Once Upon A Rejection

It was still very early in the morning, concerns over my dad had kept me up for much of the night. Talen and Molly were still fast asleep and I couldn’t bring myself to wake them just yet. It had been a long couple of days for both of them and they deserved to get a bit of rest before dealing with the next crisis.

I gave Molly a k**s on her forehead before getting out of bed, being very careful not to wake either of them. My clothes were still all strewn across the floor, mixed in between Talen’s and Molly’s. I didn’t want to make too much noise so I picked up a few pieces that were in easy reach. I ended up with a pair of my jeans but I could only find Talen’s top, I was sure he wouldn’t mind me wearing his clothes.

It was so early that even the kitchen was empty when I got there. In a few hours time it would be full of omegas preparing breakfast for the rest of our guests. I was glad I didn’t have to face any of them today, I wasn’t in the mood to make small talk. This way I could avoid any awkward questions while I made Molly and Talen breakfast in bed before we had to question Vincent. I busied myself making breakfast, trying to distract myself from my own thoughts.

“Are you having as much trouble sleeping as I am?” I turned around to see my mom standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She was wearing a dressing gown but the black circles around her eyes told me that she hadn’t slept much last night.

“I need to find dad.” I replied. Talen told me everything that had happened at the Davies pack after Molly had fallen asleep. He told me that he didn’t want her worrying too much after everything she had been through, and while her body was still getting over her first heat.

I had a feeling that wasn’t everything he worried about. Molly didn’t like the idea of other people getting hurt on her behalf, if she found out what was happening then she might do something very silly. That was what Talen was really worried about and it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take either. We had to get my dad back but we also had to keep Molly safe while we were doing it.

“You have done enough. There are lots of people out looking for him, I don’t want to lose you too.” Her voice was quiet and her eyes looked glassy with unshed tears. She didn’t think that we would be able to get dad back. She didn’t need to say it, it was written all over her face.

“We will find him and we will bring Dustin to justice.” I growled.

“I am sure you will Gray,” my mom replied, sounding anything but convinced. She gave me a small smile and then left without saying another word.

By the time I went back to my room, with a tray full of breakfast related items in hand, Molly and Talen were already awake. Molly tried to pull back the covers and swing her legs out of bed but Talen pulled her back against his body, kissing her neck as he held her. Her carefree giggles filled the room like music. It had been a few days since I had heard her giggle like that, I had missed it. I placed the tray on the bedside table and pounced on her, claiming her lips with my own.

“You are wearing far too many clothes.” Molly was breathing heavily as she spoke.

“We don’t have time for that, we have a busy day ahead of us.” Talen purred.

“We do?” Molly sounded shocked, I was too. I wasn’t aware that we had any plans for today. I wanted to question Vincent and try to find my dad but that wasn’t something I wanted to get Molly involved with.

“Yes, I want to take you on a date so we can spend some time together. Grayson will be busy trying to work out what happened to his dad and the other missing werewolves so I can have you all to myself.” Talen replied while nuzzling her neck. His plan left me feeling a little conflicted. I understood what he was trying to do but I didn’t like keeping things from her. Even if it was the only way to keep her safe.

‘Trust our mate, don’t lie to her.’ Bran whimpered.

Molly kept asking questions throughout breakfast, she wanted to help me find our pack members. Talen was having none of it. He made his case well and by the time that we had finished eating Molly had reluctantly agreed to go along with his plans for the day.

“I should probably get started. I have a lot of people to talk to today.” I told them.

“Promise not to work too hard today.” Molly replied. She was pouting slightly, how could I argue with her when she looked so cute. Instead, I kissed her passionately and told her to enjoy her day before dragging myself away from her.

“You need to stop making excuses to stay in bed.” Talen purred then picked up Molly and carried her into the bathroom. I couldn’t hold back my laughter as I watched their antics, it gave me something nice to think about while I dealt with all the mess that would come with today.

It looked as though Molly was going to have a good date. Talen would keep her occupied while I had my own ‘date’ with Vincent. Violence wasn’t in my nature but it might be difficult to restrain my wolf if Vincent made this difficult.

Vincent wasn’t really our prisoner, at least not officially. If his story was to be believed then he was also a victim in all of this. That was the issue though, wasn’t it? Could we really believe anything that he was telling us or was he acting as some kind of double agent.

We gave him the benefit of the doubt by not keeping him locked up but he was still being watched very closely. He wasn’t allowed to even leave the room he was staying in without being escorted. As I arrived outside his room I greeted the guards standing outside his room as they let me in.

He stood up as I entered the room, watching my movements closely. I walked over to the desk in the corner in the room and pulled out the chair. I pulled it into a more central position and sat down.

“So, I am guessing this isn’t a social call.” Vincent’s tone was jovial, I didn’t like it.

“A lot of werewolves are missing so I would keep your smart comments to yourself.” Vincent held up his hands in surrender. Maybe I was wound a little too tightly to be doing this, not that I had any other options right now.

“Dustin Stanton has abducted a bunch of werewolves and we were hoping that you would know where he would be holding them.” I continued. Vincent’s brows furrowed as he considered my question.

“They kept me in a small, remote cabin in the middle of the forest. I am not sure they would do that if they are keeping more than one of two captives though, it wasn’t exactly secure.” Vincent started pacing the room, running his fingers over the stubble on his chin.

“They could have taken them to the old palace but I haven’t been over that way for a very long time. I am not sure it is still safe to go inside. My guess would be that Dustin has them in his own private residence.” Vincent looked pretty pleased with his assessment. I still didn’t trust him but it was the best lead we had at the moment.

Vincent marked the location of each of the places he mentioned on a map, they were all pretty remote and hundreds of kilometres away. I wasn’t willing to wait for each location to be searched in turn, I would have to send three small search parties out.

I wouldn’t be able to rely on any of the other packs for back up after what happened. We were on our own right now, hopefully things would be different once we knew where their abducted pack were being held but we couldn’t count on it. Talen and I were going to have to think of a plan to stop Dustin by ourselves.