The Alpha’s Rejected And Broken Mate
Chapter 76

Rowan

POV

I spent hours out in the forest, hunting for this unknown assailant of Amber's, alongside the best trackers in my pack. But whoever this man was, he knew how to hide his scent and it all came to naught. Which also reminds me or rather begs the question, how did Amber start the fire in the first place, let alone manage to burn another shifter wolf? She had to have been standing really close, which explained why a tree got put on fire by accident.

"I'm afraid that there's nothing further we can do" Laurence spoke, after observing the men for awhile. He had been brought up to speed on what had happened and had even contributed his own help, but with no luck, same as everyone else. "I can't stand that it was a pack member who did this" I growled, my hands clenching into fists.

"I know" Laurence murmured "neither can I. I thought everyone here at least tolerated Amber and now it looks like she has an enemy in our midst. How are we going to track this person down? The only person besides Amber that is, that we know for sure it isn't is Stacey and that's because she's constantly under guard. Which rules her out" he added somewhat gloomily.

I heaved a sigh. I had my suspicions before about it possibly being Stacey but Grant was a dependable fellow who was trustworthy and never failed to do anything asked of him. There is no way the man had left Stacey's side since he was supposed to be guarding her. But what possible motive could anyone else have, in wanting to harm Amber or her child? Because Amber had very nearly miscarried when she'd ingested that poison, otherwise known as Penny Royal according to the tox screen. It didn't help that the poison was easily accessible in the forest, which meant anyone could have grabbed some to use.

"It's strange" Laurence muttered as he moved around and came closer "but do you feel like someone is watching us?"

I glanced around the trees and shuddered, feeling the same. But they weren't close enough to be seen, whoever they were, otherwise my alpha nose and high sense of smell would have picked it up by now.

"Let's go" I instructed Laurence, leaving the men to continue the pointless search "I feel very uneasy all of a sudden."

We walked to the pack house together but then Laurence took his leave and I went towards the study and then thought about it. Did I really want to concentrate on work right now? Sure, I was Alpha and it was my responsibility but it wouldn't hurt to leave it for one night, would it? Besides, I really wanted to check on Amber and make sure she was all right after that ordeal. I mean, it wasn't saying much for my patrol if they missed the fighting in the first place. No one should ever be attacked on pack grounds, and not by another pack member. That was what was making me sick to my stomach.

I trudged upstairs slowly, feeling every bit of my years, and walked towards the bedroom, thankful that Stacey's was on the other side of the pack house, and got into my room, shutting the door carefully behind me. Then I undressed, tossing the clothes casually to the side of the room, and heading into the bathroom, where I started the water in the tub. My muscles were sore and achy and I wanted them to soak, sure that I would be spending yet another day out there trying to track down this bastard who had dared attack, my mate. Part of me wondered how I hadn't known she was in danger, but when I queried Daemon, he too didn't know why we hadn't felt it through the mate bond. It was a conundrum.

I lay back in the tub, letting the water relax me and sighing a big sigh of relief. This was all I needed. Some quiet time to myself and some time soaking in a hot bath. I couldn't even tell you how much time had passed me by, only that it must have been at least an hour or more, before I came back to myself, semi-dozing in the tub, and let the water out. I reluctantly hopped out of the bath and dried myself down, before wrapping a towel around my waist. Then, I let myself back into my room and stopped short.

I could have sworn that I locked the door to my room, but apparently, I hadn't as Stacey was lying on my bed, dressed up in the most revealing lingerie I had ever seen. Her long raven black hair cascaded onto the pillows and she was lying on her back, with her legs spread wide as she smiled brilliantly at me. She had no shame whatsoever, all of this a blatant attempt to seduce me. I knew I needed to be careful. "Stacey," I said carefully "what are you doing in here?"

She smiled and didn't look a bit contrite. "I wanted to surprise you" she purred, sitting upright and then kneeling on the bed. It was difficult not to look at her cleavage which was quite large in her red lacy bra. Her underwear to match, barely covered her v****a and was a thong, showing off her rather nice, it did have to be said, a*s.

"Oh, I'm surprised alright" I muttered under my breath. What on earth was this woman thinking? Hadn't I made it clear to her that I wasn't interested? Or was she getting mixed signals from me? I didn't know anymore.

She batted her big green eyes at me. "Come on Rowan" she urged "why don't you come and sit down with me?" She patted the space next to her. I hesitated and then sighed, deciding to sit with her and convince her to leave. I could at least be polite about it. But when I sat down I took a huge whiff, smelling that delicious perfume of hers, albeit unusual. It was so intoxicating and it pulled me in closer to her.

"You like this perfume, don't you" Stacey whispered, sounding triumphant and her voice coming from far away "don't you Rowan?"

"I do," I said obediently, sniffing it and wrinkling my nose.

She grabbed hold of my hand and placed it on her b****t. "You want to squeeze me, don't you" she whispered and my hand began to slowly squeeze her breast. I had no idea what was going on with my head, my body seemed to have a mind of its own. She arched her back and began to reach behind her, undoing the clasp on her bra. With a triumphant grin, she let the small piece of fabric fall to the floor, and now my hand was touching her bare flesh, squeezing it, caressing it. She gave a small hiss of pleasure. "Kiss me" she whispered, lying back against the pillows.

I followed her down, noting how beautiful her eyes were as I gazed directly into them. "You're so beautiful" I whispered, claiming her lips with my own. She moaned as I took advantage of her open mouth, delving my tongue inside of it, caressing hers, and making her open her mouth wider.

"Rowan" she gasped, kissing me back just as passionately.

My hands began to grip the sides of her arms, lightly pressing them, my towel now lying forgotten about on the floor, my c**k twitching with excitement.

I began to kiss the nape of her neck, smelling that perfume of hers as it wafted up from her skin.

"Oh god, touch me," she said shakily and I proceeded to do just that, my hand lightly skimming along her arm and down her stomach and side as she sucked in a breath. I wanted to touch her everywhere, my hands exploring her perfect body.

Back in the deep of my mind, I knew that this was wrong, that I still had my mate waiting for me. That I hadn't really made a decision when it came to either Stacey or Amber. But my body was responding to Stacey in a way I had never felt for her before and I couldn't seem to stop myself from doing what I was doing to her. I nibbled lightly on her earlobe as her arms wrapped around me. "Rowan, god yes" Stacey cried out, almost shrieking.

I could smell her arousal and her juices flowing from her v****a. I grinned and began to kiss downwards, taking one of her n*****s into my mouth and twirling my tongue around it.

"Oh my god," Stacey moaned.

Her nails dug into my skin. She continued to arch her back in pleasure. I began to slowly reach down towards her panties, one finger hooking inside of it when I heard a knock at the door and heard none other than Amber's voice. "Rowan," she said a bit shakily, as I stopped in my tracks and listened, "I think I might need to go to the hospital, something's wrong," she said in a strangled voice.

The door opened and she poked her head in, gasping as she saw us both. Realization dawned on her face. "Oh my god" choked out Amber, immediately turning and fleeing as I leaped off the bed and tried to cover my erect c**k with my towel. "Amber, wait" I shouted out but she took off running into her room and I raced out after her, hearing the definitive sound of a lock.

I pounded on the door. "Amber" I shouted, "Amber, just listen to me."

"Go away, you bastard" she shouted back miserably "no wonder I'm in pain. You told me you hadn't made a decision yet, but it sure as hell looks like you have. every time you are with her I'm in pain, because you won't reject me" she screams "and I can't reject you." I heard sniffling. Was she crying? I felt like the world's biggest heel now. I continued to pound on the door. "Amber, let me in, we can talk about this" I pleaded.

Stacey came up behind me, clad in her bra and a robe thrown over herself. She draped herself on me, but I shrugged her off.

"Rowan why are you being so cold to me" she pouted "we were having so much fun."

There was silence coming from Amber's room now.

I scowled at Stacey. "Leave" I snarled "you had no business being in my room and you know it. Go back to your own room Stacy" I hissed, gesturing at her wildly.

She smirked at me. "You weren't complaining a minute ago" she pointed out and I winced because she was right. Up until Amber's timely interruption, I wasn't complaining, I was being a willing participant. Which confused the hell out of me. Why was I being so loving and passionate towards somebody who I despised for cheating on me? "Just leave," I told Stacey tiredly, pointing toward her room.

She frowned at me and opened her mouth, glanced towards Amber's door, and shut it again.

"Fine" she said huffily "I'll leave but I hope you know that I'm not happy about this Rowan. You're being a complete tease" she said, almost shouting it.

"Go" I thundered and she scowled and stomped off in the direction of her room. I listened to her footsteps as they faded away and then knocked on Amber's door.

She opened it with a white face and red puffy eyes. I'd made her cry. Again. God, I was an a*****e.

"I can't do this Rowan," she told me firmly "I can't keep having you come back and forth, without a decision. Heck if you want the truth, I want you to reject me," she said quietly "and let me live my life in peace. I have a child coming soon" she added, putting a hand protectively over her stomach "and I can't have someone as my mate who can't stay faithful to me or who doesn't want the child as their own."

I mulled her words over. "I'm sorry Amber, but I just can't let you go" I said thickly. My heart was racing at the mere thought of letting her go.

She seemed to deflate and then too late, I saw something sharp in her hand. I lunged to try and stop her, but it was far too late. She swiped across her wrists with the large piece of glass she clutched in her hand. Blood spurted out everywhere, all over me, the floor, amber, and the walls. I felt nauseous as she collapsed right in front of me.

"Why," I said hoarsely, kneeling beside her and watching her eyelids flutter "why would you do this to yourself."

She stared up at me for a moment "because I can't live like this any longer" she whispered, "that's why."

I gathered her up in my arms, ignoring the blood, and raced downstairs. My heart skipped a beat as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she went limp, completely unconscious. She was losing so much blood, it was terrifying and as I raced across to the hospital, all I could do was pray that I would make it there in time before it was too late and she was gone forever.