The Failed Rejection
Chapter 20

Penelope pov

The next couple of days passed with a series of good news. Jackson and Penelope got calls from the pack back in Illinois. Penelope got a call from her sister while she was still in the pack infirmary. Lili said that everyone was okay, and the rogue king was dead. Penelope and Jackson both let out a sigh of relief from the news. Penelope could tell she was still in pain so she ended the call shortly after her sister delivered the news.

The next day while Penelope was attending classes came the next announcement. Jackson approached her after her pharmacology class.

“I got a strange call,” Jackson stated as they walked to her microbiology class.

“What was it?” Jackson debated on what to say. But after a minute stare down between the two of them Jackson caved.

“Some one from the council called. They didn’t identify themselves. The only information given was short and sweet. We made a ruling, and ruled in your favor. It will be taken care of in the next twenty four hours. No trace will be left behind.” Penelope felt a heavy weight on her chest. That meant he would be killed, or at least taken and thrown in prison for the rest of his life. Jackson touched her shoulder,

“Penelope it’s not your fault.” Penelope nodded and continued on with her classes. Chris, her lab partner noticed her distraction.

“Hey Penelope you okay? You seem distracted?” Penelope visibly shook herself,

“Yeah, just some stuff going on back home that has me worried.”

“Where are you from?” Chris asked trying to make conversation.

“Illinois. Not Chicago, though I did my undergrad at northwestern,” Penelope said and Chris whistled.

“A pretty good school,” Chris started talking and Penelope let him distract her. Chris was actually turning out to be a good friend.

That night Penelope started looking for flights for Jackson to return home. She found one that was perfect for him. It was leaving tomorrow evening, right after the twenty four hour time notice the council gave. Jackson came into the room with dinner. When Penelope asked for his credit card for the flight an argument ensued.

Jackson wanted to stay a few more days, to keep an eye on her. She argued that she was ready to be by herself. Jackson didn’t think so. It took hours but, Penelope finally persuaded him to go back to the pack. The pack was still recovering from an attack. She knew Lili was downplaying how bad the attack really was. Lili wouldn’t want her to worry. Lili needed Jackson just as much as Penelope did. So with a heavy heart full of worry Jackson left.

That weekend Penelope decided to go for a run, she was feeling restless. Especially when Chris had asked her is she had seen Max anywhere. Penelope hated lying, but she had to put a smile on her face and say no. Like it was no big deal, when Penelope knew the man was dead.

She called an Uber and went to her Normal spot. She loved it out here, as it bordered a large patch of trees. Penelope could pretend that she was back in Illinois with her pack.

She ran her normal run, but something made Koko go further into the patch of trees. There was a smell out of place.

“What’s that smell? Smells nice,” Koko said. Penelope could smell pine trees, but all the trees were oaks or walnut. As she got closer Penelope smelled the unmistakable scent of b***d. A lot of it. She should have noticed it before. Penelope tracked down the source of the b***d and found a man. However, it wasn’t just any man. It was a very large man. Koko started whining in her head. Penelope quickly shifted back and checked the man’s pulse. It was there, but weak.

Penelope quickly went over the options in her head. She could either move him or run to her phone and call an ambulance.

“He’s too big for me too lift,” Koko said. Right. That made the decision for her.

“I’ll be right back,” Penelope called hoping the large shifter could hear her.

Unknown pov

After walking into the trap he shifted into his bear form and fought as long as he could for as hard as he could. Being an alpha bear shifter, it took a lot to take him down. The rogues he was dealing with brought in silver. They injected him with silver. It was a mix of wolvesbane and something else. The silver was the only thing that affected bearshifters. The silver didn’t stop him, but it definitely slowed him down. The rogues were able to get the advantage, and he lost consciousness. He roused suddenly to feel himself being shoved into a pickup truck. He roused again when he was dumped somewhere. It smelled like nature, it was definitely a nice change to the disgusting smell of the city.

He didn’t rouse again until he felt a touch on his throat. He smelled something akin to strawberries and an angelic voice telling him she’d be right back. He could only pray to the moon goddess that she would be. He fell back into the black abyss.

Penelope pov

Koko ran as fast as lightening to her clothes. She shifted back and called 911. Penelope quickly reported in an animal attack. Then hung up, she didn’t stick around for questions. Penelope shifted back, grabbed up her clothes in her mouth, and ran.

Penelope wasn’t sure how long she was gone, but for the poor shifter it was probably too long. She finally started assessing his injuries now that help was on the way. Penelope looked in horror, how was this man even alive. Even for a shifter these injuries were extensive. He had to be a bear shifter, only bears could be this strong, and tall.

Penelope pulled the belt from his pants, as fast as she could. However, he just sat there like a dead log, and that made it difficult. She finally got it undone, and made a tourniquet for one of his legs. Both of them had injuries, but the left one seemed worse. She lifted his leg and tied it as tight as possible.

Penelope tore his shirt off of his body and started to tear his shirt into strips. Her eyes strayed to his impressive abs more than once. The man was a very large man, he was stocky, but definitely not fat. Given the fact that he had abs said enough about his body type.

“Focus human!” Her wolf shouted at her. Penelope went back to tearing strips out of his very large shirt. The man had to be close to seven foot tall. Whoever took down this bear shifter was powerful indeed. Penelope tightens a strip around his other leg. She saw a wound on his shoulder, and placed a strip there.

“Ugh,” the man let out a g***n of distress.

“I’m sorry sir, but I’m just trying to keep you alive until the ambulance comes.” Penelope said as she found another wound on his other shoulder. The bear was definitely in his bear form when he was taken out.

“Beautiful,” Penelope heard and looked at the man’s face and saw him looking right at her.

“Sir you are going to be just fine.” Then Penelope heard the sirens of an ambulance, and she quickly took of to make sure they could replace him. Penelope ran as fast as she could to the location of the sirens. They came in a different direction than she assumed.

“Ma’am, are you the one who called 911?” A man called.

“Yes I am, grab your stretcher and hurry up. It will take all of us to carry him out of here.”

“Ma’am you can’t interfere.” The other man said as he tried to keep pace with her. Penelope let out a sigh.

“Look I don’t have time for your bullsh.it I’m an EMT myself and a medical student at Perelman. Just listen to me.” Penelope said as she continued running. The one man started to say something, but the other older one interrupted her.

“What are we walking into?”

“Male, late twenties. Caucasian. Almost seven foot tall from what I can tell. Over three hundred pounds. A bad laceration on both thighs. As well as his shoulders. I wasn’t able to do anything else as you arrived on scene. You were damn quick by the way.”

“Yeah, we were in the neighborhood, lucky for you.”

They arrived at the scene and quickly assessed the best thing was to get the man out of there.

“Neck brace?” Penelope asked and the older EMT handed it to her. As a group they quickly rolled the heavy man on his side, then placed the stretcher on the ground. Then after some maneuvering they lifted the man up and started the trek back to the ambulance.

“You weren’t wrong about this man’s weight.” One EMT commented. Penelope had his head so she didn’t feel the heavy weight. She just walked on, they finally got back to the ambulance. They hurried back to the hospital, while the man in front of her got hooked to all different kinds of machines.

While Penelope wanted to jump into the Frey and take care of this mystery man she couldn’t. So Penelope did the only thing that felt right in this situation.Penelope sat there held this strange man’s hair, and played with his hair. Penelope’s brain knew it was wrong, she had a mate in a foreign county. For all she knew this man had a mate worrying herself to death for his safe return.

However, In her heart holding his hand felt natural and right. So that’s what Penelope did, until they arrived at the hospital and he was whisked away.