The Rejection (Luna of the Pack Series)

by S. J. Hayslett

  "Doc Faye is here. And that woman is sitting in the waiting area again as well." I suck my lips in to hide my smile. 'That woman' is none other than Vanessa and she keeps trying to ambush Thorne at his office. But Mina knows when to be petty and blocks her from him every single time.

  "Send him in, let her sit for a while longer." Mina nodded once and stepped to the side as Doc opened the door wider to let himself in. She quickly shut the door behind her as he stepped in and I could only imagine it was because Vanessa tried to bum rush the door for the second time since I've been in here.

  "Alpha, Luna. I have the results of the DNA test." I take note of Doc's nervous state as he stands in the middle of the office with an envelope twirling in his hands. I can already tell I'm not gonna like the results. Not that I would have a problem if MJ turned out to be Thorne's son. I meant every word to Thorne that I would help him raise his son. I haven't seen the little boy since I saved him from falling in the river, but I have heard that he's become quite popular with the other wolves his age. My only problem with the situation was how Vanessa would take the news of co-parenting her son with me and Thorne as a united unit. I was the monkey wrench in her plans of getting back in Thorne's bed.

  "Thorne help me up. I don't want to be laying on the floor when we hear it." Thorne got on his knees and helped me into a sitting position before lifting us both to our feet. He steadied me by placing his right hand on the small of my back, but it wasn't enough contact for me. I wanted to reach for his left hand, but Thorne stepped forward to grab the envelope with that hand.

  "I ran the results three times. It's what took so long to do. I wanted to be sure I had the results right." I look at Doc curiously as Thorne rips the envelope at the seal. He takes a deep breath as he slips the folded results out of the envelope and opens it. "The markers are there, enough to indicate that you are definitely related to MJ. However, not enough to say that you are the father."

  "Wait, Doc, I'm not following," I mean I am, but I couldn't believe what he was trying to say.

  "He's saying the kid is not my son." Thorne slams the paper that held the results of the paternity test on his desk. "He's my brother."

  He looks at the doctor, the one that looks so much like a grandfather I never knew. "How is this possible?" Thorne is angry, rightfully so, but he's directing that anger to the wrong person. I stand in his line of sight and place both of my hands on his cheeks.

  "Shhhh," I coo to calm him down. The simple sensation of our touch has me seeing Thorne visibly relax. I slowly move my hands down his neck and onto his chest before wrapping my arms around his broad waist. "No one in this room is at fault. It's not even MJ's fault. That rests solely on the shoulders of Vanessa." I look back at Doc and nod for him to leave the office. He quickly complies and closes the door quietly behind him.

  "I should have known. She named him after my damn father after all." This was news to me. It was in this moment that of all the many times that Thorne and I spoke candidly about any number of things, he hardly ever spoke of his parents. "My mother never wanted a 'junior' so she gave me his middle name as my first, and Marcus was my middle name. This whole time, I thought he had my middle name. But he has my father's name. His father's name." Thorne's body is shaking with rage and I do the only two things I can think of to calm him back down again.

  Especially since he feels like he's about to shift in the middle of his office while I'm holding onto him.

  I stand on my tippy toes and lay a desperate kiss to his lips while my hands pull his shirt up so that there's skin to skin contact around his waist to my arms. Whatever slight grievance I feel about Thorne not completely opening up to me goes out the window when Thorne's arms finally wrap around me in return.

  "I love you," he says breaking the kiss and leaving a lingering kiss on my temple. "I can't believe she slept with my father at some point." The reality of it all crashes into Thorne and I can't fathom the broken man that stumbles into the closest chair in disbelief. My heart goes out to him, figuratively and literally, thanks to the bond. The wolf the goddess thought was meant for him didn't see him as the gift that he was. The gift I know him to be.

  And now on top of finding all of this out the worst way possible, he finds out that he has a little brother.

  I wouldn't even know what to feel after that revelation.

  "I have a few patients that I need to look after," I look back at Doc and I'm surprised that he was still in the office with us. I was so concerned over Thorne that the rest of the world disappeared from me. Here's an extra set of results if you wanted to give a copy to Vanessa. Doc looks pressed to hurry up and get out of the confined space, and I didn't blame him. The bond was allowing me to feel a huge array of emotions that was rocking Thorne's world. Our physical touch only magnified what I was feeling because of him.

  I look at the alpha whose world was just rocked on its axis. "How do you want to handle Vanessa, and your brother?" I add that last part hesitantly though Thorne is handling it a lot better now than he was before. I don't even want to be the one who reminds him that she's right outside.

  "If it wasn't for the kids, I'd banish her." Thorne sighs as he takes his next words into consideration. "She can stay. My parents will be back from their travels next week. I'll let them deal with her. Come on, let's get out of here, I'm done for the day." Thorne grabs my hand and gives me a light but unnecessary light tug to follow him. I've already determined in my heart wherever this wolf lead, I would follow.

  There's a hopeful look on Vanessa's face when we exit Thorne's office. But that look turns sour when she sees our conjoined hands. Her eyes follow up my swollen belly before settling on my eyes.

  "It turns out you were right, Marvin was not MJ's father," The look of relief was evident on Vanessa's face as I speak for Thorne.

  "So, are you ready to be a father to our child? The true heir of Stoneforest?" Vanessa ignores me and gets out of chair to stand before Thorne. The wench trails a finger down his chest and I can't help but roll my eyes.

  "I'm ready to be a brother to your child." Vanessa snatches her hand away from Thorne when she thinks about the implication.

  "I can explain," she cries out.

  "Save it. I don't want to hear it. I'll help guide MJ as he is my baby brother. However, as you can see," Thorne brings our joined hands up for Vanessa to see the bigger picture. "I am happily with and enjoying my future. If you like, my parents will be back next week if you would still like to discuss MJ's paternity with my father. Otherwise, me and my mate need to be going now." Without another glance in her direction, Thorne leads me out of the reception area of his office and we continue to stride until we're in the backyard.

  Thorne lets go of my hand so that he could wrap his arm around my waist. In silence, we enjoy the sounds of the surrounding forest, the sound of children playing somewhere unawares to the drama that engulf their alpha, and each other's company. It's not until Thorne comes to an abrupt stop that the spell is even broken between us. "I forgot something in the office. Come back with me."

  I don't hesitate, though the hint of urgency gives me something to ponder.

  "Is everything okay?" I ask.

  "Yeah everything is fine. I just forgot a file that I wanted to have Mina send off."

  "Couldn't you just mind link her and tell her where to find it?" We're no longer strolling at a leisurely pace, now I'm barely keeping up with my pregnant waddling feet.

  "Would if I could, but it's in a locked cabinet. I'm the only one with a key." My suspicion is furthered by his ability to have an answer for everything. Even more so when we enter the reception area and Mina Isn't even at her desk. "Actually, go on ahead in my office, I'm gonna get a post-it note from Mina's desk."

  Confusion settles in, my eyebrows are knit together with it, as I follow his instructions. But as soon as I walk in, the scent of the room encapsulates me, and a warm smile lifts my entire face! I don't need to search very hard for the source as my brother enters my field
of vision, his arms open wide to catch me as I run to him.

  "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here Linc?" I bury my head in his neck as he hugs me close.

  "I need a reason to see my baby sister?" Lincoln brushes some of my hair back and lifts my face so that I can see him. "Your mate told me that you didn't take Natasha's news well, and I had to see you. I wanted to make sure that you were okay, for myself.

  "But how did you get in here? I didn't even smell you until I opened the door."

  "Your assistant led me through your office and the reception room to get to Alpha Thorne's. With his permission of course." Lincoln smirks behind me and I look to see Thorne leaning against the door post.

  "I thought a nice visit from your brother was exactly what you needed. I'll be in our room if you need me."

  'Thank you,' I tell him through our link just before he closes the door on me and Linc.

  Despite all of the craziness this morning provided, seeing my brother is definitely the highlight of my day. And I'm so thankful that Thorne gave me the opportunity to see Lincoln. The moon goddess may have gotten Julien and I wrong, but she definitely had the right idea by guiding Thorne to me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  "I should get going. Val will be wondering where I am soon. I told her that I'd be home in time for dinner." The two hours that I got to spend catching up with Lincoln went by too fast, I didn't want to let him go. If I could, I'd totally lock him up in a prison cell. But I also couldn't do that to Valina nor to Willow Haven. But a she-wolf can daydream.

  "Give her a hug and kiss for me. I'll come visit as soon as I can after the pup gets here." Lincoln takes another wary glance at my belly. While we were talking in Thorne's office, Lincoln felt the baby moving around and it sort of freaked him out. I couldn't help but laugh and roll my eyes at his reaction. Compared to the first time Thorne felt the baby, the two reactions were hilarious if at a side by side comparison.

  While Lincoln jumped back and claimed I was a host for an alien, Thorne had tears in his eyes as our pup kicked against his hand. I too had tears, but for a different reason; the pup's other foot was kicking my bladder, at least that's the story I stick with.

  And now we are standing in front of Lincoln's truck and words can't express how much I missed his presence in my life these last few weeks. For so long it felt like it was us against the world, and now we both have our mates to lean on. And even though he's annoying and likes to tease me about being an incubator for an alien life force, I love him to so many pieces.

  I wrap my arms around him, as best as I can with my rounded figure and hold onto him.

  "I love you, big brother."

  "I love you too, Kai. We'll talk, yes?" I nod my head into his chest a few times before letting go and backing away from him. My arms cross over my chest as I watch Lincoln climb into the driver's seat of the SUV. The SUV starts up and I wave for the twenty seconds that I can still see the red glow of his tail lights

  I bring my hand down when the vehicle crests over the hill and I take a few more seconds to stare after my brother before turning around to make it back to the pack house. I take two steps before looking up but it's too late. All I have a chance to notice is something black being lowered onto my head. My first thought is to protect my baby in case I go down and I cradle the bump in case I go down. A sickening sweet smell clouds my nostrils and its only then I realize how much trouble I could be in.

  "Thorne, help me. Outside," it's all I can manage to say before succumbing to the wolfsbane that the bag seems to be soaked in.

  |||

  Groaning, I move my head to the side. I haven't opened my eyes yet, but it's not hard to tell that I've been lying on the ground for quite some time. Every part of my body feels stiff. My hands immediately fly to my abdomen, in pain I can feel cramping and the fear of what could have happened while I was out is enough to make my eyes widen with the alertness of someone who was hit with a shot of adrenaline.

  I'm in what looks like a cave, it definitely smells rank like one, but there's no electricity like the one beside the pack house. The cave is extremely dark and cold enough to make me shiver.

  "Thorne? Help, I'm in a cave," I plead, but there doesn't seem to be anything getting through. Panic seeps in more as there is more cramping and now on top of that, I can't get through to Thorne. I try to feel my way around the cavern floor so that I can at least sit up and lean against the wall, but a wave of dizziness overtakes me before I can take my first shift back.

  "I'm afraid you'll bleed to death before the wolfsbane leaves your system. You and your precious baby are going to die down here." A familiar but disconnected voice calls out from the dark. I search in the direction of where it came from but it's getting really hard for my eyes to focus on anything right now. Part of me wanted to ask her what she was doing here, while another part focused on her words. Bleed to death?

  I shake in fear as my right-hand drifts down to between my legs. It's as if the mere mention of bleeding is enough for my senses to now register the feeling of warm fluid trickling from between me. My hand comes up to my face coated in blood, and there's nothing stopping me from sobbing at the thought of losing my child.

  "Why are you doing this? Where am I?" I cry out, but my voice doesn't want to work beyond a whisper. I don't have to wait long before the presence makes herself known to me again.

  "We're in an abandoned mine, near the hotel site your brother wants to build." She pauses for a moment as if considering something. For just a second, I wonder how she knew of the hotel. As far as I knew, Lincoln hadn't mentioned the plans to partner with Thorne. "You know, if you hadn't of banished me, I probably would have never had the pleasure of knocking you out. But as it turns out, it's my lucky day!"

  "Brittany? Is that really you?" I think back to when I was conducting the Beta trials at Willow Haven and this arrogant bitch thought she could take Thorne away from me. "You're doing this because of a forced transfer? You violated pack law."

  "And you stole another wolf's mate! You think I don't know about you cheating on Beta Julien with Alpha Thorne? You just couldn't stand being relegated to just Beta female of the pack. You wanted to be the Alpha female. But I guess killing your brother was where you drew the line, huh?"

  "What? And you decided to take on the mantle for Julien? Right the supposed wrongs done against him?"

  "So, you don't deny it?"

  "Of course, I deny it. Every single one of your allegations. I never once wanted to be Luna of any pack, I never cheated on Julien, nor have I ever, EVER thought of killing my brother. Now let me go!" All I needed to focus on was getting help for my baby. Keeping my eyes open was a struggle and just yelling at the child was enough to drain me of my energy. My baby would never survive if I passed out, I just needed to hold on for him.

  "You killed Julien's child!"

  "Why are you so invested in what Julien and Natasha do? You don't even have the facts straight." I fight wave after wave of nausea before it becomes a losing battle and bile springs from my mouth like a renaissance fountain. I only feel slightly better as I wipe the acid from my lips, and I notice some sprayed on Brittany's leg.

  "The bitch is always throwing up on people when she gets unsettling news. She's nothing if not pathetic." More bile threatens to surge up my throat at the sound of Natasha's voice.

  My eyes long adjusted to the darkness of the cave, but I am still sickened at the sight of her. My former best friend stands above me, hair pulled back into a messy bun. She’s wearing jeans and a fluffy blouse, and I couldn't help but wonder why her wardrobe was what I chose to focus on when I was literally dying.

  “Natasha,” I weakly exclaim. It’s getting harder and harder to even hold my head up.

  “Hey girl hey. You don’t look so good. I see you’ve been busy. You’re further along than I was which means while you were painting yourself the innocent victim, ‘Oh poor Kairi, her mate chose another,’ you were making babies with the first Alpha you saw. I’m
doing both packs a favor.”

  Dry laughter bubbles from deep within me as I struggle to stay alert. “This is Julien’s baby. Not Thorne’s.”

  “You lie!” Natasha interrupts me.

  “No, I’m not. We had sex the moment we found each other. And that one magical moment we made this miracle. And while I mourned your child, you’re about to kill Julien’s last chance of being a father. Yeah karma’s a bitch. I heard you can’t give him children anymore.” I don’t know why I’m goading her, but just seeing the smug look on her face give out was enough to keep going. “I told you that you were going to ruin Julien, and look you took everything from him. He’d rather be rogue than to have anything to do with you. In fact, he turned rogue and the first thing he did was come find me. He was probably glad to be rid of you for ruining his life. I bet-”

  “Enough!” A booming voice calls from behind the shadows. Brittany shuffles farther away from me, as if the newcomer, who I’m sure is Julien, frightens her. My eyes drift close, but not before seeing Julien emerge from the shadows as if he was the greatest nightmare ever told. I weep. I can't help it. From the brief second or two that I see him, he looked so unkept, that it was truly heartbreaking. To see someone I was supposed to love and care for, to see the biological father of my child, so weak, is just more than I can handle.