Rejected Mate

Chapter 42 - "Alpha... why would you reject such a lovely girl?"

Have a great week!:)

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(Scarlet's POV)

I had already known Heath was unstable. My few memories of him were mostly of him flying off the handle, breaking things, yelling, screaming, and then only a few minutes later, he was calm, like nothing had happened.
There was a time when he wasn't like that publicly, but I have even less memories of him then... that was when my parents were alive... that was when Heath was an Epsilon and a very good friend of my fathers and Alpha Quinton.... that was before I knew Axel.
I do remember he always had a soft spot for children, not in a creepy way, in a way that made you question wether he even was crazy or not. Near the end, his only normal interactions were with children although it was very rare he was ever around any. Him and his wife had always wanted their own. I never knew why they didn't have any, until a few years later when I heard someone talking about someone unnamed who couldn't have children, the hushed tones, and willingness to say it around children as if they weren't listening to every word, told me who it was about.
Trista.
Everyone "avoided" talking about Trista back then, except when only children or anyone willing to listen could hear.
Now she's been forgotten by the people who never knew her because they were too young or not born yet.
On a bad day, few people will cry if her name is brought up. On a good day, everyone will nod solemnly.... but not Heath.
He talked about her like she was something he had escaped from.
I had known he was unstable... but not to the extent that I knew when I saw him.
I've met people who's emotions were erratic and difficult to decipher, I've had to report some of them for being a danger to the people around them.
Heath was different.
His emotions were erratic... but they were entirely controlled by him. I have no doubt that if I had my ability back then, I would find him to be very similar to those I've had to report, but that wasn't the case anymore.
He only allowed his emotions control when it got him what he wanted, but not in the screaming, breaking things and people kind of way anymore. It felt like his emotions were always behind him, lashing out, hitting things and hurting people, but he was up front, shaking peoples hands, smiling, and keeping everyone on his side.
But, when the only people who will listen are crazy themselves, there's not too much control you have to keep.
Every sane person had heard of the Epsilon that had been kicked out of the Blood Moon Pack for going crazy and trying to kill the Alpha and kidnap the Luna. Quinton warned as many packs as he could so it would never happen again, every pack listened, and the rogues excepted him immediately.
Rogues are mostly just people who are crazy, want to hurt other people, and/or refuse to get help from others.
Heath falls into the first two.
He likes getting help from others, that's how he's ever gotten anything done out there.
Being around him, I felt crazy.
His emotions overtook every room, but it was like he didn't even notice, he had become immune to them.
Sometimes I would think he was talking, but he wasn't, his emotions were so distinct and clear, it was like he was telling me everything he was thinking, but at the same time, thunder and lighting were drowning out the words.
I was confused and disoriented for a second whenever he would come close enough for me to feel it.
I never new what was coming next because I couldn't read anything except what he wanted me to, which made it harder to navigate conversations.
Luckily, I was getting out today.
Soon, I would be home.
Knock knock
"Come in."
"It's time to go." He smiled.
I nodded.
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(Axel's POV)

I brought everyone I could with me to the border and I'm glad I did.
We had stopped 30 feet from the rogues.
There was at least a hundred of them.
After a moment, the group parted in the middle, and all I could see was Scarlet.
She looked tired, her hands were tied together and even though I didn't see any new wounds, I was still on edge.
Finally I looked at the man standing next to her.
I didn't recognize him at first, but a memory of him visiting my parents when I was younger reminded me.

My parents had told me and Scarlet to go upstairs and play when there was a knock at the door.
Scarlet and I had been talking for a while when we heard shouting.
"I'll be right back." I got up to see what was happening.
"Alright." She said cautiously.
I walked to the top of the stairs and saw a man I barley recognized yelling at my dad.
When he started breaking things, I rushed back to my room.
"Hide under the bed."
She nodded.
After ten minutes the shouting had stopped, and thirty minutes after that, my mom came in to tell us that everything was fine.
When we went down stairs, a few items were missing, but there was no sign anything had been broken.

It was Heath.
"Alpha Axel!" He shouted, looking surprisingly delighted to see how outnumbered he was. "So you are miss Scarlet's mate!"
Something about the way he said that irked me, but I said nothing as I glared at him.
He chuckled.
Scarlet whispered something to him.
"Of course." He nodded. "Alpha... why would you reject such a lovely girl?"
I was caught off guard by his question and even more so by the memory.
Everything in my body hurt at the thought.
Why did he know that?
I looked to Scarlet who seemed slightly alarmed that he would say such a thing.
He could see the confusion on my face. He chuckled. "She's such a sweet girl. Smart too." He started to become angry. "How could you?"
A few of the people around me were looking at each other in confusion.
Scarlet became more alarmed, more agitated.
Before Heath could say anything else, she whispered to him almost loud enough for me to hear. "Stop.-......ruin-.....he'll-.........."
He seemed to calm down at what she said as he nodded, then he smiled, looking toward me again.
"Right." He glanced at Scarlet. "Alpha, you can have her back, on one condition... you tell me where Ayrith is."
I started to panic.
He wanted me to pick between my moms safety and Scarlet; my mate?
Is there any way I could reach Scarlet before he hurt her?
Would he kill her if I tried?
Heath nudged Scarlet forward, making a knife in his hand visible.
"Fine!" I thought for a moment. should I risk lying? No. "She's in the mountains near the Starlight pack!"
The smile on his face almost made me regret telling him.
Scarlet sighed and began to walk forward, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
I could feel everyone step forward, including myself.
She looked up at him as he whispered something to her and kissed the top of her head.
I growled, fully ready to attack, but he let go of her arm and she began walking toward me.
She stopped in front of me, a small smile playing on her lips.
Jordan took out a knife to cut her hands free, and in the blink of an eye, Scarlet had taken it and was aiming for my stomach.
The blade stopped two inches from my abdomen; Jordan had knocked her out.
She fell forward, the knife dropping away as I caught her.
The rogues attacked and everything became chaos.
Everyone around me ran forward, meeting the rogues in the middle.
I stood back holding Scarlet.
She tried to stab me.
Jordan grabbed my shoulder. "Axel. Take Scarlet to the hospital. We'll take care of this."
I nodded.
I don't know when we got there, but all of a sudden, Scarlet was in a hospital bed, and I was sitting in a chair beside her.
Jordan came in a while later.
"Hey." He sat down beside me.
"Hey."
"I'm sorry I knocked her out... it was instinct."
"I understand....." I stared at the floor for a moment. ".... I'm sorry about yesterday."
"It's... I forgive you." He sat back in his seat. "And, I'm sorry for trying to push you to talk about it. I should have known this was different than girl problems." He chuckled.
I smiled, but it fell almost immediately. "..... she... tried to stab me..."
Jordan nodded, not really knowing what to say.
I finally looked at him. "What did they do to her there? What would make her want to stab me?"
He shook his head. "I don't know...."
We both stared at Scarlet for a while.
"How's the hand?"
"It's fine... It should be healed in a few days."
"It'll be quicker if you stay around Scarlet."
"... Yeah..." I looked back at the floor.
Jordan eventually had to leave and I stayed where I was, again, waiting for her to wake up.
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