Worthless to Priceless The Alpha’s Rejected Mate

CHAPTER 38

KADEN’S P.O.V Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Everyone was staring at me and desperately waiting for me to give a reason as to why I stood up so urgently. I could feel Gregory staring at me with barely controlled interest as if he could somehow get the answers out of my face while Caleb was looking at me in concern. He hadn’t gotten the mind link like I had so he was completely in the dark and I knew he hated that.

After a few seconds, I cleared my throat and straightened the collar of my shirt then brushed off invisible lint off my clothes to appear uninterested.

“I am afraid I have some important work to attend to,” I said and with one leveled look at Caleb, he rushed to his feet as well.

I walked past Gregory without offering any explanation but before I could reach the door, I heard him clear his throat. He was as annoying as a fly on the wall and I wanted nothing more than the sick satisfaction that would come with squashing him like a bug but I knew that it was a shameful act to attack someone when they were unarmed on your territory so I turned to him.

“Can I help you, Gregory?” I asked and he nodded.

“What will I do in the meantime?” he asked. “Am I to be left alone?”

“You will be taken care of in due time,” I knew it was a major disrespect but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Excitement was bottled inside me and threatened to explode and I knew that if I didn’t find my way to Amelia soon, I was going to go berserk on someone.

Before Gregory could say another word, I walked out of the cottage. I could practically feel the anger and frustration rolling off him in waves but I knew that Caleb would handle it. That was one of the things I liked most about him. He was always there to clean up my messes that I made in haste.

“What is happening?” Caleb said as soon as we were out of earshot. “What was so important that you had to leave so urgently? Is everything alright with Amelia?”

“She is shifting,” I said and his eyes widened in shock and excitement. “Make sure that Gregory goes home. I do not want him snooping around the pack or finding out things that he shouldn’t. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

Before any other word could leave his mouth, I ran into the woods so I could strip off my clothes. Once I was done, I shifted and ran as fast as I could towards Caleb’s house. My wolf was practically preening and cheering in excitement at the prospect of meeting his mate. I was excited as well to see Amelia’s wolf form and I really hoped that she would recognize me as her mate.

I ran without a thought in my head except for Amelia and I barely felt the pouring rain as it beat down on me. My fur was plastered to me when I got to the house and I didn’t even bother shaking it off before I shifted.

My clothes that I carried in my muzzle were also soaking wet but I didn’t care as I pulled it on. I could barely control my excitement. I hid behind a tree to get dressed because the last thing I wanted Amelia to see was me naked and get scared or terrified.

Clara was at the door when I arrived and I didn’t even acknowledge her as I made my way into the house. There was excitement and anticipation etched in her features when she opened the door for me.

“Where is she?” I asked when I noticed that Pamela and Devin were seated at the dining table. “Did you leave her alone?”

“We thought it was best that you were the one to see her,” they explained and I didn’t wait to hear anything else before I rushed down the hall to her room.

I was furious that they left her alone in pain but I also understood why they did so. I pushed the door open and my eyes could not believe what they saw. Amelia was lying on the bed with her hair plastered to her forehead in sweat. She looked incredibly beautiful lying there like an angel but that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the boy that was standing next to her.

He was leaned over her as if he was kissing her. I couldn’t tell whether their lips had met from my vantage point but she was lying there and not doing anything to stop him. Rage bubbled up in me like an inferno and even if I could try to calm it down, I would not have done anything to stop it.

The boy stared at me with a deer caught in headlights look but he made no move to get away from Amelia. I was so furious that I let out a growl so ferocious that I knew it could be heard from a distance away. It would have made lesser men but the boy still stood in front of Amelia and made no move to leave. I couldn’t tell if he was extremely brave or extremely stupid.

He positioned himself so he was shielding her from me and it infuriated me and my wolf that he thought he could hide my own mate from me. The way Amelia was staring at him, I knew she recognized him and I was pissed. Did she invite him herself? Had she been seeing him the entire time?

I didn’t know the truth and the lack of knowledge only worsened my mood further.

I took a step closer and he did the most foolish thing imaginable- he attacked me. I was taken off guard and I had to admit that the boy was fast but I was faster and I was able to avoid his punch.

Even though I avoided his first punch, he rushed me with a flurry of punches and kicks. I could hear Amelia screaming but her voice was hoarse and she could barely get any sound out. I heard footsteps rush towards the room and I knew that Clara and her family heard the disturbance.

I was distracted by the sound that the boy managed to get a hit into my jaw. He smirked in victory and I reared my hand back and punched him so hard that I heard his nose crack. Blood spurted out and he had to place his hands over his nose in order to stop the blood from gushing out.

“What is going on here?” I heard Pamela ask and when she took in the scene in front of her, she gasped.

She made no move to stop me or to get involved in the fight despite Amelia screaming at them to do something. I was angry that she was trying to defend her lover and I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him so hard against the vanity that it broke. I heard him groan in pain but it wasn’t enough, I wanted him to suffer and I wanted to hear every bone in his body crack.

He wasn’t weak- that was for sure. He tried to hold his own against me but I had fought opponents worse than him. There was not much he could do but try to defend himself from my assault. All I could see was red as I delivered blow after blow on him. I wanted to see him bloody and lifeless. I wanted to see him pay for daring to touch my mate.

Somehow during the fight, I had half shifted and I didn’t even realize it until I grabbed him to slam him against the wall again and I noticed that my hands had turned into claws. The boy was staring at me with fear in his eyes and I decided I was done with him so I threw him right out the window.

The glass shattered from the impact of his weight and I heard him grunt as he hit the ground. I took my time going to check up on him and decided that if he was still there then I was going to kill him. I moved towards the window and I heard a sharp intake of breath. I turned to the source and saw my mate staring at me with wide eyes.

That brief moment of distraction caused the boy to get up and run. I turned back towards the window just in time to see him dashing into the woods. It was like he had never existed and the only trace of him was the broken window and a few splatters of blood on the grass and on the floor. I

wanted to chase after him but I knew it was futile, the boy was fast and he had a head start. It would have also meant leaving Amelia and I didn’t want to do that.

Seeing that he had left, I was finally able to get my head calm and I looked around the room. I had completely wrecked it in my rage. The dresser was a mess on the floor and there were holes in the wall. Dust rose in the air and the floor was a mass of wood and blood.

I turned to Pamela. “Send me the bill and I will have it fixed.”

She was completely silent and all she could offer me was a soft nod. Neither she nor her family had crossed the threshold of the door during the fight and I didn’t blame them. In that state, there was no guarantee that I would not have accidentally hurt them.

My wolf was still on edge and I had to mutter a few words under my breath in order to calm myself down and shift back into my human form. My shirt was completely torn so I took the rags off my body and threw it on the floor. I heard a small squeak and I was finally able to look up into the eyes of my mate.

She had dragged herself up to the corner of the bed. Her knees were pressed to her chest as if she had tried to fold into herself and there was a dazed and crazed look in her eyes. My wolf leaped in my chest and wanted to reach out to claim her especially since I could still smell that wolf on her.

I took a step towards her and she tensed but did not move. There were splatters of blood on my knuckles and arms and I could see her eyes fixated on them as I moved closer to her and sat at the edge of her bed. Her eyes left my wounds and moved over to my face.

There was an emotion swirling beneath her lids and I couldn’t tell if it was shock or if it was fear.