Page 14 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

I hadn’t planned on making the announcement like that, not at all.

How I was going to tell my pack that I’d taken a mate had been on my mind from the very first night Rhie had moved in, but I’d known it was important to do it correctly.

Carefully. Shocking my pack, which was still a little uneasy after our move, wasn’t a good plan, and it was irresponsible. Impulsive.

But Rhie made me impulsive. It wasn’t just about my pack, either.

I’d wanted to give her time to find her footing before I made the announcement, so that she was comfortable standing at my side as I did so.

I’d wanted her to feel like an equal, not how she had in Scott’s pack.

It could have been guilt, a way for me to try to atone for the way I’d treated her after we slept together, but it was important to me that Rhie felt readily accepted in my pack, as my mate.

I’d had the best intentions, but I should have known that intentions rarely line up with reality.

When I arrived home and found she wasn’t there, a spear of worry went through me.

But Rhie must have known how stressed her random absence would make me, and she’d left me a note with her location.

I’d been relieved, and then tense once more.

I wanted to be beside her when she met the pack, but I’d taken too long.

Been too careful. So, she made the first move for me.

When I’d seen her with some of the other she-wolves around the fire, talking and laughing, I’d been ready to back off and go home to let her have her moment.

I was impressed that Rhie had been able to make friends so quickly despite how terribly some in her last pack had treated her, and I’d been content to let her enjoy herself so we could make the mate announcement later.

Then Brian, that fucker, had to open his mouth. A mid-ranking wolf, he hadn’t caused any outright trouble in the past, but I’d noticed he’d used his size to get his way more than a few times. It was like he’d zeroed in on Rhie, spotted her by the fire, and locked in.

He’d called her an outcast immediately, no build-up, no time to stop what was about to unfold.

I’d looked to Rhie, her shoulders drawn tight and her eyes darting around like a prey animal about to bolt, and something feral had risen in me.

I’d been suppressing my energy so I could move through the brewery without everyone knowing their Alpha was among them, but all that had gone out the window when my protective instincts kicked in.

I’d stopped suppressing, and my energy had rolled over the crowd all at once.

Their awareness of me had kicked in, and wolves had started to turn my way before I even made it to Rhie’s side.

At the moment, all my carefully laid plans to ease Rhie into the pack, giving her some time to adjust, had gone out the window.

I’d wanted to rip out the throat of my own wolf, just for making her feel small.

Rhie had suffered that fate too much already in her life, and I’d be damned if the same thing happened to her in my pack.

They had to know who she was, my mate, their Luna. Rhie might have gotten angry that I announced it without even speaking to her first, but I was confident she’d forgive me later. I couldn’t take one more second of the rest of my wolves thinking my Rhie was an outcast. So, I told them. All of them.

“She is my mate.”

I laid the words down like a challenge. Rhie had made it impossible to continue hiding the fact that she was my mate, and a huge part of me was glad for it.

No more planning some elaborate announcement or waiting until I thought the time was right for both of them.

It was just there, out in the open, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

I realized I had barely looked at Rhie since I approached her and laid my hand on her shoulder, and she was oddly still.

I glanced down to see that Rhie had gone pale, her mouth tight, but she didn’t pull away from me.

Around us, the rest of the pack had started to buzz from my announcement, the reactions ranging from excitement to shock, but I didn’t owe them anything else at the moment.

Like I told them, if they had a problem, they could come to me about it.

“Rhie,” I breathed, not a question, just a reassurance that she wasn’t alone.

“I want to go home.” Her voice was thin, and while it warmed me to hear her call my house her home, the stress in her tone was clear as a bell. “Please, Jayce. I need to get out of here.”

It was an easy request that I was happy to grant. I didn’t want to stick around to answer the onslaught of questions I knew were coming either. “My car is out front. Let’s go.”

***

Rhie insisted on driving her own car back to the house, so I contented myself with following her close enough that I never lost sight of her vehicle.

It wasn’t nearly as comforting as if she’d been in the car with me, but I would take what I could get.

I hadn’t been able to get a good feel for how Rhie felt after the announcement, so it wasn’t a good idea to push her buttons until we were alone once more.

We were both quiet as we stepped into the house, Rhie depositing her purse on the counter and lowering herself onto one of the stools. Her hands came up to cover her face, and she stayed that way until I spoke.

“Rhie, talk to me.”

“Why? Are you planning on warning me this time before making a huge announcement instead of leaving me in the dark?”

Her voice was muffled by her hands, and it was difficult not to rush forward and pull them away so I could see her face.

I deserved her anger. It wouldn’t have taken me any extra time to give her a small heads-up before I announced our status, but I’d been so caught up in defending her from Brian that I rushed into it.

It had felt good at the moment, and I didn’t regret it, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be consequences.

“You’re right. I should have warned you, but I couldn’t stand seeing anyone talk to you that way. You aren’t going to be treated like you were in Scott’s pack, not here. I don’t want you to feel like you don’t belong, Rhie.”

“How I feel about all of this is none of your business,” she lowered her hands from her face, finally, but still didn’t look at me.

Slowly, because I didn’t want to spook her, I sat on the stool next to her. “No, but everything relating to you as my mate and as part of my pack is my business. Which is why I did what I did.”

“I don’t know why you concern yourself with me so much,” she sighed, “It would be easier if you’d just ignored me after that first night.”

“Easier in the moment, sure, but we both know we couldn’t have avoided the bond forever.

” When she still didn’t look at me, I offered her something that I’d been holding close to my chest. “Listen, Rhie, things got so fucked up the night you were taken by the rogues, I never got to tell you why I was there in the first place. I came to find you so I could apologize. For everything I said and did wrong. I’m an Alpha, and I should have known better, had better control of myself, no matter who you were.

I know I’ve apologized before, but I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t just creeping around your place looking for a chance to bother you again. ”

That got her full attention, her eyes meeting mine and her brow furrowing.

Her mouth parted like she wanted to argue, but nothing came out.

Rhie’s lips clamped shut, and she looked away again, but I could tell she was deep in thought, so I let her have as long as she needed.

Finally, she let out a long breath and huffed a small, sardonic laugh.

“You know this makes everything extremely inconvenient for me, right?”

I wasn’t following. “What?”

Rhie gestured to me as a whole, “You. Being Nice. I mean…who has ever heard of an Alpha saying they were sorry? How can I pick a fight with you when you’re being so…so…. accommodating? It’s very stressful.”

The corner of my mouth pulled up, “Stressful, huh?”

“Yes!” Rhie threw her hands in the air, but there was a hint of a grin on her face, too. “I was mentally prepared for asshole Alpha Jayce, and now I don’t know how to handle this version of you.”

A laugh burst out of me before I could control it, “So let me get this straight, you’re mad at me, but this time it’s because I’m not enough of an asshole?”

“Exactly,” Rhie nodded, “You’re ruining my whole strategy.”

I shook my head, fully grinning now. I could read her body language well enough and feel the ghosts of her emotions through the bond to the point I knew she was still stressed, but she was trying to make the best of it.

Her sarcasm was an olive branch. “Ah, Rhie. How about a truce, then? No arguing, no cheap shots, we just live together like we have been. Mutual respect. You don’t have to like me, but I would still like to live in harmony with you, if you’re willing. ”

Rhie was stunned at first, but she quickly controlled her expression and narrowed her eyes. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” I held up my hands in mock surrender. “I swear.”

For a beat, her face smoothed, and something soft flickered in her eyes. Rhie sighed, sounding less defeated and more relieved. “Fine. Truce. But if you try to blindside me like you did earlier again, all bets are off.”

“Agreed,” I took the hand she offered me, meaning to shake it, but I couldn’t help raising it instead and brushing my lips over her knuckles. She didn’t pull away, which was a good sign, but the briefest taste of her skin was hell on my self-control.

Still, I wouldn’t have become an Alpha if something as small as a kiss on the hand of a woman could undo me. I’d just been unprepared for how different things would be when that woman was my mate.