The Alpha She Rejects But Can't Escape

"I, Alexandra Baldwin, reject you, Daniel Morris, as my mate and future Alpha." It was the twenty-eighth time she'd said it. The words came out edged with venom, her eyes burning with a hatred she didn't bother to hide. And each time, his response was just as maddeningly casual, rendering her rejection useless before it even finished leaving her mouth. "I, Alpha Daniel Morris, reject this rejection. You will be my Luna, Alexa. Accept this fate, and you'll find you're happier for it." "Never! I hate you!" she screamed, then turned and fled toward her chambers, the lock clicking before he'd even taken a step. Daniel only shrugged and walked back toward his office, unbothered, as if nothing had happened at all. "You will come to love me, my little mate," he murmured, soft, without a trace of malice in it. It's been six months since he'd found her, his second chance, the miracle he hadn't dared pray for. Six months of slammed doors and poisoned words. Six months of rejections that slid off him like rain on stone. And six months of failed escape attempts, broken windows, stolen cars, hidden tunnels, and desperate pleas for freedom. Daniel could have accepted her rejection. He had never believed in forcing someone to stay against their will. If Alexandra had been anyone else... But she wasn't. She was his fated mate. The woman chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. The other half of his soul. How was he supposed to let half of himself walk away? Every day she remained near him, he could feel his wolf growing stronger, his instincts became sharper. Even his Alpha aura had become more overwhelming. And Daniel wasn't about to surrender what fate had finally returned to him. But Alexandra's hatred wasn't born from nothing. She had every reason to despise him. After all...He had murdered the man she loved. But what kind of Alpha would willingly watch his fated mate belong to another? Alpha Daniel Morris's first mate had died seven years ago in a rogue attack. The ambush shouldn't have happened. Neutral territory meant safety; every pack knew this. But rogues didn't follow laws, and Daniel, twenty years old, newly appointed Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack, drunk on arrogance and invincibility. By the time the battle ended, his mate lay dead in his arms while he bled from wounds that should have killed him alongside her. For months, he wished he had died with her. The mate bond ripped through him like a living blade, leaving behind a man hollowed out by grief. But Daniel survived, barely. The man who emerged from that tragedy was nothing like the young Alpha who had entered it. He became ruthless, merciless. A monster wrapped in an Alpha's skin. Every pack learned to fear the Mad Alpha of Blood Moon. He told himself each conquest, each execution and each battle dulled the pain. It never did. For six years and three months, he attacked on whims, on slights, and on the crushing weight of his own failure. He needed someone to blame for his incompetence, for living when she had died. Then came the Crescent Moon Pack. A disrespectful comment at a summit. That was all it took. Daniel led his warriors through their borders, slaughtered their Alpha, and claimed their territory before the moon had set. He told himself it was justice. He told himself it was strength. And in the ashes of his latest conquest, fate offered him the one thing he had stopped believing could exist. A second-chance mate. Alexandra Baldwin. For the first time in six years, hope stirred inside his broken heart. Until he discovered she had already chosen another. Daniel expected her to accept the bond. He thought she would come willingly, because that was what fated mates did. Instead, Alexandra looked him in the eye...and rejected him. His wolf had erupted in fury. Jealousy consumed every shred of reason he possessed. The young gamma she had chosen never stood a chance. Daniel killed him without hesitation. And from that moment on, Alexandra's grief transformed into hatred. She fled whenever she found an opportunity. She fought him at every turn. And now, six months later... She rejected him again. "She rejected you again, didn't she?" Joshua, Daniel's Gamma, looked up from the stack of reports on his desk as the Alpha entered the office. The question was unnecessary, they all knew the answer, but someone had to break the silence. Daniel didn't bother responding. Without a word, he crossed the room, uncorked the bottle of whiskey sitting on his desk, and took a long pull straight from it, not even bothering with a glass. The burn barely registered. "You already know she did," Eric, Daniel's Beta muttered, irritation creeping into his voice as he leaned back in his chair. "So why ask? Are you trying to provoke the Alpha?" Joshua raised both hands in surrender. "I'm just making conversation." "Find a better topic." Silence settled over the office once more, broken only by the dull thud of the bottle meeting the wooden desk. The rejection no longer surprised either of them. It had become a routine. Alexandra rejected him. Daniel in turn rejects her rejection and life moves on. Over and over again. As exhausting as the cycle had become, neither Joshua nor Eric could truly complain. Ever since Daniel had found and brought Alexandra back to the Blood Moon Pack six months ago, the pack itself had known a peace they hadn't experienced in years. Their Alpha had stopped looking for excuses to wage war. He no longer stormed into neighboring territories over the slightest insult. Entire packs no longer disappeared overnight simply because Daniel woke up in a foul mood. The bloodshed had lessened and the endless conquests had ceased. For the first time since the death of his first mate, Daniel Morris had something more important than revenge occupying his mind. Unfortunately... That "something" happened to hate him with every fiber of her being. Joshua scratched the back of his neck before glancing cautiously at his Alpha. "So..." he began carefully, "should we prepare another search party?" Daniel frowned. "For what?" Joshua blinked. "In case Luna tries to escape again." Daniel took another drink before a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "She won't." Both Beta and Gamma stared at him. "And why are you so certain?" Eric asked. Daniel's smile deepened ever so slightly. "Because yesterday she spent five hours trying to pick the lock on her bedroom window." Joshua frowned. "...And?" "I replaced it this morning." The office fell silent. Joshua slowly dragged a hand down his face. "Sometimes," he sighed, "I honestly can't tell if you're a terrifying Alpha or a man desperately in love." Daniel set the bottle down with a quiet chuckle. "I'm both." *** "Stupid. Arrogant. Insufferable idiot." Alexandra paced the length of her room like a caged animal, her bare feet wearing an invisible path across the polished floor. Every turn only fueled the fire burning inside her. She hated this place. She hated being trapped inside the Blood Moon Pack. Most of all... She hated Alpha Daniel Morris. Or at least she desperately wanted to. The truth was far more infuriating. Her heart despised him. Her mind cursed him. But her body betrayed her every single day. Every fiber of her being recognized him as her mate. Every instinct urged her toward him, yearning for his scent, his touch, his presence. The closer he came, the louder those instincts became, until it took every ounce of her willpower not to run into his arms. It was humiliating. She would rather die than let him think the bond had won. "I hate him," she whispered fiercely, more to herself than anyone else. "I'll always hate him." Silence answered her. Not because she was alone. Because her wolf had finally stopped arguing. Onyx had spent the last six months pleading, reasoning, even begging her human to accept what the Moon Goddess had chosen for them. He's our mate, he completes us. Stop fighting the bond. The arguments had never worked. Eventually, Onyx gave up. Now, whenever Alexandra spiraled into another tirade about Daniel, the sleek black wolf merely curled up in the back of her mind with a long-suffering sigh, watching in patient silence. Finished? Onyx asked lazily. "No." Didn't think so. Alexandra huffed and resumed pacing. "I'm leaving tonight." Onyx didn't even lift her head. Of course you are. "And this time, I would make sure he can't find me." That finally earned a snort from the wolf. That's what you said the last time. Alexandra's jaw tightened. "I'll try harder." He knows our scent, you can't hide from him Alexa. "I'll go through the river, water always erase scents." He'll still find us. "Hey! Whose side are you on?" The winning side, and I'm putting my money on the alpha. Alexandra stopped pacing altogether. "I refuse to spend the rest of my life with that man." Onyx was quiet for a long moment before answering. Maybe, but he's still our mate. Alexandra squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the familiar ache spreading through her chest. "I don't care." The wolf simply settled her head back onto her paws. She cared, she just refused to admit it. And Onyx possessed one certainty her stubborn human never would. If Alexandra ran again...Daniel Morris would find her again, no matter where she went.