Once Upon A Rejection
Part 3 Chapter 9

Grayson Ward’s POV

Leaving my own pack under the cover of darkness like some kind of criminal wasn’t exactly how I wanted things to go. But after what I had learnt about the council, I didn’t really have a choice. At any moment they could decide to have me arrested and executed. If they realised I was leaving they would probably use that as an excuse to move forward with their plans. I couldn’t risk them working out what I was doing.

The only person in the pack who I had told about my plans was my father. He wasn’t thrilled about being pulled out of semi-retirement but he understood the seriousness of my situation. I could only hope that all of this would be over soon so that he could go back to his retirement. Maybe I could even look after all of the businesses for a while so he could take a proper holiday with mom for the first time in years.

I hadn’t told anyone outside of my immediate family that I was leaving. I didn’t want to risk word of it getting back to the council that people had helped me to escape. The council would probably replace some way of punishing them for helping me, and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

It wasn’t as though I needed the help anyway. I was travelling light and I knew the land surrounding the pack intimately. That meant I knew the perfect route to take to avoid the patrols and escape unseen.

I was around halfway to the border when I heard the sound of a woman talking a few metres away from the route I was taking through the forest. I should have kept on walking but I didn’t, I let my curiosity get the better of me.

I didn’t recognise the voice and I was intrigued as to who would be this far outside of the pack so late at night. Moving as carefully as I could, I closed in on their position until I I could see what was happening through the foliage.

“Thank-you for agreeing to see us,” one of the women purred. I had only questioned Finn’s mates a handful of times but there was no mistaking them. They were each being held by one of the younger men and had come to the pack to assist the council members. They were addressing one of the council members who was sitting down on a fallen log, looking bored by the whole interaction.

“You can drop the pleasantries and tell me what you want from me.” He wasn’t even looking at the women in front of him anymore, he was too busy looking at his nails in feigned indifference. I pulled out my phone and started recording, if what was about to happen was legal then I am sure they would have had the meeting in a less covert location.

“We want Finn to be allowed out of prison immediately.” One of Finn’s mates whined.

“We want Finn to be allowed out of prison immediately.” One of Finn’s mates whined.

“How would I explain his sudden release?” He replied, not even looking up from his nails.

If he really cared about how it would look then he would have never agreed to the meeting. He must have known what they would ask for and would have probably weighed up all his options before even coming here. He would already know that Finn being freed would damage Molly’s chances of becoming queen. Therefore, it was in his best interests to agree to Finn’s mates terms. So why would he waste time bringing them all the way out here?

“I am sure you could think some something. Maybe you could claim that there wasn’t enough evidence against him. Please sir, I would do anything.” She pleaded.

His eyes drifted over to her for the first time since she had started speaking. He looked at her for a few seconds before letting his eyes slowly drift over to Finn’s other mate. She had been silent since I had arrived and she looked a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

“What about you? Would you do anything to save your mate from his fate?”

“Yes of course I would.” She replied, looking at the floor directly in front of herself.

“Why don’t you show me how much it would mean to you.” He said before nodding at one of his assistants.

Without hesitation he pulled the women forward until she was standing directly in front of the council member. He stood slowly, maintaining eye contact with her as he did so. She looked confused and hesitant but he completely ignored her distress. Instead he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her onto her knees in front of him.

She knew what he was about to ask her to do, and her eyes were glancing around as she looked for a way out of it. She was shaking slightly and I could hear her heart racing. I hated seeing her like this. No matter what crimes she had committed alongside Finn, she didn’t deserve this.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked, looking down on her and raising an eyebrow. She whimpered then started to undo his trousers. That was more than I could take, a growl left my lips before I could stop it. That was when all hell broke loose.

I started running for the border but in the split second it took me to turn around I managed to see some of the chaos my growl had caused. The shock caused Finn’s mate to scream and her claws to elongate, cutting the council member’s c**k clean off. Upon seeing this Finn’s other mate started screaming while the council member’s assistants rushed to try saving his life.

Part of me felt as though I should have stuck around to help out but it was only a small part. The rest of me thought that he was getting exactly what he deserved and was more than content to leave him to his fate.

I ran through the forest without pausing or looking back. I was sure it wouldn’t be long until I was being hunted down like a dog. I needed to shift but I didn’t have much time. I stuffed my t-shirt and phone in my backpack as I continued to run before placing it in my mouth and shifting. The remainder of my clothes ripped to pieces as my body changed into my wolf form.

I crossed the border less than half an hour later. There was still no sign of anyone pursuing me, but I knew it was only a matter of time before they did. The original plan had been for me to rest after a couple of hours then go into a nearby town to source a car the next morning.

That plan was too risky now, I needed to put a bit more distance between me and the pack. That meant I would have to keep running for most of the night. Also, buying a car would be a little tricky now. I was likely to get arrested if I walked around town in nothing but my t-shirt.

In hindsight it might have been a little impulsive of me to shift so quickly. It probably wouldn’t have been too dangerous to take the time to get undressed first. If my wolf hadn’t been so aggravated then maybe I would have been able to think more clearly.

‘Don’t you dare try to put this on me. I leave all the human stuff like clothes up to you for a reason.’ Bran growled in my head.

He was still a little worked up from the scene we had just witnessed. After seeing the way the council members treated others (particularly women) he wanted to end the life of every last one of them. But I was still determined to do this the legal way. Killing them was too easy.

They needed to pay for their crimes and those who they had wronged deserved to have their names cleared. That was exactly what we were going to do and the video I had just filmed would help us do that. I might have to edit out the end part though, nobody needed to see that.