Once Upon A Rejection

I opened my eyes. Last night I was so tired from the journey back to campus that I fell asleep on top of the bed fully clothed almost straight after eating. At some point in the night Grayson must have moved me because now I was wrapped up in bed. Grayson was laid at the other side of the bed facing me, he was still fast asleep. He looked so cute when he was sleeping.

Without thinking I reached out and moved a strand of hair out of his face. As my fingers brushed his skin his eyes fluttered open. He looked over at me and smiled.

“I could get used to this.” He said.

“To what?” I asked.

“Waking up next to the most beautiful girl in the world.” He replied. I blushed and buried my head into the pillow.

“Are you trying to hide from me?” He said.

He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I kept my face hidden in the pillows but I could feel his warm breath on my neck sending tingles down my spine. I could feel my desire for him rising.

I had been doing so well to keep it at bay for this long but having him this close to me, it was impossible. I wanted him to k**s me, heck I wanted him to claim me.

I turned my head so I could see Grayson. I could hear that his heart was racing just as much as mine and he was looking at me intently. I leaned forward until our lips met.

He tightened his grip around me as he deepened our k**s. I could feel his hand moving up my back. I ran my tongue across his lips until his tongue met mine.

My phone alarm started ringing on the bedside table.

‘Ignore it.’ Jade growled.

I slipped my fingers under the hem of his t-shirt and started to run my hand up his back. He g*****d and nibbled my bottom l*p lightly.

The alarm was slowly getting louder. I signed in frustration and spun around so I could turn the stupid thing off. I pressed the button and spun back around but I was too slow. Grayson was already getting out of bed.

“We should get ready, I don’t want to make you late.” He said.

‘I wish he would.’ Jade g*****d. She was even more frustrated than I was.

“I hope you don’t mind me using the bathroom first. I kind of need a cold shower.” He said, as he grabbed a bag of clothes and hurried into the bathroom.

‘Oh my, did you see what he is packing? It’s huge.’ Scarlett said.

‘If you listened to me then you wouldn’t have only seen it.’ Jade said.

I got out of bed and started gathering the things I would need for the day ahead. By the time we had both showered and got ready we and both seemed to have calmed down substantially but there was still a great deal of tension between us.

Grayson’s mind seemed to be elsewhere. He hardly spoke to me while we had breakfast together or the walk to the car afterwards. He kept glancing at me and there was a look in his eyes as though he was trying to make sense of something. There was clearly something wrong and I didn’t like seeing him like this.

I got into the passenger seat of the car next to him. His eyes flitted in my direction then focused back on the road ahead of us. I fastened my seatbelt but still he made no move to set off or to even look in my direction.

“Are you ok? You have been acting odd since breakfast.” I asked.

I was worried that when I kissed him he realised that I wasn’t all that special. Maybe he was just thinking of a polite way to accept my rejection. To be fair, that is probably more than I deserved after the way I rejected him.

I don’t know why but the thought of him accepting my rejection was actually painful. Was I starting to have feelings for him?

“You clearly find me attractive and we get on pretty well when you forget to pretend to hate me for a while. So why don’t you want me as your mate?” He asked.

“You didn’t stand up for me when my stepfather took my position from me. You could have stopped him from doing it but you didn’t. The only thing I can think is that you don’t think I am good enough to be your beta.” I replied.

“That’s not true. Your stepfather gave my father his reasons for wanting you to be replaced but me and my dad only agreed because you couldn’t be both the pack’s luna and the pack’s beta.” He said.

“Wait a moment, how did you know I was going to be your mate?” I asked.

“When I first met you I had this overwhelming urge to protect you. It was so strong that it was driving me nuts so I asked my dad about it. He told me that was exactly how he felt around my mom until she started approaching her eighteenth birthday and he started to have a whole range of other feelings for her.” He said.

“Is that why you didn’t want me to go to college?” I asked.

“I knew it would be unbearable to have you so far away from me but my dad told me that I was being selfish. I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the better of me like that. I am sorry.” He said.

The worst thing was I could tell that he meant it. I had spent years being annoyed at him for something that wasn’t even his fault. He could have just accepted my rejection and I would have lost my mate and never have even realised that I was wrong about him.

“I forgive you but why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I asked.

“My father said that telling you that you would be luna would make it very difficult for you to have a normal life. If I had known how Ezra and Thomas were treating you I would have done something sooner.” He said.

“Sooner?” I asked.

“After you left I may have had a little bit of a fight with Ezra.” He said. He looked a little bit embraced.

“What, really?” I said. I felt a little bit sorry for Ezra. He probably got completely destroyed by Grayson. That will have hurt his ego more than the punches hurt him physically.

“He should have never upset my mate.” Grayson said, there was the hint of a growl as he spoke.

‘Now you know that I was right, take back the rejection.’ Jade said.

Maybe she was right. I couldn’t see a good reason not to give him a chance after what he told me. I also couldn’t see how we could have a proper relationship if I didn’t take my rejection back.

“Maybe I have been a bit unfair to you. Maybe we should start again as though the last few days didn’t happen.” I suggested.

“If you think that will help but I don’t think you have done anything wrong.” He said.

He was still staring ahead but he was smiling now. He was trying to sound neutral but anyone who could see or hear him would be able to tell how excited he was.

“I want us to take it slow though. We don’t know if we even like each other yet.” I said.

“Of course. Maybe we can go on a date on Friday night.” He suggested.

“I will look forward to it.” I replied.

I took a deep breath.

“I, Molly Morgan rescind my rejection and accept you, alpha Grayson Ward as my mate.” I said.

Grayson turned to face me. He leaned forward and started kissing my cheek and neck but I pushed him away.

“Not right now. We are going to be late.” I said.

Grayson sat back in his seat and started the car. We didn’t talk again but he didn’t stop smiling once on the whole drive to college.