Four years later

Mellisa's POV

So much has changed since after the rejection.

A knock resounds outside my door, pulling me from my reverie. I can make out the sweet voice of my son and my good friend, Fred.

"Why, we can't gwo in?" My baby, Gift questions, Fred with a cute voice. His little grammatical mistakes make him so adorable.

A sweet smile lingers on my lips at his cuteness. My feet hit the wooden floor lightly as I walked towards them to open the door.

"Because Mom might be busy in her office." Fred answers him, just as the door swings open.

My son's face lit up and his arms opened wide. "Momy!!! I've missed you sooooo much."

I chuckle lightly, picking him up from Fred's arms. I wrap my arms around him. "I've missed you much more my sweet love."

"How was your day with your Uncle Daddy?" I ask, my son insists on calling Fred "Uncle Daddy."

"It was beautiful, Ma. I play shoccer with him and ate lots and lots of ice-cream, too."

I give Fred a look, he stares everywhere but at me. He clears his throat at my son.

Gift's eyes widen in realization. "Ooops, Mom I didn't have any ice-cream, just a little."

"Fred, we'll talk about this later." Then I give my son a stern look, "No lying to Mama, and it's soccer baby not shoccer."

His eyes sparkled with mischief. "Yes, Mom. Never again." He is my little 'carbon copy', looks just like me in every way. Even if he didn't I wouldn't love him any less.

"You little devil, your Uncle Daddy has made you so full of mischief." I say tickling him silly.

"Fred, can you call Aiden over? I need to discuss with him what was discussed in the Alpha's Council today."

"You can't mindlink him?"

"Nope it would seem that he is blocking me out. Since he found his mate two weeks ago. He's been a fool for love."

We laugh out loud. "Who would have thought," he said and walked towards the door.

"Please take him with you, I have so much work left on my desk." I say passing my son over to him.

"Sure thing, Alpha." Fred carried my son and walked out.

I settle on my desk and begin to work on my stack of papers.

"Can I come in, Alpha?" My Beta, Aiden asks me using the mindlink.

I drop my pen on my desk and lean back against my chair.

"Ofcourse, lover boy."

My door knob twists open and he steps in. His chocolate eyes meet mine with a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Alpha, you wouldn't let me hear the last of this, would you?"

"Not at all, 'Mr. I can never do this for love', is all over his mate."

He shakes his head at me. "You wanted updates before we have a meeting with the Council of Elders in our pack and neighbouring Alpha, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're no fun at all. Go ahead and give me the updates."

"Well as you know our world is in complete chaos, the rogues are more powerful than ever."

"Yes I know that, go ahead."

"Well the Council of Alphas saw a need for us all to coorporate so as to reduce the severity of the aftermath of the attacks."

"What exactly did they propose, Aiden?" I ask, getting impatient.

"They would like us larger packs to help those attacked."

"And? How would we do that? We are already giving materials and lending some of our warriors to packs that were attacked."

He sighs and says, "I know but it would seem like we have more packs in our world, Meldova, that are attacked than those that are still standing strong."

I heave a sigh and bite my bottom lip in deep thought. This little habit is one of the few things I've found hard to beat.

"So what are they saying?"

"They wrote down names of packs and made us pick them randomly. So whichever you pick, must be helped by you."

"I just hope this will soon be over. We need to think of something fast to overrun the rogues. Because if we continue at this rate we may never be able to salvage the situation."

"Wouldn't you like to know the pack I picked, Alpha?"

I kiss my teeth. "That's not important for now. What we need is to think of strategic ways of preventing the rogues from penetrating."

"Truly, last night they got too close."

"Yes, they did. Truly, I'm so scared, old friend. I don't know if I'm worthy of this position, but my father passed it to me."

Aiden stares at me thoughtfully. He was always a good listener in our clique of friends.

"Never let those thoughts get in your head. You've done a lot, so much. You have been able to successfully keep the rogues out no matter how they try penetrating."

"I just...."

A knock pulls us from our conversation.

"Come in." I answer.

My father, the former Alpha Dave is the first to step in with several Elders of the pack in tow.

An attack happened yesterday, one of our warriors was severely injured. The rogues had somehow pulled him away from his team and attacked.

"Take your seats, Elders." My voice booms round the room.

They all take their seats in my spacious office space. My father gives me a sweet smile and an encouraging nod. It means so much to me.

"Gentlemen and ladies, I called for an emergency meeting so we can discuss two things."

"First the attack yesterday and the fact that we have another pack to tend to." I finish staring round the room.

"Does anyone have anything to say?"

Elder Monica clears her throat and says, "We need to add warriors by the borders and also we need to change the formation of our warriors."

"You're right. It would seem that the rogues had it all figured out."

I then lean forward slightly. "Which makes me wonder how they got to find out." I barely spare a glance.

"Are you implying something, Alpha?" The ever annoying Elder Thomas says in his strangled voice.

"Ofcourse not Elder, I wouldn't dare."

"I feel like we should also be unpredictable and have a backup plan. They will be back and we all know it. In fact much more reinforced." My Father, Dave intercepts knowing about how I and Elder Thomas never got along.

"We'll be ready."

Aiden then clears his throat and says. "We should place all wolves from age twelve to at least learn basic defense, so even our young can protect themselves."

"Also training will be more rigorous. We need it to survive. We would also build walls around our territory for extra precaution" I say to back his opinion up.

"Now let's tackle the issue of helping the pack." I then turn towards Aiden. "How large is this pack and what is the number of those strong enough to fight and work?"

He takes out a piece of paper from his jeans, his eyes skim through it then he places it down.

"Well the thing is we have a pack of a hundred and fifty. About a hundred can still work and fight."

My head tilts in confusion. "They are much more than I thought. Why couldn't they ward off the attack."

"From what I heard the rogues were so much and outnumbered them, it seems like they were hell bent on destroying the pack house and other structures."

"I see. What about the Alpha?"

"The rogues thought they had killed him but he was just severely injured. He is fine now though scarred."

"That's rather sad. Well hope he is still coming over today so we can make final arrangements. Our pack house has more than enough space."

Aiden's eyes glaze over for some moments. He was definitely mindlinking someone.

He then gives me a long stare. "Fred just informed me that the Alpha is on pack grounds. Should I give them the order to bring him in?"

"Yes, that will be just perfect since the Elders are even here."

His eyes glazed over for a bit then he refocused on me.

"You're staring at me, should I be worried?" I ask Aiden through the mindlink.

"No, Alpha. Just keep your mind open okay?"

"O..okay." I stress, why is my Beta suddenly acting strange?

"Elders, we will just wait for a minute so our guest will join us in no time."

A faint familiar scent reaches my nostrils, I shake my head so it'll fade off. It kept getting close and strong though.

A faint knock distracts me for a moment. "Alpha can we come on?" Fred asks from out the door.

"Come in."

Fred walks in and I freeze completely, eyes bulge out in shock at the sight of who is behind him.

Adam's POV

"Mate, Mate is here." My wolf growls in my head in anticipation.

My eyes skim round the office we stepped into in search of her.

I trip slightly in disbelief at the sight in front of me. My mate, more beautiful than ever, is right in front of me.

Her eyes turned cold once they met mine. "Welcome, Alpha Adam," the former Alpha Dave calls out.

I heard he passed the title down to his foster daughter, it would seem she took right after her, Dad. The rogues have been unable to pass their borders.

"Thank you, Sir. This means so much to my pack and I."

He gestures towards an empty seat. "Take a seat, we have a lot to talk about."

My back feels stiff. I peer around and it seems as if certain persons were staring at me with hostility.

I take the seat and focus on my mate.

"Adam, I'd like you to meet my princess and Alpha, Mellisa Wright Woods."

I take in a sharp breath in utter shock. How?

"W...wow, eeeeermmmm. T..that's great."

I turn my gaze towards my mate, the one I rejected.

"Get mate," my wolf all but screams in the back of my mind.

I shut my eyes, my wolf is pushing forward. He's been silent and distant for the past four years. Since after I rejected her, Daruis, my wolf has been distant from me.

I am trying to force him to go to the back of my mind.

"Alpha Adam, are you okay?" The former Alpha voices his concern though with an unfamiliar feeling lingering beneath.

"Yes Sir, I'm fine." I answer with gritted teeth.

"Perfect. Let's begin then."

"Well, let's move on." My mate then stands up and walks off to a large round wooden table, where there's a map of our world, Meldova, spread out.

"Please join me." Her voice resounds round the room, authority seeping from every word.

Several loud footsteps fill the room, bulky figures crowd the large space. We all walk in a file surrounding her.

"What are the red crosses all over the map?" A middle-aged woman asks in curiosity.

"Well since we are all here. The spaces on the map marked red have been overrun by the rogues." She continues, raw power resonates off her.

What happened to her? She is so different from the sweet and timid Mellisa I knew. Deep down a small part of me wants to believe that she was innocent of the allegations of infidelity but the issue is that all the evidence pointed at her being guilty.

"That's a huge land mass, almost as large as ours." An older man noted.

Now that I actually take a good look at it, the rogues are gaining too much ground. Shame covers me as my own pack grounds have the red mark.

"We need to contact the Council of Alphas. Something needs to be done to push the rogues back or else it won't be good in a few months." Aiden, my mate's Beta states thoughtfully.

It would seem that my mate just noticed this, since her eyes widened at the realization.

My eyes couldn't get off her, she looks almost ethereal. How didn't I see this earlier when we were together? It would seem like I was covered with so much anger that it blinded me.

"Yes, it would be important." She answers him then turns to me. "Most importantly, Alpha Adam, we would like to give our old pack house to your pack."

She then skims through the map and points at a dot that is a part of her lands.

"This is the old pack house at the northern bank. It is serene and so far the safest part of the pack lands."

She then proceeds to say.

"We have around a hundred and eighty rooms. It's built like a fortress and very spacious, you can move in a week."

"Thank you very much, Mellisa. This means so much to my pack and I." I say in appreciation, this is too good to be true.

Her cold gaze meets my warm eyes.

"It's Alpha Mellisa to you. Do well to remember." The spite in her voice makes me stumble on my words.

"I made the decision so that your pack can have a level of autonomy at least as long as we have them here, and a safe space for kids to grow."

That was the mate I knew. Always caring and going the extra mile for others. Even when I pushed her off it never took her kindness away.

"Thank you Alpha Mellisa. This means a lot to us. We can never repay you."

She then gives me a short nod and walks to her table.

"Well, the meeting is adjourned for two weeks. Gentlemen have a great day."

She then takes her seat. I took the chance and sat facing her.

Everyone stood to leave, I remained seated. We need to talk, I don't know what about but we do.

Former Alpha Dave, gave me a once over and walked towards. "Alpha Adam you should be on your way, the meeting is up." He seethes dropping every form of courtesy.

My wolf riles at the threat, who dares come between my mate and I.

"I would like to have a talk with the Alpha, Sir," I said.

"How dare you......"

"Dad, it's fine. I'll be alright, I'm a big girl remember." Mellisa's sweet voice says to lessen the tension.

A full blown smile plays on my lips. I've been an empty shell without her, even with the betrayal.

He hesitates a little then says with completely black eyes. "She's my baby, Adam. I may have let you in my pack in one piece for courtesy sake. But you won't be so lucky again." He then stalks out.

I can sense him right outside the door. In fact there are around six people outside the office door.

She shifts her eyes from his retreating back to me. "What do you want, Alpha Adam?" Her face contorted in a sneer.

"What happened to you, Mellisa? First, you're an Alpha, the last time I checked you didn't even have a wolf."

Her expression turned icy. "I can see you have nothing reasonable to talk about, Alpha."

"You should leave now, and close the door behind you."

A growl passes through my lips at her arrogance. I'm a freaking Alpha and would not condone disrespect.

She raises a brow at me, "Look, Adam you rejected me, so let's leave things the way they are. If someone deserves to be mad it should be me."

Burning fury raged through me. "You betrayed me and our bond, pretending to be a naive little girl. All so you could weave into my heart and rip it right out. Banishment was out of the kindness of my heart."

She didn't utter a word, just picked herself up and walked out of the office.

I stood up and moved with large strides so I could meet up with her.

"Is your guilt eating you up enough?" I voice after her.

I was so lost in my anger that I didn't notice a small figure approaching my mate.

"Mom, I was waiting for you." A little voice echoes in the hallway.

A sharp gasp escapes my lips.

Mellisa's POV

"Ma, go faster," my little boy's voice resounds in my ears. I then push him faster on the swing.

The incident last week with Adam still rings in my head. He didn't fully see my boy, I walked briskly away after him taking advantage of the moment of shock.

"Ma, are you distracted again?" Gift asks, ever so thoughtful and sweet.

"Alpha, the Red Crescent pack are here. Should I take them to the old pack house to settle so you can meet them later?" My Beta, Aiden mutters through the mindlink.

"Yes, do that. Thank you, Aiden, it's so thoughtful of you." He knows about what happened in my past with Adam.

I don't want him to get too close to my son again, I have to think of something.

I hold onto the arm of the swing to then turn to face Gift. "I'm sorry, Mom has been absent minded these days. Let's go get some ice cream from the fridge."

His face lit in joy and his little teeth make him look so adorable. "Thank you, Mom. You're the bestest." He says giving me a big hug.

He then pulls me hastily towards the pack house with his tiny hands.

"I will tell Uncle Daddy, Ma, give me ish cweam before lunch." Gift says as we step into the pack house using the kitchen door.

"Did I hear you right little one?" Fred teases coming from the staircase.

My boy let go of my hand and ran to him.

"Uncle Daddy!!! I mish you so much." Fred lifts him up in his hands, spinning him around.

I fold my arms and lean against the kitchen counter.

Gifts laughter resounds in the kitchen. They have such a beautiful relationship. Fred helps me so well in balancing my work life and being a mother.

"So, your Mom finally agreed to give you ice cream at brunch."

"I so adorable, that why." My boy smirks at him. Fred's bellows with laughter.

I shoot him a playful glare, "You have been quite an influence on my baby."

Fred then smiles at me, "Ofcourse, I'm his Uncle Daddy."

My baby smiled at me from his arms.

"Anyways, can you help us get the ice cream from the fridge, Alpha."

"Sure thing," I said, walking towards the fridge and pulling his favourite out. I then hand it over to him.

"I'll head to my office, so much paperwork," I say grumpily.

"Alpha, you're doing just fine. Don't worry I'll take care of my little princess."

"Thank you so much, Fred. I can't even explain how much what you do means to me."

I then give Gift a peck on the forehead, "I love you baby, don't worry your Uncle Daddy too much."

I walk briskly upstairs towards my office. I'm not ready to see my ex-mate, it comes with so much pain.

I'm not even ready to meet other members of the pack, they treated me horribly.

I arrived at the door of my office just in time, Aiden was leaning against the wall.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here." Aiden taunts with a smirk.

"What do you want, Aiden?"

"You said I should show them to their place, remember?"

"Yes, and?"

"I came to give you feedback at least."

"Alright, let's get into my office." I see my keys to unlock the door and twist the door knob, stepping inside.

I walk to my seat and Aide gets comfortable too.

He peers at me thoughtfully, "Why are you staring at me like that? What's the feedback about?"

"You know you can't keep running right?"

"Who said I was," I snapped at him.

"Ooooo someone's got her panties up in a twist."

"Aidennnnn."

"Yesssssss."

I release a sigh and knock my forehead on, "Fine you caught me, I just feel so overwhelmed, Aiden."

"I thought it was all in the past, but I feel like all my scars are torn open. He hurt me badly, Aiden. So bad." Tears brim at my eyes.

He reaches out to me and says, "We're here for you. We love you and you don't have to take everything alone."

I take a deep breath to hold back the tears. "Thank you so much, Aiden. Those words mean so much to me."

I take some seconds to calm down. "Okay, give me the updates."

He raises an eyebrow, "You sure?"

"Yeah, go on."

"Well, I'd say they're in for a surprise. They don't know who the Alpha is. It would seem Adam didn't tell them anything."

"I see, and?"

"Well the old pack house is in good condition, all thanks to you. Also it was able to accommodate everyone."

"At least everything went well?"

"Yes Alpha."

"But we might need to work on certain things like jobs and productivity. Also, pack training as well."

I nod slightly, "We would need to check their strengths first and place them in groups accordingly. Also we'd place more top warriors in charge of groups."

"Yes Alpha, I told Adam to come over after they settled in a bit."

"Sure, I'll be expecting him."

His eyes glaze over for some minutes, he's definitely speaking with someone using the mindlink.

"Alpha, he's on his way here." Aiden states. "Fred is heading here with him."

"I'm not a porcelain doll, you guys." I say with a little smile.

"Even if you're our Alpha, you're also our baby sister. We'll protect you from everything. Left to Fred you shouldn't meet with the scumbag."

I laugh heartily, that was a bit out of character for him. He was always put together and never cursed anyone out.

"I'll be fine I promise, let them come."

A loud knock makes us know they're here.

"Come in," I order, bracing myself.

The door knob twists open and Fred makes his appearance pushing the door open, right behind him comes Adam.

"Good afternoon, Alpha." Fred says, his face doesn't look too happy though.

"Hi, Fred." I answer with a smile. "Please take your seats."

Adam is staring at me with an expression I can't decipher.

"Welcome to our pack, Alpha Adam. I apologize I couldn't officially welcome you earlier, but my Beta came in my stead." I say spearing a glance at Aiden.

His piercing blue eyes peered at me. I give him a hard stare in return, choosing not to back down.

"Is there a problem, Alpha?"

He clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence. "Not at all, Alpha Mellisa. The space you gave us is more than we expected, we are so grateful."

"It's nothing, I will give your pack a week to rest and settle in. Then, all pack members except the sickly and aged will join warrior training. We'll...."

His face contorts in confusion, "Every pack member?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"Wait, even Omegas?"

"Especially Omegas, Alpha Adam. The supposedly 'weak' need protection more."

"As I was saying, we'll place pack members to what they were doing in your pack. For instance, people that were nannies in the Red Crescent will do the same here, except if they want to do something else."

"But aren't Omegas weak to spar?"

"As I was right?" I ask in annoyance.

"Anyways it's not up for discussion, that's how it's going to be." I say in finality.

"We will do a lot of adjusting then. The structures of our pack differ but we will fit in just fine."

"I'm glad to hear that. We wouldn't want especially the young ones to feel like refugees. We want them to experience home, a proper social structure."

His eyes glaze over briefly and it seems like he is speaking through the mindlink.

I continue talking, since I want this meeting to finish as soon as possible.

"Since we have no idea how long the war will take and rebuilding your former home."

I then make a gesture at Aiden, he nods at me in acknowledgement. "I will give you the schedule for our activities so you guys don't miss out."

"Hope we will have no problems. I respect you as Alpha but you're on my land and my rules. Keep that in mind." I say sternly.

"That wouldn't be a prob....."

"Baby, babe!!!" A screechy female voice interrupts him from outside.

Adam takes an exasperated breath and places his palms against his forehead.

She bangs on the door loudly. "Babe, you came to see the Alpha without me."

Wait, that voice sounds familiar. Goodness, you've got to be kidding me.

The door twists open and perfectly manicured feet in heels step in.