The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 102

The following morning dawned clear, sunlight spilling like gold through the trees that bordered the path leading to the pack house. Calvin and Roselyn walked side by side, the quiet morning broken only by the rhythmic crunch of gravel beneath their boots and the distant murmur of pack members starting their day. For once, things felt almost peaceful.

But that peace shattered in an instant.

From the far end of the courtyard, two men strode toward them with rigid shoulders and stormy faces. Their eyes burned with barely contained fury, their movements sharp and deliberate. The shift in the air was immediate–heavy, tense, charged.

Roselyn’s steps faltered as the men drew closer. She could feel the anger radiating from them, a dark pulse that set her wolf on edge. Calvin noticed too. Without hesitation, he reached back, guiding her behind him. His entire stance changed–protective, alert. The commanding energy of his beta aura rose around them like an invisible shield, rippling through the air with quiet warning.

“Stop right there,” Calvin’s voice cut through the space between them, firm and commanding.

The two men halted a few paces away, but their expressions only darkened.

“What are you doing here?” Calvin continued, his tone cold and clipped. “You’re not allowed on pack grounds. Michael declared you’re banned from coming anywhere near the pack house.”

One of the men stepped forward, his face lined with age and authority–yet bitterness twisted his expression.

“Is that the way you speak to your father after all these years?” the man said, voice hard as steel.

Roselyn’s breath caught. So this is Calvin’s father–the former Beta, Richard. Her gaze flicked to the man beside him, broader, older, with an aura that once carried power. Then that must be the former Alpha, Efrein.

Calvin’s jaw tightened. “You know why I don’t want to see you,” he said flatly. “Don’t come here pretending to be some aggrieved father.”

Richard’s eyes narrowed. His voice dropped, low enough that only Calvin and Roselyn could hear. “We did what we had to do for the good of the pack. You should understand that now that you’re Beta.”

“That,” Roselyn blurted before she could stop herself, “is the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Silence fell for a heartbeat. Calvin’s head turned sharply toward her, but the damage was done. Richard’s gaze snapped to her, outrage blazing.

“Who do you think you are, girl?” he spat. The venom in his tone made her wolf bristle, but she stood her ground.

“I’m warning you,” Calvin growled, his aura flaring brighter. “Take another step toward my mate, and I’ll invoke the law. You’ll answer for disrespecting her.”

Richard froze. Shock flickered across his face–mate?

A soft gasp came from behind the men. A woman’s voice, trembling but sharp with disbelief, broke through the tension.

The old Alpha’s eyes blazed, but Calvin’s stance never faltered. “Now,” he said coldly, “I’ll ask again. What are you doing here?”

Efrein’s teeth ground together, and for a moment it seemed he might attack. But then, through gritted teeth, he said, “We need to speak with Michael.”

“Did you bother to mind–link him to ask if it was okay to come here?” Calvin shot back. Around them, a small crowd of pack members had begun to gather, their murmurs rising in the tense morning air.

Calvin exhaled slowly, then mind–linked Michael, explaining what was happening. A moment later, Michael’s calm voice echoed back through the link: Bring them to my office.

“Never mind,” Calvin said aloud, cutting off the brewing argument. “He said to bring you to his office.”

He turned to Roselyn, his expression softening as the storm in his aura subsided. “Let’s go, mate,” he said quietly, holding out his hand.

Her fingers slipped into his, warmth and trust flowing between them. Together, they walked past the former leaders of the pack and into the pack house–two figures standing united against the ghosts of an older reign.