Rejected By The Alpha: Hiding His Quadruplets

LUCY’S POV I should’ve never agreed to come back. I spent seven years avoiding the Bluemoon pack, its people and memories. Seven years, building a life in Lakeville that sometimes I believed my old life never existed. And now I was back standing inside Bluemoon’s grandest ballroom, surrounded by hundreds of people, pretending I wasn’t terrified. "Can you believe this, Lucy?" Sara whispered I jumped. Sara was standing beside me, adjusting a tray of fluted champagne glasses with an irrepressible grin. “This is huge, Lucy.” I followed her gaze as it swept over the shimmering chandeliers, the velvet drapes, and the crowd of humans moving freely among pack members. “This could change everything for us,” she continued excitedly. I gave her a small smile. “I know.” "The Lakeville Diner and Catering on the grand stage! I know I’ve said it a hundred times but truly when the call came to book us for the pack’s annual charity gala, I almost fell out of my chair. The recognition alone is going to put us on the map for the entire region! Do you remember when we were practically begging people to try out food? And now we are catering for the Bluemoon’s charity gala.” She rambled. I managed a practiced smile, nodding along to her. "It's... incredible, Sara. Truly." She patted her arm affectionately before drifting off to coordinate with the kitchen staff near the back hall. I watched her go, swallowing the bitter lump rising in my throat. Sara didn't know. Nobody in Lakeville knew. To Sara and everyone else in our quiet little town I was just a resilient single mother who worked myself to the bone to build a stable life. My eyes wandered around the room. I knew this place too well and memories of the past came rushing back. I was eighteen and this was the hall where my heart had been shredded into pieces. “I, Aiden Cade, future Alpha of Bluemoon, reject you, Lucy Travis, as my mate.” I exhaled slowly, clinging to the single thought that had allowed me to agree to this job in the first place. Aiden wouldn't be here. I hadn’t seen him in seven years but I had heard things. Apparently he never showed up to events like this. Word on the streets was that Alpha Aiden Cade had become terrifyingly cold and intense and rarely attended social events unless they were absolutely necessary. For things like this, he usually sent a representative. I had spent the entire week convincing myself that as long as I stayed in the shadows near the catering stations, I would be completely safe. I focused on the four little reasons that kept me going. Five years old, chaotic, brilliant, and entirely mine. They were safely back in Lakeville with their trusted babysitter, waiting for Gammy to bring them home later tonight. Everything I endured—the long shifts at the diner, the exhaustion and now, stepping back into the lion's den for a catering paycheck—was for them. I had built a fortress around my children, far away from the pack and their father who didn't even know they existed. Suddenly, the conversation in the ballroom quieted down. The air grew dense, charged with a dark, commanding Alpha aura that made the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end. My wolf that had been silent stirred. Then I heard the words that made every muscle in my body freeze. “Alpha Aiden has arrived.” My eyes snapped toward the grand double staircase at the far end of the room. My prayer had failed. Descending the stairs was Aiden. My chest locked and my lungs refused to expand. He was different than I remembered. He was taller, Broad-shouldered, towering above everyone and dressed in a tailored black suit that did nothing to soften the lethal predator's edge of his posture. His jawline was as sharp as glass, his dark hair cut short, and his eyes... those intense, storm-gray eyes were cold enough to freeze the room. He moved through the crowd with controlled, chilling precision. I pulled myself deeper into the shadows behind a marble pillar, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. For seven years, I had convinced myself that the bond was dead—severed completely by his rejection and my immediate flight. But as Aiden scanned the room, I couldn’t deny the electric shock zapped along my nerve endings. Across the crowded room he visibly paused. His head tilted slightly, I didn't wait to see what happened next. I turned on my heel, dropping my tray onto a nearby service table, and headed straight for the discreet side exit that led toward the alley and parking lot. I couldn't do this. Let Sara scold me, I needed to get out of Bluemoon territory now. I pushed through the heavy acoustic door, stepping into the cool, damp night air of the side corridor. My boots clicked frantically against the stone pavement as I sprinted toward the gate. Just as my hand reached for the brass handle of the exterior exit, the phone in my apron pocket began to vibrate furiously. I yanked it out, my fingers trembling so badly I nearly dropped it. The caller ID displayed Gammy’s name. Relieved —maybe Gammy was just calling to say the kids were asleep. I pressed the phone to my ear. "Gammy? I'm on my way out right now—" "Lucy!" Gammy’s voice lacked its usual warmth and she sounded like she was crying. I froze, the blood draining completely from my face. "Gammy? What's wrong? What happened?" "Lucy, they're gone," Gammy wept, her voice breaking violently. "I went to pick them up from Mrs. Gable's house... the front door was open. The sitter was unconscious on the floor, and... and the kids never came home. Lucy, no one can find the quadruplets!" The world tilted. My sweet babies, that can’t be. "They took them, Lucy... someone took the children!" My mind shattered into a million pieces panicking. I didn't care about hiding anymore. I spun my instincts screaming at me to run and bolted back toward the main exit door, phone still pressed tightly against my ear, my frantic gaze darted toward the ballroom one last time through the glass paneling of the side entrance. Across the ballroom, through the crowd, our eyes met. Aiden. He was staring directly at me.