THE REJECTED ALPHA

THE REJECTED ALPHA THE UNDERWORLD SERIES BOOK 4 DAILY UPDATES (CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE) CHAPTER ONE SO EFFING COLD One day, the world is full of roses blooming at the peak of summer, and the next, it is nothing but ashes and broken dreams. That is the cruelest thing about life. It doesn't always warn you before it takes everything away. For the longest time, only three things had ever mattered to me: football, the pack, and my grades. And I was f*****g good at all three. I was the star quarterback. The golden boy everyone expected to see leading our team to another championship. My grades were good enough to get me into a respectable college, even if I wasn't quite going to make valedictorian. And when it came to the pack, I trained harder than anyone my age because I wasn't just another wolf preparing for adulthood. I was the future Alpha. Every part of my life had been mapped out for me before I was old enough to understand what any of it meant. Football on Fridays. Training before sunrise. Classes during the day. Pack duties after school. Study sessions late into the night. There was something comforting about knowing exactly who you were supposed to become. I lived inside that certainty. Inside a dream of perfection. Until everything blew up in my face. And when it did, it didn't just take away the things I loved. It took my sanity with it. My reputation. My future. My family. My f*****g peace. It all started with her. The girl with the fiery red hair. The girl who walked into town like she had no idea she was carrying a match into a room full of gasoline. The first time I saw her, something inside me shifted. I didn't understand it then. I couldn't have. I only knew that the moment my eyes landed on her, something in my perfectly ordered world went horribly, irrevocably wrong. I just never imagined she would be the beginning of my destruction. Faith f*****g Bishop. The bane of my existence. The ruler of my thoughts. The keeper of my heart. And, without question, the single greatest reason my life had gone to hell. She was the undeniable embodiment of everything I'd lost. And the worst part? Despite everything that happened, despite the humiliation and the anger and the absolute f*****g mess she left behind, there were still nights when I lay awake staring at the ceiling, wondering if she ever thought about me too. Wondering if she missed me. Wondering if she remembered the boy I used to be before everything fell apart. Wondering if, somewhere beneath all that hatred, she still had a piece of her heart that belonged to me. Pathetic. I knew it was pathetic and knowing that didn't make it hurt any less. “Quit acting like a f*****g child, moping over some high school crush.” The sharp voice yanks me out of my thoughts. I turn toward the bedroom door. Mum stands there with her arms crossed over her chest, her expression furious enough to make most people back down. I've never been particularly good at backing down from my mother. “Oh, I'm the one acting like a child?” A bitter laugh escapes me. “You're the one whose entire life still revolves around your husband like he didn't f*****g ruin us.” Her expression changes instantly, “Don't talk about your father like that.” “I'll call him my father when he starts acting like one.” The words barely leave my mouth before she slams my bedroom door shut. The sound reverberates through the room, rattling the windowpanes but I barely flinch. I'm used to it by now. I've gotten used to doors slamming. Voices rising. Whispers following me through town. People staring, judging and pretending they aren't staring while making sure I know exactly what they think of me. I've never understood my mother's fierce loyalty to the man who destroyed our family. Hell, I can't even bring myself to call Richard my father anymore. Not when the word feels like an insult every time it leaves my mouth. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he'd simply done the deadbeat thing and walked out of our lives before I was old enough to understand what was happening. Maybe I would've been okay. Maybe I wouldn't spend every waking moment wondering when the next disaster is coming. Maybe I wouldn't have this constant ache in my chest, this rage simmering beneath my skin, this feeling that my entire life is one long punishment for something I didn't even do. I know it's selfish to think that way. I know I'm supposed to want my father to get better. To want my family back. To believe that people can change. But what am I supposed to believe when the person who was supposed to protect us became the very reason we needed protecting? And then there's my mother. God, sometimes I'm angrier at her than I am at him. Because at least Richard doesn't pretend he's something he's not anymore. Mum does. She tells herself she's loyal. That she's standing by the man she loves. That marriage means staying through the bad days. That the pack will eventually forgive him. That things will go back to the way they were. But things don't go back. Not after they've been broken badly enough. I wish she'd grow a f*****g backbone. I wish she'd pack a suitcase, take whatever dignity we have left, and leave this town behind. Leave him. Leave the pack. Leave every whisper and judgment and hateful stare behind. But she won't. Of course she won't. She'd rather die than leave the love of her life behind. At least, that's what she says. Maybe she's right. Maybe that's what love looks like when it rots. Because whatever this is, it certainly isn't the kind of love I want. Not anymore. I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. The silence in my room feels heavier than it should. We used to have a home. Now we have a house. There's a difference. A home is somewhere you feel safe. This place feels like a f*****g waiting room for the next disaster. And outside these four walls, things aren't any better. We've become social pariahs. The Alpha's family. The family everyone used to respect. Now? We're the ones people lower their voices around. The ones mothers warn their children not to associate with. The ones people look at with pity when they think we're not watching. An Alpha loathed by his own pack. A family nobody wants to claim. And me? I'm the son. The boy who used to be everyone's golden boy. Now I'm just another reminder of everything that went wrong. Every time I walk through town, I can feel eyes following me. Every time I step into those familiar school hallways, conversations mysteriously go quiet. Then the whispers begin. Sometimes they're subtle. Sometimes they're not. And the irony is almost f*****g laughable. Because while my life has been falling apart, Faith and Lucian are thriving. They're everywhere in the center of every conversation. Everyone f*****g loves them. Maybe that's the part that hurts the most. Nobody seems to remember what I used to be. Nobody cares that I was once the quarterback everyone cheered for. That I trained harder than anyone. That I was supposed to be the next Alpha. That I had a future. Now, I'm just the disgraced son of a disgraced Alpha. My gaze drifts toward the nightstand. An invitation sits there. It’s a thick cardstock with gold lettering, announcing Amber's nineteenth birthday. She has always been extra. But that is Amber for you. I've been staring at it for the better part of an hour. It's all anyone at school has been talking about. Who is going. What they're wearing. Whether there'll be alcohol. Who Amber invited. Who she didn't. And, inevitably, whether Faith will be there. My jaw tightens. Of course, she will. I reach for the invitation, turning it between my fingers. I should throw it away and stay home. It would be easier. But some stubborn, self-destructive part of me already knows I'll go. Maybe because I want to see her. Maybe because I want to prove to myself that I don't care anymore. Or maybe I'm just stupid enough to keep walking back toward the person who burned my entire world down. I glance toward the window. Snow has begun falling outside. Tiny white flakes drift lazily from the dark sky, settling over the rooftops, the trees, the roads. Christmas is coming and school will close soon for the holidays. Everyone will go home and families will gather around warm fireplaces and decorated Christmas trees. People will laugh, drink and exchange gifts. They'll pretend the world is still a beautiful place. I should be excited. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. But this year, I can't find even a trace of that old excitement. I press my forehead against the cold glass. The snow keeps falling and for the first time in my life, I don't wish for summer. I don't wish for football season. I don't wish for things to go back to normal. I just wish the winter could freeze my heart as completely as it has frozen everything outside. Because maybe then, just maybe, I wouldn't have to feel this f*****g much anymore.