Once Upon A Rejection
Chapter 24

We arrived back home shortly after 11am. It was strange to think of the alpha’s house as being my home now but something about calling this place home just felt right. I think it probably helped that I hadn’t really felt at home in my stepfather’s house ever since my mom was killed.

I understood his actions a bit better now but I still wasn’t ready to forgive him. Maybe in a few weeks or months I would talk to him and we could try to repair our relationship. That wasn’t going to be easy though. He had put me through years of pain at a time when I needed love most of all. It would take me a while to put that pain behind me and move forward.

The house was busy, I could hear the omegas working in the kitchen and I could hear various meetings in progress to discuss pack security. It sounded like Rich was making some adjustments in light of what we had learnt last night.

Grayson and I ignored these discussions and walked straight upstairs to alpha Ward’s office. We paused outside the office for a moment to check he didn’t have company before Grayson knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Alpha Ward shouted at us through the door.

We opened the door and walked in. Alpha Ward was sitting at the conference table waiting for us. He had his laptop open on the table in front of him. He gave us a smile as we sat down opposite him at the table.

“As you are both going to be in charge of the pack soon I wanted you to be a bit more involved in the decisions for the pack.” Alpha Ward said.

Grayson nodded in agreement.

“The first thing I wanted to talk to you about is the beta position.” Alpha Ward said. His eyes lingered on me for a moment before he continued.

“Ezra is still too young to take over the position. He won’t be eighteen for another eleven months so we will need someone to stand in till then.” He continued.

“Do you have any suggestions?” Grayson asked.

“That is up to you. You will be the ones who will have to work with them.” Alpha Ward said.

“What about Rich? He already knows all about the running of the pack.” I suggested.

“That is a good suggestion, do you have any objections?” Grayson asked his father.

“No. I agree that he would do a good job.” His father said.

“Great.” Grayson replied, gently squeezing my leg under the table.

“So the next thing we need to think about is Molly’s safety. Are you still adamant that she will finish this year of college?” His father asked.

Grayson nodded his head. He smiled at me.

“Ok, then I think we need some extra protection in case this woman decides to do more than watch Molly. I want you to take Ezra with you when you go back there.” Grayson’s father suggested.

“I am not sure that is necessary.” I said.

I didn’t like the idea of Ezra coming with me to college. It was bad enough him being there for a few minutes. I really didn’t want to have to introduce him to my friends and play happy families in front of them. It would be horrendous.

“I am going to have to disagree with you on that.” Grayson said.

“What if I agreed to do some self defence training with you instead?” I asked.

I had done a lot of training when I was next in line to be the pack’s beta but that was a few years ago now. All my recent training was against punch bags in the gym so I could probably do with some practice.

“I think the training would do you good but I still think bringing Erza with us is a good idea.” Grayson said.

I scowled at him.

“I don’t trust this woman. I think she will try to hurt you and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she succeeded.” He continued.

“That is decided then, I will let him know. My last question relates to pack security.” Grayson’s father said.

He looked nervous, he adjusted his position in his seat. His nervousness made me feel nervous. Alpha’s were usually so confident, what could possibly make him this uncomfortable?

“Rich thinks that we should get the lycans to help us with our lycan problem.” Alpha Ward said.

“I am not sure that is a good idea. Do we really want to let lycans get involved in our pack’s business?” Grayson asked.

“I hate the idea just as much as you do but lycans are much better equipped to deal with lycans. They also might be able to help us replace out the identity of that woman.” His father replied.

“Wouldn’t they be just as likely to side with her as they are to side with us?” I asked.

There was a long history of fighting between lycans and werewolves. They would have no reason to want to help a pack of werewolves to hunt down their own kind. There weren’t many lycans left in the world now, each one of them was too precious to them to risk hurting them. That was the only reason they no longer fought with werewolves or each other.

“Not if we go to them via that council. These lycans are threatening a pack who has done nothing wrong, we would have the full support of the council.” Alpha Ward replied.

That was true. Lycans only took a very limited role in the council but they were a part of it. Lycans liked to think they were above werewolf packs and werewolf politics. They ignored anything that didn’t relate either directly or indirectly to lycan interests.

The council couldn’t really force them to get involved but I am sure neither side would be willing to test that. Both sides had too much to lose if the fragile truce no longer held.

“They wouldn’t dare to go against us if the council asked them for aid on our behalf.” Grayson said, echoing my own thoughts.

“So do we all agree that we should contact the council immediately about our little lycan problem?” Alpha Ward asked.

Grayson and I nodded our heads in agreement.

“Great, I will contact the council right away. That is all I wanted to discuss but I think your mom will be looking for you to sort out the arrangements for the alpha and luna ceremony.” Alpha Ward said.

“Before we go there is one other thing that I would like to discuss.” Grayson said.

His father made a hand gesture prompting him to continue.

“The two lone wolves that are staying in the pack. I was thinking of offering to accept them into the pack.” Grayson said.

“What do you think about this, Molly?” Alpha Ward asked, turning his attention towards me.

I considered the question for a moment. I didn’t know a lot about Justin or William but there was nothing that I knew about them that would make me think that they were shady. There was someone who knew them better than me though.

“Maybe we should ask their friend for more information about them before we make our final decision.” I suggested.

Grayson’s back went straight and I could feel his emotions go haywire. I could tell he didn’t like the idea of talking to Dominic.

‘I am sorry, I shouldn’t have suggested that.’ I mindlinked him. I put my hand on his leg to help him relax.

“You are right, we need to know more about them.” Grayson said. He put his hand on top of mine.

‘I don’t like the idea of talking to him but we need to do what is best for the pack.’ Grayson told me over mindlink.

Grayson’s father was smiling at us. He looked more relaxed than I remember seeing him in years. It was probably something to do with the reduction in his responsibilities and the knowledge that Grayson would soon be ready to take over the pack completely.

“You two should probably get going, Your mom is waiting for you in the dining room.” Alpha Ward said.

When we got to the dining room the first thing I noticed was that luna Ward was absolutely terrifying when she was on a mission. She had the omegas running around with bits of material, flowers and food. She was shouting orders like some kind of drill sergeant.

When I was younger I had seen luna Ward coordinate an attack on a group of rogues who had set up camp near our borders. She had done a good job of taking charge and keeping everyone in order. That however, was nothing compared to the scene in front of me. I would have to remember next to get on her bad side, I shuddered at the thought.

“Mom, what is going on here?” Grayson asked. He looked so shocked that I was worried he might fall over.

“I am planning.” She replied.

“Planning? It looks like you have just raided a sample shop.” Grayson said.

“Well you are both leaving me alone for the week. I need to make sure I can get everything organised while you are gone.” She said, her tone was accusatory.

“What is the rush? I still need to learn how to be luna.” I said.

“That’s rubbish. You were training to be beta for years and Grayson has been training to be alpha all his life. You are ready.” She replied.

I looked over at Grayson, he looked as confused as I did.

“I thought that we were taking over in a couple of months.” Grayson said.

He sounded nervous, I think he was feeling as unprepared as I was. I reached out and took his hand in mine.

“That was before you came back marked. Now your dad wants to move the date forward, but that means I only have a few weeks to get everything arranged.” She replied.

She went back to moving swashes of material into neat lines. Me and Grayson looked at each other.

‘It will be fine sweetheart. You are already a natural alpha and I have no doubt that the council will recognise that when they meet you.’ Grayson reassured me. He leaned forward and kissed the top of my head.

“What are you waiting for? These choices aren’t going to make themselves.” Luna Ward said.

She looked as though she was close to losing her temper. Grayson and I sat down at the table, neither of us wanting to be the one that pushed her over the edge.