His Rejected Alpha Mate (Sweetwater Pack Book 2), page 1
Copyright © 2022 by Jax Stuart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Any resemblance to people or characters is entirely coincidental.
jaxstuartauthor@gmail.com
Cover by Coffin Print Designs https://www.facebook.com/groups/866477853842697
Naming credit: Charline, Ashley and Jacqueleen
Contents
Dedication
About this book
Prologue
1. A Chance Meeting
2. Lasting Impressions
3. Rejected
4. First Meetings
5. Quitting Time
6. A Formal Rejection
7. Revenge
8. Moon Run
9. Revelations
10. Papa Problems
11. Approaching Heat
12. Distractions
13. Heat Alone
14. Tricky Fox
15. Apologies
16. Distance
17. Jasper
18. Unwelcome Guests
19. The Sickness
20. Suffering
21. Unexpected Aid
22. Reunited
23. Waiting
24. Finally
25. Family
26. Recovery
27. New Beginnings
28. Reconnection
29. Interuptions
Epilogue
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Also By
About the Author
To Janet, alpha reader, beta, ARC reader, and Keeper of Secrets—she knows all my plans and believes in my writing so much that I just had to dedicate this one to her. Thank you, Janet, for everything.
About this book
Finally reunited with his son in his new pack, and free of his former mate, Jasper discovers his fated mate in the heart of the Sweetwater pack. Dakota is an unwelcome complication in an overloaded life.
Dakota wasn’t looking for a fated mate. The loss of his love, Cooper, still lingered in his heart. The strange attraction he felt towards his best friend’s papa made sense when he met the man. His true fated mate. Rejected instantly, Dakota brushes aside his hurt to make his case but Jasper stubbornly insists they can’t be together, denying Dakota of the family he’d started to dream of having.
An unexpected pregnancy brings the pair together. Jasper has to learn to trust not only his life, but the life of his kids, to his new mate when an outside threat comes for the Sweetwater pack.
Proving his worth to his mate, and to himself, has never never been so vital to Dakota, especially with his children, and grandchildren’s lives on the line.
His Rejected Alpha contains references to past abuse, an accidental pregnancy, (whoops), lots of babies and a strange threat to the Sweetwater pack. This book must be read as part of the series due to ongoing plot threads.
Prologue
Jasper
Exiting the school that I worked at, I frowned when my usual guard wasn’t there to greet me. Often they trailed me at a distance, so I scanned the street for their usual vehicle but found nothing.
Strange. Fear buzzed through my veins, my fox instantly on alert for danger. Never in the last five years had I been left alone like this. There had to be a reason.
Patting my pockets, I found my phone, and startled at the text sitting there.
Grady: Intelligence suggests he is elsewhere. They have removed me as your guard temporarily to deal with a situation.
What the? Could I trust that this was true? That I really was safe to be unguarded so clearly?
Shaking my head since there was nothing else I could do, I approached my car, gave it a thorough scan, using all the tidbits I’d picked up from my guards over the years. Sure it was safe, I finally got in to pick up my daughter Angelica from the sitter, changing up the route a little, scared of being followed.
“Daddy, where’s Grady?” Angelica asked in the car on the way home. Her hands held traces of paint where she had been painting with her sitter, the cheetah omega that looked after her during the week, while I stayed behind at school to plan lessons and tidy up.
“Papa, sweetness.” I corrected automatically, a little distracted, as I paid attention to all the cars on the road. Daddy wasn’t my title, and it rankled. “Grady had a job to do for the council, but everything is good, and we’ll probably see him soon.”
“Will we have to move again?” There was an edge of fear in her voice and I hated the fact that it was my fault it was there.
“I’m not sure, Angel. I don’t think so. Grady just had work to do. Everything is fine.” I hoped.
Angelica was silent as we pulled into the apartment complex where we had lived for the last two years. Our council appointed guards stayed in the apartment next to ours, so they were always at hand. For so long it had been me, Angelica, Si, Grady, and Trey. Occasionally with switched out guards so they could have some needed time off.
A vision blurred my sight, but I couldn’t grasp it. That brief glimpse into the future our goddess had once given me as a gift flashed like a beacon with some sort of portent in my mind. I’d been feeling like something wasn’t right all day. My fox was still on edge, ears twitching, aware of every little detail that my human mind missed and searching for danger. They’d chirped and yipped at me to grab our kit because change was coming.
We didn’t take the elevator when we got to our building, preferring to take the stairs to the third floor. It was safer that way, though Angel complained the whole way. I hustled her up them, nervous of being outside the warded apartment with no guards.
“Why can’t we use the elevator, Papa? I’m tired.”
“You know why, Angel. Trey has told you countless times.”
When we hit our floor, she stopped to root through her backpack and located her phone.
“Si? Babe? Are you home?” Hopefully, at least one of our guards had stayed with us. Silas was more than a guard to me now. I really felt like we were growing into something serious. I entered the apartment warily, with Angelica trailing behind me, her face glued to the screen in her hands. Frowning, I made a mental note to ask the sitter to reduce my daughter’s screen time.
My fox picked up on Si’s wolf scent, coming from the family room, and we both relaxed. That scent meant safety. It took both of us a while to get used to the wet dog scent that hung off Silas. Freshly showered, he smelt of hay and sugar, but a few hours later, he’d sweat through his deodorant and I’d be left smelling his pungent aroma. Once I got used to it, I found it strangely comforting.
Silas was sitting on the couch stiffly as I rounded the corner. Angel had headed straight for the kitchen to grab a snack. “Si?”
“Hey, Jasper. I, uh, have something to tell you. You better sit down.”
I sat down next to him and he shifted away from me slightly, setting me on edge. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, but I’ve just had a call to say Rincoln is dead.” His voice was devoid of any emotion.
“What? Who?”
“There was a kill order placed on him, and Roan carried it out in defense of Ryder and his mate, the Sweetwater alpha leader.”
“Ryder?”
“According to reports, your ex took your son from his mate to force a bond. You know that’s punishable by death. Seems he wanted to take over the Sweetwater pack.”
“Sweetwater?” I knew distantly that I was repeating the odd word here and there. Shock slowed my brain, making it difficult to form sentences.
Silas turned to face me and clasped my hands, skin rough next to mine. “The council believes that it’s safe for you to go see your son, if that’s what you want. Rincoln is gone, so there’s no need to hide anymore.”
“I can see Ryder?”
“Well, yeah, but he’s called Kade now. That’s his new identity.”
Kade. Just like the brother I’d lost. I preferred his new name, and it suited the memory I had of him, with the same wild red brown curls that my brother, Kade, had once had. Desperate longing filled me. I needed to be with my son. Whatever his feelings about his father, Rincoln was still his dad, and we’d been happy for so many years. Kade had to be hurting right now, and it’d been so long since we had seen each other.
My own emotions were all over the place. I didn’t know what to think or feel now that the nightmare of the last five years was finally over. All I really knew was that I needed to hold my son. Five years was too long with zero contact. Rincoln had stolen enough from us.
I stood, mentally compiling a list of what I’d need to do and pack. We’d leave first thing in the morning, after I’d contacted my job and asked for some leave. I could decide what to do after I’d seen Ryder. No, Kade. Chastising myself, I repeated Kade in my head, trying to match the young man I’d last seen bleeding out on his bedroom floor.
The all too familiar guilt surged at the thought of how I’d last seen my son. It had broken my heart to run when I knew it had saved both of our lives. If I hadn’t run for help, there would have been no Ryder, no Kade, to save. I shoved the emotion away, using some tools given to me in therapy.
Silas looked uncomfortable when I turned towards him. “I won’t be able to come. Now that your case is over, I’ll likely be reassigned.
“Reassigned?” Great, now I was back to repeating words.
“Look, what we have is great, but it all depends on where I end up and what your plans are with your son. So let’s just see where it goes, okay?” Si got up. It looked like he was barely holding back, like he wanted to hold me. He shook it off and went to his often unused bedroom, closing the door with a click.
Assigned as my guide three years ago, Silas had become something more to me. I just couldn’t say what, since I couldn’t accurately define what we were. He’d taken me through my heats when they’d returned just after we’d met. It seemed only natural that he would, and we’d take Angel next door to Grady and Trey for the night. Often the council vetted someone to care for my daughter while I couldn’t, but I preferred she stayed with them. She was fond of Trey in particular and would do what the beta said, even when she wouldn’t listen to me.
I was fond of Silas, thought that I could grow to love him, and felt that he had some sort of affection for me. After three years, it would be impossible to not have some sort of feelings. We’d gone from our awkward first heat to regularly sharing a bed. He was a large part of my life. My fierce protector.
Now I had to do this alone. To take my daughter and travel hundreds of miles to see my son. My heart ached. I’d missed Ryder so much. He’d missed out on seeing all of his sister’s firsts. Word. Steps. First day at preschool. He’d missed it all.
“Angelica, sweetheart, we’re going on a trip tomorrow,” I called as I moved through the apartment to my room. “I’ll come help you pack a bag in a few minutes.”
“Where are we going, Papa?” she asked from the doorway of her room.
“I’m taking you to meet your brother at last.”
Her eyes widened. “You are? I need to take my toys to show him!” Angelica dashed back into her room and I could hear with my fox’s sharp hearing her muttering about which things to bring and what she wanted to wear.
Nothing came from Si’s room and it took me too long to remember the silencing charm placed on it. I shuffled past without knocking and went to pack our bags.
A Chance Meeting
Jasper
“I don’t know if I can do this. It’s been years since I’ve gone anywhere alone. Now I have to travel across the country to see my son. It’s too much.” Panic infused my voice.
“Take a breath, Jasper.” My therapist and friend, Karina, said. “You have all the tools for keeping your anxiety at bay. Have you spoken to the council?”
“I have. Councilman Ford was available to speak to me last night as I packed. He confirmed that I no longer need guarding, but there will be an official report outlining everything.”
“So you know that it’s safe for you to travel then? I can understand your concern. It’s a rather big adjustment, but you handled yourself well yesterday. You’ve dealt with so much in our sessions.” She paused, and I sensed this next question was going to be difficult. “What’s happening with you and Silas?”
Over our sessions, we had dealt with my struggle with intimacy and difficulty in developing an emotional bond with my young alpha guard. There had been a lot of tension to begin with between us, since he felt used for sex and wanted a proper relationship. Karina had helped me see things from his side, while also understanding my perspective. She’d been there for Silas to talk to when he’d needed her. Without the therapy, I didn’t think our fragile arrangement would have worked.
“We haven’t talked about it. He said he wanted to see how things go.”
“Which is reasonable. You have a lot of upheaval ahead. Call me if you need me, okay? Even if it isn’t a session and just an out of hours talk like today.”
“Thanks Karina. I feel bad for taking up your personal time.”
“Jasper, you’re my friend, as well as my client. I’ll make time for you, okay? Just call.”
“I will.”
We’d begun our journey late morning the day after I’d been told my ex had died. I hadn’t discussed it with Angelica, not seeing the need to upset her. As far as she knew, her dad had died not long after she had been born. I’d tried to limit discussions about Rincoln around her and she had never really expressed an interest in the man. All she was aware of was that an evil man wanted her papa and we had to be careful of who we spoke to.
It was much easier to be on the run with a baby than a small child. Every day, I feared Rincoln would trace me through his daughter just by finding her through school. I’d spent sleepless nights wondering what she would say to strangers. Then I wondered if he even remembered that she existed. His focus always seemed to be on our son and me.
When I went to say goodbye to Silas after a night of tossing and turning, there was no reply from my knock on the door. It had pushed open at my touch, displaying an empty room. I didn’t know what that meant for us. My heat was a month away and with school breaking up within weeks, there was no reason for me to rush back here. I could spend the next few months getting to know my son again. Would Silas make me choose between him and Kade?
We traveled all day, stayed in a random city halfway there after our car died on us. There was no saving it. After finding alternative travel, we then spent another day traveling by train before we finally arrived in Sweetwater in the evening.
Our fox alters hated flying. Though it would have been the quickest and safest way for us to travel, I just couldn’t cope with dealing with my panicking alter as well as having my child freaking out and likely shifting mid flight. Shifters, aside from avian ones, weren’t meant to fly. We’d tried it before when Angelica had been about two. She’d spent the entire short flight in fox form. Luckily, I had Grady and Trey to help me then. This time, I was alone.
Thoroughly exhausted and emotional, I gave Sweetwater a cursory glance as our rideshare took us from the train station in Northarbor to the town my son was living in. Sweetwater seemed like a beautiful place to live from the glimpse I got of the place. There were plenty of tree-lined streets and green spaces. Small stores littered the main street as well as the expected chains. We’d booked into a small hotel in the town not too far from the pack’s main compound so we could go back and forth easily.
The hotel was clean and comfortable, but Angel wouldn’t settle. She took an instant dislike to the guy on the desk and I tried to show patience for her, knowing that her own premonition power came in the form of dreams, mine in flashes of visions. I knew my son had a gift, too. Intuition, that gut feeling in a situation. He hadn’t nurtured the gift, or at least hadn’t at nearly twenty-one, when I’d last seen him. So it wasn’t too far-fetched that Angel had dreamt something while napping on the train.
She wanted to leave and begged me even as I unpacked our belongings and pulled out pajamas for her.
“It’s only for a little while, baby girl. We can decide what we are going to do when we meet your brother.” I was beyond exhausted. My nerves were fraught with what the next day would bring. There was no way I could bring myself to search for somewhere else to stay.
“Can we go now?” she asked.
“No, it’s past your bedtime. Let’s both just get some sleep and go see him in the morning.” Both of us were looking rumpled and tired. A good night’s sleep would help us both.
“But Papa, I don’t think I can sleep. I’m too excited.”
“I’m excited too, Angel. I can’t wait for you to meet your brother, but it’s best we try to get some sleep.” My smile was weak, with too much on my mind, making it an effort to maintain.
There was a knock at the door, and I pulled the chain over before unlocking. The man from reception was on the other side. “I just wanted to check if you two needed anything.”
A flash of a scene flitted through my mind of Angelica crying after the man got angry had me being very careful with my next words. “Oh, that’s too kind, thank you. We are just settling down to sleep. Tomorrow we have a meeting with Alpha Sweetwater, so I want to be at our best.”
The man gulped and stood straighter. Now no longer in my space, I took a tiny, relieved breath. “Alpha Sweetwater? Is that right?”
“Well, we are shifters, so we have to ask permission to be so close to his pack and to move through his territory, but I’ve been told that my son is his mate. I can’t wait to meet my new son-in-law.”
