Once Upon A Rejection

Grayson Ward’s POV

Molly was struggling with her heat so Ezra and June agreed to take her to her old room for a shower and a change of clothes. Even though I knew I had to keep looking for her friend, sending my mate away when she needed me made me feel like a failure. She should be screaming my name in pleasure rather than whimpering in pain.

Bran was clawing in my mind trying to force his way forward so he could go to her but I had to stay strong. I am an alpha, it was the purpose of my existence to protect those weaker than me. Ellie may not be a member of my pack but my actions had put her in danger. I needed to rectify the issue before she got hurt.

“I can’t believe you let her get away,” Talen said as he walked towards me. His tone was jovial but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him right now.

“How did Hayden get away from you?” I snapped.

“He went into a restaurant and acted as though he was there for a meeting. He even ordered food but then snuck out the back when he went to the bathroom.” He replied, ignoring my tone and continuing to smile at me. I suddenly felt guilty for taking my frustration out on him, none of this was his fault.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“It’s ok, you can make it up to me later.”

He winked at me causing b***d to rush to my face. I was so glad that nobody from my pack could see me right now, this wasn’t the way people expected their alpha to act. Alpha’s were meant to be assertive, they weren’t meant to blush when their co-mate winks at them. They would probably think it was cute but they would certainly laugh at me.

“We really should look for Ellie,” I replied, trying to force myself to focus.

“Of course, where did you lose her?” He asked.

“Near the middle of campus. I think he met her just outside of the coffee shop and started covering her scent there but I can’t work out where he could be taking her.” I replied, relieved to be on a more comfortable topic.

“He probably just brought her somewhere busy to make sure you lost all trace of her scent. However, I think he would want to take her somewhere more private to go through with whatever he has planned.”

Talen looked to be deep in thought so I kept my mouth shut and let him think. He seemed confused, his eyes were darting in all directions and his movements were erratic. I hadn’t seen him like this before, he always seemed composed and decisive. It was a little comforting to know I wasn’t the only one who had some hidden insecurities.

“I don’t know where he would take her.” Talen admitted.

“If you were in his shoes, where would you take her?” I asked.

Talen thought over my question for a few moments then he nodded his head once and started walking. It took me a while to work out where he was leading me but as we neared the edge of campus it became clear. We were heading for the forest.

Talen was right, this would be a great place to take someone if you didn’t want to be seen together. He could also shift if he wanted to make a quick getaway; he probably had a car waiting for him at one of the other entrances.

There were less scents to confuse our senses once we entered the forest. It didn’t take us long to trace the one smell that didn’t belong, the scent of a human’s fear. We followed that scent and it wasn’t long before we saw other signs that we were on the right track.

We picked up the pace and after a few minutes we could hear shouting from a few metres ahead of us. It was Ellie and it sounded like she was struggling to get away from Hayden. Talen and I glanced at each other then started running in the direction the noise was coming from.

“What are you doing? Let go of me.” She yelled.

“You are coming with me. You will tell me everything you know about her, even if I have to force it out of you.” Hayden growled.

Now I could see them through the trees. Hayden had one arm around Ellie’s waist and another under her armpit, she was trying to get away from him as he dragged her behind him. She didn’t have any idea how much danger she was in. She was clearly terrified but she didn’t know how easily Hayden could snap her spine. It wouldn’t even take that much pressure and it would be over in a matter of seconds.

“Take your hands off her.” Talen shouted.

Hayden spun around, he looked between Talen and myself. He seemed calm but I could tell from the rate of his pulse that he was anything other than relaxed. He knew just as well as I did that he was outmatched. Against me alone he would have been fine but with my speed and Talen’s strength, he didn’t stand a chance.

“That’s not going to happen. What is going to happen is you will let me go and take this girl with me,” he growled.

“I can’t let you do that.” Talen’s eyes were laser focused on Hayden and his muscles were tense as he readied himself to pounce. I took a step forward hoping to distract Hayden and give Talen an opening.

“Don’t come any closer or she is dead,” Hayden shouted as his eyes flickered to me briefly.

Ellie whimpered.

Tears were rolling down her face openly now as Hayden dug his fingers into her tighter. Hayden looked just as scared as she was now. This was over, he just hadn’t realised it yet.

“Don’t do this, you can still get out of this alive,” Talen urged.

Ellie was babbling incoherently, I only managed to catch the odd word that she was saying. She was talking about her future and love. Everything that had happened to her in the last half an hour or so must have been too much for her.

“You can’t beat us but if you give up now I promise not to hurt you,” Talen said.

Hayden looked down at Ellie. Something in his demeanour changed and I could tell he had given up. He wasn’t looking for a way out any more but I couldn’t tell if he was going to surrender or go out fighting.

My adrenaline spiked as I looked for a sign of his intentions. If he was going to attack then I would need to move quickly to save Molly’s friend.

“I guess you are going to get that mark you wanted after all,” Hayden said.

Without hesitation Talen and I started running towards Ellie. As we closed the distance between us we were forced to watch as Hayden’s fangs elongated and sank into Ellie’s shoulder. She let out a b***d curdling scream as she tried desperately to shake his grip but it was no use, he was too strong.

The bite only lasted a few seconds before he removed his teeth and let her fall to the floor like a ragdoll. A second later he was knocked to the floor as Talen punched him directly in the face.

“Why the f**k did you do that?” Talen asked. He was kneeling on Hayden’s chest and he had one of his arms across his neck.

“Now the hybrid will have to watch her friend die a slow and painful death.” Hayden replied.

I wanted to rip Hayden’s throat out but that wouldn’t fix what he had done to Ellie. Changing a human who wasn’t your mate was dangerous, even for a werewolf. It only worked out about sixty percent of the time, the rest either died or ended up…… different. I didn’t know how often the process worked for lycans but I had a feeling it was less often than for werewolves.

“I’m not going to let that happen,” I said.

I took hold of his arm, I let my claws elongate and ran them over his wrist. I held it against Ellie’s bite, his b***d would help her heal. Most people who were bitten weren’t also marked and hardly any of them also got the shifter’s b***d. Maybe that will be enough to help her survive this.

“What are you doing?” Hayden asked.

“Increasing her chances,” I replied.

Hayden’s eyes became wide through shock and fear as he realised the meaning behind my words. We were going to try everything we could to make sure Ellie survived. If we were successful then he was going to have to deal with his new mate. I had a feeling that would be worse than the punishment I had planned for him.