Once Upon A Rejection
Part 2 Chapter 28

Grayson Ward’s POV

I left Molly behind with her brother as I ran through the forest towards the town. I didn’t make it very far before I felt a shock wave from some kind of explosion. The force of the explosion was almost enough to knock me off my feet, I staggered for a few steps before fully regaining my balance.

Once I had recovered I started running again but this time with greater urgency. The explosion must have killed a few members of my pack because I could feel an enormous sense of loss. Panic was starting to fill my heart, my dad was here as well as my brother and so many of my friends. Any of them could be dead, or even worse, all of them.

My mindlink to the rest of the pack seemed to be blocked. I should have known there was something wrong when I couldn’t reach my father earlier but I didn’t put the pieces together till I entered the forest. I couldn’t reach the rest of my pack to see who had survived and I couldn’t even reach Molly to comfort her. My wolf growled in frustration. He hated not being there for her but at least I knew she was safe.

I ran through the forest, feeling the wind rushing through my fur until I heard the sound of my brother’s voice. Changing direction, I ran towards the sound of his voice. He was shouting at someone, the stress levels in his voice were very high.

“Has anyone seen my dad?” He screamed. I could see him through the trees, he was talking to a few members of our pack. They all looked dazed from the explosion but none of them were badly injured.

“No, he was on the other side of town with Thomas and Rich.” One of them replied. Leyton sighed, the frustration clear on his face. The attack had been planned to make use of the whole area around the pack but we hadn’t factored in that they might block our mindlinks. We should have seen this coming rather than taking our mindlink for granted, maybe then we could have planned around this issue.

A scream echoed through the forest nearby. Worried that it was the sound of a member of my own pack in distress, I followed the sound of the scream. Leyton shifted into his wolf form and followed me. The origin of the screaming was not far away but it fell silent before Leyton and I got there.

There was a lycan kneeling over three dead werewolves who I didn’t recognise as part of my pack. There was so much b***d pouring out of their bodies that there was a dark pool of b***d covering the whole area beneath them. The lycan was too busy looking through the pockets of the werewolves he had killed to notice my brother and I running towards him.

He looked up a second before my wolf dug his teeth into his neck from behind. I dragged him onto his back, digging my teeth in to subdue him while Leyton tore into him with his teeth and claws. The lycan tried to wriggle out of my grasp but he wasn’t strong enough to overpower two alpha wolves. Soon there was no more fight left in him as his b***d mixed with that of the wolves he had slain. I let go of his neck, spitting out his foul tasting b***d onto his dead body.

I felt pain radiate through my arms and chest as though I had been slashed by the lycan’s claws even though I knew that the lycan below me didn’t get a chance to touch me. This must be Molly’s pain, my wolf whimpered. My brother sensed my panic and nudged my side with his head, I had no time to shift and explain.

I ran off into the forest, retracing my footsteps and heading back towards the car where I had left her. Leyton was following closely behind. She was close, I could smell her scent and I could hear Talen’s voice ahead of me.

“Place her gently on the floor or I swear your father won’t even recognize your body once I am through with you.” Talen snarled, forcing me to run faster.

“I promise this isn’t what it looks like.” Vincent begged. He placed Molly’s gently on the floor in front of him. I could see the fear in his eyes as Talen stalked towards him. I shifted back into my human form as I emerged from the forest.

“What is going on?” I asked. Vincent didn’t look as though he had hurt Molly, there was no b***d on his skin or clothes. I couldn’t be sure of his innocence but I thought it was at least worth listening to his side of things before I let Talen rip his throat out. Talen growled but he stayed in place, his hands clenched into fists by his side.

Vincent told us about what happened to Molly. He spoke quickly, his eyes darting quickly between Talen and I anxiously. My chest swelled with pride as Vincent told me about how Molly took down a lycan all by herself. I never wanted her to do it again but I loved how powerful my mate was, she really was perfect.

“Which way did your father go?” Talen growled. I could see the anger in his eyes. He was going to give Vincent’s father a painful death for daring to touch our mate.

‘Good, I will help him,’ Bran growled in my head, begging to be let out.

Vincent pointed off into the distance to the left of where I had come from. I told my brother to help the rest of the pack and I told Vincent to take Molly back to her brother and keep her safe. Me and Talen would take care of that piece of trash lycan that thought he could hurt my mate and get away with it.

Shifting back into my wolf, I ran in the direction that Vincent had pointed out. My wolf was faster than Talen’s lycan. That was too bad for him, I wasn’t waiting. He would just have to catch up to me once I had captured Vincent’s father. I wasn’t planning to finish him quickly like the other lycan, he was the one who planned this whole thing and he deserved to suffer.

The trail was easy to follow, Vincent’s father wasn’t even trying to hide his scent. I followed it through the forest until I reached a car at the edge of the forest. Vincent’s father was standing next to it, he looked as though he was waiting for someone. He was looking at his phone, he was so arrogant that he wasn’t even looking out for anyone following him. Maybe he thought we were too weak to take on a lycan like him, I was more than happy to prove him wrong.

I waited until I was within pouncing distance then I growled. His eyes raised from his phone to meet mine. I expected him to show at least a little fear at being confronted by a clearly angry alpha wolf but he wasn’t. A smirk crossed his face as he looked down at me. My wolf growled at his silent insult.

With one large leap I pounced on top of him, knocking him from his feet and pinning him to the ground. I positioned myself so my claws were in his shoulder and my teeth were at his neck, centimetres away from his carotid artery. He tried to move but I dug my claws in deeper causing him to cry out in pain.

“You started the fun without me,” Talen said, feigning upset. I laughed, now the fun could really start.

We spent the next few minutes using our claws to slice into his skin. I had never taken pleasure in hurting or killing someone before but I was happy to make an exception for him. This man had caused the death of my pack members, tortured his own family and hurt my mate. He didn’t deserve mercy.

If we had more time maybe I would have taken him prisoner but as things stood it was a risk we couldn’t take. We had a long night ahead of us already. There were so many werewolves scattered around the area and I had no idea how many of them were still alive and in need of medical attention.

We also had to chase down the rest of these lycans. I want this nightmare to be over so Molly could be my luna and have my pups in peace. The only way to make sure that happened was to stop everyone who wanted to eradicate the hybrids. If we didn’t manage that tonight then this could go on indefinitely and I couldn’t allow that to happen.