Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 11

“She is making you soft, Reed. Let’s kill her.”

The Alpha King rolled his eyes. Trust his beastly half to ignore him for the entire day only to come back with thoughts on violence, the human girl now the object of his focus.

“Not now, Ace… I’m trying to rest.”

“You can rest when she’s no more, Reed. Finish her off, while we still can.” He pranced about in Reed’s head agitatedly, “You let that puny human hit you once after all. Who knows what she’ll do next?”

“You never even gave me the chance to react—“

“SHE NEEDED TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!” The beast cut him off with a snarl, “IT DIDN’T LOOK LIKE YOU WERE ABOUT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.”

As much as Reed tried to fight giving his wolf what it wanted, he found himself falling to the bait. “YOU WEREN’T THE ONE SHE HIT!”

“You forget that we’re one and the same, Reed… that slap was as much yours as it was mine. Kill her soon… or I’ll take over and do it myself.” Thankfully, there was silence, but the Alpha King didn’t want to risk another confrontation, he quickly put the mind blocks in place, but not before he caught his beast’s last words, “p***y.”

Reed took a deep breath, running a hand through his dark curls as he took off his clothes. It had really been a busy day… a lot of things happening… meetings upon meetings, but someway somehow… his mind had been stuck on the weird moment with the human girl. What had changed all of a sudden? She had been so full of fire, they had been enjoying their heated bantering, and then suddenly, she had lost that light in her eyes, her whole countenance becoming tired and sad. He didn’t know what he had said wrong, but he noted that it had something to do with them being mates. Reed wasn’t going to lie, he felt like the world’s greatest monster, especially when he had put in clauses that he had known very well that they’d spend hours arguing about… but she had just signed the contract without reading through, and now, oh now, she was bound to him in every sense of the word.

Reed was stuck thinking about all of this when a knock sounded on his door and his sister poked her head in. “Hey.” She smiled.

“What do you want?” He went straight to the point, Lacy’s comment about how different they were ringing in his head. She really wasn’t lying, for even appearance-wise, they looked nothing like siblings. She with her red bone straight hair, and slender body, and practically angelic persona, he with his huge frame, curly dark hair and demonic aura, but the two were bound in ways that weirdly made sense. They never talked much, but Anaya always seemed to show up right when he needed someone the most, chasing his demons away to some point. They always came back though, but somehow with her around, it was always a little better.

He had done the craziest of things for her, killed for her even… and he knew deep down that if it came down to it, he’d do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant that she got to be as pure and innocent as she was now. “What’s got you in the doldrums, brother?” She asked with a smirk as she made her way over to his bed and sat daintily at the edge. “Does it have anything to do with your new prisoner by any chance?” She chuckled when he let out a soft warning growl, can you believe that? She actually chuckled. Bigger men would have been pissing their pants by now, and here she was, laughing. “I like her.” She said.

“You do? Well let’s see how much you like her when she’s dead and gone.”

“You wouldn’t kill her.” She stated confidently. The Alpha King kept mute, noting with an inward smirk, how uncertain she suddenly became, “You won’t kill her, Reed. Would you?”

“What if I already have?” He smirked. Tears quickly formed in her brown eyes, causing Reed to let out a soft curse, “Come on Naya, can’t you take a joke?”

“That was not a funny joke, Reed!” She sniffled, her green eyes lighting up once more, “So she’s alive?”

“Of course she is! Though, I don’t know for how long,” He said the last part under his breath,

“What?”

“Never mind,” He brushed her off. “You never told me why you’re here,” He reminded her as he shrugged off his white dress shirt, leaving only his pants on,

“I’m here because I want to go and see her,”

“No.” His answer was short and straight to the point.

“Please, Reed… she must be feeling so lonely. I can only imagine how she’s feeling, being away from family and friends… stuck in a new place with no one she can relate to, and then being imprisoned on top of all that—”

“Fine, fine… you can go and see her—” She interrupted him with a loud squeal, clapping her hands for joy. She wanted to hug him, but the last time she had done that, he had freaked out, and Ace had almost hurt her. She knew better now, “—But only for an hour, Anaya.” He warned seriously. “Any more than that, and you can k**s the chance of ever visiting her again goodbye.”

“You have my word,” She raised a hand solemnly, as though she were making a vow, “Now, the keys.”

Reed rolled his eyes as he reached into the pocket of his pants for the key. He wasn’t exactly worried about the girl disclosing anything to his sister, especially when she had signed and NDA and all that. As a matter of fact, if he was being honest, he actually wanted Anaya to go check on her. Hopefully, the company would restore her back to her former self. A sad Lacy was no fun to mess around with after all. It had taken him a while, but he saw that now. “One hour, Naya…” He warned again, “If she tries anything funny, I’ll have your head,” He promised, smirking at the way her eyes widened. He was only joking, but she did not need to know that.

So that was how Anaya Adeline Winchester found herself walking towards the girl’s chambers, a skip in her step as she sauntered, keys jiggling with every movement. She wondered if the girl would be as receptive as she had been the last time they had met. Anaya told herself she would understand if the human didn’t want to see her, but she knew deep down that she would be hurt nonetheless. Don’t get her wrong, the hurt wasn’t even towards her, but towards her brother, for being so hardheaded and resolute that when he set his mind on something, nothing at all could change it.

Anaya knocked tentatively when she got to the door, just in case the girl was sleeping. She heard nothing, and disappointment filled her as she turned away, for she had been in high spirits to see the girl she was convinced was going to become a very close friend, but all of that had gone down the drain, because she had missed the one chance Reed had easily let her get something she wanted. Anaya had barely taken two steps when she heard something though,

A knock. From the inside.

“I really don’t want to see your right now, your Eminence, but I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna stop you anyways,” Her voice sounded so hollow and dull that Anaya’s heart immediately went out to her. She and Reed were going to have a very serious talk when she returned the keys.

“It’s actually Anaya, Lacy…” She stated as she drew closer to the door, “I can go and come back some other time if you’d like.”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” There seemed to be this sudden light in her voice that touched Anaya’s heart. Her presence had already sparked some kind of positive effect, and she hadn’t even entered the room yet. Perhaps, all hope was not lost just yet. “You can come in, please,”

“Right, thanks.” Anaya inserted the key in the lock at the permission, turning it and going right in. The first thing she did was wrap her hands around the human girl in a hug. Anaya relished in the way the girl leaned into her as though sharing her woes and burdens. She wasn’t going to lie, it warmed her heart greatly. The hug lasted for quite a while, and then Lacy pulled away, “I really needed that, thank you. Do come in please,” She gestured, Anaya following right after her.

“Do I need to kill my brother?” She got right into it, completely taking Lacy by surprise. Did this family not have some kind of beating about the bush button? They always went right to the point, even if said point was uncomfortable— not that Anaya’s question was uncomfortable in any way… she was just making an overall generalization.

“Uhm, that would not be necessary,” She said, when deep down Lacy wanted to ask if she could assist in the murder. The thing was that she had signed a contract, one that prevented her from saying certain things… one that now that she was okay emotion-wise, she was starting to regret, because aside the s*x part, everything else was legally binding, and she had just signed it without really going through, a stupid move, yes. She was beginning to see that now. “I just haven’t been feeling too good, that’s all.” At least that was a half lie.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Anaya asked, looking over at the untouched evening meal, “Uhm… not yet, I haven’t really felt like eating much today.” Came the girl’s reply. Anaya sighed deeply and pulled her by the arm over to the bed, both of them taking a seat. She reached for the girl’s two hands, “Words cannot begin to express how sorry I am that you have been put in this position, Lacy. My brother is a fool for doing this to you… and I know that I can’t help much, given how stubborn he is… but I can assure you that you would never have to sleep in the filthy dungeons ever again. I would fight in any way I can, that I promise you.” She swore solemnly. Lacy was touched, truly she was, for to see a total stranger care so much for her when she hadn’t even done much was such a humbling experience. She was so lost for words that she couldn’t say a thing and so she settled for a small nod.

Just as quickly as the tense atmosphere had come, it vanished… the two girls talking and laughing in a few minutes like long lost friends. At some point, Lacy’s appetite had come with a vengeance, and she had shared her meal with her new acquaintance.

The one hour Reed had given his sister came much quicker than she had expected, and when she was having the most fun too, getting to know the human, “I would be back tomorrow,” She promised as she bid her goodbye. “One last thing,” Lacy called out,

“Yes?”

“Can you get your brother to let me walk around the castle a bit? Even if I would be heavily guarded, I don’t mind… I just don’t think I can take another day of being confined in here for an entire day.”

Anaya winced, “You drive a hard bargain, Lacy… but I’ll see what I can do,” She promised, laughing when Lacy squealed in delight,

“If you’re able to do that, you’ll be my most favorite person in the world.”

Anaya smiled at that, the smile following her even as she locked the door and headed back to her brother with the keys.

It wasn’t going to be easy… but she was going to try… even if it meant getting on her beast of a brother’s nerves.