The Rejection (Luna of the Pack Series)

by S. J. Hayslett

  Vanessa fell with me, halfway hanging on the bed, but she is already recovering from the loss of footing. She looks absolutely enraged and I wasn't sure if it was because of the ruckus that I was causing, if the cover story was plausible, or perhaps it was because I was taking too long to die. Whatever the case, I'm determined to not make my death easy for her. She telegraphs her next move in two ways. Once she's fully erect, her hip noticeably puts pressure on her right leg. Just before she jumps off of that leg to project herself in the air over the bed, Vanessa lets out this bellowing war cry that absolutely needs to alert other staff or at least them other patients.

  The bed on top of me limited my movements and as it was, I couldn't move it off of me because it was crushing me at my waist. I could feel my legs, so I wasn't worried about not being able to walk. With no time to think about what I was doing, I did the only thing I could do in my situation.

  I became my wolf.

  Vanessa, for whatever reason, didn't think I would shift. But as my body took on my four-legged form, the momentum of the bed moving over me shifted her jump. Her foot was caught in the side guardrails and twisted her ankle so that her trajectory altered to the point that gave my wolf's jaw ample opportunity to zero in on her neck. Teeth make purchase and sink into the soft flesh of her neck muscles. Warm blood runs down my maw and into my fur but there is no thought nor care to my appearance. Part of her neck is ripped away when I remove my jaw from the vile excuse of a shifter she is. My wolf spits a chunk of her skin on the ground and I move into the corner of the room to shift back into my human form, just as Thorne and Doc rush into the room.

  "Wesley, help me," Vanessa's whispers croak and are light. Looking at how much blood loss and the chunk of what my wolf took from her, I suspect that she won't be able to do more than whisper.

  "I'm afraid the extent might be too much for her to heal from Alpha." I watch furiously as Doc races over to help her. But I'm not having it.

  "Don't. She tried to kill me. She might even have succeeded for all I know." My own voice is unrecognizable as I stare at the dying Vanessa, trying to gasp for air, but the gaping hole in her throat is making that a damn near impossible task. "She inserted air into my IV line. Will that affect me?"

  Doc looked uncomfortable with leaving a patient to die. And part of me got it, but no. I will remain relentless until her death is done and over with. He looked at me, crouching naked in the corner of the room and covered in Vanessa's blood. "You shifted? The embolism should have been able to be broken up during the transition. Do you feel lightheaded or any chest pain?" With Vanessa forgotten as her breathing becomes labored, Doc moves closer to me to check me out. But he visibly relaxes a little when I shake my head no.

  "We can continue to monitor you here but I'm not worried. But just in case, because I don't want to be the one responsible for killing our Luna," Doc laughs nervously as he looks back at Thorne for his ill-timed joke. "I'll go ahead and order a Doppler Ultrasound for you, just to be sure." Doc turns around and exits the room in haste, leaving me alone with Thorne for the first time since before my brother's surprise visit to Stone Forest. Not counting Vanessa who just would not die.

  Vanessa managed to climb on her side and, slide her way to Thorne's ankle. With a grip on his pants leg, I can hear Vanessa's gurgles as she begged for his attention. "Wesley, please. MJ?"

  Despite the fact that she tried to kill me, my heart softened a little at the mention of her son, though it's still a wonder why she continues to only mention one son even in her death. Her youngest was only a couple of years old, but still just as cute as MJ despite only being his half-brother.

  "Your sons will be taken care of."

  "But they need me. Save me. I love you." She crooks as she looks up into her eyes, but I'm not entirely sure she can even focus on him at this point anymore. I'm just surprised she's able to speak.

  "Your Luna has spoken, and I stand by that decision." The shock was evident and undeniable on Vanessa's face as Thorne snatches his ankle from her grasp and makes his way to me. By the time Thorne has me cradled in his arms, I give Vanessa a final look but it's too late. She's already taken her last breath and her body is completely still on the clinic floor.

  "I'm so glad you're okay. Is our son in here?" Thorne takes his eyes off of me for the first time since picking me up and looks around the room. I lift my hand and place it on his cheek, pulling him to look back at me. His mesmerizing orbs ground me, and I find so much comfort in them.

  "He's in the nursery, sleeping. He's so perfect." Thorne's eyes convey the love he has for me, that and the bond between us blooms a heat in my heart and on the spot where he marked me. Thorne nods in agreement and some of his hair falls into his face. I push it back so there's nothing obscuring his eyes from me. I'm about to open up and tell him the name I choose for our son when his lips take the opening and crash into mine.

  All thoughts of any other moment cease to exist as our lips become in sync with one another. I can't get enough of his taste in my mouth, the pad of his tongue rough against my own.

  Nothing else mattered. No, that's a lie, my son mattered as well.

  "Let's see about getting you another room, and this cleaned up." Thorne brings me out of my thoughts when he pulls away from the kiss.

  That matters too, because there is no way that I can stay in this room ever again.

  Our hands lace together, neither of us willing to let the other one go. Thorne draws my hand to his lips and gently presses a kiss to my skin. I smile at his adoration, I'm a complete goner.

  "Yes, let's."

  CHAPTHER TWENTY-SEVEN

  "So, what did you decide to name him?" Thorne asks the moment I'm settled into my new room in the clinic. The room was slightly bigger than the previous one, but otherwise it was identical to where I was at before.

  I look up into the eyes of the man I'd come to love in such a short amount of time. The man who, took me in without pity, and slowly became my best friend and then lover. His eyes conveyed so much love when he looked upon me and I can only hope that I look at him the same way he looks at me.

  My mouth opens to give him the answer he's looking for, but before I can even say a word, there's a knock on the door. I close my mouth and smooth out the blanket, as if I'm making myself presentable to whoever interrupted us. Though I supposed too late that maybe I should have checked the status of my hair. When Thorne helped me out of the quick shower I took once I transferred rooms, I had refused to look at myself in the mirror. Now, for whatever reason, I am regretting that choice.

  "Forgive me Alpha, and Luna, but baby Thorne woke up hungry and we have a note that you wanted to start breastfeeding." A different nurse than before was already rolling in the mobile crib containing our little one. Suddenly, the intrusion was a happy and welcome one. I can't wait until my sweet boy is in my arms again.

  She slips him into my arms and gives me some instructions on how to get him to latch on my nipple. It takes a few tries, but he's able to finally latch on. The sensation is different, and will take some getting used to, but it's not wholly uncomfortable. At least he doesn’t have teeth yet. Once the nurse sees that we have things covered, she quickly leaves the room. Somehow, the moment seems perfect with just my little family together for the first time. I can't help but pet the soft head of hair of my son as he feeds from me.

  "Quincy Abraham Thorne, is the name I chose for our son. I wanted some type of tie to you, besides just tacking on your last name so I did some research on thorns. I found out that there's another flower that has thorns. Quince, which I thought would be a cute nickname for Quincy. And I chose Abraham, cause I wanted to honor my brother as well. But we can change it, if you don't like it." I bite the bottom of my lip in anxious nerves. I don't know how Thorne will react to the name or if he has an idea of what he would have wished to name our child. Maybe he was hoping for a "Junior?" I would have thought he would want to wait for when we had a child together to give away his namesake, but I'm
not opposed to it.

  Thorne's eyes haven't looked anywhere but at mine since I said his name, and he hasn't made a sound either. I'm about to get worried about what he's thinking about when his lips suddenly find mine like a beacon. Since Thorne is sitting on the opposite side of where Quincy is feeding from, there's no danger of him crushing Quince in my arms. Our lips and tongues wrestle each other. Both of Thorne's hands are on my cheeks as we show our love with one another. Oxygen is no longer necessary in my opinion, so it's probably a good idea that Thorne pulls away first.

  "I love you. I love that you honor me this way. I love that you're alive to have this moment with me. I love you so much." For the first time since he ended the kiss, I notice the tears that spill from Thorne's eyes. The hand that was on top of Quincy is lifted by both of Thorne's and to his lips before he brings it back to my lap, never letting me go.

  "I love you too."

  |||

  It's been a week since Quincy was born and life couldn't have been more perfect. Thorne's parents came back last night, and it was such a pleasure meeting them. A private dinner was set up so that Thorne could fill them in on everything that had been going on while they were on a cruise around the world. Thorne's mom, Tracy loves Quincy as her own, and I can already tell that he's going to be spoiled to the max anytime he's around her.

  My heart broke for Tracy when she heard the news about Marcus, though she didn't seem surprised about Marcus senior's infidelity. Of course, she'd be able to know of all the times he cheated on her, she would have felt it. Apparently, this was a problem of his well before he even slept with Vanessa and he swears that she was the last affair. All of these vacations that he's been taking Tracy on has been somewhat of an apology tour slash honeymoon. One that's been lasting for years, trip after trip.

  They were apprehensive about taking on raising a child so late in the game, but Thorne assured them that we would take the boys as ours. That way they could continue to be raised together, and Marcus and Tracy could continue to enjoy their empty nest lifestyle. So just like that, my family grew from three to five.

  Which was fine, honestly. Apparently, Vanessa wasn't the most maternal parent ever and MJ and his brother, Davis, quickly took to calling me mom even though I told them they didn't need to. Davis had a tendency to hold onto my leg whenever we were in the same room, or at the very least make sure I was in eye view at all times.

  Both boys however, took an instant liking to Quincy. They saw him as the baby brother and wanted to help out in their own ways. We made the decision to raise them as brothers and when it came to running Stone forest someday, MJ would be the new alpha unless Thorne and I had a child of our own. In which case that child would take over the pack. But that future was so far off, that I don't like to think about it.

  Upon returning back to Willowhaven, Lincoln looked into what happened with Brittany and her parents and why she was never reported missing. Unfortunately, Brittany snapped during the transport to my cousin's pack and killed both her parents. Somewhere along the lines she met up with her cousin, Natasha, and planned their fatal plot to kill me. Unfortunately for them, it proved fatal to only them since Julien carried out their deaths.

  Speaking of Julien, no one has heard or seen from him since he slipped from the grips of those that came to rescue me from the cave. Patrols between Stoneforest and Willowhaven have been keeping a lookout for him, though I think he's long gone. I have my moments where I think of him, but not in a wistful way. While I'm sad that things didn't work out with my true mate, I can't be upset with how things turned out for me. I don't even feel like I lost him as a friend, we had only sort of tolerated each other before I found him to be my mate.

  No, I liked how my story ends with Thorne.

  So much better.

  EPILOGUE

  It had taken me about three months to catch up to the rogues that attacked the Alpha's Summit. There were many false trails and dead ends but after a few solid leads, I found myself in the mountains of West Virginia. Once I made it here, it was easy to find the pack of rogues by their destructive nature.

  Working my way into the graces into the alpha and ultimately the pack wasn't easy. So many of their ruthless initiations left me bruised, bloodied, and exhausted for months. I didn't complain nor whimper through any of it. I deserved it all, I even imagined that it was Lincoln or even Kairi that was punishing me. Bad decision after bad decision cost me so much. My best friend, my home, my mate, my children. Kairi.

  It's been four months now since I've last seen her. And I don't mean when she was bleeding out on the cave floor. I honestly thought she was dying while I held our son in my arms. I knew it would be the only time that I would. I hung around in the cave systems after I got away from the pack warriors that were supposed to watch and take me into custody. However, because everyone was so concerned about Kairi, slipping out was easy.

  Staying in the immediate area was stupid of me, but I wanted to see the funeral for Kairi. Just to pay my respects from afar. But after several days, I was shocked to see her up and about with her new pack and with our son in her hands. She looked radiant, but then again, she always was beautiful. I jump off a cliff for overlooking the beauty she possessed, inside and out, for Natasha.

  No, the last time I saw her was on our son's first birthday. Quincy, she had named him, or maybe Alpha Thorne named him, I don't know. The whole pack was there for his birthday party, I even got to see Lincoln and his mate with their children. Everyone looked so happy. Except me, because I stood in the woods watching the life I should have had. But I refused to let myself be bitter even when Kairi announced that she had news to share.

  "We're pregnant," she shouted in glee. I watched as Alpha Thorne held onto her from behind, his hands resting on her abdomen that would be round in a few months. I dropped the gift that I bought for my son where I was. I left my hiding spot after that with the cheers of the pack that was happy for their alpha and luna, ringing in my ears like a church bell on a Sunday morning.

  I don't even know if anyone ever found that gift, let alone if they gave it to Quincy.

  I'd returned to my new pack, the pack of rogues, and tried to push all thoughts of Kairi and her happy family out of my mind. Though I'm sure by now, the newest addition was snuggled in her arms by now.

  Two loud bangs on my bedroom door, interrupt my thoughts. I climb over the limbs in my bed and stuff my legs into some shorts before opening the door.

  "Let's go Julien, boss wants to see everyone." It was a real annoyance to not be a part of a formal pack, there was no mind link between any of us. A pack needed to be recognized and accepted by the council with a ceremony. A new pack hadn't been recognized in decades, and it was highly doubted that the first one would be for a pack of rogues. So, since that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, we had to rely on word of mouth or cell phones.

  Wordlessly, I nodded and closed the door. I wasn't being rude, he'd already started to make his way to the next door in the hallway.

  "Hmmmm, Julien, come back to bed with us. Please?"

  “No, get out and get dressed. There's a meeting anyway." I shoved the dresses that I picked up from the floor and threw them on the bed before turning towards the bathroom. I spare five minutes for a quick shower and to brush my teeth before changing into some fresh clothes. My room is empty of the two she-wolves that I spent the night with. If I squinted hard enough, one of them looked like Kairi. She swore the other was a packaged deal, so I didn't give a shit that there was another girl. I'd gotten used to pretending I was with her again. It wasn't healthy, but it was another thing I didn't give a shit about.

  I take the stairs two at a time as I run to the post in the backyard. Anytime the boss wants to see all of us at the same time, it's always at the post. Either it's an announcement or, it's corporal punishment. With this guy, it could be either one.

  My way to the front of the crowd is simple, most everyone is quick to move out of my way. My reputation of a wolf who has
lost everything is well known amongst the rogues, with a temper so volatile it rivals an active volcano that can erupt at any moment and cause vast amounts of destruction to all that is in the vicinity.

  Everyone is restless, awaiting whatever is to come. Finally, Anderson, the wolf known as 'Boss,' walks from the back of the house to the informal arena in the backyard. He looks around, I can imagine looking to make sure that everyone is gathered for maximum impact of whatever he has planned.

  Anderson is an imposing figure, tall as a mountain with brownish red hair cropped low to his head. His eyes are a light brown, with seemingly red flecks that make his eyes look aglow with fire when the sun hits them. They're also look as though they're lined with kohl, but his eyes are naturally dark and ashen at the same time. His wolf is just as formidable, bigger than both my former best friend, Alpha Lincoln, and Kairi's chosen mate, Alpha Wesley. The wolf form is an odd coloring, mostly white but with a black muzzle and black patches on his feet and parts of his flank.

  "It seems everybody is here, so let's begin. As you know, we suffered a great loss when we tried to attack the alpha's summit. We lost some great wolves to the cause and their memory will not be forgotten. Their lives will not be in vain.