The Alpha's Rejection...

nd my dress saturated, but I couldn't care less. The tears were coming hard now, burning hot down my face, each heave ripped from my chest like it

de my head. I squeezed my arms tighter around myself, holding everything in, but the ache i

so dumb? How could I have convinced myself tonight was different? He would look at me, see me, and ever

d to give up on me, to let me be sad here, alone, to wallow in my misery. I wanted to disappear, sink into the earth and never come back agai

ously at the tears as if I could somehow obliterate what had just happened, though I knew it

ful. I didn't turn around. Whoever it was, they should have

ssa

finally. She stood there, hands stuck in her jacket pockets, a look of soft concern on h

ning back to the water, my

ne, though I wished she wouldn't do that either. We sat there a long while without saying a word. The stream kept going, an

t felt like forever. Her voice was soft, as though sh

about it, didn't want to say the words out loud. But the

red, my voice stumbling ov

he silence hang between us, as if she

eeling the tears start to spill over again. "I said.

sped my hand in hers, the warmth of her touch against my chilled skin should have

a," she said after a while. "N

He's right, though. I'm an Omega. There wil

my hand tight. "You're stronger than any of them ar

s some kind of wall around me that just wasn't letting any of it in that didn't feel right. I knew

ly above a whisper. "How do I go back after that? How do I

but steady. "You keep your head up. You walk back in there, and yo

ted to believe that I had the strength to do what she was saying. But t

I can," I said,

f you don't, he wins. And I know you, Tessa. You

r at least who I was supposed to be. And still really hurt so damn mu

moment, then reached out to take it, letting her hoist me up onto

t's get out of here. You don't

eneath our boots, the wind picking up around us. The cold air cut much sharper now and bit

The path we had taken was one I knew well, but tonight it felt different as if the forest sensed something. Th

ing up. The breath caught inside me for a moment. There was something about the stars, the way they seemed so high and so fa

, speaking barely above a whi

ble to tear my eyes from

caught up in our own worlds to say a word. The wind whipped around us, jerking at my hair, but I didn't

ed me gently. "Let's head back," she said and, looking back at m

as right, and that maybe I could find a way through this. Maybe I didn't have to know yet

hat was eno