Rejected My Alpha Mate

#Chapter 17 This is my song

Tyler POV

Camelot Records Auditorium

"No wonder you've kept her hidden all these years! I wouldn't want the world trying to steal my woman

all the time either."

Dylan Roberts had been my best friend since we were boys. He was the youngest son of House

Roberts who were the Alpha House of New Moon Pack. My father had wanted me to have strong

friends; all the boys put into my orbit growing up had been potential new Alpha leaders or betas at

least.

The merit of a friendship was judged based on how useful the friendship could prove to be in the future

as far as Alpha John Wright was concerned.

I doubted my father had ever had a conversation without first weighing whether or not he could benefit

from the exchange of words.

"Thanks for letting me sign her. I gotta admit I was surprised you agreed to it with the travel involved in

her tour package, but it's a very generous---"

"Travel?"

Dylan looked at me with a short bark of laughter, "Tyler, have you heard anything I've said? We signed

your wife last week with one of the most ambitious tour schedules in years. People are hungry for

exactly the intimate performance experience Rachel delivers and she does deliver every single time,

man! She's a natural!"

'Silence!'

I closed my eyes in frustration as I ground my teeth together. My wolf was getting away from me again.

Wynd had completely taken over to snap at Dylan.

"I apologize, Dylan. Wynd is not keen on the attention Rachel is getting. He'd also like it noted she is

our mate, not our wife."

"Understandable," Dylan agreed cautiously, edging back toward the stage as he eyed me, "I'm going to

go check in with the team. Make sure everything is ready to go."

I let him run while he could. Wynd radiated a smug aura in my mind which I couldn't fault him for as he

was a strong Alpha. Wynd had not been the one to lose our mate: I shouldered the blame alone for

Rachel's absence.

'Damn right you do. It's your place to get her back, too!'

'Do you have any suggestions for returning her?' I asked my wolf, feeling a fool for having a

conversation with myself in public even if it were entirely confined to my mind.

'Why would I have any idea how to get your mate back? My mate didn't leave me. Your mate left you!'

Wynd had a point.

Rayne had gone with Rachel the way Wynd would always have to go with me. Our wolves were

trapped inside us as much as we were trapped with our wolves. I sometimes envied the silence

humans must enjoy inside the sanctity of their private minds. I knew the quiet wouldn't be worth the

tradeoff though.

Humans were an overall weak race and I had not been bred to tolerate weakness.

Dylan had not returned in some time and the stage remained empty. I was growing more restless than

the reporters. Unsurprising, I supposed, as reporters were regularly expected to wait while I waited for

no one.

Moonrise Entertainment handled many press conferences every single week. I was annoyed over the

extensive delay in presenting the talent.

I told myself I was frustrated by the lack of professionalism, but Wynd gave a snort inside my mind to

prove he knew my irritation was fueled solely by my impatience to lay eyes on my mate again.

Dylan was shaking hands with an older man by the wings. I couldn't see Rachel. My view was

obstructed as my stepsister Charlotte made her way in front of me.

"Tyler! You have to meet Nathan Lewis. He's Alpha heir to Full Moon Pack. He says he knows Rachel!"

I didn't care if Nathan Lewis knew the location of the Holy Grail, the Fountain of Youth, and Osama Bin

Laden's weapons cache. If he kept blocking my view of my mate, I was going to kill him.

Holding his hands up jokingly, Nathan offered, "Easy, big fella. I'm only here as a friend. I promise I will

leave your little sister in the same piece I found her in."

"I don't give a damn how you leave Charlotte. She's capable of handling her own affairs."

Charlotte had never needed a male to take care of her. She wasn't delicate the way Rachel had always

been. I suppose my father was lucky in his daughter because I'd never been responsible for protecting

my sister.

"Ouch. Char, you sure big brother has your best interests at heart?"

"Don't worry about Tyler. He's all bark and no bite."

I had plenty to say about her description, but, right then, Rachel appeared on the stage and the world

fell away.

A slip of blue silk whispered over her body, molding itself to her curves and moving as smooth as water

being poured into a glass. Her skin glowed with health. She'd paired a set of red stilettos with the dress

for a pop of color; I couldn't stop staring at how long and strong her legs looked.

Applause sounded throughout the audience as she settled on the piano bench. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Dylan returned to my side and bumped my shoulder with his own, "She's a real showstopper, right?"

Rachel had a natural magnetism to her. I'd thought it was a sign of inheriting her grifter father's thieving

ways, but there was almost no deception in Rachel at all.

She didn't even tell polite lies gracefully so she'd mastered the art of creative omission.

I had been the reason she'd needed to learn the skill. I wasn't proud of how I had treated her. I wasn't

ashamed of it either.

Rachel had been cared for from the first moment she had entered my life. I could have done better, but

she could have done worse as well.

"Stop growling, would you? You're going to ruin the atmosphere."

I clamped down on my emotions, forcing Wynd back to the farthest reaches of my consciousness as

Rachel began to play.

Closing my eyes, I let myself feel the music. Her voice was a gentle breeze on a hot summer day. The

piano was rain sprinkling down in spring.

My wolf preferred to sleep with his mate at his side; I had indulged my nature by playing the YouTube

video of Rachel singing "Love at the First Sight" as I readied myself for sleep at night.

With my eyes closed, I could remember the exact moment I had first laid eyes on her in LUST.

I knew this song was about her love for me.

"I can't believe it! You really like this one!" Dylan chortled in my ear.

"This is my song," I told him confidently, "Rachel is singing about the first time we met. I can tell."

Dylan was grinning from ear to ear as I opened my eyes at the end of the song. The audience went

crazy. They loved Rachel! She was a star.

My father was going to have plenty to say to me about not handling her contract myself. Who knew

what was included in the fine print?

Dylan wouldn't try to take advantage of my mate out of malice, but there were business standards in

entertainment which were accepted practice to try to arrange for the good of the production company.

Dylan and I were the best of friends---yet friendship did have limits within the business realm.

He was going to try to do right for Camelot Records the way I would always try to do my best for

Moonrise Entertainment.

"We're going to start the interview now!"

"Shh," I heard, looking over to find Nathan Lewis patting my sister Charlotte on the arm to try to settle

her down to better hear the reporters up front.

"Rachel Flores everyone! Rachel, I think the question on everyone's mind has to be: what was the

inspiration for Love at the First Sight? Have you felt love at first sight yourself? Are you singing from

experience?"

Rachel gave a throaty laugh I hadn't heard in far too long. She stood from the piano bench to share the

standing mic with the famous announcer who represented Camelot Records in their press junkets,

Carlton Joy.

"I have, actually, felt love at first sight. This song was inspired by my own life. I consider myself blessed

to have the memories."

"So you're not with your first love?"

"I am currently single," Rachel allowed with a toothy grin which earned her some wild applause.

"You've gotta give us more," Carlton urged, "At least give us a little more of a peek behind the scenes,

Rachel! Please?"

Rachel laughed again, "You surely aren't interested in hearing this? Oh, okay! Okay! So, I was---"

"Finishing high school," I murmured confidently.

Dylan raised a brow at me as Rachel finished.

"---a freshman in high school---"

Dylan mimed being shot through the chest and I crossed my arms to avoid punching him. What did

Rachel mean a freshman in high school? We hadn't even met!

"I had known his family all my life. I'd thought he was cute, but he had never noticed me. I got turned

around in the halls, wound up in the wrong class, and he offered to walk me back to piano---then he

stayed for my lesson. Just to hear me play. I knew I would feel happy if I could just play for him for the

rest of my life."

I didn't pay attention to the rest of the interview, instead I was focused on the flush on Nathan Lewis's

face and the fact he was paying far too much attention to my mate.

The minute the interview was over, I shot to my feet: I was going to have words with Rachel!