Chosen, just to be Rejected

5

Parker

For eight years they had been mated to each other, and not once had Belladonna turned loving eyes on him. Not once had she even looked at the Alpha Suite as though she wanted to be in there with him; never had he even seen her glance at it. She just walked on past it like it didn’t exist for her.

Belladonna, his mate of eight years, stood before him and still felt nothing for him. She was today wearing a clean set of scrubs. Though they looked a little on the rumpled side to him, as though she’d had a nap in them. It wouldn’t surprise him at all, if she had. She was often up late in the hospital. Slept there some nights when there were a lot of babies to be delivered.

Even now standing in his office, he had expected some sort of reaction from her; to him bringing home his Goddess-Gifted Mate. But she’d not even so much as frowned at seeing Carina walk into the packhouse with him or standing there next to him, or Carina trying to touch him in a possessive manner, right there in the packhouse foyer for all to see.

Knowing what she was to him, and Belladonna did know it, he’d never walked anywhere with a woman next to him like that before unless it was herself attending a mating ball with him, and Carina, she was all dolled up, to look her best when arriving at the pack. It had taken nearly an hour and a half to get ready in the hotel room this morning, which annoyed him greatly, having to wait for her like that. He had things to do and places to be.

Belladonna had said nothing at all about seeing her with him, hadn’t even said anything when he’d sent Carina off with his Delta, and requested Belladonna to come into his office. No, she just politely excused herself from the children she’d been sitting with; likely playing a game with them, he’d seen her do that before on many occasions.

He’d never treated her badly, respected her and craved that damned woman’s body more than he’d allowed himself to have her. Had held himself back from her because she didn’t have any feelings for him at all. She didn’t want a pup with him, hearing that had bloody hurt, and he’d been angry about it for a week.

They’d been together for five years when he’d bitten the bullet and finally brought it up. He had thought five years of him treating her nicely. Respectfully, and acknowledging her as his Luna would have shown her, they worked well together. Clearly not, and he had not liked the response he’d gotten at all.

Even now, he could see after eight years together, that he meant absolutely nothing to her. He couldn’t understand why her side of the mate bond didn’t grow and flourish at all. He didn’t want to issue this rejection, she was an amazing Luna, intelligent, strong and beautiful, had long wavy chestnut brown hair, that right this minute was pulled up in messy bun on top of her head. Because she’d been working in the pack hospital, but it didn’t detract from her beauty at all.

Normally she would wear it out, and it fell around her shoulders or down her back in a lovely wavy cascade. She had brilliant blue eyes that could sparkle like the ocean at times and a very kissable mouth.

The whole pack liked her, she’d learned everything about all of them over the years, attended to all the Luna’s duties, she was not only his Luna, but was a brilliant pack doctor as well. The woman loved babies, they made her light up from the inside out, and that smiled when she looked down at them; pure joy in her blue eyes. It was infectious the way she smiled.

She always had a smile for the little ones. He couldn’t understand why they’d not had pups. She would make a great mother, and he knew it. Their children would be loved and adored by her. He’d not once in the past eight years seen her even raise her voice to a little one, not even a teenager.

She’d looked a little exasperated at times, when she got those repeat offenders to her Luna’s office, to be admonished by their Luna for getting into fights, but never did she yell at them. She was a kind soul to everyone.

She’d not even argued about being mated off to him, had stood there in her father’s office at just 19 years old, untouched by anyone inside her home pack, he’d taken her virginity, she’d not even known how to kiss. Very unusual for an alpha-blooded female of 19 years of age.

She had just stood there in her father’s office and said nothing at all. Not one single word to anyone in that room, as they’d discussed that Mating Alliance, what clauses he wanted, what her father had wanted for her as well. She’d said nothing in his car on the way to this very pack, had sat and stared out the window the entire time.

Nothing until he’d initiated her into his pack, until he’d cut his palm and then hers, and pressed their palms together, asked, as her new Alpha, to pledge loyalty to him and his pack. She’d not even really looked at him until that very moment either, just once in her father’s office only. He recalled her that day here in his office, she'd looked at their hands, taken in a long breath and then had just accepted him as her new Alpha.

It had been the first time he’d heard her voice. Soft to his own ears even then, he’d put that down to her being unhappy about the Mating Alliance, and he knew she was unhappy. Shannon had told him via the mind-link ‘She’s unhappy, but resigned to it, not going to argue or fight you about Marking and Mating her.’ And she hadn’t.

He’d also known she had never been with anyone. Her own father had told him as much, and Shannon had confirmed that, for him, she was nervous about not knowing what to do in the bedroom. He’d been more than experienced, so it wasn’t really an issue, and he’d not Mated her until they’d both marked each other. It would lessen the pain for her and he knew it. He’d also not rushed the job, taken his time and tried to take care of her, bring about pleasure for her, and show her he wasn’t going to be a brute of a Mate, and that he wasn't out to hurt her.

Now to hear her congratulate him, it felt very odd to him, and Vex’s ears, which had flattened back against his head and annoyance rolled right off his beast at her words, she actually meant it, it was there in her tone. She was genuinely happy for him, it appeared. Their own Mate confused them to no end. If she’d walked into this packhouse trailing a Goddess-Gifted Mate, he’d likely have tried to take that man's head clean off. Would have been very angry to see another that was getting to touch what was his.

But no, she just smiled right at him, the perfectly happy smile she had when she looked at babies, real happiness there on the surface not only for him to see, but to know it was actually for him, she really was happy for him right this very minute; That he had found his Goddess-Gifted Mate.

Vex wanted to snarl at her for seeing her so happy about him being gifted to another, but turned and stalked off away to the back of his mind, ‘I’m not voicing it.’ he snarled at Parker and lay down inside his mind to watch her from back there. She’d been mated by his wolf in human form as often as she had been by Parker himself. They were both attached to her and both wanted her.

His wolf was annoyed as much as Parker was right this very minute that she could be so bloody happy for them, it was not what he wanted to see from her; not at all. She and Carina were two very different people from what he’d seen so far. Belladonna was the better of the two of them, and he knew it.