Once Upon A Rejection

Talen Bancroft’s POV

Whoever says that having a mate is easy is a damned liar. At first it took so long for Molly to open up to me or even talk to me that I was sure that she was going to reject me. Now that she has decided to accept me I am so happy but I seem incapable of saying the right thing.

I made her run out of the meeting in tears. Even though I managed to smooth things over with her I still feel guilty about the way I made her feel. What makes it worse is that she was crying over Vincent, that man isn’t worth anyone’s tears especially not hers. He is the worst mistake I ever made and if he comes between us then I will kill him. I would be doing the world a favour if I did, that guy is a real piece of work.

After I consoled Molly I held her for a while longer until Grayson came to take her to combat training. I decided to come along with them. I told them it was because I had nothing better to do but the truth is I didn’t want to be away from Molly for a second longer than I had to be. Leaving tomorrow was going to be horrendous.

Right now I was watching Molly and Grayson training together and it was fascinating. When I saw Molly fight before she did so while fueled by adrenaline and instinct. Today she was learning how to fight properly but it looked more like dancing. Her movements were so fluid and beautiful.

Despite this there was an undeniable level of hesitation that wasn’t there yesterday. Grayson was able to dodge more than half of her attacks without even trying. It was almost as though she doubted her own skill. The skill was there though, along with the strength of her lycan side.

Everytime she managed to land a punch on Grayson he would grimace. He recovered within seconds but I was sure that some of those hits would leave a mark. I was also sure that if Grayson wasn’t an alpha then he wouldn’t have recovered half so quickly.

Grayson was trying something different now. He was getting Molly to try to defend herself while he continually tried to punch her. Maybe he was getting sick of taking those punches to the face and shoulder.

I didn’t like seeing Grayson hit Molly. I know she needed this training and Grayson needed to make sure she could defend against real attacks but it still made me cringe to see him going after her so aggressively.

He lunged forward as he tried to land a punch to her stomach. Molly dodged backwards, avoiding his hit by millimetres. Molly’s hair was loose, it momentarily moved in front of her face as she moved backwards.

It would probably be better for her if she tied her hair up but I really hoped that she wouldn’t. I loved watching her move and the way her hair moved with her just made it even more perfect. She has the most beautiful hair, it was the same colour as chestnuts and it had this slight wave to it. Perfect.

Grayson lunged forward again but this time instead of just dodging, she went on the offensive. He tried to hit her across the face but she ducked low then punched him hard in the liver. Grayson let out a goran and fell to his knees clutching his stomach.

“I’m so sorry.” Molly said as she kneeled down beside him.

“It’s fine and I’m fine.” Grayson said, although he sounded anything other than fine. He was breathing heavily and wheezing slightly.

“No you’re not, I hurt you.” Molly said. She was lifting up his top to check out the damage she did.

“I’m fine but if you want to make it up to me then I can think of a way.” Grayson said, he saw smiling at her now, I guess he was feeling better.

“What, I will do anything.” She said.

I could hear the worry in her voice. She didn’t need to be worried, even I could tell that Grayson was playing with her. I didn’t know what he wanted but I was pretty sure that Molly would do anything for him right now.

“You could let me join you on your date tonight.” Grayson said.

“What, really? Why would you want to come on my date with Talen?” Molly asked him.

“It might be nice, like a double date. I’ve heard all about those” Grayson said.

Molly giggled.

“That isn’t what most people mean by double date.” Molly said.

“Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” Grayson asked.

He was teasing her again and it was really getting to her. She was already flustered from the training session and now she was getting embarrassed. I could see a blush creeping over her cheeks.

“No, not at all. I just don’t know if it would be a great idea for a first date.” Molly mumbled. She was still sitting on the floor beside Grayson but she was shifting her weight anxiously.

I wasn’t able to hold in my laughter any longer, it came out of my nose like a snort. Molly and Grayson turned their heads to look at me for the first time in what felt like hours. They had been so busy with their training that I think they might have forgotten that I was here.

“I have no objections.” I said.

“Great, that’s sorted then. Let’s get back to training.” Grayson said.

He got to his feet then promptly staggered sideways. He recovered again before he could fall down but not fast enough to stop Molly worrying about him. She had already sprung to her feet, she had her arms around him and her face was filled with panic.

“I’m not sure that is a good idea, you need to rest.” Molly said.

Grayson seemed conflicted. He knew that what Molly was saying was right but he wanted to continue training. After Molly fell asleep last night Grayson confided in me that he was worried about Molly.

He was worried that someone would get to her when she was alone but this time Molly wouldn’t be strong enough or fast enough to fight back. Unfortunately, it was a fear that I shared. She needed to learn how to defend herself properly and there wasn’t any time to waste.

I have been waiting a long time to meet my mate and now she is in danger. There was no chance I would ever let anything bad happen to her. I would do whatever it takes to make sure that she is safe.

“Let me take over.” I said.

I jumped to my feet and walked over to the two of them. Molly was smiling at me but Grayson was shaking his head at me frantically.

“No way, you are much too strong for her.” Grayson said.

“Don’t worry, I can be gentle.” I said.

I winked at Grayson as I walked past him on my way towards Molly. She was already getting ready to face my attacks, she had adjusted her footing and she was watching every move I made carefully. Grayson had taught her well.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, he was heading towards the edge of the room and he looked a little flustered. I guess he wasn’t used to flirting. I thought about blowing him a k**s but I was worried it might give him a heart attack.

Instead I turned my attention back to Molly. She was still looking at me intently but she had dropped her guard a little. That wasn’t so great. She was going to have to learn to be constantly on her guard but maybe that was a lesson best saved for another day.

“I want you to try to hit me.” I said.

Molly didn’t waste any time, she went in for her first attack. Unfortunately for her I had been paying close attention to her fighting style. This meant that her attack was easily predictable, she always struck with her right hand and always aimed for the opposite shoulder.

I grabbed hold of her hand before she could make contact with my shoulder and spun her around so that she was in my arms. I gave her a k**s on her cheek before letting her go again. As much as I wanted to keep her in my arms, it wasn’t exactly productive. For the next few minutes we followed the same pattern. She would try to hit me, I would avoid her attack and pull her into my arms for another k**s.

She was getting more and more frustrated every time I kissed her. Her whole face was slowly more and more red by the second, it was utterly adorable. Other than being really cute, she was also vicious. Apparently tapping into her anger was the key to turning her into a great fighter.

I was having trouble keeping up with her, she was so fast and a lot more unpredictable. I was having to use all of my skills just to not get hit by her. Her eyes were glowing silver. Her lycan was close to the surface, she might even be partially in control.

She threw a punch towards my face. I dodged to the right, straight into her other fist. I staggered backwards a few paces before I was able to recover.

“That was really good but maybe we should take a break.” I said.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Molly nodded her head in agreement. That punch was really strong. I didn’t want to go on our first date together with a back eye.