Rejected His Miracle Luna (Dorothy and Ignatius)
Chapter 6

Chapter 6 -Ignatius-

My brief visit to Johan's neighborhood hadn't ended up very brief at all. I had only meant to stop by the college for a few minutes to catch up with my old friend.. However, the moment I noticed the small crew of girls heading towards a solitary figure on the outskirts of the college campus, I knew something bad was about to go down. Spotting Claudia, Mavis's top watchdog, amongst them only confirmed my suspicions. Claudia was ruthless and whoever she was after now was not in for a good time.

I had already started towards the group when they began their beatdown. Breaking into a run, I could just make out a small figure curled on the ground and a shock of fiery red hair. Dorothy, I would come to learn, was her name.

Carrying her in my arms, I found myself enveloped in her scent. The smell of fresh air and gentle rain floral and enticing. I wasn't sure why Claudia and her gang had chosen this particular slip of a girl as their newest victim but I was enraged at their brutality all the same.

If I hadn't had Dorothy in my arms I would have tracked them down and broken more than just a few of their manicured nails. Then again, considering the fragile allyship between their pack and ours, It wouldn' look very good for the son of the Northern pack leader to launch an attack on a few Southerner girls.

Gaging from Dorothy's nonchalant reaction to the ordeal, it was clear that she bore the brunt of their bullying quite often. Often enough to get used to it. And then there was Johan, I had never seen him act so strange as he had, standing there in the parking lot.

We had been fast friends for years. But around this girl, he had been on edge and angry - prepared to fight. We had fought often as children, even as young teens. But this Johan was different, territorial, and on edge.

It wasn't long after that when I learned why. Dorothy was his true mate. Thinking about it afterward, his possessive, primal attitude should have been a clear sign of that fact. He clearly wanted her. And his inner-wolf must have been seething at another man handling his mate. An Alpha at that.

I had felt a pang of guilt at my own actions after Dorothy revealed the truth to me. I hadn't intended to upset my friend or take what his inner-wolf demanded was his.

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Chapter 6

Furthermore, I was astonished at his rejection of Dorothy, albeit not an official one. I had met Mavis on multiple occasions and while I could admit she was pretty, the venom in her eyes was clear as day to me. I couldn't fathom rejecting one's true mate for a woman so potently cruel. My heart ached for Dorothy. I had only known her for a few hours at most but I had been rocked by the urge to protect her from the moment I laid eyes on her brilliant red hair and caught her faint scent on the breeze..

To lose a mate was an indescribable pain. I had felt it myself once. Unlike Dorothy, I hadn't been rejected, but a stormy night and a fatal car accident had snatched them

from me. There is no pain quite like that of losing what you love the most.

away

The memory of that affliction was locked away in the furthermost corners of my mind.

only to be carefully opened and examined over and over again in the quiet confines of my own bedroom in the dead of night.

While I couldn't entirely understand Dorothy's pain, I could empathize. Watching her tears fall freely as she lay on the bed in that clinic, I fought the overwhelming urge to take her in my arms again.

It hurt to see her so clearly suffering. I wanted nothing more than to fix what was broken and witness a smile a real smile as I was sure it would be a beautiful one. Dorothy, however, was not mine to embrace. I was little more than a stranger to her.

All the same, it was difficult to keep my distance and I reached for her small, slender hand. Dorothy refused to look at me for a moment, keeping her eyes trained to the fan on the ceiling and denying my sympathies with a tight-lipped frown. Her fingers, however, closed around mine and she gripped my hand tightly.

We stayed like that for a good long while, comforted by quiet company, before the healer returned with a handful of what looked like powdery sticks and a vile of inky black liquid. Dorothy tried to get up and I propped a hand on her back, easing her into a sitting position.

She gave me a small smile in response and blinked away the tears that had been building on her long, light lashes.

"Now then," the old bat huffed.

"Take this three times a day!

She held the vile to Dorothy's face.

Dorothy grimaced at the black liquid sloshing inside the glass, "No more than one teaspoon, or you'll knock yourself out for hours. And this-" She held up the powdery sticks and snapped them in half under Dorothy's nose.

Chapter 6

A shimmer of gray and brown powder burst from

spluttered as she inhaled it, "What - what was that!" she gasped h o ar sely,

hand to her chest.

"Sugersnap Thyme. Helps with pain."

ing

The healer waved the sticks around a little more before tucking them away again, "It you a little drowsy and disorientated so I suggest you have your young, might make seaweed-smelling friend take you home."

She looked pointedly at me over her glasses and I nodded in response, "Yes, Ma'am." "Uh-Uh," Dorothy piped up in protest, "not home. I don't wanna go home."

Her words slurred a little at the end as the old bat's magic sticks seemed to be taking effect. She lolled forwards and I rushed to catch her, scooping her up and holding her against my chest. "Don't wanna go home," she mumbled into my neck and I could hear the stubborn pout in her voice as she said it.

"That's okay, you can stay at my place for a little if you want."

I could see the old bat eyeing me suspiciously, "I'm staying at a villa for the weekend. Right up the road," I continued as she narrowed her eyes at me. She thought it over for

a moment.

"Fine," she eventually relented, handing me the bottle of putrid-looking medicine. "But be sure to let her parents know. Their number should be in the books at the front desk. Everyone in the pack is." I took the bottle and thanked her for all of her help.

"And you be good to that girl," she continued, "I'll be checking in later," I promised to be on my best behavior. Dorothy grumbled out a half-as sed thank you and something about a monster in the forest. After replaceing her name scribbled next to multiple home addresses and five different numbers in the big book at the front desk, I carried a very disorientated Dorothy to my car and somehow managed to get her into the passenger seat without bumping her rolling head on the way in.

Climbing into the driver's seat, I heard her say something about a creature in the dark. "What was that?"

I leaned over to hear her better, buckling her seatbelt at the same time she wouldn't feel her ribs aching right now and I didn't trust her to not topple off the seat entirely on

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Chapter 6

the drive. Instead of answering, she scoffed at me and leaned her head against the window with drooping lids. "Alrighty then."

I spent the drive home calling all five numbers I'd saved on my phone, one at a time. The first three didn't answer but on the second to last number a gruff-sounding woman told me to try the last number, explaining that she had been Dorothy's foster mom for

a while.

She also mysteriously griped about a pet frog and an expensive cheese platter before hanging up. The final number rang for half a second before someone picked up and I heard a frantic woman's voice crac kle through the phone, "Dorothy?"

"Not quite. This is Ignatius Aamodt. Dorothy's okay, she's just had a bit of a rough day." "Ignatius... Elliot's son?"

It seemed the Southern Pack was well informed about their new allies.

"That's the one. Are you Dorothy's foster mother?"

"Anita, yes. Where is Dorothy? She was supposed to be back by now. Are you her mate

She stopped herself, possibly concerned that she'd said too much.

"No, I'm not. It would seem... Things didn't really go to plan for Dorothy."

"Oh. I had hoped... Nevermind. Where is she now?" There was genuine morosity in her

voi

She seemed to truly care for Dorothy and I found myself wondering if Dorothy herself was aware of that. I looked over at Dorothy, who was currently snoozing in her seat. She swatted the air with one feeble hand and then settled back into her dozing.

"Currently snoring in my car. We're heading to the Blue Villa Hotel on Fort Grayvill, I'll let Dorothy know to call you when she wakes up."

After exchanging addresses with Anita and promising to be in contact I hung up and glanced over at Dorothy again. She looked so tiny and fragile curled up there on the seat. Her hair was making a solid attempt to escape the braid it was caught in, cascading down her shoulder and sticking out in little curling wisps of red and gold.

Her skin had a pale, almost translucent glow to it and she had the tiniest smattering of freckles over her nose. The tiny opal knotted on a thin string around her neck was the color of her eyes. Eyes that were now scrunched closed like she was fighting monsters in her dreams.

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Chapter 6

My thoughts wandered back to the nightmare I'd woken her from earlier. The creature in the woods she'd said, or something to that extent. Something about this girl had sparked my interest and I found myself wanting to know more about her.

To get to know her. I wanted to know if she preferred strawberries or orange slices, winter or spring. I wanted to get to know Dorothy, although I wasn't entirely sure why.

I found myself so deep in my musings I almost missed the turnoff to the villa I'd rented out for the duration of my stay. I could have stayed with my father in the fancier hotel further on. But the thought of waking up to Elliot's cold demeanor every morning was daunting and I was weak in that regard.

I pulled the car into the parking area and tried to wake Dorothy up. Her eyelids fluttered and I caught a glimpse of those striking opal irises before she was out once more. Getting out and rounding the car, I unbuckled her and lifted her to my chest again.

Dorothy wrapped both arms around my neck and sighed into my car, still half asleep and much less indignant about me carrying her than she would have been if she was awake. Her breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine and her scent was stronger than ever.

The afternoon sun was sending sla nted rays of light through the trees nearby and made her hair look even brighter, radiating in the golden glow. Turning to head into the villa I noticed another car parked in the empty bay beside mine. A familiar car. My gaze shot to the entrance of the villa where Johan was leaning against the door with folded arms.

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