Once Upon A Rejection

Molly Morgan’s POV

Talen seemed a little distracted on the walk back to the car. I knew that Talen and Grayson had a lot on their mind after the attack but I really didn’t like the way that they were shutting me out of the conversation.

Talen was hurting over what happened to his father. Grayson was worried about his own dad while trying to protect the pack but both of them were pretending that nothing bad was happening. I know that they were trying to protect me but I didn’t need it. As their mate, we were meant to be in this together. Moreover, I was going to be ruling the pack with them shortly, they needed to stop sheltering me from the truth.

‘Too damn right, I think we need to tease them until they tell us what we want to know.’ Scarlett suggested.

‘Maybe we should tie them up first to make sure they don’t get away or try to take charge.’ Jade added. It wasn’t the best suggestion given how easily Grayson broke his restraints last time I tried that. At least they were in agreement about something for once though.

‘You’re right, we need some silver coated handcuffs.’ Jade exclaimed, her voice high pitched in her excitment.

‘Yes! They should have some of those in the dungeon that we could borrow. We might have to wash off some of the b***d first though.’ I had never heard Scarlett so excited and the two of them were starting to give me a headache.

“So, where are we going next?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the bickering going on in my mind.

“I was thinking we could get a bite to eat. I saw a place that looked quite nice and I thought we could try it.” Talen said. I wasn’t sure when he had the time to explore this far away from the pack but I didn’t care. I had been walking for hours and I was starving. My wolf and lycan stopped bickering and were in complete agreement, we needed food.

Our progress as we walked the rest of the way back to the car was much faster. We were fueled by the idea of food and rest and I was eager to see where he was going to take me. We got in the car and Talen started driving in the direction of the pack.

On the way over here we had driven past a few small towns but with each one we passed, I grew more anxious. I knew exactly where we were heading. There was one town left before our pack boundary and it was a town that I knew well even though I never thought I would set foot in it again.

After my mom died and all of my friends treated me as though I was suddenly invisible, I got very lonely. For a while I tried to throw myself into my school work, just like my step father threw himself into his work but it wasn’t enough for me. I needed to talk to other people and I needed to be around some people who didn’t hate me. So every Saturday, after my step father had gone to work and my half brother had gone to see his friends I would sneak out of the house.

I would borrow my step father’s old motorbike and drive to the town that we were just about to drive into. This town was so small that members of our pack didn’t usually go there. That was a good thing because going to any of the surrounding towns alone, before you had your wolf was forbidden.

I didn’t think that Grayson would punish me if he found out what happened but that didn’t mean I wanted my secret to come out. It wasn’t a good point in my life and it wasn’t something I wanted to relive. Not to mention that I might have said one or two mean things about Grayson and the pack while I was here. I just had to hope that I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew while we had lunch.

Talen parked the car and we walked together to a small cafe in the centre of time. It was the same small cafe that I used to sit in for hours when I used to come here. There goes any chance of not being recognised, I thought to myself.

The moment that we walked into the cafe the owner, Anne, saw me. She put down the cloth she was using to clean the coffee machine and ran over to me. Her arms engulfed me in a hug so tight that I could hardly breathe.

“Molly, I have missed you so much. How is college?” Anne said, finally letting go of me.

“It is good, I am on a break at the moment.” I replied.

She continued to make small talk as we ordered our food and took our seats. It wasn’t until another group of people entered the cafe, that she left us alone.

“I thought she would never leave,” Talen whispered. He pulled me into his arms and kissed my cheek. I could feel the humour in his voice as he spoke to me but I still felt the overwhelming urge to explain myself.

“I used to come here a lot when I felt alone, I know I wasn’t supposed to come here but I was so alone.” I started my explanation but Talen put his finger on my lips to silence me.

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I did my fair share of rule breaking when I was a teenager.” He replied, smiling at me. I had been so scared about anyone finding out about my secret, now I felt so relieved to be accepted rather than judged. It still wasn’t something I was completely used to.

“I have something I need to talk to you about.” Talen told me, causing my heart to skip a beat. I don’t think he even knew about how humans used that statement, so I was trying not to make a big deal out of it. Instead I nodded my head and encouraged him to continue.

“I know more about what is happening than I have told you.” I could hear the hesitation in his voice and I knew he didn’t want to be having this conversation with me. I took a sip out of my coffee mug and waited for him to continue.

“The head of the remaining lycan house is the one behind taking Grayson’s father and the other werewolves.” He told me. That didn’t mean a lot to me, I wasn’t an expert in lycan politics and I had no idea who the head of the remaining house was.

“He took them because he wanted to kill us.” Talen continued after a few seconds of silence.

“Why would he do that?” I asked.

“Now that my father is no longer around and you are the heir to your father’s house, we have enough power to be considered the king and queen of lycans.” He spoke as though he was talking about something ordinary like taking out the rubbish, not me becoming some kind of queen. It didn’t seem real, he must have been mistaken. I wasn’t queen material, sometimes I was worried I wasn’t even luna material.

Then it dawned on me, Grayson knew all this and he was at home looking for a way to get his dad back. This wasn’t good, what if he did something stupid like going after this lycan while I wasn’t there to stop him. I needed to get back, I stood up abruptly but before I could take a step Talen took hold of my arm.

“He’s safe. He is just gathering information today. He won’t do anything until we get back, I promise.” I sat back down beside Talen, still feeling a little uncertain.

“Is this man bothering you?” Matty said. Matty was Anne’s son, he was about my age and we used to talk all of the time when I used to come here. Right now he was standing in the entrance to the cafe with an angry look on his face. I didn’t think of him as a fighter but he looked as though he would have happily punched Talen in the face.

“Of course not, he is my boyfriend.” I quickly replied. Matty’s whole face changed and a broad smile spread over his face.

“Oh Molly, I’m so happy for you.” He said as walked over and sat down with us at our table. Talen was tense when Matty walked in but now he relaxed again and pulled me closer.

“Now tell me all about yourself.” Matty said, while looking at Talen and trying to look assertive.

‘This isn’t exactly the date I had in mind but if you are happy then so am I.’ Talen told me over mindlink before proceeding to answer all of Matty’s questions.