The Alpha’s Rejected And Broken Mate
Chapter 56

Rowan POV

Everything was going so well as I eased her pants down, pulling her dress over her head. But the second I leaned in too close, I caught a whiff of that perfume and it shocked me to my core. It overwhelmed my senses and as I blinked, for a moment I saw Stacey's face again, instead of Ambers. I had immediately retreated, unable to come to terms with what I was seeing and no doubt confusing the poor girl.

"Put your clothes back on" I growled, unable to look at her. What if I saw Stacey's face again instead of hers? It was so damn confusing. Why now, of all times?

It was clear she didn't understand what was going on, but she did as I asked, slowly pulling her dress back on and adjusting her pants etc. I needed to get out of there, not caring how much I was probably hurting Amber after what I had just done to her. I couldn't wait around for her. Not when my head was whirling around and I couldn't grasp what was happening to me. Why this was happening to me.

To my utter shame, I left her there. I, who had been concerned about her safety, to the point of organizing a picnic on the grounds so that she would be safe from rogues, left her there, sitting on her own, staring at my back as I hastened to the pack house. She didn't utter a sound of protest, those big green eyes of hers boring holes into my back.

It had been going so well too. She had been so responsive to me, that my c**k twitched with excitement, just remembering the throaty moans she had let out. Her fingernails had clawed at my back and scratched me and she had called out my name more than once to my immense satisfaction. Why oh why, then, was Stacey at the forefront of my mind? Why couldn't she just go away? I thought I had moved on, gotten that b***h out of my head. But apparently I hadn't. The mate bond called to me, but so did Stacey.

I stomped inside the pack house and went to the study, planning on wallowing in self pity, only to be met with my Beta Laurence who was sitting there, waiting for me. He looked perplexed.

"What are you doing back so early from your date?" he asked.

I just grunted at him. "It didn't go so well" I admitted sheepishly "and what the hell were you thinking, putting potato salad and chicken in there? Where was the romance in that?"

His mouth fell open in indignation. "Excuse me for thinking you wanted real food instead of the cliche of grapes and strawberries with chocolate sauce. Next time, I'll be sure to include them" he huffed.

Damn, the thought of chocolate sauce on Amber had me getting hard again. I swore and sat down in my chair, avoiding my Beta's eyes.

Laurence sat back in his chair and folded his legs over, looking perfectly at ease. "So what happened at this date then, that it didn't go so well?" he asked with interest, his brown eyes glinting with humour. He was loving this, I could tell.

I frowned and stared down at the desk. "Well it was going well to start with" I told him honestly "she liked the food" I added as he grinned at me "we were talking and then..." I trailed off not sure how to word it.

"Then" prompted Laurence with a wicked grin as though he knew what happened next.

"Well we were starting to get hot and heavy and then I smelled her perfume" I said, thinking back to it.

"You smelled her perfume" Laurence said dumbly "what you didn't like it?"

I shook my head. "It's not that" I burst out frustrated "it's just that everytime I smell it, for some strange reason all I can think of is Stacey. It's weird. I don't even remember Stacey wearing a perfume like that, but I see her face instead of Amber's when I smell it. What do you think is happening?"

Laurence gives a heavy sigh. "I thought you were over that b***h" he said slowly "she cheated on you, remember Rowan. You banished her because of it."

I dropped my head into my hands "I know" I growled "but now I can't stop thinking about her. Which I hate, because I just literally left my mate sitting on the grass alone out there."

"You did what" growled Laurence, getting to his feet in a hurry. He peered out the window, just as we heard the front door open and shut.

"She's going inside" he told me unnecessarily, for I could smell her scent mixed in with that perfume of hers. We listened intently as her footsteps headed slowly upstairs, and even I winced as I could sense her sadness mixed in with a twinge of bewilderment. I really had messed up, I thought to myself sourly. She deserved so much better than me.

Laurence shook his head at me. "You need to get Stacey out of your head or you're going to ruin your relationship with your mate" he chided me.

"I know, but that's easier said then done. Plus" I said sheepishly "she doesn't exactly know that we're mates yet."

"You mean you haven't told her" Laurence said incredulously "even though she was going to marry you. Are you a complete moron or what Rowan? She's going to figure it out eventually and then she's going to be pissed off that you didn't tell her."

I sighed. I knew that too. But I was afraid to come clean to her, because I knew she would be upset with me. I was becoming quite the coward, I thought to myself sourly.

"I'll tell her when the time is right" I told him haughtily, my tone brooking no arguments.

Laurence just grimaced at me. He was right, I really did need to tell Amber we were mates and soon. I resolved to tell her the next time I saw her. That is if she even wanted to see me after what I had done to her tonight. Something told me she would not be pleased to see me anytime soon.

"Enough about that" I said tiredly, placing my hands across the back of my head and leaning backwards in my large study chair "how is the surveillance going?"

Laurence setlled back down and leaned forward, his brown eyes no longer twinkling and his expression grave. "We tried to get a camera on them but they noticed it straight away and broke it. We have eyes on them but we're going to have to change warriors every few hours around the clock to keep an eye on them throughout both the day and night."

I waved my hand at him. "That;s fine, go on."

He paused and took a deep breath "from what we have seen they are working as a group. Not only are they speaking civilly to each other, I might add, which is almost unheard of, but they are working in teams to hunt, to build shelter and to track down water. It's astonishing and extremly disturbing" he added "they're definitely rogues but they aren't acting like it." "Their eyes are red" I checked and he nodded.

"Hmmm interesting" I muttered to myself. "What about the Alpha wolf?"

"He's the large one with wild shaggy hair" Laurence said calmly, showing me a picture on his phone that was blurry, with an image of a man's face in the distance. "Not only is he delegating tasks to everyone, but he's joining in on the hunting and helping to build the shelters." "Have they hurt anyone?"

Laurence's face went puzzled "no. Actually there have been no reports of them hunting down any pack members or injuring them. It's like they are waiting for something."

Or someone, I thought to myself.

"What about the elders, what did they have to say?"

Laurence groaned out loud. "Thanks for giving that task to me. You know I hate speaking to them, half the time they forget what they're talking about and start the whole damn conversation all over again. I had to speak to five different ones and they all have no idea on what is happening. They did ask, however, if we had a rare wolf in our pack."

"A rare wolf" I murmured "none that I know of."

"I thought the same thing" Laurence assured me "we dont' have a white wolf in our pack or one with magical powers. Nobody knew has come to the pack, except for Amber and she has no wolf at all."

"Why did they want to know?"

"Because that would explain the behaviour. Rogues are drawn to rare wolves for some reason, it's like they can sense them."

"Huh. Weird. I guess we still have no answer then" I murmured, thoughtfully.

"I'll keep trying. Who knows, maybe they just want their own territory and want to form their own pack" Laurence suggested.

"You could be right. Maybe they're evolving or the Alpha actually wants to form his own pack. As long as they haven't tried to hurt anyone, all I want is surveillance done. However" I took a moment to breathe "if they should injure anyone, then we will dispose of them all. I don't care if they are male or female, nobody harms a member of my pack, is that understood?"

"Yes, Alpha Rowan" Laurence said respectfully.

Just then we were mind linked by patrol. Alpha Rowan, Beta Laurence, we have an individual heading directly towards our pack. They are a lone, single female. Should we move to intercept them?

I glanced over at Laurence meaningully. "It looks like you might be needed to work with patrol."

"What do you want done?"

"Find out if the female is a threat or not. She might be a rogue or just foolish enough to travel on her own" I said shaking my head at the thought of a female shifter being that foolish. "Then what?"

"You know the procedure, Put her in the dungeon until we ascertain her reason for coming here" I muttered.

Laurence sighed and then got up, heading towards the doorway. "This conversation isn't over" he warned "I still want to hear more about your so called date that turned into a disaster."

I scowled at him in response. He laughed out loud and then headed out of the doorway and through the front door. I peered out the window, watching him shift to a wolf, before he raced across the grounds, over to patrol, who should have apprehended the potential threat by now.

I relax and stare out the window, at the darkness of the night and the shimmery moon overhead. It was a full moon tonight, which made the shifters all particularly strong. It had always been that way and even the elders could not say why. I knew why. It was because the moon goddess's power was at her peak during a full moon and because she was the one who created us, we too had our powers at their peak at the same time. The stars were especially bright tonight, I thought a bit morosely, letting go of the curtain and stepping away.

Then I received another mind-link. I wondered what in the hell it was that had Laurence mind-linking me so soon after leaving.

Alpha Rowan are you there?

Yeah I'm here you moron. What are you doing? Have you apprehended the female yet?

We have, but that's why I'm speaking to you. She's insistent on seeing you Alpha Rowan and I think you might need to come out here. Laurence just put her in the dungeon already.

I could but there's this problem,,,

Which is?

Well you know this female specifically. You banished her almost two months ago.

Don't tell me

Yeah it's Stacey.

Kill her then. She knows the consequences for coming back here.

I would, but we can't. That's the problem. She's pregnant and she's claiming it's your child. We are unable to kill her if she's telling the truth.

Put her in the dungeon then! I thundered and shut off the mind link. This had to be a trick of some sort, I thought to myself. There was no way that she was pregnant with my child. But a small part of me reminded myself that it had been two months since I'd seen her and we hadn't exactly worried too much about protection when we were doing the deed.

f**k, I thought annoyed, this was the last thing I needed to worry about. Now I have a mate that's upset with me, and an ex-girlfriend who's claiming that she's pregnant with my baby. What else could possibly go wrong?