Rejected by the Alpha, Loved by a Human

CHAPTER 5

5 YEARS LATER

SAWYER’S POV

“Uncle Sawyer!” Aiden screamed as he jumped into my arms the moment I stepped into the house.

I was prepared for this. He had been doing this ever since he learned how to walk. I scooped him up with one hand, hoisting him into the air and carrying him in my arms whilst trying to pretend like he wasn’t getting heavier by the day.

Wren had told me that wolf pups grew stronger and faster than normal humans. That was why we homeschooled him, so his height and weight wouldn’t raise unnecessary questions. It was already hard getting Wren a brand-new identity from scratch; we didn’t want to jeopardize everything we had tried to build over the past five years.

Speaking of Wren, she walked into the living room, a small smile appearing on her face the moment she saw me.

“Hey, you,” she said shyly, and I couldn’t help but grin.

She was breathtaking as always, her brown hair let down, her blue eyes sparkling and hypnotizing me with them. There was nothing about Wren that I hadn’t found enchanting these past few years. How she ate, how she talked, how she walked, her grace, her humor, her laughter—it was like a breath of fresh air.

She was everything to me, and so was Aiden, and I couldn’t wait to make things official with her and have a fresh start.

“Hi,” I said, letting Aiden down and giving her a brief hug. That hug would have been a kiss if Aiden wasn’t in the room. We were trying to keep our relationship under wraps from him. We didn’t want to overwhelm him with the news.

Somewhere between her pregnancy and raising a baby—pup—we had developed something real that I could not explain. Wren had told me about mates, how the wolf goddess gave every wolf a mate, their life partner, and blessed them with a special bond. It was fascinating. I loved hearing her talk about these things; they gave her a sparkle in her eyes. It was like her last connection to home.

I had tried endlessly to make her feel more comfortable, but everything was either new, shocking, or made her anxious. From amusement parks to pizza to movies, it never quite sat right with her, and I guess that was what made our dating period a bit more difficult. There wasn’t a lot of things we enjoyed doing together.

“Ready to go?” I asked her, and she nodded.

“Just need to tuck Aiden in.”

“I don’t need to be tucked in. I’m five years old. I can sleep just fine,” he grumbled, but she just shook her head and kissed him on the cheek.

“Your babysitter will be here in a few. Let’s go over the rules.”

“No running around, no growling, no lifting things, don’t do anything out of the ordinary, just have dessert and—”

Aiden was reciting his given rules when we heard a crash outside.

We all froze.

“What was that?” Wren asked me, but I was already moving towards the window, grabbing a baseball bat that lay by the door.

I looked outside the window, but I didn’t see anything. No sign of an accident or anything like that. I turned around to tell her it was nothing when someone knocked on the door.

I walked over and looked through the peephole, and my heart hung in my throat.

I never thought I’d see that face again, definitely not after all these years, definitely not now.

“Who is it?” Wren asked. She was already holding Aiden close to her, her fight stance in place.

I didn’t respond. I just pulled the door open, and the lady walked in. Her hands were tucked into her jacket, her head bowed as she stepped into the living room properly, and I shut the door behind her.

“Delphine?” Wren gasped, and in seconds, she had crossed the room and pulled her old friend into a hug.

“I’ve missed you so much—what are you—why are you here? Are you okay?” Wren rambled, tears filling her eyes as she gripped her friend, like if she hugged her any more loosely, she might disappear.

Delphine hugged her too, a cold, quiet, kind of desperate hug, like she needed it more than anything.

Aiden walked towards me and took my hand in his. I tried to smile for him, to tell him everything was alright, but it came out sadder than I intended.

Delphine being here was not a good sign. It meant she had fulfilled her promise. She had found Wren again, and it couldn’t be for anything good. At least not for us and the life we had been building.

Delphine let go of her, and they stood for a moment, just looking at each other.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re coming, Wren. I tried to stop them, but it’s no use.”

Wren stilled almost immediately, and my blood ran cold.

Suddenly, the ring box in my pocket was the least of my concerns.