Once Upon A Rejection

After we finished breakfast Grayson took me to their own private gym which was situated at the back of the house. It was a large open room which was split into two areas. The larger half was filled with all different types of weights and exercise machines. The remainder of the room was set up for sparring.

It was a really nice place. I would have loved to have been able to come here back when I was back at the pack before. After what had happened with my mom I didn’t feel confident going to the local gym so I stopped working out almost completely. I started working out again when I went to college but there was nobody there who I could fight against.

As a result it had been years since I had trained against anything more dangerous than a punching bag. I knew that it was going to take me some time to get back into it again. Grayson spent the first few hours taking me over the basic techniques on how to defend myself and how to avoid attacks. I remembered most of the moves but my body was no longer used to moving in that way.

I was slower and more awkward than I remember being. I used to be such a strong fighter. I hadn’t shifted yet so I couldn’t fight against any of the adults but nobody my age was a match for me. Now I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to fight my way out of a wet paper bag.

“Ok, I think you are ready to start sparring with me properly. I will go easy on you I promise.” Grayson said.

“I am not sure about this.” I said.

I was worried about looking weak and stupid in front of him. I was meant to be the beta for this pack, it didn’t feel right to be seen in such a weak position even by my mate.

“How about a little competition?” Grayson asked.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked.

“Everytime you evade my attacks you get a point and every time you don’t I get a point.” He said.

“What happens if you win?” I asked.

He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around my waist. He leaned in to whisper in my ear. I could feel his warm breath against my ear sending shivers down my spine.

“You are mine tonight, to do with as I wish. If you win then I will do anything you want.” He said.

“I like the sound of that.” I replied, my voice shaking slightly with desire. I didn’t know which outcome I wanted more, they both sounded amazing.

‘Maybe if we get a draw we can do both.’ Scarlett suggested as we got into position.

Even though Grayson said that he would go easy on me he clearly had no intention of making it easy for me to win our little competition. I was only able to evade around a third of his attacks yet he was able to easily avoid all of my counter attacks. It was highly frustrating.

“How do you keep avoiding me like that?” I asked, pouting.

“You hesitate for a second before you attack so I know to expect it. I think you are worried about hurting me.” He replied.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“I was going to tell you but I wanted to make sure I had won our competition first. I have plans for you.” He said.

“So you thought you would cheat?” I asked. Trying to sound upset even though I was a little aroused thinking of what he might have planned.

“It’s not cheating, it’s being observant.” I replied.

‘I think we will enjoy what he has planned so don’t ruin it by making him feel guilty.’ Jade whined.

‘We won’t but that doesn’t mean we should make it easy for him. We should show him what we can do without hesitating.’ Scarlett said.

“Fine, let’s see if you can still beat me now that I know that.” I said. Grayson smiled when he realised that I wasn’t really mad at him.

He gave me a moment to prepare myself before he went in for his attack. Just as Grayson had noticed things about me, I had also noticed a few things about him. For example, he attacked from his right hand side much more frequently and he would always cluster his attacks.

When he went in for his first attack I was ready. His strike was quick but I was quicker. I dodged out of the way of his hand with about an inch to spare. Before he had time to recover and go in for his second attack I struck him in the stomach.

Grayson clearly wasn’t expecting me to get in an attack of my own. He staggered back a few steps, clutching at his side where I had hit him. I was instantly overcome with worry. Had I hurt him? I didn’t mean to hit him that hard. I didn’t even think I was strong enough to hurt an alpha.

‘That is probably my fault.’ Scarlett said. Putting on an innocent voice. Had she tried to hurt him on purpose?

‘No I just didn’t know my own strength.’ She assured me.

I heard laughing coming from behind me. I was startled, I turned around to see Leyton had joined us. I wondered how long he had been in the room watching us.

“What are you doing here?” Grayson asked, sounding a little embarrassed.

“You have been gone for hours, mom was starting to worry about Molly. It seems that she didn’t need to worry.” Leyton said.

“I thought you were going to speak to Carly. Don’t tell me that you are hiding from her.” Grayson teased.

“Not at all. I already spoke to her.” He said, grinning. He looked happy, it had to be good news.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“At first she wasn’t too happy to see me back here but after a long talk and lots of grovelling she decided to accept me. She just wanted a bit of time to tell Thomas and formally reject him.” Leyton said.

I could tell he was happy to be getting a second chance with his mate. He had the same smile and excited demeanour that I had seen in Grayson a few times since I accepted our bond.

“That is great news.” I said.

“I think we should celebrate.” Grayson said.

“I think that mom wanted us to help get ready for our guests’ arrival tomorrow.” Leyton said.

“We will do that too but maybe later we can all go out for dinner.” Grayson suggested.

“Speaking of food, I am starting to get hungry again.” I said.

Grayson looked at me in disbelief but didn’t make a comment about my ridiculous appetite. He took me back through into the kitchen and sat me down at the kitchen table. He made small talk while he prepared a quick snack for me.

He refused to let me do a single thing to help him. I could only assume that it was my hormones making him treat me as though I was made of glass. I hoped that his protective instinct wasn’t going to get any worse.

‘No comment.’ Jade said, with mirth in her voice. I dreaded to think what she meant by that.

After I ate my snack Grayson and I spent the rest of the afternoon helping to prepare for the party. The council expected a large outdoor party where the whole pack would be in attendance followed by a feast with the higher ranking pack members. This meant that the house needed to be decorated inside and out before they arrived tomorrow.

Tomorrow looked as though it was going to be a busy day. The council members were due to arrive shortly after lunchtime. They would do quick introductions, get settled into their rooms before the party began in the middle of the afternoon.

The feast would start at some point in the evening but the party would probably go on until the early hours in the morning. Luna Ward had taken this into account and planned for the decorations to look good in the light and in the dark.

The whole garden was decorated. There was bunting and banners that would look beautiful in the day but it was nighttime when it would look truly enchanting. We had spent hours stringing up fairy lights over the whole area and setting out lanterns.

Luna Ward had done such a good job getting all of this together in just a matter of hours. If I hadn’t seen it myself then I wouldn’t have thought it possible to do all of this in one day. Part of me wondered if that was the plan all along.

It was almost as though they wanted us to fail. They knew that we are a relatively small pack and yet they gave us such lofty requirements and a short timescale. The only question is why? Maybe they wanted us to fail so that they could mock us or maybe they were just looking for an excuse to deny Grayson’s request.