Rejected by the Alpha

Chapter 10 - Surviving an Alpha and his Luna

Archer looked genuinely speechless when I turned to face him. He was wearing the same jogging trousers I had seen him in that morning and did not have a shirt. He looked sweaty as though he had spent all day training and he held a towel in his hand. I realised then that he must have intended to shower.

"You gave me to Natalia as punishment remember?" I told him.

"Yes but that doesn't quite explain why you're in my bathroom cleaning the tiles with a toothbrush," he replied.

"Well apparently this is what happens when you give Natalia someone to play with," I said.

He chuckled and I felt even more infuriated. "Well I need to shower so do you intend to join me, continue cleaning or get out?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Join you?" I said incredulously. I was genuinely shocked at the offer but also trying to hide the way my stomach flipped at the thought of it.

"Hm yeah I'm not sure why I said that," he told me. "This whole thing has caught me a bit off guard," he said.

"I have an alternative suggestion," I said, "I need to clean this specific room or Natalia will not release me for today. You however can shower in any of the other bathrooms in this god forsaken place. Literally, even if none of the other ones in the packhouse were free, you could ask any pack member for use of their own personal shower and they'd comply. So, respectfully Alpha Archer, please get out."

I thought he would be mad that I had ordered him out of his own bathroom but he just laughed. "Okay, " he said and he turned and left shouting "Happy cleaning," over his shoulder at me as he left.

For the next week, this was my life. In the morning, I would meet Sebastian and we would talk as he walked me to the training centre. There, I would train with Archer and the greatest fight would be resisting my physical attraction to him due to the mate bond. I was then sent to the mercy of Natalia who in actual fact seemed to be lacking in mercy. She would have me run errands for her in that ridiculous tunic. Whether it was cleaning, collecting her dry cleaning, carrying items for her while walking after her... Anything she could think of that she felt was even remotely humiliating or degrading but not at a level to trigger a review by Archer. I was unsure if he had given her permission to physically punish me but she did at times. Nothing extreme but slaps and minor kicks or attempts to trip me were common. Her cronies would often participate in it too. They also enjoyed walking over spots I had already cleaned and otherwise taunting me. I felt as though I was back in high school being bullied. Part of me understood her frustration however as I shared it. Where I had never wanted power, being luna was all she had dreamed. She had gladly given up her chance at a fated mate due to it. Yet here I was, a threat to her rule living within the pack, spending each morning with her partner and alpha. Part of me blamed Archer because if he rejected me and sent me home to my mother's pack none of this would be happening.

One day I entered the alpha and Lunas apartments looking to find an item of clothing Natalia had sent me in search for. I came across Archer sitting in the reading book, documents in his hand and a pair of reading glasses on his nose. He took off the reading glasses and sat them on the side table as I barged through the doors.

On this particular day Natalia had been especially difficult and so I couldn't help myself from saying to him, "Your wife is a tyrant."

"Hello to you too Lena. Why don't you come in," he replied wryly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I would have rather taken a beaten or... Have been hung by my arms in the dungeon for this entire week. And you know, the fact I spend my morning training with you just makes her worse."

"So I suppose my punishment has been even more effective than expected," he replied.

"Yes, too effective. I think it's overkill"

"It hadn't been my first thought," he surprised me by saying.

"No? What had been?" I still felt furious but what he said next had my anger melting away into something else.

"My first thought had been to bend you over my desk and s***k you while you still wore nothing but my shirt," he told me and I felt my face blush and heat flood to my core. His gaze suddenly felt heated. I found myself wondering if this punishment would have been enacted before or after he had put on clothes.

I licked my lips, "Hardly a punishment," I said, the words spilling from my mouth before I had time to stop them. I pressed my lips together but tried not to show how unsettled he had made me with just a few words and a mental image.

"Is that so?" he replied with a raised brow. "Perhaps next time then," he said, again surprising me.

"I thought there wasn't meant to BE a next time," I challenged.

"You and I both know there will be," he answered, "Just try not to make it in public and not endanger yourself in the process for me yeah?"

Damn why was he being so reasonable. I didn't want to fall into the trap of actually being fond of him.

"I... I better get going, your wife is waiting," I told him and scurried off.

Towards the end of the week, Sebastian and I sat in our usual spot under the willow tree. It was the same as always but he usually didn't say a lot about my current situation but today, he did.

"I don't think it's fair you being asked to run after the Luna like that, " he said.

I chuckled, "Are you questioning your Alpha's decisions? Is that not treason or something? You might end up in a tunic next to me," I laughed at the idea of it. Sebastian's gorgeous male form... in a boxy short tunic.

He turned and fixed his strikingly blue eyes on me. "I'm being serious Lena. I... I don't know. I feel bad about not doing more for you in high school and it sort of feels like I'm doing that again."

I smiled at him, "You're a kind person."

"It's not just that Lena..." he paused. "You're just... I think you're brilliant," he said and I felt myself blush. "I just... I want to protect you," he finished.

I gulped. Hearing my childhood crush say something like that stirred something in me. I still thought the world of Sebastian and though I often didn't allow myself to think on it much I had thought about how he sadly had lost his mate and I was due to be rejected by mine. Perhaps my childhood dream of being with him was not a complete impossibility.

I put my hand on his arm as I replied, "You're a good man Sebastian. In fact, that may be underselling it. Your concern for me is appreciated but I've never looked for someone to look after me since my father died. I can handle Natalia and her cronies. I'm not the same girl I was back in high school and... Though they weren't fun at the time, it was those experiences that helped shape me."

After a moments thought I added, "There are a few people who perhaps owe me an apology for what happened but you are not one of them." I finished by leaning in to give him a peck on his cheek then I stood. "I have to get going," I told him.

He stood as well, "Of course, let's get moving," he said. We didn't say much else to one another as we walked to the training centre. As he left, I waved him goodbye.

On my final day, things got complicated. I had been asked to wax the floor of one of the rooms in the packhouse. It was a room I hadn't really seen or heard much about. That seemed unusual as most of Natalias requests she personally gained from and this did not seem to be something she would. It had also been unusual that she had been less abrupt with me and had allowed me the proper tools for the job at hand.

I was on my knees on the floor scrubbing the wax into the grain in the way Judith had taught me to do. I had learned that Judith was the name of the kind maid who had been assigned to help guide me with my tasks. Although she was able to direct me she was under strict orders not to help me. From what I have seen, Natalias treatment of the maids was poor and that was something that I found despicable. There was fear in their eyes when they saw her and they would scramble to attend to her. Behind her back however they whispered and the rumours about her were certainly interesting. It was frustrating that anything I tried to share, including her treatment of them, would be seen to be coming from a jealous rejected mate. I could also end up getting the maids in trouble for speaking about it. Still, when it came to her treatment of them, if I did voice it and Archer didn't agree with it then whether I was believed or not, she would have to be more careful about being caught.... And maybe that would be worth her fury and the rumours about me being jealous. If it made her at least pause before slapping another maid.... I was deep in thought and so barely registered him as he walked into the room until Moonlight growled lowly in my mind. I turned to look up at a menacing figure standing over me.

"Well well, I must say you look good on your knees Lena," he said. "Now, what brings you to my room?" he asked with a wolfish smile. I scrambled onto my feet and felt myself gulp. It was Edward