The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate
Chapter 8

TYLER

I didn’t have much in the way of expectations going into my date with Snow. She seemed nice, beautiful, and we had a good time talking Friday night after my set. Snow was nice, maybe a little too nice for my liking, but I knew women were only as bad as they thought you wanted them to be. I was hoping to convince Snow to be downright naughty.

When I saw her coming out of the house, I nearly swallowed my tongue. She was all dressed up and looked amazing. She wasn’t halfway to the car before I was scrambling out of my car to open the door for her. What the hell had I been thinking, just honking to let her know I was here? I had thought she was a seven, but with the way she was dressed, she was a ten. A ten deserved a little bit more attention, I figured. I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“You are looking downright beautiful, Snow. You know we’re just going to Dotty’s, right? It’s not that high class of a place. I know you’re not from Montana, but do you know what a dive it is?”

“Yes,” Snow said, eyes twinkling. “I was there the other night.”

I usually had it together a little bit better. Right now, I felt like a downright idiot because my brain didn’t want to work. Instead of sweeping her off her feet, I was probably making her think I was slow. Five seconds ago, I wasn’t even trying to make an impression, but now, I was. She had gotten my attention.

“That’s right, I don’t know what I’m thinking.”

She giggled, actually giggled, and a shiver went up my spine. It was the hottest damn sound I had heard in a very long time. What was it about her that made me feel so different? My inner beast, which was pretty quiet most of the time, was going crazy right. My inner wolf downright insisted that I claim her. The stakes felt a lot higher where it came to her. With Snow, it mattered.

The plan was to take her out to dinner and then take her back to the bed and breakfast. It wasn’t ideal; the old lady who ran it was probably going to be highly offended by what I planned to do to Snow. After being around her for more than a few minutes, I realized there were some major flaws in my plan.

I hoped she would want to be loose with me, but she didn’t seem to be that type of woman. After having dinner with her and feeling her out, I realized the best I was probably going to get out of the night was a k**s.

I didn’t want to be back in Winter Fall, but maybe Snow was the reason I was here. Why did I react so strongly to her? Now, I wondered if meeting Snow was the only reason I was pushed back to the starting line. It felt like she was part of my destiny.

“So, we have been out for over an hour, and you still haven’t told me much about yourself. Are you trying to be mysterious? Because you don’t need to do that to make yourself appealing. I want to learn everything there is to know about you,” I coaxed Snow along.

It was actually kind of weird to be around a woman who talked so little. She didn’t seem vapid or anything like that; it was like she was trying to hide something. But what would a woman like Snow have to hide? She was sweet and innocent, likely an open book. I couldn’t see her deceiving anyone.

“It is a really long story, but, honestly, there’s not much more that I can tell you.”

Well, that made no sense whatsoever, because she had barely told me anything. I pretty much knew nothing, which would have been fine before the date started, but now I had a real need to learn all that I could about her. When I asked her out, I thought it would just be a fun fling. Snow was more than that, even if I didn’t know what that meant.

“Honestly, I’m telling you, there’s not much that I know.”

“Well, tell me something. Like, what is your favorite meal?” I tried not to seem too bothered by it, but I didn’t understand why she was making me work so hard for any kind of details about her. It was cute in the beginning, but I really was trying to get to know her, and I couldn’t if she was playing games.

“I think that my favorite meal is steak, but it could be something else.”

I had no idea why she phrased it that way. I felt a moment of aggravation run through me because it was like she was playing hard to get and I didn’t understand why. Why was she making it so complicated, like I had to work for it?

“You think?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “It is like I said, a long story, but I don’t remember anything from before about three years ago. I woke up half dead in the woods, and some local hunters found me and took me to a hospital. So, yeah, I could have had a different favorite meal. I try not to consider anything now as written in stone, because I just don’t know. I could have been a vegetarian in my other life and liked mung beans or something. But for now, it’s steak.”

It took a minute for her words to really hit me. Here I was thinking she was being coy and actually she just really didn’t know. It was eye opener.

“I’m not sure what to say.” What could I say to that?

“Trust me, I know. It’s wild, so I don’t tell a lot of people. Don’t freak out too bad. It’s just the way it is. We all have something to deal with, right?”

“In some ways, I know what you’re going through.”

The waiter came back at the most inopportune time, and I paid for the check, tipped, and asked Snow if she was ready to leave. I just wanted to get out of here, because I was nervous about what I was going to say next. I couldn’t have a bunch of shifters around because I didn’t want this conversation to get back to Sterling or anyone else in the pack. What happened next, I wanted to stay between the two of us.

When we were outside, she asked me, “How can you understand what I’m talking about?”

“I myself don’t remember a lot about where I come from and the specifics of it. I was a lot younger when I had my amnesiac moment, most likely my brain trying to save me from some traumatizing experience. My parents and most of my clan had died about that time. It was obviously something that I wasn’t meant to remember, but the unknown still haunted me.” I didn’t get as detailed as I could have gotten, but it was enough for her to understand that I really did get it. She wasn’t the only one was fighting a battle with her own memory and questioning everything. I was as well.

“Wow, I think you might be the first person I met who can actually say they know what I’m going through. Do you think you will ever find out where you come from?”

“I’m not sure,” I said with a shrug, pretending like I hadn’t really thought about it, but I had, many times. “It has been a little over twenty years and I still haven’t figured it out. I doubt I ever will. I hope something different for you, that you will one day find out what happened in all that time you lost.”

“Thanks, but sometimes I think all of this was just a blessing in disguise. Maybe the life I left behind was horrible and I am trying to forget it as well. Maybe this is me getting a second chance. I sometimes don’t even want to check. Maybe it is for the best to not know. I am sorry you had to go through all that, though, not knowing for so long.”

She put her hand on my arm, and it was just the lightest touch, but it activated something inside me, something that could no longer be ignored. I pulled her into my arms, feeling the last little bit of resistance leave her as I pressed her close to me. Whatever was going on, fate, nature, chemicals, I really didn’t know or care, I just wanted her, badly.

I kissed her, and it was perfectly sweet. I wanted more, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. Snow really wasn’t like that.

When I pulled away, Snow barely looked at me. She seemed so innocent, so perfect. How could I ever turn my back on her?

I saw someone watching us as we made our way to my car. I didn’t know who it was, but he had dark features and really tan skin, so in the darkness I couldn’t see much. The first thing that came to mind was that it was someone who wanted to get close to Snow. By looking at her and talking to her for just a few moments, it was understandable that other men would be interested in her.

“Do you know who that is?” I asked her as we drove right past the person.

“He is one of the new hires at the ranch. I think his name is Onyx. We’ve met a couple of times, and he is nice enough. I wonder what he’s doing here.”

I just nodded and let it be, but something felt off. I didn’t want to focus on that, I wanted to stay in the moment with Snow. I couldn’t help but think about him, though. What was he doing? Who was he watching, and why?