” Our eyes met and she lifted her h**s up, penetrating herself with my need. I gritted my teeth, the pleasure of finally being inside her so intense. It felt amazing. Every inch was lovingly wrapped around me, and our lips met, silencing us both.

She orgasmed, and I had to close my eyes to the pleasure on her face, because I wasn’t ready for it to be over. I didn’t have a choice, though. She spasmed around me and there was nothing I could do. Snow smiled as I kissed her. I wanted to curse myself for not lasting longer.

“What’s wrong?”

I g*****d and pulled out of her, laying down beside her and staring at the ceiling. How many times had I played it out in my head? Never had I saw it going this way. I was disappointed in myself. “Don’t act like you don’t know.”

She didn’t know, I could see it in her face, and I didn’t want to tell her. She must not have had high expectations.

Snow climbed on top of me, and watching her tits jiggle had me hard again by the time she was settled on my lap. She giggled, and then her eyes closed and her body tensed as I slipped inside her. My disappointment forgotten, I cared about nothing else but being inside her, watching Snow ride me.

After the third, we both needed a break. Snow laid in my arms, and I never wanted to let her go. Whatever I had to do to be with her, I was going to do it. Snow was my future.