The Alpha's Stubborn Rejected Mate

Chapter 4 - Michael

The morning briefings that my father held with his Beta and head warrior had become a boring but essential part of my day. If I was ever going to take over as the Alpha of this pack, then I was going to need to prove to them that I was capable of doing the job. A difficult task to achieve when the morning briefings were the only part of the pack business my father would allow me to get involved in.

For a while, I have had a suspicion that he was deliberately trying to make it difficult for me to become the next Alpha because he didn’t agree with my moral code. Particularly in relation to my view on the treatment of Omegas within the pack. It would be easy for me to lose my patience with him over his constant delays, but that would be counterproductive. It would only give him one more thing he could use against me the next time I asked him to hand over the position.

It felt as though most of my brain was still asleep as my father ran through each of the usual agenda items. Thank the goddess for coffee. If I hadn’t had a huge cup of the stuff before heading up to my father’s office, then I would be asleep and drooling at the table before the meeting was through.

“Before we go back to work, is there anything else that you would like to discuss this morning?” My father’s Beta asked. The pointed look he threw in my father’s direction told me exactly where this conversation was heading. I gripped my coffee cup tightly for moral support as I tried to summon some motivation for the question I already knew was heading my way.

“Have you put any more thought into your mate problem?” My father asked.

It was the same question he had been asking me every morning since I accidentally let slip about my catastrophic first encounter with my mate. He should never have had to find out about it. I had been hoping I would find some way of getting her back before anyone in my pack found out about her.

Things hadn’t exactly gone to plan on that front. Omegas generally weren’t allowed to leave their packs without special permission, and I wasn’t welcome in the Hartford pack. That made it very difficult for me to set things right between us, but I was going to find a way to fix it. Of that much I was sure.

If only I hadn’t gotten drunk a few months ago and spilt the whole sorry tale to my asshole future Beta. I should have known he would go running to my father the first chance he got. He was the type of person who would do anything to gain even just a little bit of prestige, even if it meant f*****g over the person he claimed was his best friend.

It was disappointing that I had been proven right about him, but it was even more disappointing that he didn’t even wait until I had sobered up before stabbing me in the back. At least I had learnt something from the experience.

“I’m not going to take a chosen mate, I have a mate out there, and I am going to get her back.” It was the same answer I had given every day for the last couple of months, and I would continue to give it for as long as it took for him to accept it.

“Well then, it is a good job that I have a meeting with the Harford pack today.” My father declared with a huge smile on his face. He hadn’t told me anything about this meeting until now, but a quick glance around the table told me I was the only one who didn’t know about this.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”

That was the pack where my mate lived. If I could persuade him to take me with him, then maybe I could track her down and speak to her. The Alpha probably wouldn’t let us wander around the pack unattended, but I was sure that I would find a way to sneak off for a few minutes to see her. This was just the kind of opportunity I was waiting for. It was perfect.

“I didn’t tell you because it would be difficult to talk about you if you were there with me.” He replied. His tone was so nonchalant that it took me completely off guard.

“Why would you be talking about me?”

“Well, if you won’t be proactive in finding yourself a new Luna, then I will have to take steps to secure our future position. If I can also use it as a way of destroying a rival pack, well, that is a bonus.”

I tightened my grip on my coffee cup as frustration welled up inside of me. My father was using a lot of words to tell me absolutely nothing. It was pissing me off, and for once, my wolf and I were in complete agreement. He was snarling in the back of my mind at my father’s suggestion of replacing our true mate with someone else.

“Calm down, boy. It’s not as though I will force you to claim the girl, but you will need an heir when you take over the position of Alpha. Some information that I have recently discovered about Jasper will allow us to secure your legacy while disrupting the Hartford pack.”

He turned his laptop around and pushed it towards me. On the screen, there was a report which had been written by a member of our pack who had been tasked with keeping tabs on the Hartford pack. They had discovered that Jasper’s wolf wasn’t actually an Alpha but an Omega. The report also claimed that the Hartford pack were only managing to keep it undercover because his mate’s wolf was an Alpha. It looked as though the Harford pack was trying to keep this information under wraps until Jasper’s younger brother was old enough to take over as Alpha.

I could see why my father would be interested in this information. Jasper’s parents wouldn’t want this information to become widely known for fear of what the council would do. They would probably agree to just about anything to make sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands. My father seemed to believe that this would include allowing another Alpha to impregnate their son’s mate.

I had to admit that some parts of his plan were quite appealing. I would be able to make Jasper’s life miserable for a while, something he thoroughly deserved after the trouble he had caused between my mate and me. Maybe my presence might even be enough to weaken the bond between Jasper and his mate and cause some friction between them.

There were a couple of things I wasn’t willing to do, however. I wasn’t going to claim Jasper’s mate as my own or have any children with her, and I wasn’t going to let my father do anything that would hurt members of either of our packs. Gaining business advantage was one thing, but actually hurting people was something completely different, and I wouldn’t stand by and let that happen. I would even go as far as challenging him for the Alpha position if that is what it took to keep everyone safe.

“What are you hoping to gain out of this situation?” My father’s Beta asked.

“The Hartford pack has been stronger than the Graves pack for the last one hundred years. This is our opportunity to finally challenge that.”

“Fine, I will go along with your plan, but I am not sleeping with Jasper’s mate.” My father laughed at my response, but he had that look in his eyes, the one he got when he thought he would be able to change my mind.

“It is a shame. It is said to be very painful to experience your mate sleeping with another.” He said with a gleam in his eyes.

He knew how much I hated Jasper, and he was trying to use that hatred against me, even though he had no idea where that hatred came from. While it was true that I wanted to make Jasper pay for the pain he caused me, I wasn’t like him, and there were some lines I wouldn’t cross.

“It would also hurt the woman. You know I couldn’t do that.”

“You and your stupid rules. They are only going to hold you back. The sooner that you give up on your misguided sense of morality, the sooner you will be ready to become Alpha.”

My wolf growled and pushed his way forward within my mind, an occurrence that had been getting more frequent ever since I rejected my mate. He didn’t respect me anymore. I was the one to blame for his mate not being here, and I could tell that he would love nothing more than to be rid of me for good.

At least pushing him back into the dark recesses of my mind was enough to distract me from the conversation going on around the table. I could vaguely hear my father joking with his Beta, and knowing them, it would be something derogatory about women or Omegas.

By the time that I had managed to settle my wolf, everyone in the room had calmed down and carried on with the meeting. My father was running through the details of the deal he was planning to propose to the Hartford pack. He had planned out almost every detail of this deal. It must have taken days, if not weeks, for him to work all this out and gather the evidence that he needed to ensure its success.

As I watched him command the meeting and give everyone their roles, I came to a realisation that I should have come to months ago. He was never going to hand the Alpha position over to me. That was why he refused to give me any real power or responsibilities. It made me wonder how long he had planned to string me along before he told me the truth, and who he was planning to succeed him in my stead.

But it also made me realise that I wasn’t going to sit back and accept it. The last thing this pack needed was another cruel, power-hungry Alpha. If I couldn’t prove myself to him with hard work, then I would prove myself to him with violence. Just as my father had done, and his father before him. Nothing was going to stop me from taking over this pack and making it a better, fairer place to live.