Almost Rejected

23 | Phase Two (Ade’s POV)

I randomly scrolled through my phone, skimming through thousands of unread emails and messages as I waited for Stefan to get out of class; Eze has cheer practice todays so it's just going to be me and him which Denzel seems a little too happy about 'Of course I'm happy about being alone with our mate!' He exclaimed.

'Ah right on cue, you must be well rested after not speaking for a whole day.' I mused, getting a growl in reply, 'Why would I speak to someone who's purposefully trying to separate me from my mate?' He questioned with a scoff.

'Good to know you're still mad about the party.' I replied, scoffing as my gaint baby of a wolf rolled his eyes in reply 'It's not like Bella hasn't been our ideal mate for years.'

'That was before we found our real mate!' He growled; I slowly shook my head with an amused smile, loving how angry I could feel him become at just the topic of our mate.

'C'mon Denzel.. You're being unreasonable.' I got out through silent laughs. 'Unreasonable!-' He started, shouting the word before quieting down as the sound of the door interrupted our inner dialogue.

As Stefan climbed his way into the tall truck a smell came with him, and it wasn't the usually sweet smell I had unfortunately became accustomed to; It was a stench so horrid it made me and my wolfs blood boil at what it implied.

"What's that smell?" I grumbled to myself as I looked up from my phone, slowly and subtly sniffing at the air just to be sure the smell was coming from where I thought it was; Eventually I was facing Stefan, I could feel Denzel trying to push through the surface as I gave the smaller wolf a quick once over.

"Stefan, why the hell do I smell someone else's arousal on you?" I questioned, my jaw clenching in on itself as I forced myself not to just go out and find the scent myself.

"Hmm?" He hummed, furrowing his brows as he sniffed at the collar of his shirt with a confused expression that I could clearly tell was fake.

"This isn't a joke." I warned, leaning closer to his unwavering eyes, "Who the f**k am I smelling on you?" I growled. His pupils slightly shook as I could see his wolf wanting to submit due to my overpowering scent.

Stefan looked away to the window with a shrug, "Maybe someone at school was watching p**n in a restroom stall or something?" He questioned back as I sent him a hard glare, scoffing at the blatant lie he sent my way . "Do you think I'm an i***t?" I angrily spat, becoming increasingly more irritated as he continued to stupidly shrug his shoulders.

He promptly looked away after and I stared at him as he tried his best to hide the small smile that had spread across his face. I pressed him more, the disgusting scent was causing Denzel to go crazy and every rational thought was leaving me as I questioned the smaller wolf further not receiving anything back as he continued staring out the window.

I growled in warning, my jaw clenching when even that didn't get him to budge, "Fine." I grumbled, turning to face forward as I started the car and drove out the lot. The ride to the pack was silent, not even the radio had been turned on adding to the tense air around us.

When we finally pulled into the gates of the pack house, I immediately got out, not even bothering to grab the keys out the ignition as I shifted into my black wolf and sprinted into the woods.

I jogged through the large wooded area and once we had gotten far enough and I was sure Denzel wouldn't either run back and mark our mate or go to the school and kill someone I gave him control. As soon as he was given control he took off, dodging through the trees as he ran off his anger; I don't know how long we ran for but by time he slowed down, the sun was just starting to set.

I took back control and walked the rest of my way to town, where a majority of the pack lived. As I walked up to the gate I was met with Abeo, the head trainer and warrior and Erin, a regular fighter. "Alpha." They both said, bowing their heads as I walked up to them.

I shifted out my wolf and nodded my head in thank you as I was handed a pair of shorts by Erin, "Rough day?" Abeo asked as I finished putting on the shorts.

"I guess you could say that." I shrugged,

"Mates issues?" He questioned, pressing further. "Very nosey today aren't you?" I questioned back, getting a small smile and a head shake in reply as he put his hands up in defense "I'm just trying to check up on my Alpha."

"There's no need." I reassured as he gave a simple nod in reply, "What about you?" I questioned; a grin forming on my face as he gave me a questioning stare. "Luke's usually guarding the gate with you at this time." I said, glancing at Erin, "I'm assuming the reason he's not is because you've finally found out about the pregnancy?"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." He grumbled, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes to the sky, "Did everyone know except me?" He questioned, he may have sounded angry but after knowing him for years it was easy to see the humor that shined in his eyes and through his expressions.

I laughed as I shook my head as well, "Probably." I said, grinning as he let out a sigh, "Well hey, congrats man." I said, patting him on the shoulder. "Yeah, thanks."

"Anyway, I'm trying to give Luke a little gift, you know where he is?"

"All the time." He answered, glaring as Erin laughed in response, "Stalker~" he commented in a sing-song voice from behind him. "I'll remember that whenever your mate gets pregnant and you want me to station a guard with her when you're not around."

"Not fair." Erin whined, "I take it back, alright." He said, quickly correcting himself at the threat. "Alright." I cut in, gaining back their attention, "Where is he?"

"At the bakery, he said he had promised to help my mother with something."

I nodded and signaled for them to open the gate. It quickly opened moments later and I went through, heading down the path into the town. As I walked up to the bakery Abeo and Lukes five year old son, Banjoko ran up to me, "Alpha! Alpha!" he shouted.

I squatted down and hugged the small boy as he ran into my arms, "Hey bud, how've you been?" I said pulling away from the hug.

"Iave been gud!" he said with a big toothy grin and I smiled back, he turned five a couple months ago but he could already speak English pretty well.

I ruffled the top of his head as I straightened back up, we walked and talked the rest of the way to the bakery and when we got there we were met with Chioma, Abeo and Lukes three year old daughter, playing in front. "Haai. (Hey)" I greeted, bending down and picking her up.

"Haai alpha! (Hey Alpha!)" She shouted, greeting me with a bright smile. "Hoe gaan dit met jou, kleinding? (How are you, little one?)" I asked putting her onto my hip so that I could hold her with one arm. "Goed! (Good!)"

"Dit is wonderlik, waar is jou papa? (Well that's great, where is your papa?)"

"Binne (inside)" she answered, pointing her small finger towards the bakery. "Goed, dankie. Julle twee gaan daarheen en speel saam met die ander kinders in die park? (Okay, thank you. How about you two go and play with the other kids at the park?)" I said, putting her back down on the ground.

"Oukei! (Okay!)" she smiled, before running off with her brother across the street. I watched making sure they got there safely and once they were all the way across I signaled for one of the gaurds to keep an eye on them before entering the bakery.

"Mrs. Abdullahi." I greeted, walking towards the elderly lady behind the counter. She looked up from the cake she had been decorating to me with a warm smile, "Well hello dear." she said coming from behind the corner to give me a hug.

As soon as we seperated she slapped me on the shoulder, "Why haven't you been visiting me, huh?" she scolded. I sighed, looking down at her with apologetic eyes, "I've been busy with the pack." I replied with a guilty smile.

"Yeah sure 'pack stuff', don't you lie to me. I've heard all about you and your mate." she revealed through squinted eyes, "But I'll let you off the hook for now." She said and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Luke's in the back." She said, already knowing why I was here as she pointed to one of the tables in the back of the bakery.

I followed her finger to find Luke sitting by himself in a booth, putting multiple fake flowers on several cupcakes. "Luke." I greeted, watching as the pregnant male flinched from the sudden noise.

"Oh, Alpha!" He gasped, looking up from the semi-decorated cupcake he was decorating. "It seems your reflexes get worse every time you're pregnant." I joked, putting a hand up when I noticed him trying to get up and bow, "There's no need for that." I reassured him, causing him to freeze before sitting back down with a sigh.

"I still wake up whenever Abeo's breathing changes in his sleep so it can't be too bad." He joked with a laugh, replying to my earlier comment as I shook my head.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." He admitted, silently questioning my sudden appearance. "I just came to say congratulations on the pregnancy, and to give you this." I said, reaching in my pocket and pulling out a small dark blue box.

I watched as he hesitantly took the box, gasping when he opened it and saw what was inside "Thank you, Alpha." he said with glossy eyes. I bent down and pulled him into a tight hug as the small tears started to fall down his face.

he let out a watery laugh as he quickly wiped at the escaping tears, "Damn, I'm usually not this emotional." He sighed, continuing to wipe his face. "Let's just blame these water works on the pregnancy."

"I'll agree to that only if you promise not to tell Abeo I made you cry." He grinned, sniffling as he let out yet another laugh, "Deal." He agreed, separating from the hug to wipe a few more tears from his eyes.

His eyes made their way back to the small box, a big smile spread across his face as he reached for it with shaky hands, pulling out a necklace with the name Esther on it.

Esther was the name of his and Abeo's first child, she was named after my mom who was Luna at the time, but unfortunately Luke ended up suffering a miscarriage during the 2nd trimester.

I had been meaning to give this to them for a long time now but after the miscarriage both Luke and Abeo went into some sort of depression, they overworked themselves and spent less and less time with the pack members and even each other.

Finding out about Luke being pregnant with Ban was the key to pushing them together, I still remember how much they relied on each other throughout the entire pregnancy; It was a sweet yet sad sight seeing them so worried about their unborn child.

Thankfully, Luke gave birth to a healthy baby boy and since then they've slowly become their usual selves, slowly.

I didn't want any negative emotions to resurface at the sight of the gift or name, since sometimes it still seemed to have an effect on Luke whenever my mothers name is mentioned. But looking at the loving gaze he held toward the necklace and how gently he rubbed his fingers over each individual letter, I'm sure I made the right decision to give it now.

"I love it." he whispered with a smile as I smiled back, offering to help put on the necklace as he carefully handed it over with a thank you. Just as I finished clipping the back of the thin silver chain, both Banjoko and Chioma ran into the bakery.

They immediately got scolded by their grandmother causing both me and Luke to let out a laugh. Chioma walked over to Luke with teary eyes, dragging her feet as Banjoko frowned at being forced to stay behind the counter and help bake more goods.

"How are they handling the communication barrier?" I questioned, watching as Luke picked up the sniffling little girl before setting her on his bouncing leg, patting her back as she buried her head into his chest.

"It's going surprisingly well, Chioma understands English pretty well despite never having spoken it and Ban obviously can understand Afrikaans; So even though they're both speaking two different languages, they've still been able to have full conversations with each other." I laughed as a proud smile made its way onto his face as he not-so-subtly gloated about his children.

Chioma let out a whining sound and he smiled, playfully rolling his eyes as he gently pulled her head from his chest and started littering her face with kisses, causing the small girl to burst into a fit of giggles. "Okay well, it's getting late so I think I'll take my leave." I announced, getting up from the booth

He quickly looked up from Chioma to me with a bright and contagious smile, "Thanks again, Ade." he said sincerely and I smiled both as a result of his and at the breaking of formality.

Abeo, along with Luke, Bella, and Zane, are all childhood friends of mine, and despite me constantly reassuring them that there was no need for them to call me alpha, Abeo and Luke decided they wanted to start addressing me respectfully when they officially became pack warriors, and so they did.

I leaned down and gave him a quick hug, pecking Chioma on the head before saying goodbye to little ban and Mrs. Abdullahi who were both still in the back baking.

I slowly made my way back to the packhouse, immediately stepping on something as I made my way inside. I looked down as I closed the door behind me, picking up a bag that I immediately recognized as Stefan's before roughly throwing it back on the ground.

I could feel Denzel's anger grow at the reminder of the events from earlier and now just like before he was back to ordering me to turn and find the scent of whatever dead man was around our 'mate'.

I took a deep breath, clenching my fist as I ignored him and instead headed upstairs to my room. I was quick to make it to my room and even quicker to freeze when a certain smell hit my nose. Just as I opened the door it hit me, the smell of Stefan.. the smell of my mate and it was absolutely everywhere.

I absentmindedly moved my head to where the scent was the strongest, my eyes nearly popping out my head as they landed on a seemingly half naked Stefan. He was standing in an oversized red hoodie, my red hoodie, and loose black shorts that looked more like boxers that were too big for him, I also recognized these as mine too.

I swallowed as I trailed my eyes down his seemingly shivering body, "Stefan?" I questioned through furrowed brows, watching as he slowly pulled up the hoodie, avoiding eye contact as he forcibly cleared his throat, "Hey?" He replied with a half-smile, clearly holding a lot of awkwardness in it.