Page 1 of Reject Him

CHAPTER ONE

In the corner of her bedroom, Emeline Stonewell looks at her reflection in the vanity mirror. The crystal-clear glass is carved in an oval shape, similar to the slopes of her own face, the curves of her own body. Her bright blue eyes peer back at her, and her long hair, a deep shade of brown, flows around her high cheekbones and her soft jaw.

A few freckles dot her face, and she touches one, trying hard not to smear her freshly applied makeup. Much to her dismay, the makeup doesn’t cover them. She’s never cared for her freckles. She’s never cared for makeup either. Makeup makes her feel like she’s wearing a mask.

Outside of her bedroom, in the Stonewell Pack’s alpha’s mansion, she hears music flowing up from the great hall. The great hall is smack dab in the center of the house. The entire pack is gathered there along with the Brook Mountain Pack. They all seemingly await her arrival. She huffs at the thought. Attention is not her thing, and tonight, she’ll get an abundance of it.

Today, she will be given away to another man, but not in marriage like humans are. With this union, an alliance will be created. The large Brook Mountain Pack and the smaller Stonewell Pack will join as allies, all by giving her to the Brook Mountain Pack’s alpha.

Emeline huffs again and works hard not to shed a tear. As the alpha’s only daughter, she has no choice but to obey. This is not what she desires, to be given away like a prize. She wants more than anything to wait for her true mate, as most wolf shifters do, but it’s so rare to find one. So rare that most shifters settle with imprinting.

But this is what her father wishes, and she’ll do it because she loves him. He is her only parent left, her mother having died during childbirth. He, and this pack, are the only thing she’s ever known. To leave them . . . Well, she can’t fathom it. More than the prospect of finding her true mate, this fact hurts the worst.

Damn them, Emeline thinks to herself, cursing her father, her future mate, and the alliance itself. She clenches her hands at her sides and looks away from her reflection. Damn them all.

An alliance like this isn’t uncommon in the shifter world. This particular one is necessary to secure the massive territory shared with three packs - the woods of Stonewell Pack, the mountain of Brook Mountain Pack, and the city in the flatlands at the base of the mountain in which the infamous rogue shifters live.

If a shifter is smart, they never go to the city filled with both humans and shifters. The rogues have claimed the city as their own along with almost everything in it. The majority of them have a reputation, and not a good one. They have no true alpha, and so far, the Head Alpha - the Brook Mountain alpha - has let it be so. She can’t fathom why because a rumor has been floating around that they trade in wolfcalm, a nasty shifter drug. But it’s only a rumor, and the Head Alpha and neighboring packs can’t do anything about a rumor. Or so her father says.

Aside from the rumors, Eme knows for a fact that they all want the Head Alpha title. Everyone knows this—that’s no secret. And by doing so, by one of the rogues challenging him, that would mean a challenge between shifters, and she doesn’t know enough about either Brook Mountain Pack or the band of rogues to guess who would come out on top. However, if one of the rogues were to get seated as head alpha, an uprising would follow. No one wants a drug-dealing wolf to be in charge.

Emeline shoves the thought of the rogues aside. She knows the mountains matter most, especially considering her predicament.

The Brook Mountain’s alpha is the Head Alpha of all United States wolf packs, and soon, she will be mated to him. Her father's financial asset to the area would aid the Brook Mountain Pack and their political agenda to bring order to their world. Emeline can only imagine all that the alliance entails, and truth be told, she doesn’t care to find out. Perhaps it's to ensure the Head Alpha’s continued survival. Perhaps it’s to secure allies against the rogues. They’ve never gotten along after all. She just knows she’ll do everything in her power to keep from falling for the Brook Mountain alpha. Her true mate is out there, and if she prolongs it long enough, maybe she’ll find him.

Pushing back her vanity stool, Emeline stands and straightens her black cocktail dress. Her father picked it out for her, and thankfully, he has good taste. It hugs her curves, curves she made peace with a long time ago. She’s always had a bigger figure, and there was a time when it bothered her, but not anymore.

She fidgets with the dress some more then sighs. If she doesn’t go downstairs soon, her father will come up to drag her down. Not physically, of course. Her father is a gentle but firm man. He can get livid and pushy when he needs to be but rarely does with his only daughter. He is, however, as stubborn as a mule and would pester her until she makes an appearance.

Emeline, or Eme as everyone else calls her, shuffles past her freshly painted canvases, past her luggage waiting to be taken to the Brook Pack’s territory come morning. She heads toward the door, bends to pick up her red high heels, and slides them on her slender feet. When she rights herself, she pauses with her hand on the doorknob and takes a deep breath.

“I can do this,” she mutters to the room.

With a square of her shoulders, she pulls the door open, heads into the spacious hall, and slowly descends the elaborate wood stairs. It doesn’t take long for her to reach the great hall where the shifters have congregated, conversing amongst one another as music pours out the speakers dotting every corner of the large room.

It isn’t often that the great hall gets used. In fact, Eme often wonders who gets the duty of dusting the vases and washing the long royal blue curtains. She isn’t one to hang around the house all day, but she does know that the duty is appointed to someone.

Eme weaves around clusters of people dressed in fine dresses and tuxedos, each holding a glass of champagne. The affairs in the great hall are always elaborate. Dressing in the finest clothes goes without saying. Everyone wants to impress.

Ahead, her father stands next to a few people she doesn’t recognize. She starts to head toward him, but someone pulls on her bare arm. She whips around to face the person who grabbed her, only to chuff. “Not now, Dillon.”

Dillion Skyler’s bright blond hair shines in the pale light. He’s not the most handsome man in the room. As her ex, standing here staring at his thin, harsh lips and sharp blue eyes, she can’t figure out what she ever saw in him.

“You can’t keep avoiding me,” he growls. His hand tightens around her arm.

She yanks her arm free. “Whatever makes you think I’m avoiding you?” she asks sweetly. He has a temper, and she doesn’t wish to make a scene.

“Every time I see you, you turn away.”

“I’ve been busy.” Busy finding ways to do anything but talk to you.

“Lies.” His eyes spark with fury. He never used to be this angry, but according to the rest of the pack gossip, he’s been obsessed with getting back together with her. She’s made it a mission to make it clear that she has no interest. He was an ass. A controlling ass. “As beta of this pack, I know -”

“Enough.” She leans closer, letting her temper seep through her tone. “You need to move on, Dillon. Go find yourself a submissive wolf who will fulfill your needs the way I never could.”

Though he was an ass, she fought him the entire way during their short relationship. She’s the alpha’s daughter and inherited her stubborn alpha traits from her father. She won’t curb them for anyone.

She can feel his anger radiating off of him in waves, but she turns and walks away. She shakes her hands at her sides, ridding herself of the tension crawling along her nerves. She doesn’t know how much clearer she can be, but luckily, she won’t have to deal with him for much longer. That’s the only plus side to this arranged mating.