Rejected

• THIRTY TWO •

Patrick

Of course I knew she wouldn't give in, it's been a few days since we visited the doctor and she was still nervous about us having sex without protection.

To be honest I didn't mind as much as you'd think. But I had to admit it felt good to see her beautiful smile at my playful suggestion.

These days I've been coming back to the pack house completely exhausted, between early classes, frat shit, elite duties, and Braxton, Vance, and I patrolling the town for newcomer's scents...my body could hardly stand any more action.

And tonight was no exception.

Mariah stepped out of her outfit from the day and slipped into one of my more comfortable shirts, picked her hair up into a knot on the top of her head and yawned cutely before getting into the bed.

I walked over to her side of the bed, I sat down and she sat up to meet me "I'm gonna take a shower really quick Duchess, go ahead and go to sleep."

She nodded before kissing me.

I got up and made my way to the restroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked the exact same, only I could see the worry etched in my brow, I was forming slightly more muscle from shifting more than I was use to, and I was now sporting (basically) a permanent scruff.

I got undressed and had a quick shower.

When I entered the bed I found Mariah fast asleep, I carefully pulled her into my arms and kissed her lips.

She remained asleep.

"I love you Duchess."

__________

The week seemed to fly by in large part due to the presenting that was about to take place.

Everyone In our inner circle seemed to be a part of it in some way or another and seeing as we hadn't found anything strange in the passed week, Braxton had temporarily called off the patrols.

My wolf and I were still on edge about the whole thing but the fact that nothing strange had happened recently was a little reassuring.

Of course this didn't stop me from wondering who it could be, or worse, why they were doing it. I'm not an idiot to think everything would just go away and things would be fine like before, I was still alert and I was still trying to remember those girls.

And then the one thing I've been thinking about constantly...could I have a kid out there somewhere?

A part of me worried, if I did I was being the one thing I never wanted to be, a shit father just like mine was.

It's part of the reason I want to find out who's doing this, I want them to stop fucking with my mate, but I also want to know if I have a child.

"Hey Blue Eyes, you ready to go?" Mariah asked me as she peeked her head into the room. "People are starting to arrive."

I nodded and got up. I went over to her and placed a chaste kids on her forehead, "you look gorgeous."

She smiled up at me, I wanted her to feel relaxed and have fun tonight...I on the other hand was having a hard time remaining calm. My wolf seemed to be on edge and I could feel that something was, off.

"Do you mind staying close to me tonight?" I asked as cooly as possible.

"Why, worried about other males?" She teased.

"Never" I smirked as I placed my hands on her hips, my thumb gently pressing into the spot where my mark resigned, "remember you're mine Duchess."

She gasped seductively and I couldn't help but bend down a little and kiss her.

She reciprocated beautifully.

"Stop being gross." Elise sounded from behind Mariah suddenly, I glared at her and she only smiled, "the Alpha and soon to be Luna are looking for you two."

I nodded and took Mariah's hand into my own before turning to close up our room, I locked the door just to be safe. The three of us made our way downstairs and of course we gained a few in lookers but no one bothered saying anything.

Once downstairs I told various people hello but kept my mate to myself, I could sense that she was feeling slightly sad and just a little agitated at my not introducing her to people, but at the moment (to be honest) if people thought she was just another fling I'd have less to worry about than if they knew she was my mate.

"You know all I want is your safety and well being right." I sounded as I whispered into her ear.

She gave me a small smile, it told me she had heard me but she was still hurt.

I sighed heavily "I love you Duchess."

She gave my hand a little squeeze and we finally made our way into Braxton's office.

"Alpha." I greeted him.

He smiled, "hey cuz, miss Mariah."

She smiled at him in return and we waited for him to speak.

"So I've brought you all in here because only the six of us know what's going on with the whole mystery person...now people have been talking about the girl in the packhouse so be prepared for some questions, all they need to know is that she's a guest of Patrick's."

We all nodded.

"That being said, girls stay close to us guys, and if throughout the night one of us guys has to leave please seek out another coupling in our inner circle to remain protected, I won't have anything happen to any of you especially if this is an Ex hell bent on revenge."

I agreed with him one hundred percent.

"Now the game plan is going to be as follows, we will all go out there and mingle with everyone as usual, once it's time for me to present Harper I want you to seek out the parents, stay near them but remain alert of your surroundings, after the presentation I'm going to be leaving Harper with my mother to be shown off and introduced to my pack members but I want Vance to look after Elise and Mariah."

"Why?" Mariah asked nervously.

"I'm going to do a sweep of the area with Patrick, make sure there are no outsiders, of course the rest of the Elite 30 will be helping with that...but more importantly I'm needing Pat's help to see if he can point out his Ex's so we can keep a closer eye on them."

I hated knowing I was going to have to leave my mate even for a second. But as my Alpha I trusted his judgment.

"You guys ready?" He asked.

We all looked at each other and I even gave my mate a kiss before acknowledging that I was ready.