Once Upon A Rejection

Talen Bancroft’s POV

It was just getting dark when I arrived at the outskirts of my father’s territory. I didn’t think that Vincent would be here but it was a good place to start and I was sure that someone would know where he was. Getting them to tell me would be the challenge, after the way we left things last time we spoke I am not sure he will be happy to see me.

As I drove through the forest towards the village I could sense the lycans around me. Being one of the last remaining houses, lycans who didn’t want to live alone would come from miles around to live here. As a result this was one of the best defended places in the world. Nobody could get within miles of the village without being noticed.

I used to love this place. I was so busy with training and missions that I rarely made it home but when I did it made me feel calm and relaxed. Now it just made me feel cold. My home was wherever Molly was and without her the world felt empty and pointless.

I drove straight through town towards my father’s house without stopping or even looking around. Usually when I came here I would stop off at the coffee shop and meet up with some of my friends from training. They would tell me about their lives but more importantly update me on what had been happening while I was away.

I didn’t really care about any of it. I only did it so that I would look good in front of my father but today I just didn’t care. All I wanted was to get this over with as quickly as possible then get back to my perfect mate. I didn’t have time to play at being the perfect son.

My father basically lived in a castle, complete with walls all around it and mountains to its back. There was only one way through that wall and he made sure to keep the gates closed at all times. My father had been obsessed with safety ever since the last war between the lycan families. It had been a defining part of my teenage years but he had steadily been getting worse as the years went on.

I pulled my car up outside the gate and waited for one of the guards to let me through.

“Talen, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. I thought you were babysitting some wolves,” One of the guards said. His name was Greg, I spoke to him regularly but I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend.

“I needed to speak to my father, can you let me through?” I asked.

Greg looked disappointed but he nodded his head and let me through the gate regardless. I smiled at him then drove the rest of the distance to my father’s house. I pulled up outside and walked straight to my father’s office, trying my best not to let anyone distract me.

“Come in Talen,” My father said before I even reached the door to his office. Greg must have told him I was on my way, some things never change.

“Hi,” I replied, my voice was shaking slightly. My father always had that effect on me. It didn’t matter how strong or how powerful I became, he always had the power to strike fear into my heart.

My father was sitting at his desk behind his laptop. His dinner was beside him untouched on his desk. He looked very tired but as soon as I entered the room he smiled and closed the lid of his laptop.

“You met your mate,” He said.

“Yes I did,” I replied. I smiled at him, he seemed happy for the first time in years. I hadn’t expected him to even notice the mark on my neck let alone be so happy about it.

“That is great news, please tell me you brought them to meet me,” He said.

“I didn’t think that was a good idea. She is the hybrid in the pack I was sent to protect, I didn’t think it was safe for her to travel,” I replied. I could see the disappointment in his eyes for just a second before he hid it from me.

“So what brings you out here?” He asked.

“I have to speak to Vincent,” I replied.

“Vincent, why?” He asked, not even trying to hide his disdain.

“The problem I was sent to look into is part of a wider problem and I need to know who is really behind it,” I replied.

“You think Vincent might know something,” My father sounded surprised although I am not sure why.

It was Vincent’s job to know this kind of thing, the job that my father had tasked him to do. Mostly, I suspect to get him away from me. Of course, that isn’t what he told Vincent. He gave him the job of keeping track of our kind under the guise of helping our kind to find our mates so we could avoid extinction.

“He is in charge of keeping tabs on our kind. If anyone knows what is going on, it is him,” I replied

My father suddenly seemed nervous, as though he was hiding something from me. He shifted in his chair and looked down at the desk in front of him.

“Well, that may be the case but we have a bit of a problem,” He looked away and scratched the back of his head. I didn’t like this, it was so out of character for him to be this nervous.

“Tell me,” I said.

“Vincent has been missing for the last couple of weeks,” My father replied, still refusing to meet my gaze.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was shrill. I hardly even recognised it as my own. Vincent’s job was dangerous, some of our kind didn’t like being tracked. He would regularly come back from an assignment with cuts and bruises, some of them were pretty serious.

“I thought he was just trying to pull you back in again,” My father said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

He looked at me as though I was joking with him but when I didn’t laugh or smile realisation dawned on his face. He laughed but it was a laugh devoid of any form of humour.

“Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed? Are you really so naive?” My father asked.

I shook my head, I had no clue what he was talking about.

“That man has been manipulating you for years. Everytime that you are getting over him he does something extreme to make you chase after him again,” My father said.

“I am sure you are just imagining it,” I replied.

“I’m not, you might not have realised it before but he always had you wrapped around his little finger. Remember last year when I threw you a party to find your mate?” My father asked.

I thought about it, I could remember that time as clearly as though it was yesterday. Vincent had broken up with me again, we had been apart for a couple of months but I wasn’t upset about it. My father had arranged for a party for my birthday and all the lycans from around the country would be there.

I was feeling excited about the prospect of meeting my mate until Vincent got abducted the night before the party was due to take place. I spent the next three days looking for him, missing my party completely. When I found him I realised that the whole thing had been staged.

I was angry at first but he told me that he only did it because he couldn’t live without me and like a fool I believed him. I should have seen through his lies because if he cared about me even half as much as he claimed to then he wouldn’t be able to cheat on me two weeks later.

That wasn’t the only time he had done something extreme, although it was by far the most extreme thing he had done. I had always thought we were just one of those couples who can’t be together even though they care for each other deeply but now I am not so sure.

My bond to Molly had stripped away any lingering feelings I had towards Vincent and I was seeing our relationship with a clear mind. With my new insight, I am starting to think that the only thing he really liked about me was the amount of control he had over me. The fact that I would come back to him no matter how badly he treated me. I was such a fool.

“I was sure that he was just trying to make sure you didn’t get a chance to meet your mate. I am sorry, I should have told you he was missing,” My father replied.

“No, you did the right thing,” I replied.

If I had gone in search of Vincent then I would never have met Molly. I would have got pulled back into some kind of toxic relationship with him for a few months before he broke up with me again and went back to his philandering ways.

Even if there was a chance that this time wasn’t like the others. Even if he was actually in danger, I couldn’t let him rule my life anymore. I was committed to Molly and some day soon I would start a family with her. He couldn’t rely on me like that anymore.

“Maybe I should look for him though, this one last time,” I said, to soothe my guilty conscience more than anything else.

“You don’t need to. I sent my best trackers to find him a few days ago when he didn’t return. They will find him soon, they have never failed me before,” He replied.

“Ok,” I didn’t feel comfortable leaving this problem for others to solve. I had never done it before and it didn’t feel right doing it now but wasn’t going to dwell on it, I had plenty of other things to worry about.

“Vincent is none of your concern but the trackers will get him to call you once he is found. What you really need to do is take me to meet this mate of yours. We will leave first thing in the morning,” He said, making my heart skip a beat and a smile spread across my face. I was going to see my mate tomorrow and I couldn’t wait.